Page 28 of The Grump I Loathe (The Lockhart Brothers #3)

CONNOR

A July thunderstorm peppered the windows, lighting up the living room as Grace pulled her headphones off, pausing her video game. “Why are you dressed like that?” she demanded

“Dressed like what?” I fixed the collar of my jacket in the mirror next to the front door. I’d gone for a sportier coat for today’s outing . Part of me still shied away from calling it a date, not wanting to admit even to myself that I was breaking my own rules.

It was just dinner. A necessary dinner because in the months Eddie had been working for LockMill, I’d discovered that her diet consisted of eighty percent ramen noodles since she was putting every available penny toward her student loans.

If I didn’t get some actual nutrients in her soon, she was going to develop scurvy or something.

Grace eyed me suspiciously. “You look…different. And why’s your hair all fancy?”

“It’s exactly the same as it always is,” I insisted, running my hands through the added gel.

I’d chosen the restaurant Mana for tonight, not only because it was far enough out of the city to ensure privacy, but because of its outstanding fifteen-course tasting menu.

The moment I realized Eddie had never been treated to anything like that before, it had become my mission to take her to her first ever Michelin-starred meal.

“Just saying,” Grace said, “you’re looking a little fancy for a work meeting.”

I gave her a flat look. “Save your game and go get your things.”

“Fine. Avoid the question,” she huffed, stalking off upstairs.

I couldn’t help smiling at her antics. If I told her I was going out to dinner with Eddie, she probably wouldn’t bat an eye.

Actually, she’d probably want to come. But that was because she thought Eddie was super cool and fun.

I didn’t know if she’d still feel like that if she realized Eddie and I were seeing each other—however casually.

I’d promised to talk to Grace before I dropped something serious on her the way Ali had. It didn’t help that Ali getting involved with Sawyer lined up with Ali ignoring Grace more often than not. I wouldn’t want Grace to spend even a minute worrying that someone else would be my priority over her.

Grace thumped back down the stairs with her overnight bag, destined for my mother’s. “Also, are you gonna have work meetings every Saturday now?”

“No,” I promised, feeling a little guilty. “We’ve just got to tweak some things on Shadow .”

Grace gave me a curious smile. “You’ve still got a surprise for me, right? With the game?”

“I do,” I said, a little less guilty when I thought of all the work Eddie and the team and I had put into perfecting the Juni Protocol .

“Good,” Grace said, passing me her bag. “You think Grandma will let me stay up and watch Secret Lives of Mormon Wives with her?”

“I don’t know what that is,” I said as my phone started buzzing. Mom was calling. “But my answer is no.”

Grace wrinkled her nose. “Fine. Oh! I forgot my iPad.” She rushed off upstairs again.

“Hurry up,” I called, answering the phone. At this rate, I was going to be late getting to Eddie. “Hey, Mom. We’re leaving in five.”

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” she said in a rush. “I can’t take Grace tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“They’ve grounded the plane. Apparently, the storm in San Francisco is too intense. Something about the wind and landing safely.”

Shit . I hadn’t even thought to check the flight. “Wait,” I frowned, “weren’t you supposed to be back hours ago?”

“X was dealing with some work things, and he really needed my support,” Mom said, “so we rearranged the flight plan so I could stick around for a few extra hours.”

I bit down on the frustration that surged through me and started problem solving. “That’s all right. You’ve got somewhere to stay?”

“Well, with X of course.” Mom laughed. “Tell Grace I’ll make it up to her.”

“I will. Talk to you later.”

“Love you, sweetheart.”

“Love you, bye.” I hung up, wondering which of Grace’s friends might be up for a sleepover before deciding it was too late notice to dump her on any of them.

I ran a hand down my face. I was officially late to head to Eddie’s, and Grace was going to be disappointed that her Saturday night with Grandma was a bust. Shit .

I called Eddie.

“Hey,” she said when she answered. “How about this rain? You’re not stuck in traffic, are you?”

“Not exactly. I’m not standing you up, if that’s what you think. Or, at least I wasn’t.”

“Um…” She laughed awkwardly. “So you’re not coming?”

Damn . I didn’t like the sound of her disappointment. “My mom just canceled. I don’t have anything to do with Grace now.”

“You could bring her,” Eddie suggested immediately.

