“This deal doesn’t just rest with you. I’m a partner now. That means your job is my interest too. James has you do so much because you’re the only one he had. I can help you with the presentation tomorrow. I bet you haven’t even eaten since Castle Rock.”
Jennifer touched her stomach. She looked down, feeling her insides grumble in agreement. She hadn’t given dinner much thought and probably would have just ordered in, if at all.
“You work so hard,” Andrew continued. He reached for her face and stroked the bottom of her chin with a curled index finger. Jennifer smiled at his touch. “Why don’t you just give yourself a break and eat like a human tonight with me?” Andrew leaned against the door post with a shoulder. He seemed to tower over her even with the lazy lean he had moved into.
“C’mon, Jessica.”
Jennifer arched a lip. “Jessica?”
Andrew smiled. “You forgot to look her up, didn’t you?”
Jennifer warmed at Andrew’s soft voice. She rolled her eyes playfully.
“You can look her up at dinner with me.”
He pulled a grin from Jennifer. She wasn’t quite sure how he was able to do that to her. She was a workaholic, and never shared so much as a secret with other employees of the office. She considered his words. James did keep her pretty busy with requests, expectations, and work. She had never actually thought much about it. He paid her very well to be at his beck and call, so that’s what she did. Hearing Andrew speak about her work ethic made her feel proud.
She glanced into the room and towards the bed, where papers had been strewn across the her makeshift work table. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to work where you sleep, but the bed always seemed much more efficient than a desk. Meeting Andrew’s eyes again, Jennifer shrugged. She had changed from her moist romper knee high yoga pants and a tank. Andrew was back in professional casual wear, slacks, a collared shirt, and a thin black belt to seal it all together. He really knew how to dress well, as most millionaires did.
“Formal?” Jennifer asked.
“Yeah. A cute dress or something. Can you be ready in ten minutes?”
Not likely. The light curls Jennifer love to bump her hair with for volume had completely fallen out during the hike earlier. Absently, she ran a hand through her hair and looked down at the handful she held.
“It looks good. I promise. Ten minutes. Can you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Jennifer tried to imagine the last time she left her home without curls. She wasn’t even sure when she had come to value them so much.
“Jessica,” Andrew grinned at her. “You look,” he paused on a word, his face changing, “You look great with it just the way it is. You’ll be all right. I like it straight.”
She wasn’t sure how he could tell she felt uneasy about her hair, probably from the way she kept looking at it in her hands. Jennifer felt a discomfort creeping over her. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a step into her room.
Andrew reached for her wrist. “Is your hair naturally curly?” He asked suddenly.
Jennifer tried to hide the flush in her face. “No. But I was told I look better with more volume,” she looked down, feeling stupid for talking about it out loud with Andrew. What did it matter to him?
“Who told you that?”
James Melone did. And her hairdresser had confirmed it. Usually, Jennifer loved trying new styles and new looks. With one particular pick, James had fawned over her all night. She liked the way he had looked at her. She wasn’t aware that he liked curly haired women, but she never got that look out her mind since then. It encouraged her to strive for the curls every chance she got. On the other hand, Katie was a dyed blonde with perfectly straight hair. She didn’t quite understand that one.
“I don’t know, Andrew,” Jennifer took another retreating step into her room, but this time Andrew stepped forward.
He moved his hand from her wrist to the top of her hair where the pushed his fingers through. She felt his fingers run through her hair and found herself closing her eyes. She wanted to find his hands and cover them with her own. Instead, she stood still. Nothing came. Her hope fell when she opened her eyes. Andrew had dropped a hand and had taken a step back. He was looking behind himself, towards the door. He turned back to Jennifer and removed his other palm quickly. He offered her a weak smile.
“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said softly. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “And I would love just to take you as you are right now to the resturant,” he paused and cast a cursory look over the length of her body, “but they have a dress code.”
