Chapter 24: The Women in His Life
** Eli **
Eli put down his phone and found his assistant Justin darting meaningful glances at him from across the airport lounge.
"It's rare to see a text message put that big of a smile on your face," Justin observed. "Let me guess — a girl?"
Eli rolled his eyes. "You are supposed to be going over my agenda for tomorrow, not speculate what's going on in my personal life."
"Unless this is the same girl that made you cancel your dinner with Vanessa Jones on Friday." Justin folded the documents in his lap and switched to an even more meaningful smile. "I've been thinking, you know, that it's a bit rare for you to cancel a meeting your father had personally set up and then cut my call on the same evening. You still haven't given me a date to reschedule it yet ... And then you've been looking distracted since you came out of the door this morning. So shouldn't it be reasonable doubt for me to think that something in your personal life is affecting your business life, which makes it my responsibility to speculate about it?"
Eli pinned him with a glare. "You're really better made for a paparazzo. How did I not figure that out before letting you take this job?"
Justin grinned, evidently taking the comment as a compliment. Eli rubbed his temple in defeat.
The two of them had known each other since college. Not really close friends, per se, but at least familiar enough that Eli had recognized the interviewee for his assistant's position immediately. He had warned the latter out of pure goodwill that the heir of Sterling Trust wasn't going to be a pleasant boss to work for, but apparently the truth wasn't as convincing as the paycheck being offered. So on the first day of his new job, Eli had found his college acquaintance waiting for him at his office door, beaming flatteringly.
And then he had slowly learned that he was the one who had miscalculated. Justin was good at his job. He always stayed on top of schedules, always remembered every detail in meeting minutes, and always — always — made the best use of every opportunity to poke his nose into whatever rumor he could catch about the women in Eli's life.
He was so good at the last task that it was almost painful. Sometimes, Eli wondered if this was his father's plan all along, and that Justin had passed the interview with flying colors precisely because of his skill as a capable spy.
Thinking of which, Eli reminded himself that there was no way he'd let Justin find out about Harper. He put away his phone. "I'll talk to my father about Vanessa," he said, diverting the subject. "I never wanted to meet her to begin with. No need to bother with rescheduling."