Catering to the Billionaire (The Billionaire's Appetites) (BBW Billionaire Erotic Romance) (2 page)

“Thank you,” Lissa replied ruefully.  “But I think I already know what the answer is.”

That evening, Lissa was trying to relax at home on the couch with a glass of chardonnay when her phone began to buzz on the coffee table next to her.  Picking it up, she saw her sister’s name flash on the screen.  “Hey, Laurie,” she said tiredly. 

“Well?  How did it go?” Laurie’s excited voice asked.  Lissa could tell from the echo that Laurie was probably in her car, driving with her headset on.

“It didn’t,” Lissa replied flatly. 

“What? What do you mean? Didn’t Barbara like what you presented?”

“She wasn’t there.  Had some sort of emergency.  So I was interviewed by Gregory Thorne instead.”

“Holy shit, Greg Thorne himself?  Wow, I wouldn’t have imagined he would condescend to that level of detail,” Laurie chuckled.  “That’s what his assistants are for, after all.”

“Well, he didn’t,” Lissa retorted. “That’s the problem.  I don’t know why he even bothered to take the meeting instead of having Barbara reschedule with me, but it was clear from the first second that he had no interest in what I had to say. So there I was, stuck trying to get his attention while he literally was sitting there answering emails right in front of my while I talked.”

“Oh, my God!” Laurie laughed uproariously.  “You can’t be serious!”

“I am,” Lissa said drily.  “And as if that weren’t bad enough, I went off on him.  For not paying attention to me.  Then I stood up, took my marbles and went home.  So yeah, I didn’t make a great first impression on Gregory Thorne.  I’m pretty sure that job is not gonna go to me. I’m so sorry, Laur.  I know you worked hard to get me the interview, and I blew it.”

“Wow.  You actually told him off?” Laurie was incredulous.

“Yeah.  In no uncertain terms.  I lost my cool.  But in my defense, I have never been treated with such rudeness and arrogance in a professional situation. Honestly, it’s a wonder to me how he ever got so successful with an attitude like that.”  Lissa sighed and took a sip of her wine.

“Well, guys get away with a lot of things in the corporate world that women can’t.”  Laurie’s tone was resigned.  “It is really too bad, Lissa.  This could have been a really great opportunity for you.  But what’s done is done.  You just have to move on.”

“Yeah,” Lissa agreed.  “I do have some other clients lined up to meet with in the next couple of weeks, so it’s okay.  I’ll recover.”
Nothing as huge as Thorne Industries, though. 
Sighing, Lissa changed the subject.  “So, I hear you’re in your car.  Headed home?”

“Yes, finally,” Laurie replied.  “Jon’s got the kids tonight – karate lessons.  I’ll probably be home before them, for once.  If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll have half an hour of blissful solitude before they get back.”

Lissa smiled.  As much as Laurie complained about never having any time to herself, she loved being a mom, and her hectic life.  Lissa knew Laurie would never give up any of the craziness for something calmer.  “Well, kick back with a glass of wine, like I’m doing.  Cheers.”

“Cheers, sis.  Talk this weekend?”

“Deal,” Lissa agreed, and hung up.

Two days later, Lissa was standing in line at her local coffee shop, waiting to get a latte after her yoga class, when her phone buzzed.  Barbara Randall’s name appeared on the illuminated screen. 

“Hello?” she answered, stepping out of line and taking a seat at an unoccupied table.

“Ms. Bradford? This is Barbara Randall.”

“Oh, Ms. Randall,” Lissa replied.  “How are you?  I was so sorry to miss you at our meeting the other day.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that.  Family crisis that couldn’t be avoided, I’m afraid.”

“I hope everything’s all right.”

“Yes, luckily.  My mother took a fall, but she’ll be fine.  I’m an only child, you see.  Fortunately, I think this might be the event that convinces Mother to look into an assisted living arrangement.”  Barbara Randall’s voice turned businesslike as she changed the subject.  “At any rate, I’m back now, and wanted to follow up with you on the Women in Business event.  You left some menus and plans here with Greg, but he didn’t have much to tell me about your meeting.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry,” Lissa murmured as she felt her face redden.  She had only realized once she’d gotten home that she had left some materials at Gregory Thorne’s office that Barbara would probably feel uncomfortable just throwing away.  Lissa, embarrassed, hoped that Barbara hadn’t interpreted that as an excuse on Lissa’s part to come back to the office, when it was clear that their business was finished.  This must be the reason for Barbara’s call, she reasoned. “I’m sorry to have left those materials there.  I can certainly come pick them up, if you’d like to just leave them with the front receptionist.”