Jennifer couldn’t help but smile. She locked hair behind her ears. “Okay. So what do you propose?” She put her hands on her hips and arched her back, wondering if Andrew would look at her again. He did. This time his eyes lingered. She smiled.
“Just grab a dress.” He took a step back. “The first dress you see, okay?”
Jennifer laughed. “What if I don’t like it?”
Andrew pressed his lips together and looked at his watch. “We have five minutes to go, or we’ll miss our reservation. It’s a nice restaurant.” Andrew pointed towards the hall but ran into the doorpost as he attempted to leave.
Jennifer giggled this time. “Wait for me.”
“In the lobby,” Andrew reached for the door handle, with the other hand he rubbed his forehead.
“No, right outside.” Jennifer grinned when she saw a flash of worry in Andrew’s face. “You can tell me which dress you like.”
“We don’t have time for that.” He covered his face and muttered something into his hands. Jennifer laughed.
“Just two dresses, okay? Tell me which you like more.” Jennifer waited to catch Andrew’s eyes. He was interested, but still torn between the pressing time limit. Glancing at his watch again, he looked to Jennifer with purpose.
“Two dresses.”
“Okay. Two. I promise.” She grinned and skipped to her luggage on the floor beside her bed. Squatting down, she ruffled through the clothes. She packed more than a week’s worth of possibilities, simply because you could never be too sure about what an occasion might warrant. Many of her dresses were made of light, ethereal fabric. She didn’t care too much for thick cotton against her skin.
She grabbed a black floral print, sleeveless dress, and another dress, multicolored with a smock waist, also sleeveless. As she stood, she held the black floral dress up first.
“How’s this?”
Andrew nodded. “That looks great—oh, that one’s even better,” his eyes grew wide as she lifted the second dress. With a smile tugging at her lips, Jennifer looked over the green multicolored dress. It was thigh high and had a back cut out trim to it.
“This one wins your vote?” She looked towards Andrew again. He nodded eagerly.
In the bathroom, Jennifer changed quickly. It wasn’t hard. Most of her dresses carried an unspoken “bra optional” status, although she chose to keep the one she already wore on beneath the silky fabric. She fanned her hair in the mirror, and then grabbed her brush and ran it through a couple of times. She couldn’t even remember the last time she wore her hair straight. Jennifer stepped out the bathroom and curtsied.
“How do I look?” She twirled around once and then stopped to hold Andrew’s eyes. He looked at her with a piercing gaze.
“You look like you always look. Beautiful.”
Chapter Twelve
Dinner and a Surprise
JENNIFER BROKE THE stare. She looked down at her feet and muttered something about her shoes before she turned away. Moments later, she exited the room with a pair of low heels on and a small clutch. In the elevator, she dared to meet Andrew’s eyes again.
“How do you know how I always look? You’ve seen me maybe all of two days, and now you’re an expert on how I look?” Her tone was harsher than it should have been.
Andrew avoided looking down at her and faced the closed chrome doors of the elevator. For a moment, he said
nothing. When the elevator stopped, he smiled and met Jennifer’s eyes.
“Just because we’ve never spoken before doesn’t mean I’ve never seen you before.” He turned to vacate the elevator before Jennifer could ask more. His stride through the parking garage caused Jennifer to jog every third step in order to keep up.
In the car, Jennifer pulled her seatbelt on and crossed her arms over her chest. Andrew started the engine. She tried to think of all the events where she might have seen Andrew’s face. There were many, but she was certain she had never seen him. His name certainly sounded familiar, but she had never met him previously. Ever. She was sure of it.
In Chicago, wealthy individuals roamed the same crowds. They attended the same events and partied the same way. For her, attending those events were just another part of her routine, of her job as James Melone’s assistant. She remembered how Andrew helped her to save face while dining with the mayor. He certainly seemed to know a lot about her and yet she felt as if she knew nothing about him practically, except what he told her directly. Still, it sounded like he didn’t tell anyone those things that he had told her. A part of her liked that. It felt like she shared a secret with him. Then again, secrets could also be bad.
