The CEO and the Girl From the Coffee Shop (3 page)

He watched as
she inspected the books, apprehension in her expression as she
picked one up and flipped through it. Taking the book she was
fingering through from her, he placed it back on the counter and
took her hand. "You can study later. Come on... Let me show you
your room and the rest of the house." Fearing she would back out,
thinking it was too much, he decided giving her the rest of the
tour would perhaps persuade her to give it a shot.

****

The tour of
the house went by as one big blur. Beth's mind was focused on the
hundreds of complicated recipes. From the glance she'd taken she
didn't even recognize some of the ingredients. How in the hell was
she going to pull this off? That was some crazy assed “Chef Ramsey”
shit he was expecting from her by the looks of it. What if she took
the job and couldn't make it work and he let her go? She supposed
she could go crawling back to the coffee house, begging for her old
job.

The other
thing that was keeping her mind from focusing was his general
closeness. They had always had the counter at the coffee shop
dividing them, but now he was next to her. Throughout the tour
Gabriel would touch her shoulder lightly or place his palm at the
small of her back, or take her hand to catch her attention; with
each slight contact she was put more on edge as her desire for him
rose. Should potential employers be holding potential employees
hands? If even briefly. She didn't think so. But she liked it and
God help her, she wanted so much more than that.

Between
worrying about the cooking and his close proximity which was
turning her body into a raging ball of hormones, she was a wreck.
I can get used to being near him
, she told herself,
the
attraction will wear off
.

Their tour
ended at the back of the house as he led her to the pool area,
featuring a large kidney shaped outdoor pool; lights inside the
pool illuminated the water as it shifted colours between blue, red,
yellow and green. The area was secluded. Well trimmed hedges that
she guessed were close to nine feet high encased the area from the
odd chance of someone lurking about. But she was certain intruders
would have a hard time getting onto the property to begin with
because of the tall, iron fencing circling it.

The pool
looked so tempting and the evening was so beautiful, that she'd
have loved to strip down and dive in. With regret, she took one
last look at the pool and turned her back to it, reclining back
against the wrought iron railing and glancing over at him.

"So let's get
down to it." Gabriel said as he leaned back against the porch
railing, his back also to the tempting pool.

Taking a deep
breath in, she released it slowly and nodded. "Okay." She shouldn't
be nervous, she should be excited. This was an opportunity to get
out of the shit job she was forced to go to each day, and to live
here with him, in his palace hideaway. This was an amazing
opportunity.

"What do you
think would be a fair wage?" He looked down at her, his face not
letting on anything he was thinking.

Shit!
Wage?
How much should she ask? She had no idea. She had assumed
he would have a number in mind. "So this is a negotiation?" she
asked teasingly.

A grin touched
his lips briefly before he swallowed it down. His eyes, however,
told of his amusement. "Yes, I suppose it is."

She narrowed
her eyes at him. She was getting the impression he was just
humouring her, but played along. She had to consider she was going
to get free room and board. And boy what a room it was! She could
fit her whole apartment in the bedroom he was planning on assigning
her. Then she would have free utilities. Those two things alone
cost her close to seventy percent of her pay each week.

But... this
was a negotiation and wasn't the opening offer supposed to be close
to twice what you'd really take? Shit, she didn't know. Looking
back up at him, her blue eyes locked to his dark ones and without
thinking she requested twice as much as she made at the coffee
shop.

He whistled,
his expression remaining blank. "Have you really thought that offer
through?"

Shit! It
was too much. Damn, damn, damn. Maybe this wasn't meant to be
.
She groaned inwardly at herself, as a worried expression crossed
her face.

As if sensing
her distress, he touched her arm. "I mean, have you really thought
through what the job entails. You're on call 24/7. If I want you to
get up at 3am to make me a pop tart, then I expect it to be done.
If I have a hankering for something that you have to drive across
town for at the most inconvenient time, I expect it to be
done."

