The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1) (15 page)

Despite her X-rated dreams, Chloe slept well, probably because her body had been so satisfied by Nathan’s lovemaking. As she dressed and fixed breakfast, a little smile kept tilting the corners of her mouth upward. She would purse her lips to erase it, only to find them in the same contented position five minutes later. Grandmillie kept giving her sideways looks, which meant Chloe needed to get her happiness under better control.

Grandmillie was waiting in her recliner while Chloe got organized for their expedition to the mall when the doorbell rang. Chloe pulled open the front door to find Oskar standing on the tiny porch, a flat brown gift box tied with a turquoise-and-gold satin ribbon clasped carefully in his big, square hands. “From Mr. Trainor,” he said, holding it out to her. “With his compliments.”

“Thank you.” Chloe took the box from the chauffeur, finding it heavier than she expected. “MarieBelle” was embossed into the box’s fancy cardboard. Thank goodness it was too big and heavy to be a diamond farewell bracelet. “Do you know what it is?”

“No, ma’am, but it must be perishable, because I had instructions not to leave it outdoors.”

That relieved her. Receiving a gift of food wasn’t inappropriate, even if it was expensive food. She thanked him again and Oskar returned to the car. Not the Rolls, but an elegant dark-green sedan that she thought might be the Maserati.

She walked back into the living room. “I guess I did a good job, because Mr. Trainor sent me a gift.”

Her grandmother’s sharp gaze said she wasn’t fooled by Chloe’s attempt to minimize the unexpected arrival. “Via his own chauffeur, not some delivery service,” Grandmillie pointed out.

“It’s something that can’t be left out in the sun, so he probably didn’t want to entrust it to FedEx.” Chloe stared down at the box in her hands. Nathan wouldn’t send something potentially embarrassing, would he?

“Are you trying to untie the bow with your mind?” Grandmillie asked. “Open it!”

Chloe sat down with the box on her lap and pulled the ribbon loose. As she opened the lid, the aroma of chocolate saturated the air. An envelope with her name written in her boss’s scrawl lay on top of a layer of turquoise tissue paper. She snatched it up and slid the heavy cream-colored card out. It had Nathan’s full name engraved on the front in a bold font that somehow looked modern and high-tech without being hokey about it. She flipped it open.

Dear Chloe,

Since you appreciate my taste in art, I thought you might appreciate the taste of these. You have very good taste yourself.

Nathan

She exhaled a sigh of relief. He had been circumspect, even though his double entendre about her taste made her flush. She glanced up at her grandmother.

“If it’s personal, don’t feel you have to share it with me,” Grandmillie said. She had a sly look that made Chloe uneasy.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Chloe put the card on the coffee table and folded back the tissue paper. Under a layer of cushioning plastic lay two large rectangles of chocolate side by side. Painted onto their surface were meticulous copies of the Van Gogh and Gauguin landscapes Nathan had hanging in his bedroom. “How amazing!” Chloe breathed.

She rose and carried the box over to Grandmillie. “It’s chocolate.”

“Well, I’ll be a shot of whiskey in a wine bar, that is some very fancy candy.”

“So now you’ll understand the card,” Chloe said, placing the chocolate gently on the table and reading the card aloud. “He has these two paintings hanging together.” She didn’t mention in what room. “And he asked me which one I liked better.”

Grandmillie scanned the chocolate images. “Which one did you choose?”

“Neither. I told him they were like a great relationship. Taking one away would end it.”

“You’re smart, just like your dad,” Grandmillie said, giving Chloe’s knee a gentle tap of approval with her cane. “Smarter, in some ways.”

Chloe shook her head. “Dad was a genius.”

“His brain was full of ideas, that’s for certain.”

“And many of them were very valuable,” Chloe pointed out. “To Lindell.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“Your father signed his employment contract knowing full well what the terms were.”