Jennifer opened her clutch and pulled out several pieces of jewelry, bracelets, and necklaces. She hadn’t had the time to adorn them properly before she left and used the moment to fill the air she felt thickening with unease.
Once at Eddie Merlot’s, they were escorted to a table along a back wall. The atmosphere was just as intimate and magnificent as the air created at the Terrance in between Chicago’s downtown skyscrapers, minus the fabulous outside seating. Instead, dim lighting and short, spacious cushioned chairs greeted them. It seemed crazy to think that hours before she was scaling a mountainside with Andrew. Jennifer grinned and took a seat quickly.
“Pleased with the place?” He asked.
Jennifer nodded. “You seem to know the area well,” she leaned back in the chair and looked around to the other chairs and tables across the restaurant floor. “I like that.”
Andrew chuckled. “My heart will always be with this state,” he leaned forward. “I own land in Estes Park, near Rocky Mountain National Park.”
Jennifer’s eyes widened. “Really? That seems interesting. A ranch?”
He shrugged. “You could call it that.”
With a nod, Jennifer placed her clutch into her lap. After ordering wine, Andrew motioned to the menu with a wave of his hand.
“This is a steak house, but they have great salmon if you’re more into fish.”
Jennifer smirked. She opened the menu and ran her eyes over the list. After a moment, she sat the menu down and took a deep breath.
“Why don’t you tell me what to get?” She tested, meeting Andrew’s dark eyes. He frowned slightly.
“That’s impossible. I don’t know what you like.”
“No?” Jennifer smiled. “You seem to know an awful lot about me though.” She watched his face change to serious. “Why don’t you give it a shot?”
Andrew reached for his glass of wine and lifted it to his lips slowly. After a drink, he replaced the glass and heaved his shoulders up with a deep breath.
“Will you at least tell me how you like your steak?”
“Medium rare,” Jennifer responded.
“Okay,” Andrew squared himself to her and leaned over the table slightly. “I’ll order for you but if I get it wrong, I warned you.”
Jennifer shrugged. She wasn’t too good at picking out new entrees from unfamiliar restaurants anyway. She was almost certain that anything he picked would more than likely be fine; she just wanted to see him sweat beneath the pressure. He was interested in her, that much she could tell, but she had no idea why, and that bothered her.
“So where have you seen me?” Jennifer questioned once Andrew placed orders for the both of them.
He took a moment with his glass of wine before answering. “Around. You attend a lot of events with Melone,” he waited before adding on, “and sometimes by yourself.”
Jennifer’s lips firmed. “Why have you never introduced yourself to me before?”
Andrew watched Jennifer thoughtfully. His eyes ran over her face. He sat back in his chair and rested his hands on the tops of his thighs. “I don’t like to interrupt people while they’re clearly working.”
Jennifer considered his answer. He wasn’t being honest, but he obviously didn’t want to tell her the truth.
“I know your role with Melone, but only because I’ve talked to him.” Andrew offered after a while. Jennifer shifted. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her boss talking about her behind her back.
“You though, Jessica,” Andrew toyed with a growing grin. “I don’t know anything about you.”
Jennifer wanted to look away but found she couldn’t. Melone was somewhere on her mind, but not really. He was miles away, in Jersey, with an old time best friend doing who knows what. He had never shown an interest in her, although Jennifer was certain he was nicer to her than anyone else he employed. She felt it had to count for something, but here was a man—an exceptionally good looking man, who wanted to know about more than just the reports she was able to produce.
“What do you want to know?” Jennifer stammered at length.
Andrew’s smile grew. “Whatever you’re willing to tell me. Do you date?”
Jennifer looked away, covering her mouth with her thin fingers.
“I’m sorry, was that to direct?” Andrew laughed, watching Jennifer recover from her shock. She shook her head.
“Um, date? As in,” she swallowed, “like a relationship?”
Andrew chuckled, nodding. “Well, yeah. That would be the kind. Do you see anyone?”