Her frown
deepened. She hadn't thought about it in that sense. "In that case,
double my last offer."

Turning to
face her, he nodded. "Done. How early can you start?"

Holy
fuck!
Beth's jaw dropped as she turned so she was facing him
straight on.
Is he serious?
Four times what she made at the
coffee shop, including tips, plus free room and board! Looking up
into his eyes there was no doubt he was indeed serious with his
offer. "Oh-my-God. I was joking."

"I'm not.
Money isn't an issue for me. I think this can be a good
arrangement, and I'm willing to do what it takes to make this
happen."

Her mind was
whirling. There was so much to consider. She'd need to give notice
to her landlord. To the coffee shop. What if it didn't work? What
if Gabriel was actually some sort of eccentric nutcase? Surely
offering someone the kind of money he was her to cook for him,
especially when she admitted the best she could manage was mac and
cheese was a little off-balanced.

But the money
would be so good right now. She could work for him for the year and
then study full-time for the next two years without having to worry
about debt and juggling work and school. Whatever his reasoning for
offering her what he was, she knew it was in her best interests to
chalk it up to him being generous. There were times when you don't
turn generosity away; this was one of those times.

With her mind
made up she couldn't help but tease. She glanced up at him, an
eyebrow arched, pretending to contemplate the offer. "Do I have to
wear one of those little French maid uniforms?"

A heated,
hungry look crossed his features as his eyes slowly made their way
down the length of her body then back up to meet her eyes once
more. "Now
that
is a very interesting idea. It's not
mandatory, but I wouldn't be opposed to it." He shrugged. "I
welcome the idea in fact."

Her face
immediately flushed. Damn. But a part of her loved the way he was
looking at her. The hungry part longed for him to pull her tight
against him, and have his way with her on the cool deck.

"But..." He
reached out and caught a lock of her hair between his fingers and
then watched it fall, strand-by-strand from his fingertips. A
shiver rocked her body and she had to fight to suppress a soft
moan. "If you're not willing to wear the uniform I suppose you can
wear whatever you like."

"Okay."

"Okay," he
confirmed, smiling widely.

"You have
yourself a cook slash maid slash, whatever else you need in the
middle of the night girl, Mr Reynolds."

His grin
widened as he extended his hand to her. "You have no idea how much
I was hoping you'd say that Miss Wilmington."

Beth flopped
herself backwards onto the large king sized bed with a satisfied
sigh. The soft mattress cushioned her, enticing her to close her
eyes and drift off to sleep. It was a far cry from the hard futon
she had been calling a bed for the past year. She was tired, but a
wide smile appeared as she surveyed the massive bedroom that was
now hers. She felt like a princess, though come tomorrow Cinderella
may be more accurate a term.

The past few
days had been a whirlwind of activity for Beth. Gabriel had
insisted she start
immediately
, but she managed to negotiate
two days with him. Reluctantly, he'd agreed. He was - without a
doubt - the type of man who was accustomed to getting what he
wanted, when he wanted it without any hesitation.

The day after
their meeting and her agreeing to work for him, he'd hired a moving
company and they began to clean out her apartment for her - not
that there was much to move and he paid off her landlord. All that
came with her to his mansion was her clothing and her personal
belongings.

Her
appliances, housewares and items of that nature were donated and he
gave her check for an amount that was well over the retail value of
her well used items. When she protested he informed her it was a
salary bonus and a write-off for him financially so not to worry.
While her pride told her to fight it, it almost felt like they were
getting married rather than her going to work for him, the sensible
part of her told her that it was for the best. If worse came to
worst, the "bonus" he'd given her more than covered her expenses
for close to six months if she were to move out. She had to think
of this practically, and practicality speaking she needed to take
the "bonus," in the off chance things didn't work out with Gabriel
and she needed a safety net.

