In the Eye of the Storm / Catering to the CEO

by Samantha Chase

  Everyone nodded. “Good. Now pass me the rice.”

  For an hour, there was peace. To Adam’s way of thinking, the Jacobs family was sneaky in their attack. No one said anything directly to him, but the conversation did seem continually to find its way to Cassie and her business. With each comment in her favor, the speaking sibling would give him an accusing glare. Fine, if they wanted to believe him to be Jack the Ripper, Scrooge, and an ogre rolled into one, then so be it. Maybe after dinner he’d find some puppies to kick to prove their point.

  Cassie’s laughter broke through his train of thought and caused a slight clench in his stomach. Why had he never noticed what a great laugh she had? Probably because he never gave her a reason to laugh when they were working together. Come to think of it, no one laughed around him. This was the first time in he couldn’t remember how long that he was surrounded by people having a good time. When had his life become such a misery?

  Matt slapped his hands together, startling everyone into silence. “What’s for dessert, Cass?”

  All eyes turned expectantly to Cassie as she cried out, “Oh, no!”

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “I had some lovely pies and pastries, and I left them at the shop.” Standing, Cassie began clearing the table, quickly followed by her sisters. Once again, Adam couldn’t help but admire the way the siblings worked together, enjoying the domestic tasks.

  He held in the shudder that wanted to overtake his body at the thought.

  “Cass, go get the dessert. We’ll do the cleanup, right, Kate?” Lauren suggested. Katie nodded and continued to clear the table, all the while answering Bev’s question about baby Ella.

  Untying the apron that she’d forgotten to take off before sitting down to eat, Cassie tossed it into the laundry room and walked through the kitchen, telling everyone she’d be right back. Grabbing her purse from the living room sofa, she called to Lauren that she was taking her car since it was behind Cassie’s, and walked out the door. It was pitch-black outside, and it wasn’t until she stepped around to the driver’s side of the car that she saw Adam.

  If there was a single thought prevalent in her mind as she was heading out it was that it would be good to have a reprieve from Adam. Apparently, it was to be a short-lived one.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  “I thought I’d ride with you so maybe we can clear the air a little and try to salvage this night.”

  A mirthless laugh came out before Cassie could stop it. “You mean you want to make me fall in line like one of your employees so my family will stop shooting daggers at you, don’t you?”

  With a shrug, Adam stepped aside as she came around the car to climb into the driver’s seat. Leaving him standing there, Cassie started the car and buckled herself in before rolling the window down. “It’ll be mighty hard for you to ride with me while you’re standing in the driveway…”

  With that, he walked around to the passenger side and climbed in.

  Cassie’s shop was only ten minutes away, and they spent nine of them in silence. “I’ve never been to your facility before,” Adam said, noting its proximity to her family home as well as downtown Raleigh. “How long have you been here?”

  Parking the car right in front, Cassie turned it off before answering him. “It’s been almost three years, although it took a few months of renovating the place before I could use it to its full potential.” She climbed out, and Adam followed.

  From the outside, the building didn’t look like much; it was a brick facade with a large window display and a pretty wood door with a stained-glass design. Walking inside, however, Adam was impressed. The showroom was designed to present the available table settings, each table done in a different color scheme with coordinating china and flowers. Around the room were shelves holding displays of baskets, silk flowers, and an assortment of pictures from what he guessed to be events that Cassie had done.

  Walking farther in, he passed under an archway that led into a smaller room with pocket doors that felt open and inviting. There was a large desk to the left sitting at an angle, and in front of it were two large upholstered chairs, presumably for clients. This must be her office. Very clever, he thought to himself. Bring the customers through the showroom before sitting with them.

  Adam heard Cassie moving around in the room behind her office. The door to it was wide and swung as one would find in a restaurant leading to the kitchen, and once he stepped through, he realized that was exactly where he was.

  There was glimmering stainless steel everywhere, and the smell of bleach was strong enough to prove the place was clean but not enough to be overpowering. He saw Cassie stepping out of what he saw to be a walk-in refrigerator. There was a row of stoves, four of them, on the right-hand wall. In the center of the room were work islands, to the left were cabinets and shelves, and toward the rear were the sinks. Adam found himself quite impressed with the efficiency of the overall layout.

  Cassie had several pink cake boxes in her hands, and she placed them on the nearest island before turning to shut the refrigerator door. Rubbing her hands together, she moved to one of the cabinets to find a bag for easier transport.

  “You’ve got a great setup here, Cassandra, truly impressive.”

  She had to stop herself from turning and giving him a snarky remark. After all, he sounded sincere, and if what he’d said earlier about wanting to clear the air was true, this was not the time for sarcasm.

  “Thank you. It took a while to get it right so we can all work without bumping into one another, but I finally ironed out all the kinks, and I’m pleased with it.”

  “You should be. I guess I never put much thought into where you worked.” Looking around the kitchen, he noticed two doors in the corner; one led to the outside, and the other to an alcove. Cassie saw where he was looking.