Chloe sat back. Grandmillie had never said anything that blunt before. “They could have given him a bonus, Grandmillie. What kind of company makes millions from an employee and never acknowledges it in any concrete way?”

Her grandmother was silent a long moment before she spoke again. “I’m not saying Lindell treated him well, but they had no legal obligation to give him more than they did.”

Chloe tried again. “There’s obligation and there’s honor. They had no honor.”

“They were just a big corporation doing what big corporations do: making a profit.”

“Which is why I don’t want to work for a big corporation,” Chloe said. She was surprised by Grandmillie’s implied criticism of her father. Her grandmother usually just listened when Chloe got going on the topic.

She changed the subject by touching the chocolate with her fingertip. “Should we taste it or is it too beautiful to eat?”

“This beauty is meant to be devoured with more than our eyes,” Grandmillie said.

The chocolate was unbelievable. Intense, smooth, not too sweet but utterly satisfying. Almost as good as sex with Nathan. Chloe choked on the bite she’d just taken as that thought crossed her mind.

Grandmillie sat with her eyes closed as she savored her piece. “I’m thinking that most bosses don’t send their temps custom-made chocolate after a few days’ work.” She opened her eyes and turned her gaze on Chloe. “What’s going on here?”

Chloe coughed again. “I spent a lot of extra hours there and even left you alone overnight, so I guess he feels extra thanks are needed.”

“Left me alone, ha! I had six different phone numbers for Dr. Cavill and had to swear on the Holy Bible that I’d wear that emergency call-button necklace. I expected a nurse to knock on the door every hour on the hour. But that’s neither here nor there.” Her blue eyes skewered her granddaughter. “I don’t want any details because your private life is your private life, but when a man sends you a gift like this, it’s not for being a good executive assistant.”

“Um, there might be some interest between us that’s not just professional,” Chloe said. “But that happened after he hired me to go to the wedding with him.”

Grandmillie tapped her cane on the ground with a satisfied little thump. “I knew it. So why isn’t he taking you out for dinner tonight? Men in his position go after what they want.”

Chloe cast around wildly for an excuse. “He already had another commitment.”

“Don’t lie to me, child.” Grandmillie’s expression held both love and regret. “You turned him down to stay home with me.”

“I’ve missed you and wanted to spend time with you.” Chloe got up and knelt in front of her grandmother. “That’s the truth.”

Grandmillie ran her palm down Chloe’s cheek. “I don’t know what I did to deserve a granddaughter like you, but it must have been pretty darned good. You need a reminder, though. When you invited me to move in with you, we made an agreement. If my presence interfered with your personal life, I would move out.”

“You’re not—”

Her grandmother held up her hand for silence. “You call your Mr. Trainor and you tell him you’ve had a change of heart and would love to have dinner with him tonight.”

Chloe barely got her mouth open before Grandmillie stopped her again. “If you don’t, I will put myself on the waiting list for Crestmont Village today.”

Crestmont Village was the three-stage elder-care facility Grandmillie had nearly moved into four years ago before Chloe convinced her they could rent their little house together. After Chloe’s mother died, Grandmillie had become a strong maternal presence, so she and Chloe were unusually close.

However, her grandmother had been adamant that she didn’t want to be a burden on Chloe and had made a list of the conditions required for her to live there. Since her grandmother was a fiercely independent woman, Chloe had respected and lived by all of them.

In the last year or so, though, Grandmillie had begun to walk more slowly and put more weight on her cane, so Chloe worried about her falling. Maybe it was time to talk about getting someone to stay with her while Chloe was at work. The problem was paying for it.

Chloe frowned as she turned over her options in her mind.

“Well, are you going to call him?”

“Call him?” She’d forgotten what had started her train of thought. “Oh, you mean Nathan, er, Mr. Trainor. He’s probably already found another date.”

“His chauffeur just delivered custom-made chocolate. He’s thinking about you, not some other woman. Call him.”

“Um, okay.” She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, giving in easily because she wanted to see him again so badly.