“I don’t understand,” Barbara Randall said in a puzzled tone.  “No, I’d like to schedule a follow-up meeting so you can explain to me everything you told Greg about the event.”

“I’m... I’m sorry?” Lissa stammered. 

“Ms. Bradford,” Barbara repeated patiently, “I’d like to schedule a meeting with you so we can go over plans.  Greg was very impressed with you, and requested specifically that we hire your company to cater the event.  He said that you were the perfect person and that he wouldn’t accept anyone else.  You’ve got the job, Ms. Bradford.”

*   *   *

S
ix weeks later, Lissa was sitting in Barbara Randall’s office at Thorne Investments, going over some final details for the event.  Over the previous weeks, the two women had gotten to know one another well enough that Lissa had come to consider Barbara a friend. Despite their nearly twenty year age difference, Lissa admired and appreciated Barbara’s slightly brusque but always straightforward manner.  Barbara, for her part, saw great potential in Lissa and thoroughly approved of how the younger woman had handled the preparations for the Women in Business event.  She knew that, if things went well, she would hire Select Catering in the future, and was proud to think that her firm would have had a hand in helping such a talented and ambitious young woman move up in the world.

“So,” Barbara was saying, “the final head count looks to be somewhere around seventy to eighty guests, with the main table needing to seat twelve, give or take.” 

“That’s perfect,” said Lissa, taking note on her laptop.  “I’ve lined up all the servers, and with these final numbers I can go meet with Joseph for the linens and dinnerware.  By the way, here’s a final look at the room viewer,” she said, angling the laptop so that Barbara could see it.  A CAD drawing of the space flashed on the screen, showing the positioning of everything from table placement to floral arrangements. 

“Very impressive,” Barbara murmured.

Lissa smiled.  “I’ll give printed diagrams to all the vendors to use for planning and setup,” she nodded.  “Oh, and of course to you, as well.  In fact, if you’d like, I can email this to you right now.”

“Yes, please do,” Barbara said.  Leaning back against the brown leather couch the two were seated on, she removed her reading glasses and smoothed back her silver-gray hair.  “I think we’re set to go, Lissa.  This looks fantastic.  I must say, you’ve done a wonderful job of all this.  Your sister was very right to recommend you.”

Lissa beamed with pride.  “Thank you.  You have no idea how much I appreciate that.  It’s been a pleasure working with you, Barb.  I think we’ve got something really special here, honestly.  This event is going to be a great success, I’m sure of it.”

Barbara’s eyes twinkled.  “Is it bad luck to celebrate an event before it’s happened?  We always have champagne chilled, for when we close deals with privileged clients,” she said.  “It’s Friday afternoon, after all, the end of a long week, and I’ve been working on the logistics of this event for months.  I’m in the mood to celebrate.  Care to join me?”

Lissa didn’t need much convincing.  “Absolutely,” she grinned. 

“Okay, wait right here.”  Barb stood up and strode to her door.  “Be right back!”

Lissa breathed a heavy sigh of satisfaction as she watched Barbara Randall disappear down the hallway.  She was proud of the work they had done together; it was a pleasure to know that she had truly done her best by Thorne Investments.  The event looked as though it would shape up wonderfully.  Lissa was staring out the window at the skyline, basking in the afterglow, when a movement near the doorway in her peripheral vision.  Thinking it was Barbara returning, she turned to speak, and found herself staring open-mouthed at Gregory Thorne himself.

The man looked at her with a stricken expression; it was clear he had expected to find Barbara and not Lissa.  “Ms. Bradford,” he murmured by way of greeting.

Lissa felt her face flush red.  Not since the first day of their interview had she seen Gregory Thorne.  Though she had been back at Thorne Investments any number of times for meetings with Barbara, Thorne was always out of the office for a meeting or a business trip when she showed up.  At first, she had always arrived for her meetings horribly nervous about the possibility of seeing him again; but over time, she had almost forgotten he owned the company, so scarce had he made himself.  Now, here he was in the flesh standing right in front of her.  He seemed as taken aback as she was at the encounter.

“Mr. Thorne,” she finally managed to say in a slightly strangled voice.  “Um, Barbara just went down the hall for a moment.  She’ll be right back.”

“I see...” Gregory Thorne threw a quick glance behind him as if hoping the woman would reappear.  “Well, then, could you please let her know that I’m looking...” 