“That’s not a great idea.” I didn’t want to bring Grace on our not-a-date. I loved her, more than anything, but I wanted a few hours alone with Eddie without my every move being analyzed. “And I think it’s too late to try to set up something with one of her friends.”

“And Ali’s?—”

“—not an option,” I said with certainty.

Not that I’d ever ask her. If she couldn’t be bothered to follow through on plans made weeks in advance, I highly doubted she’d be willing to rearrange her night at the last minute.

And if Grace overheard me calling and realized her mom had said no…

I couldn’t let that happen. Better not to call at all.

“I think we might just have to cancel. I’m so sorry. ”

“What about Alannah?” Eddie said instead.

“She’s with Valentina this weekend at their new rental, but Valentina’s got a work deadline and has been staying late at the office.

So I’m pretty sure Alannah’s been stuck with the nanny most of the weekend.

I’m sure they’d all appreciate Alannah having someone her own age to hang with. ”

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was to dump Grace on anyone this last-minute, but the idea was enticing. “You don’t think Valentina would mind if Grace and Alannah?—”

“Alannah?” Grace said, coming up behind me. “What about Alannah?”

I spun around. “Grandma got stuck in LA because of the storm. What about a sleepover with Alannah instead?”

“Okay, yeah!” Grace said, sounding excited. “I’ll bring my new Bubble Blaster game!”

“Sounds like we have a winner,” Eddie said. “I’ll message the nanny and text you the address.”

Between the rain and dropping Grace off, by the time we’d arrived at the restaurant, we were seriously late for our reservation.

But I’d booked the table for the entire evening, dropping enough money to ensure they’d have rolled out the red carpet for us even if we’d shown up at midnight.

As it was, the valet met us with a giant umbrella, and then we were escorted to a private dining area dressed in black silks, potted greenery, and dimly lit chandeliers.

Eddie sat down, her jaw dropping, gushing about how beautiful everything was.

“You’re the most beautiful thing here,” I said.

My eyes had hardly left her since we’d walked into the restaurant.

She wore a dark burgundy dress with a plunging neckline and exaggerated sleeves, creating the appearance of wings.

Her hair had been softly curled, and she wore a dark lipstick I’d tried not to ruin as I’d kissed her in the lobby of her building.

She dropped her napkin, flushing all the way down her neck as she retrieved it, opening it on her lap. “Flattery will get you far,” she said, lips twitching.

“How far?”

“At least to second base.”

“Damn. Here I was aiming for a home run.”

“Better hope the food is good then,” she teased.

Given the way she spent the next thirty minutes moaning over every piece of food she put in her mouth, the food was very good. I wasn’t really able to tell, myself. I was so hungry to taste her that everything else seemed bland in my mouth.

I watched the way her eyes lit up with each funky little course, the flavor profiles questionable on paper but blending perfectly on the tongue, apparently—coffee marinated duck, for one.

“Enjoying yourself?” I asked.

“I don’t know how they pack so much flavor into such tiny dishes,” she said, radiating a kind of joy that made me want to lean in and be a part of it.

I knew I should feel guilty about dating her. Putting aside the work regulation, there was also the issue of the age gap between us, the fact that I was fresh off a messy divorce, and the fact that she was a relative newbie in an industry where my actions carried a lot of weight.

The optics were horrible, and I knew just how badly something like this could explode in my face. I remembered all Finn’s trouble with the press last year. The last thing I needed was to end up in some tabloid.

But then Eddie beamed at me as the waiter returned with the dessert—a buttermilk panna cotta with caramel apples, honeycomb, and marigold dressed in white chocolate and hazelnut—and I lost my breath. I wanted to make her smile like that every day. I wanted to be the reason for her happiness.

“Oh my God, this is like sex on a spoon,” she whispered. “I want to drown in a vat of this. Is that an option?”

“I want to drown in a vat of you.”

She giggled, licking the spoon suggestively. “Smooth. Seriously, I don’t know how you don’t have this place on speed dial.”

I shrugged. “Once you have enough fancy dinners, the novelty sort of wears off. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate a good meal, but I’m not dazzled by it anymore. And I like simple dishes, too—which is a good thing, since Grace prefers the grilled cheese I perfected back when I was her age.”

“Did you cook a lot as a kid?” she asked.

I nodded. “I figured it out pretty quickly,” I admitted. “And at least with grilled cheese I made sure we all had something hot to eat when Mom wasn’t in the mood to cook.”

“When did you have your first fancy meal?”