An Arrangement of Love (7 page)

“He likes you.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked as a waiter set two glasses of wine on the table.

“It’s obvious,” Chase said.

I sampled the wine and hummed a little
. This is Perfect.

Chase appeared startled. “Did you just moan?”

I cringed. “No.”

“Yes, you did. I thought I was imagining you moaning during lunch today, but you moaned then too, right?”

“Nope.” I looked away.

His lips widened to a smile. “Your love of dining is pretty serious. Isn’t it?”

“I do tend to have orgasms in restaurants.” I covered my mouth with my hand.
What the hell, Jasmine?
Things were starting to get too comfortable. “I’m sorry. I mean—”

“Stop worrying about your behavior around me.” Chase sipped his wine. “Pretend I’m not your boss tonight.”

“But you are, and we do need to discuss the proposals.”

“Do you still truly believe it’s all business tonight?”

“What else would this be?” I switched my gaze from his eyes to the lit candle at the center of the table.

“This is me attempting to court you.” He set his glass down. My response was a nervous intake of breath.

Is he seriously going to come on to me like that?

Our waiter approached the table. “Chef Gabe prepared an amuse-bouche for your delight.”

He set down two plates. Each had a tiny square of toast with a slice of foie gras, sun dried tomato, and some type of oil drizzled on top.

“You know what amuse-bouche means?” I asked after the waiter left. It was my sad attempt at changing the subject, but I thought I spied interest in Chase’s eyes.

“No. What does it mean?”

“It means mouth amuser.”

Chase directed his concentration to his plate. A grim expression spread across his face. “What’s the brown stuff?”

“Foie gras,” I said with surprise. “You’ve never heard of it?”

“I’ve seen a lot of this stuff at parties and events, but I never ate it.” He turned the plate around and analyzed the amuse-bouche some more.

“Oh, just try it. It’s usually duck or goose liver, except in order to get a high quality foie gras they force feed and fatten up the animal.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Yes. It does suck for the goose and duck, but it’s delicious.”

He pushed his plate to me. “You can have mine.”

“Absolutely not. Let’s eat it together.” I returned his plate to him and picked up my amuse-bouche. He followed.

“I’ll count down and then you just sling it in your mouth.” I thought I heard him whimper, but wasn’t sure. “Okay. One. Two. Three.”

He popped it into his mouth. Cheating, I kept mine on my plate and waited for his response, hoping he would love the foie gras as much as I did. He chewed with his eyes closed and his face crumpled into wrinkles like a little kid eating cold Brussels sprouts, but after a few seconds he began to nod. His eyes opened. His lips formed into a pleased grin. “You did it again, Jasmine. You’ve introduced another new tasty food to me this week. This is possibly the twelfth new thing I’ve enjoyed since you’ve been working for me.”

“Great.” I popped mine into my mouth and savored the rich, buttery texture. A tremor of pleasure rippled through my body. A tiny moan escaped my lips.

Chase clutched the edge of the table. His amused look shifted to a hungry one. “Do that again.”

I finished chewing. “Do what?”

“I love that noise you made and that expression. I want to see it again.”

I cleared my throat. “So, are you ready to discuss the proposals?”

“No.” Chase leaned toward me and whispered, “I’m interested in pursuing something more with you.”

“I’m interested in what your fiancée would say about that.” I slumped back in my chair. “If you keep this up I’ll sue you for harassment.”

He laughed and took a sip of his wine. “I own most of the judges in this county.”

“That doesn’t scare me.”

“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to explain how suing me would be a waste of your time and money. Besides, maybe you should give me a chance and let me tell you my proposal.”

“I’m not interested.” I formed my lips into a straight line.

“Yes you are.”

“Goodnight.” I pushed my chair back and stood up. “You’re an asshole and I quit.”

His smile remained as he rose with me and seized my arm. Other customers in the restaurant looked our way.

“Let go of me,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Can you just answer a question for me, please?”

I gritted my teeth. “What?”

“If I was single and wasn’t your boss, would you date me?”

I yanked my arm away. He grabbed it again and then glided his hands slowly down to my wrist. The area tingled with awareness.