“Greg!” Barb’s voice came ringing down the hall.  “Just in time! Lissa and I just wrapped up the final details for the Women in Business event.  Come have a glass of champagne with us to celebrate!”

Thorne backed away from the doorway and Barb came bustling in with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.  “Come on, Greg, sit down with us.  Lissa’s work on this has been stupendous.  You’re going to be thrilled with the results, I know it.”

“I...” Gregory Thorne began, “Uh, Barbara, I have some things to take care of before I leave for the day. I just came in to ask you...”

“Oh, nonsense, Greg, take five minutes and celebrate with us.  It’s Friday afternoon, for God’s sake.  Anything you have to do before you leave can wait a few more minutes.  The world won’t end if you send an email a few minutes later than expected.”

Lissa, despite the pounding in her chest at coming face to face with the man she had so roundly taken to task at their first meeting, couldn’t help but notice with amusement that Barbara Randall seemed completely unintimidated by her rich and powerful boss.  Listening to her talk to him, one would have thought they were colleagues, equals, instead of her being in his employ.  Lissa felt a small jolt of satisfaction at watching her not take no for an answer from Gregory Thorne. 

It was fascinating to watch Thorne sigh with resignation and give in to Barbara’s insistence.  “Fine,” he glowered, “Five minutes.”  He walked into the office and sat down in a brown leather chair across from the couch where Lissa and Barb were seated.  Barbara handed him the bottle.  “Here, you open this.  I’ll run down the hall and get a third glass.” And then, to Lissa’s utter consternation, Barb disappeared down the hallway again, leaving her and Thorne seated face to face.

Thorne’s eyes locked on hers for a frightening moment, and then he tore his gaze away and concentrated on opening the bottle.  Lissa thought she should say something, but it felt as though there was a giant ball of ice lodged in her throat.  Instead, she could only watch helplessly as his strong, square hands loosened the wire cage on the cork, then expertly eased it out of its sheath.  With a subdued ‘pop’, the cork came free, and he caught up one of the flutes and poured out some of the mousse and yeasty golden liquid.  He held out the glass to her wordlessly.  Something about the way his gaze connected with hers as he offered the flute made her breath catch in her throat and her heart leap in her chest. As she took the glass from him, their fingers touched briefly, and she stifled a gasp as a jolt of unexpected heat ran through her. 

Just then, Barbara came back into the room, breaking the tense mood.  “Here we are,” she said gaily, sitting down next to Lissa and handing her empty glass to Greg.  He finished filling the second flute and handed it to her, then filled his own.  “To Women in Business,” Barbara crowed, raising her flute, “and to Lissa, for a fantastic job on an event that’s going to make us all proud.”

The three of them raised their glasses, Gregory’s eyes locking on Lissa’s as they did.  Lissa raised the glass to her lips and felt the cool, golden liquid slide down her throat and warm her with its glow.  “This is delicious,” she breathed, staring at the glass. 

“Veuve Clicquot,” Barbara nodded, and Lissa glanced in recognition at the distinctive orange label.  She had been so distracted by Gregory Thorne’s presence that she hadn’t even noticed what he was pouring. 

“Of course,” Lissa smiled.  “Excellent choice as a champagne for celebrations.  Classic.” 

Lissa was relieved to see that Barbara didn’t appear to notice the tension between her and Gregory Thorne. The man sat, impassive, as Barbara continued to chatter about the event and heaped glowing praise on Lissa.  Lissa, for her part, tried to avoid looking at Gregory.  As Barbara continued to talk, she found herself loosening up as the champagne began to relax her.  Even Thorne eventually seemed to ease into the conversation, and little by little he began to ask questions about the specifics of the event.  Lissa was only too happy to have something work-related to talk about.  At his request, she explained her thinking about food choices, staging, and other details he wanted to know.  As she spoke, she found herself less terrified to look at this man, whose rugged handsomeness had so disconcerted her at their first meeting.  Now, as he sipped his champagne and watched her talk, she was struck again by his square, strong chin and his thick, sensual lips, which were now curled upwards slightly in an expression that might almost have been a smile.  Her heart fluttered a little in her chest at even this slight evidence that he was not wholly hostile toward her.  She remembered again now that he had told Barbara to hire her – that he would accept no one else –after Lissa had berated him, even shamed him, at her interview.  As she looked at him now, her brow twisted momentarily in confusion as she wondered what it was that Gregory Thorne actually
thought
of her.