“Go in your room and close the door so you can be private,” Grandmillie said with a smile.

Chloe hated to do it, but she retreated to her bedroom and pulled the door shut. She didn’t know what Nathan might say, and she didn’t want to have to choose her words with two different listeners in mind.

As she scrolled to Nathan’s number, she wondered where he was at eleven o’clock on Saturday morning. Maybe he’d taken his doctor’s advice and stayed home another day since it was the weekend. She shook her head at herself. Not a chance of that.

She took a deep breath as she hit “Dial” and held the phone to her ear.

“Chloe! Just a minute,” Nathan answered. He sounded distracted, which she found disconcerting. She’d hoped he would sound pleased to hear from her.

“Did I catch you at a bad time? I’ll call you back later,” she said.

“No.” It was a sharp command. “I’m in the lab, so I need to move to a quieter place.”

She could hear voices and a low hum in the background. “What lab?”

“The R and D lab.” The other voices had faded, and his held a wry note.

Chloe did a silent fist pump. “Checking on their progress?”

“Helping them make progress. Don’t say it.”

Since she’d just been wondering how to broach the subject of dinner that night, she was taken aback. “What shouldn’t I say?”

“The normal but annoying response would be ‘I told you so.’ ”

Relief made Chloe smile into the phone. “I try not to be annoying. I guess I don’t always succeed.” Nathan’s deep chuckle made her knees go rubbery, so she sat down on the bed. “Anyway, that wasn’t even close to what I was going to say.”

“You have my full attention.”

“My, um, responsibilities have changed, so I’m free for dinner tonight if you’re still interested. And you’re not already committed to something else.” Chloe closed her eyes with a grimace as she contemplated her lack of finesse.

A long silence made her wish she’d just told Grandmillie that Nathan was busy.

“What is your favorite food?” Nathan asked.

“Chocolate,” she said, realizing she hadn’t thanked him. “Beautifully painted chocolate.”

“That’s dessert, and I have a new favorite in that category.”

“Er, really?”

“You.” His voice was a low vibration of pure desire. It knocked the breath out of her. “I need a main dish so I can decide where to take you for dinner.”

“Lobster,” she managed to croak. “I love it.”

“I’ll pick you up at five.”

“No, I’ll meet you there. Wherever there is.” She wasn’t ready to allow Nathan into her private space yet.

She could almost feel his displeasure through the phone.

“I’ll respect your feelings for now,” he finally said. “But Oskar will come in my place.”

“All right.” Somehow he’d made her feel guilty, as though she’d hurt him. “What should I wear?”

“I’d prefer nothing, but that would shock Oskar.”

Another breath-stealing statement that proved he wasn’t so upset that he wouldn’t flirt with her. “Not to mention our fellow diners,” Chloe said, her mind spinning with the image of sitting naked across an elegant dinner table from Nathan. It made her insides turn hot and liquid.

“The male diners would count themselves fortunate. And maybe a few of the female diners as well.”

Chloe sputtered out a half laugh. “Seriously, what level of formality am I aiming for?”

“Less formal than work clothes, but more than jeans. Just make sure it’s easy to get it off.”

“I might have something with Velcro seams.” She needed to thank him for the chocolate. “Nathan, the chocolate is amazing. I can’t believe I had the nerve to taste such a work of art, but it’s as delicious as it looks.”

“Just like you.”

The heat inside her went molten. “Please stop.”

“Do you really want me to?”

She didn’t want him to stop for the rest of her life, but that was a pipe dream. “Only until dinner. Then you can start again.”

He laughed and hung up.

Chloe sat on the edge of the bed, the phone cradled in her hands, as she took in several deep breaths to calm her racing pulse. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get through the next seven hours without exploding.

Nathan stood in the project manager’s empty office, staring sightlessly out the window, as he considered Gavin Miller’s comment that he should use every weapon at his disposal.