  “We load everything from here. Our truck is kept in a small parking lot. There’s also a storage shed for extra tables, chairs, and whatnot. The other door leads to my apartment upstairs.”

  “You live here?”

  His tone put her back up; he sounded a bit appalled at the prospect. “I don’t live here in the kitchen, Adam. My apartment is separate and soundproofed, and it makes things easier for me when we have to pull a late night.”

  She continued packing the desserts. “I can drive the truck here, have the staff help me unload, and then walk up the stairs and be done with the day. Don’t tell me you don’t have something similar in your building because I happen to know for a fact that you do.”

  “True enough, but this is such a…a commercial space. I spend the occasional night at the office when I’m dealing with overseas accounts, but I wouldn’t want to live there full time.”

  “Well,” she replied tartly, “lucky for you that you have the kind of income that you can afford both. Most of us in the real world only have one place of residence.” She scooped up the bag with the dessert in it and was walking past Adam when he reached out and gently touched her arm to stop her.

  “Okay, okay, truce. I was out of line,” he said wearily. He had no idea why he had to explain himself to this woman, but things would be easier when they got back to the house if they were playing nice. “Look, everything got out of hand today at the office.”

  “You think?” She liked the fact that her tone had him arching an eyebrow at her.

  “Yes, I think,” he said with equal sarcasm. “The thing is, you were right.” Dammit. “If the tables were turned, I would not break the terms of my contract for any client, and that was what I was expecting you to do.”

  Cassie stood in stunned silence.

  “Your company has done nothing but a good job for mine, Cassandra, and I respect you as a business associate. I think you are a fine cook; nothing you’ve made for any of my events has ever disappointed, and I would very much like it if you would continue with the
fall retreat plan and maybe…forget what happened earlier today.”

  Adam stood and waited—somewhat patiently—for Cassie to say something. He became quickly irritated when she, as she had earlier, did not immediately respond. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to speak when—

  “All right, Adam, I’ll continue with this project.” He released the breath. “But there are some things that need to be said if we’re going to move forward and work together again beyond this event.”

  When he nodded, she continued. “For starters, I can’t speak for your staff, but I can tell you that I, personally, do not appreciate being spoken to like I’m an idiot.”

  “I’ve never—”

  She held up a hand to silence him. “You do. All the time. To everyone. As you can see here, I own my own business, and I know how to run it. I’m not operating out of the back of a van, so clearly I know what I am doing. I would trust you if I hired you for security because that’s what you do for a living. As an act of simple courtesy, I expect you to trust me when it comes to event planning and catering because this is what I do for a living.”

  “Now wait a minute—”

  “I’m not done!” she snapped, pleased to see his mouth snap shut. “I am damn good at what I do, Adam, you’ve said so yourself. I appreciate you wanting to give your input, I honestly do, but I expect it to be given in a respectful tone. I’m a grown woman, not a child.”

  She stood tall, crossed her arms over her chest, and heaved a sigh of completion. “Now, do you have something to say?”

  Oh, man, did he! Adam’s first instinct was to blast her for speaking to him that way, and then he reined himself in. Mentally counting to ten, he leaned on the island in front of her. “I did not realize that the way I spoke was so offensive. No one’s ever said anything to me before about it.”

  “That’s because you would fire them,” she said blandly.

  He gave her a look that showed she was grating on his patience. “I was not allowed to interrupt you. I’d expect the same courtesy.” Cassie nodded and let him go on. “In my line of work, in my position, that is the way that it’s done. I demand perfection from the people around me because it is my reputation on the line, not theirs. I realize that although you are not a full-time employee of mine, maybe I have been equally demanding of you. For that, I apologize.”

  Cassie nearly fell where she stood.

  “I would like us to continue to work together, Cassandra, and maybe now that we’ve talked this through and know where we’re each coming from, we can do so with no hard feelings.” Adam held out his hand to seal the deal and watched as Cassie eyed him warily. He hated having to apologize. But if he told the truth, he really did need her to finish the event. Their meeting tonight had been serendipitous and allowed him to save face, actually. It would have been much worse if he’d had to call her in a few days and grovel to get his damn event catered.

  When Cassie finally reached out her hand to his and shook, Adam was temporarily stunned. There was a jolt that had never been there before. He looked at her and saw that she felt it too, as she snatched her hand away. “Thank you, Adam.”

  “I’m looking forward to this event, and I know it will be perfect as we discussed.” Adam scooped up the bag with the dessert and followed Cassie out of the kitchen. He watched the sway of her hips in faded jeans and smiled in the darkness with pure male appreciation as she turned out the lights.

  While Adam couldn’t deny that Cassie Jacobs was an attractive woman, he also couldn’t deny that she had crossed a line with him, one he didn’t allow anyone to cross. Unfortunately, in this particular situation, he had to bide his time to meet a deadline. With the event in eleven days, his hands were tied. Once this retreat was over, however, so was his business with Cassie.

  Permanently.