“Come on, Jasmine. Answer me,” he ordered. “Would you date me?”

I looked him up and down. “Of course. But, you
are
my boss and you’re
not
single.”

“So you are interested.” He smirked. “Good. Because I can compromise with you on the boss and single part.”

“How?”

“Please sit down.” He gestured toward my chair. “We have a nice meal on the way. I’m sure your friend Gabe would be disappointed.”

Our waiter approached us. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” I reluctantly returned to my chair. Chase followed. The waiter grabbed our empty plates, cleaned the table of any crumbs, and filled our glasses with water. The whole time Chase and I stared at each other.

Once the waiter left, I said, “I don’t appreciate you maneuvering your way into my Friday night and making up an assignment that I work on all week just so—”

“The job and assignment are real.”

“I don’t care if you own all the judges in the state. When you flirt with me, you’re playing with fire.”

“No, Jasmine.” He smirked. “You’re playing with fire, when you yell out empty threats. They don’t scare me. I just become more interested. No one would have the audacity to talk to me this way. I love it.”

I hesitated. “This is inappropriate and aggravating. Did you hire me for my ability to be your assistant or for the possibility of having sex with me?”

“Both,” he said with clear certainty.

Underneath the table, I twirled my copper ring until the skin itched. Here I assumed I’d impressed him with my intelligence and superb performance in school, when in the end my body got me the job. In Pyramid, I’d figured he just thought he could take advantage of me because I was poor and had no powerful support. When all along he’d planned this. “Before you become upset, let me explain.” Chase touched the crystal salt shaker next to him. He traced the edge with his thumb. “When I’m done, you don’t have to quit. We can return to working together and pretend like I never propositioned you. Additionally, you can decide to work in another company of mine, of your choosing, and receive the same salary.”

I struggled to maintain a neutral mask on my face. “Go ahead.”

“Do you remember me from Equinox’s Garden Party?”

“No.”

The party was at least three months ago. Vivian and I had gone with her dad. It was Benny’s attempt to have us network with rich people who had connections. Additionally, I believe he was hoping Vivian would meet a nice guy there. Benny hated Vivian’s choices in men as much as I did.

“At the party, I sat across from you,” Chase said.

“I didn’t realize that.”

“I know. You ignored me the whole time and disregarded all of my attempts at conversation. You pretty much giggled, pointed at the food, and whispered with your friend.”

“The food was garbage,” I confessed.

He rested his head in his hands and chuckled. “I also own Equinox, the company that catered the event.”

I shrugged. “The food sucked worse than Bag and Brew. The chicken was dry. Rice had no seasoning. Buns were as hard as bricks. The vegetables were cold and soggy—”

He laughed and shook his head.

“I was blown away that an expensive event like that would serve such bad food.”

“Promise me you’ll help me revamp all of my food businesses next month,” he said.

“If I’m still with you.” I stopped speaking when the waiter brought two small bowls.

“This is the soup course,” the waiter said. “Here we have ravioli filled with blood sausage and covered in a truffle butter sauce.”

“Thank you so much.” I yanked up the spoon the waiter placed next to the bowl.

Chase smiled. “Should I wait for you to taste that before hitting you with my offer?”

Probably. I’m sure I’ll lose my appetite.

“Yes.” I pierced the ravioli with the tip of my spoon. Red blood spilled from the pasta and merged with the butter sauce. I scooped up a small morsel and tasted it. So many sensual tasting experiences charged within my mouth at once—the truffles’ earthy flavor tickled my tongue, the succulent blood sausage nipped at my taste buds, and the thick texture of the pasta merged with the taunting cream.

“Lord have mercy, this is the best dish I’ve ever had in my life.” I groaned and noticed Chase hadn’t even lifted his spoon. “What do you think?”

“Blood sausage?” Chase studied his untouched bowl.

“Come on. You’re the wealthy one. Don’t tell me you’re closed-minded.”

“When it comes to food I stick with the normal meals.”

“What do you consider normal food?”

“Hamburgers, steak, pizza, chicken—”

“That’s unacceptable.” I stabbed another piece, put it on my spoon, and offered my portion to him. “Try it, please.”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course. Have I been wrong yet?”