"Well, aren't
you the sweet one Mr Reynolds," Beth muttered as she propped
herself up on her elbows and glanced over at the cookbooks sitting
on the large mahogany dresser that Gabriel must have had brought up
to her. She "officially" started work in the morning; breakfast was
to be on the table at 7am
sharp
. With a groan she
reluctantly sat up and made her way over to the books.

Atop the stack
of books was a note from Gabriel.

Beth,

I took the
liberty of marking some of my favourite dishes. You might want to
come accustomed to those first. I apologize for not being around
these past couple of days to help you settle in, but I have been
tied up. I do have a surprise for you. Be ready at 8pm. I look
forward to tasting what you have to offer me.

Gabriel

P.S. I highly
suggest you wear what is in the closet tonight.

"Look forward
to tasting what you have to offer me?" Beth muttered, biting back a
grin and halfway hoping there was a double meaning to that comment.
A surprise for me?
Excitement welled up within her as she
made her way over to the large walk-in closet. Pulling open the
double doors she gasped, her eyes immediately focusing on the
black, strapless floor length gown, hooked on a steel rack in the
center of the closet, along with a matching satin wrap. "You have
got to be shitting me," she muttered as she walked into closet and
tentatively touched the soft fabric. The tag inside was marked
Versace.

She unhooked
the dress and draped it over her arms as if it were made of tissue
paper and strode over to the bed, laying it out on top of the taupe
coloured comforter. The dress would have easily have cost her a
months salary at the coffee shop, most likely much more. She had no
idea when it came to prices of high-end clothing. As high-end as
she
ever got was "The Gap."

Upon closer
examination she noticed a string of black gemstones lining the top
of the bodice that glistened as the light from ceiling hit them. It
suddenly occurred to her that it was beginning to get dark
outside.

Looking down
at her watch, she noticed it was nearly 7pm already! "Shit!" She
immediately sprung into action, stripping off her jogging pants and
t-shirt as she made her way to her private bathroom, directly off
the bedroom. "Shit, shit, shit," the curses ran as if on a loop
through her mind as she rushed to take a shower.

She ran the
possibilities through her mind of what the big surprise could be.
Seeing the gown she was expected to wear, she imagined it was some
place formal and classy. She wasn't much for formal and classy.
"Just wing it Wilmington," she coached herself as she grabbed the
shampoo and began to lather up her hair.

****

He'd admit
that perhaps what he had planned for Beth was a little
inappropriate, okay
a lot
inappropriate, considering she was
now
technically
his employee. But, he reasoned the
inappropriateness away by calling it a celebration outing. Fuck,
the whole situation was slightly inappropriate so what was a little
night out to add to it.

Pulling the
Lamborghini up to the house, promptly at 8pm, he was pleased to see
that she was waiting patiently for him just outside the front door
and looking more stunning than he'd ever seen her. She was a
beautiful woman, he'd thought it from the first moment he laid eyes
on her at the coffee shop, with her long golden hair, her sweet
heart-shaped face and large blue eyes; she was girl next door,
adorable. But now... She was like a goddess if he'd ever seen one
and she quite literally took his breath away with her classic
beauty.

Turning off
the car’s engine Gabriel jumped out and made his way over to Beth,
making it to her side before she had a chance to take a single
step. Taking her hand into his he brought it to his mouth, flipped
it over and kissed he palm. "You look stunning tonight."

Her cheeks
turned an alluring shade of pink as she caught his eyes "You don't
look too shabby yourself boss," she teased, "Don't suppose you're
going to tell me where you're taking me." She looked down at her
dress and his eyes followed her gaze, his cock jumping in his black
pants as his eyes took in the sight of the tops of her bare
breasts.

Keeping hold
of her hand he led her down the stairs to the car. "Now if I told
you then it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" With that he gave her
a wicked little grin. At the car he opened the door for her, and
helped her in while at the same time adjusting his suit jacket to
ensure it was covering his growing erection. This was going to be a
harder night than he'd expected.