She shook her head, probably a little too fast. “Uh, no. No, I,” she took a deep breath, “I’m way too busy right now for that.”
“Busy?”
Jennifer nodded matter-of-factly as if it would answer his question. When Andrew’s questionable face failed to change, she reached for her glass of wine. “I mean I do date, but right now, no.”
“Because you’re too busy?”
Jennifer lingered on the question before answering. “Yeah. Yes, I mean,” she looked down, “I travel a lot. Sometimes I’ve been gone as much as two weeks out of a month.” She met Andrew’s eyes again. “My last relationship couldn’t take all the traveling, the late night events I attended, the weekend stuff I did to stay on top of things for Melone.”
“You work on your days off? Is that why you stopped racing?”
He threw questions at her like rapid fire. His eyes never left her face. Suddenly, she found herself getting irritated. She didn’t like the scrutiny in his eyes or his voice.
“Sometimes, as it’s necessary. You ask a lot of questions,” she responded, her last sentence abrupt and complete with a click of her tongue.
Her jab didn't faze Andrew. He took a slow, steady breath in before he rested his back against the chair. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Jennifer’s resolve weakened. “Your turn,” she said quickly. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I’m a male.”
She laughed. “Tell me more. What do you do? Besides work, that is?”
Andrew nodded thoughtfully at the question. “I was just about to ask you that. I like to travel. And fish. I do that too. I hike.”
“Outdoors guy.”
“Beach guy too, and the ocean. I love parasailing.”
Jennifer looked at Andrew with a renewed interest. “Saving for a yacht?”
“Actually…” he laughed.
“No way!”
Andrew nodded. “Why not?” He shrugged. “I love fishing, why shouldn’t I try a little deep sea diving one day off my own boat?” He chuckled. “One of the things I love about my money is that I can literally do anything I want, whenever I want.”
Jennifer smiled. He was starting to sound more like the other millionaires she kne
w. “All that money must be nice. I’m surprised you don’t have your own plane,” she chuckled at her tease until she saw Andrew’s face. “Seriously?”
“Doesn’t Melone?”
Jennifer scoffed and shook her head. “Unless he’s hiding that from me too.”
“Hmmm,” Andrew glanced down. “What else does he keep from you?”
The question stopped Jennifer. She didn’t mean for her statement to sound like that. James didn’t keep anything front her—wait, that wasn’t true. He didn’t tell her about Andrew, or about how he always ate with the mayor. He even seemed hesitant to tell her about Katie back when they finally became official. That had only pissed her off.
She only took care of everything else in his life—it didn’t make sense why he had suddenly tried to hide Katie from her. Once she found out that he was with someone, things changed. She couldn’t remember how, but she knew they just did. It was proof that he wasn’t interested and never would be; still, it never kept her from crying to herself on those weekends when she felt too lonely to go out and too alone to call someone because she worked too hard and too much to keep friends at her side.
Jennifer cleared her throat and smiled as three different employees swirled around their table. Their food had arrived. Andrew received a steak dish with a bright cream sauce, a mushroom gravy-like topping, and fresh garden veggies. A thick cut of sesame topped tuna lying atop raw seaweed with a side of spiced fruit was set before Jennifer. She marveled at the dish.
“You didn’t order me a steak?” She asked, poking at the seared tuna with a fork.
“Ever had tuna like this?” Andrew sliced into his steak, cutting off a thick square. As he took a bite, he closed his eyes. “Eddie Merlot’s is so good,” he managed between the bite.
Jennifer chuckled and then decided to try the tuna. It was spicy, juicy, and meaty with just a hint of fish.
“Oh my god,” she said in a breath.
“Good isn’t it?”
With a rushed nod, Jennifer sawed off more to place in her mouth. She didn’t even realize she could like tuna, but Andrew knew. She looked at him, silently watching as he smeared a piece of his steak in the sauce. Before he placed the meat in his mouth, he stopped to meet Jennifer’s eyes.
Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Boss - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 1) Page 9
