Seeing the food arriving, Eleanor realized she was indeed hungry. She nodded. "Okay, let''s eat first! We shouldn''t starve ourselves."


    Eleanor was just deciding what to get whenn picked up the serving utensils and naturally ced the most tender piece of the steamed fish onto her te.


    At the same time, he said to Joel, "Dr. Kingsley is a real talent in this field. Your ideas have always been incredibly forward-thinking. I admire that."


    Eleanor blinked and turned to look at the man beside her. His tone was even, giving nothing away, but why did she feel like there was an underlying meaning to his words?


    Joel smiled and pushed up his sses. "You tter me, Mr. Goodwin. I''m just doing my job."


    Eleanor stared atn, her gaze filled with scrutiny. Ian noticed her looking but didn''t meet her eyes. He simply murmured, "Eat up. Have it while it''s hot."


    Eleanor didn''t look away, as if trying to see right through him.


    Eleanor could tell that his praise for Joel carried a clear hint of hostility.


    Obviously, Joel had picked up on it too, but he merely kept his smile and didn''t say anything else, turning to converse with the manager on his other side.


    He didn''t want to upset her, especially not at an asion like today. He turned back to meet her eyes, trying to change the subject, and asked in a low voice, "What''s wrong? Is the fish not to your liking?"


    Eleanor just felt bad for Joel. He had poured so much blood, sweat, and tears into this project, andn shouldn''t be treating him this way.


    Suddenly,n reached under the table and grasped Eleanor''s hand, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. Then, leaning closer to her, he muttered in a voice only she could hear, "I''m sorry. I was wrong."


    Before Eleanor could process this, he leaned into her ear and confessed, "I admit it. I''m jealous."


    Eleanor looked at him. Through his lenses,n''s eyes reflected his helplessness and awkward feelings.


    She pulled her hand back and said tly, "Just eat."


    Joel seemed to sense that the tension betweenn and Eleanor had dissipated, and he did his best to keep chatting with the manager.


    Eleanor''s phone rang. She checked the screen and saw it was Gwenda calling. She stood up and stepped aside to answer.


    "Hey Gwenda, what''s up?"


    "Eleanor, guess who just showed up? Faye Yeaton''s mother came looking for you. She was crying and bagging to see you and Joel Hooks like she wants to ask you to let Faye off the hook."


    "Where is she now?"


    "I managed to talk her into leaving, but she''ll definitely be back."


    Eleanor acknowledged, "Got it. Thanks for handling that."


    "No problem. Dealing with this kind of stuff puts anyone in a bad mood. Did Joel''s productunch go smoothly?"


    "It went great."


    "Awesome, I''ll let you go then!"


    Eleanor returned to her seat. A fresh te of shrimp had just been brought to the table.


    Out of the corner of her eye, she noticedn meticulously peeling a shrimp His movements were elegant, but his jawline was slightly tense, inexplicably giving off an air of loneliness.


    He almost looked like a pouting child.


    Then, he casually dropped the


    freshly peeled shrimp onto Eleanor''s


    Eleano


    te. He looked up just as E


    was watching him and offered a small smile. "Here, have some shrimp."


    A soft spot in Eleanor''s heart melted just a little.