  Chapter 3

  Adam walked out behind Cassie and waited beside her as she set the alarm and locked up. They climbed into the car, and he could see that some of the tension had left her. Excellent. That meant she believed what he had said and that the dogs should be called off when they arrived at her father’s house with dessert.

  It didn’t take long, however, to note that something was wrong. Cassie had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, and she was breathing deeply, as if trying to get through something. “Are you all right?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

  “Fine,” she said tightly, fumbling slightly as she reached for her cell phone. Adam wanted to offer to dial for her or at least remind her to keep her eye on the road while she dialed, but in a flash, she had the phone to her ear and was speaking.

  “It’s me…we’re on the way home…no, no, I’m not. Thanks.” Tossing the phone into her purse with some irritation, Cassie resumed her death grip on the wheel.

  “Cassandra, what’s going on?” Adam demanded.

  “It’s nothing,” she managed through clenched teeth. “I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t speak right now.”

  Before he could argue any further, they were pulling into the driveway—practically on two wheels—as her entire family piled out the front door. Within seconds, Cassie’s sisters were helping her out of the car while her brother grabbed her bag. Her father stood at the door with Bev as Cassie was essentially carried into the house and out of sight. Adam stood by the passenger side door, wondering what had just happened.

  Taking the dessert with him, he slammed the car door and stalked to the house. Stephen and his mother were waiting for him. He stopped in front of them, expecting an explanation.

  “I’ll take that in” was all Stephen said as he took the bag from Adam and went into the house. Adam looked to his mother for answers.

  “Well?” he demanded of his mother. “What was that all about?”

  Stepping away from the door and out onto the porch, Bev let the door close and stood next to Adam. “Cassie has a condition. It flares up occasionally, and apparently it did so tonight. She’ll be okay in a little while. No worries.”

  “No worries?” he snapped. “She damn well nearly passed out in the car! Then we get here, and the whole family carries her inside! That doesn’t sound like a ‘condition,’ Mother. What’s wrong with her?”

  “Adam, trust me. It’s all okay, and Cassie will be fine. Her family is concerned about her, but that’s because they love her and don’t want her to be in any pain. I think it’s sweet.” Bev turned and surveyed the house. She sighed and looked at her son, who didn’t seem the least bit appeased by her explanation.

  “They’re a wonderful family, aren’t they?” she asked.

  Wanting more of an explanation than his mother was willing to give, Adam couldn’t help but be annoyed. “Yeah, sure, they’re great. You’re not the one they were giving the evil eye to all night. That doesn’t seem so wonderful to me.”

  “You had it coming. You hurt Cassie, and in turn, they wanted to hurt you because of it. They stick together. You have to respect that.”

  “Respect what?”

  “Their loyalty.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbled and saw Lauren and Matt heading for the kitchen and Katie not far behind them. “I guess we should head in.” Nodding, Bev waited as Adam held the door for her, and then went inside.

  On the way to the kitchen, Adam couldn’t help but look around to see where Cassie had gone to. He found the rest of the family setting dessert plates on the table and pouring coffee, but no sign of Cassie. With a sigh of frustration, he sat in the same chair he’d used during dinner. Lauren slammed a plate in front of him and sat across from him. And glared.

  “At least you apologized,” she said with a sour look and waited for Adam to respond.

  “I know when to admit I was wrong.” There was confidence in his words, but one look at Lauren showed him that she wasn’t buying it.

  “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not doing business with you, isn’t
it?” he said, not liking her mild intimidation. He mocked her pose and was relieved when she turned away and returned to setting out their dessert.

  Without appearing to care, Adam looked around to see if Cassie was going to join them or at least to get a clue to her whereabouts. Conversation kicked up around him while dessert was served, and within moments he got caught up in listening to the story of how his mother and Stephen had met.

  Rolling his eyes would have been completely inappropriate, and so would checking his watch; there was no choice but to listen to Bev and Stephen take turns talking about their awkward blind date arranged by friends. Bev’s eyes shone brightly as she talked about the point when they knew they were in love.

  It didn’t take long to see where this was going. Shifting in his seat, Adam could only pray that his instincts were wrong. He wasn’t used to his mother dating as it was; she used to date quite often when he was younger, but after one particularly nasty situation, she’d stopped. It had been easily ten years since she’d been serious with anyone.

  “I know this might be something of a shock to all of you,” Stephen was saying when Adam tuned back in, “but I’ve asked Bev to marry me.”

  The room erupted in congratulations so raucous that baby Ella was startled and started to cry. Katie rushed to pick up her daughter and soothed her as she went over to hug her father. Adam observed the rush before offering his own reserved congratulations to their parents.

  “Thank you, Adam,” Stephen said as he shook his hand. “I know we all got off to a rocky start this evening, but it seems you and Cassie have managed to work things out, and we don’t hold grudges around here. I want you to know that your mother means the world to me.” To reinforce his point, he put an arm around his fiancée and pulled her close before kissing her.