“I doubt blood sausage will be a winner.”

I positioned my spoon half an inch from his mouth. “I’ve been dealing with your ridiculous come-on-too-strong flirting. Open your mouth and take it.”

“You’re definitely more than I’d expected,” he murmured and opened his mouth.

I fed him and couldn’t even deny the feeling that burst in my stomach. It was weird, as if I’d conquered someone, like I’d won a little battle or taken control.
Don’t be pathetic, Jasmine.
I shook the emotion away. “So? What do you think?”

He bobbed his head and continued to munch. “Damn good.”

“Gabe is an amazing chef. He never fails.” I returned to eating my own food.

“He’s cooked meals for you before?” Chase gripped his spoon so hard the skin on his knuckles turned a lighter shade.

What’s the big deal?

“Sometimes Gabe comes to my apartment and cooks for Vivian and me. He’s pretty busy here and works six days a week, but he still tries to visit us and cook at least twice a month.”

“Hmmm.” He tapped his finger against the spoon a few times. “Does he spend time with Vivian when he’s . . . visiting, or is he only around you?”

“I know what you’re insinuating. It’s not like that. It’s really a lot of fun when he drops by.”

“I bet,” he mumbled.

“He tells me to buy a secret ingredient. When he comes over I present it to him and he cooks me something fabulous, just like that food game show Iron Chef.”

Chase turned toward the kitchen and mumbled something under his breath.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” But his face said he was pissed.

Or maybe I’m simply imagining that.

We ate in peace for a while. The whole time I waited on the edge of impatience for him to tell me what he had to say. Finally, when I couldn’t take anymore, I released a frustrated sigh. “So you saw me at the Garden Party when I was mocking your company’s horrible food. And?”

He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. I realized his bowl was now empty. He licked the spoon, and the way his tongue slid over the metal caused me to shiver.

Ignore that, Jasmine.

“I saw you across the table. Your laugh caught my attention. You sounded exciting.” He placed the napkin back on the table. “I asked you what college you went to. You said Harvard, twisted in your chair so you were facing your friend, and you basically spent the rest of the party talking to her.”

“Were you with Dawn?”

“Yes.”

“That’s probably why. I tend to ignore men who are obviously taken.” I motioned to his engagement ring. “When a guy speaks to me at a party, I always check his ring finger first. If I see a ring, I don’t even waste my time looking at the guy’s face.”

“Well, I didn’t enjoy being ignored by you. You seemed like a lot of fun. Your friend laughed every time you whispered to her. When Benny sat down by you, it was the first time I’d ever seen that man smile like that in my life, and I’ve known him since I was a kid.”

“That’s how he is around Vivian.”

“No. I’m talking about the happy stares he kept giving you. And again, you had him laughing and smiling just like your friend. I even smiled. You were intoxicating.”

“So you’re attracted to me due to my ability to make people laugh?” I tossed him a skeptical look.

“Fine. You caught me in a small lie. I’ll admit it.” He shrugged. “The first thing that attracted me was your breasts. Before you sat down, you leaned over to smell the rose centerpiece, and I got a generous view of your cleavage. Then you looked my way and trapped me with those hazel eyes. Next was the intoxicating personality.”

I stirred uncomfortably in my seat and averted my eyes. I wasn’t used to the brutally honest compliments. If, in fact, he was actually being honest. “So what happened next?”

“I turned to Dawn, pointed to you, and said, ‘I want her.’”

Chapter 8

G
abe chose that
exact moment to arrive at our table.

“How am I doing so far?” Gabe asked.

I swallowed down Chase’s shocking news and glanced at Gabe. “Umm . . . you’ve surpassed my expectations.”

“Are you okay?” Gabe stepped closer to me.

“Yes!” I squeaked, grabbed my glass, and then took a gulp of water. “Trust me. You’re doing awesome. Each course has blown my mind.”

Gabe tilted my way and whispered, “Any food orgasms?”

I blushed and could swear I heard a grumbling sound emit from Chase’s chest. “Yes. Two of them, to be exact.”

“Super.” Gabe displayed that award-winning smile again. “That’s all I thought about when I was preparing the dishes.”