Damien grew even more suspicious, craning his neck to look into the car. "Who


    are you texting? We blow up your phone and you never answer us," he grumbled.


    Ethan calmly shoved Damien''s head out of the way and rolled the window up


    without a word.


    Undeterred, Damien knocked on the ss. "I''m supposed to meet a few of the


    college leaders. Since you''re already here, wanna grab dinnerter?"


    "I don''t have time for that," Ethan said tly.


    Damien felt like he had just been punched in the gut. Then why the hell was he


    even here?


    He turned to leave. But just then, another car pulled up and parked right in front of


    Ethan''s.


    The window rolled down, and there was Grace, shing a stunning smile as she


    waved over at Ethan. "Mr. Henderson, I just booked a ce for lunch. Do you


    want to join me?" she called.


    Ethan''s window lowered again. He let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah."


    Damien stood there, frozen. He honestly thought he was hallucinating.


    At that moment, Damien''s assistant, Oliver Cooke, walked over and leaned in.


    "Mr. Jensen, we should head out. Your meeting is about to start."


    But Damien, without thinking, yanked open Ethan''s car door and slid inside. He


    waved Oliver off. "Push the meeting back. Tell them something came up."


    Then, he turned to Grace, who was still sitting in her car ahead of them.


    "Ms. Lambert, hope you don''t mind me joining," Damien said with a sly smile.


    Grace didn''t mind at all. She had just gotten the jump on Damien by snatching


    Jasper out from under him, and if staying friendly kept things from getting messy,


    she was more than happy to y nice.


    Her car led the way while Ethan''s followed behind. What Grace didn''t realize was


    that the mood inside the second car had gone ice-cold.


    Ethan''s expression grew darker by the second. And Damien, of course, couldn''t


    stop himself from stealing nces at him, studying him like a science experiment.


    But Ethan wasn''t the type to talk unless he had to. He stayed silent the whole ride,


    not saying a single word.


    It wasn''t until they pulled up outside the restaurant that Damien finally broke the


    silence.


    "I asked you out and you said you were busy," he said in a deadpan voice. "She


    asks you, and you''re suddenly free? Ethan, man, something''s up with you."


    Damien was the stubborn type. Once something didn''t sit right with him, he


    wouldn''t let it go.


    Ethan ignored himpletely, got out of the car, and maneuvered himself down


    with the wheelchair. Tim moved to push the wheelchair, and they headed inside.


    Damien trailed behind, sneaking out his phone to make a call. He dialed Julian''s


    number.


    "Hey, Julian, you ever notice something weird between Ethan and Grace?" he


    asked, keeping his voice low.


    Damien had suspected something before, but it always seemed too crazy to


    seriously believe.


    Julian, lounging on his couch with his long legs kicked up, didn''t even hesitate. He


    had noticed it way earlier, but he loved sitting back and watching chaos unfold.


    "Weird how?" Julian saidzily.


    "I don''t know how to exin it,"


    Damien muttered. "I asked him for a


    meal today and he said he was busy.


    Two minutester, Grace asks, and


    suddenly, he''s free. Now, I''m sitting


    here watching it with my own two


    eyes."


    Julian almostughed out loud hearing that. Damien had basically volunteered to


    third-wheel Grace and Ethan.


    "Oh?" he drawledzily. "Then you''d better keep a close eye. See exactly what''s...


    off."


    Damien snorted. "Don''t worry. I won''t let Grace take advantage of him."


    With that, he hung up.


    Julian stared at his now-ck


    screen, slowly shaking his head.


    Someone had clearly gone to a lot of


    trouble to finally get a private


    moment and now, it was about to be


    ruined.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Grace had reserved a private room.


    Tim didn''te in, leaving just her and Ethan inside.


    It had barely been a few quiet seconds when the door swung open and Damien


    casually strolled in and plopped himself down right next to Grace.


    Ethan had just lifted a cup of tea to his lips. The moment he saw that, his hand


    paused in mid-air for a beat. Then, pretending like nothing had happened, he took


    a slow sip.


    Grace hadn''t expected Damien to sit this close either. Feeling a little awkward,


    she quickly handed him the menu.


    "Mr. Jensen, take a look and let me know if you''re allergic to anything. Mr.


    Henderson can''t eat seafood, so I already had all the seafood options removed


    from today''s menu."


    At this restaurant, the menu changed daily based on whatever was fresh. Guests


    were always shown the menu in advance so that they could make any necessary


    adjustments.


    "I eat everything," Damien replied simply.


    Of course, the real reason he sat so close was to keep Grace in check.


    He had heard some juicy gossip


    from a business partner. ording


    to the rumor, back when Grace was


    still working at Henderson Group,


    she had taken advantage of Ethan''s


    injured legs and shamelessly sat on


    hisp after everyone else had left a


    private dining room.


    One of the partners present for that dinner even imed Ethan had said, "Don''t


    do that."


    To Damien, everything about Grace rubbed him the wrong way.


    He honestly couldn''t figure out why Ethan was even willing to have dinner with


    her.