Grace could not hide the look of shock on her face. “Immediately? As in right now?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, no, of course not. I just didn’t realize that you…um…it wasn’t on your schedule.” She fumbled through her contacts file as she spoke, feeling as if she were all thumbs.
Adam had to stifle a chuckle. It took a lot to unnerve Grace and clearly the thought of him taking an unscheduled trip to the beach did it. “Ask them to purchase some basic supplies for me, as well. Milk, eggs, that sort of thing.”
Grace merely nodded as she began to dial the number. “Will you be back on Monday?”
“I believe so but that could change. I’m thinking of holding the retreat there in a couple of weeks.”
The phone slid from her shoulder and she fumbled to catch it and put it right. Holding up a finger for him to wait, Grace spoke to the agency and made the arrangements that Adam had asked for. When she hung up, she faced him full-on and asked what was going on.
“This deal is very important to the company, Grace, and I thought I’d try something new. Something that will include the wives. Why? Do you think it’s a bad idea?”
“No, actually, it’s a brilliant idea. I can call around and find you an agency that can come in and do all of the cooking and cleaning and that sort of thing if you’d like. I’m sure the one that’s on their way to the house now could help and…”
“That won’t be necessary,” he interrupted. “I’ve already made arrangements. Have a good weekend, Grace.” The look on her face was near comical as he walked away.
Adam threw his briefcase into the back seat of the car and sped towards his house to pack and within an hour he was on his way. Pulling into the back parking lot of Cassie’s shop, he hopped out and knocked on the door.
“Adam?” she said as she pulled open the door. Wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt, Cassie fidgeted with her pony tail as she stood there looking at the casual version of Adam Lawrence. In faded blue jeans and a sweater, it was the first time Cassie had seen him in anything but a suit. “Wow, twice in one week,” she said with a smile. “Come in.”
Adam walked through the door and into the massive kitchen and waited for her to close the door. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, actually. Thanks. I’m getting a little antsy to get back to work but Katie has our event for this weekend covered and so I promised that I’d behave and stay out of the way.” She fidgeted some more with her shirt before adding, “It’s just about killing me.”
“I can relate to that completely,” He smiled and felt it broaden as Cassie smiled back. “Actually, I think I have something that can help.”
“Really?”
“I’m taking your advice and I’m going to host that retreat at my place on the Outer Banks. I’m on my way there now for the weekend and thought you might want to come along with me.”
“Um…”
Adam walked towards Cassie and fought the urge to take her hands in his. He could tell that her mind was racing with all kinds of questions – he was good at reading people like that – and knew that he should explain himself.
“This was your brainchild so I thought maybe you could come with me and help me plan it all out. Plus, the beach is a great place to recuperate and you’ll be able to relax and not be trying to stay away from your kitchen. What do you say?”
“Oh…I don’t know, Adam. I mean…”
“There’s nothing to know,” he said smoothly; ready to cut down all of her objections. “This was your creative idea and I would appreciate your help.”
He was being vague, Cassie thought. Was he just going to pick her brain for the weekend and then hire somebody else? She wanted to stamp her foot and demand to know but decided to act as casual as he and act as if it didn’t matter. “Well,” she began, “I guess it would be nice to get out of here for a few days.”
“Good girl.”
“I’ll just need about fifteen minutes to pack and get ready.” Cassie turned and headed for the stairs to her apartment not waiting to see if Adam would follow. She knew he would. Once upstairs, she made a beeline for her bedroom and pulled a small suitcase from her closet and began filling it with clothes. In minutes she was done. Pulling up the handle, she rolled the suitcase to the door and then turned to grab a sweatshirt to wear for the ride. “I’m all ready,” she said as she walked around and made sure that windows were locked and lights were turned off. “I’ll call Kate from the road and let her know where I’ll be.”
With disbelief, Adam looked at his watch. Only ten minutes had passed. “Are you sure you have everything?” He stared at her lone piece of luggage and then looked back at Cassie, one dark eyebrow arched.
“Sure. It’s only a weekend. I’m guessing we’ll be back sometime on Sunday, right?” Adam nodded. “Then I’ve got all that I need.”
They each reached for her suitcase at the same time, their hands grazing. Cassie pulled back, but not before she felt the heat of his touch and looked up and met his dark gaze. “I’ll get that,” he said, his tone deep and rich, like velvet washing over her skin. Their faces were mere inches apart and Cassie almost gave in to the need to lean into him and kiss him again.
Instead, reason returned and she stood and stepped aside for him to precede her down the stairs and joined him in the car.
The conversation flowed effortlessly during the three hour drive with Adam asking how she saw the plans for the retreat. She was an intelligent business woman, he already knew that, but it was the way that she passionately spoke about her work and her vision that intrigued him.
Most women that he knew were shallow; they were either too career oriented and ended up coming off as being cold or they had no desire to have a career and merely marry someone to support them for the rest of their lives.
While Cassie was definitely career oriented and seemed to have big plans for the expansion of her business, she came off as anything but cold. Her ideas sparked his own imagination and she had a way of talking that wrapped around you and made it easy to visualize whatever it was that she was saying. The only flaw that she had was that one brief meeting in his office.
He shrugged that thought aside, enjoying himself too much to let it get him down. Maybe she’d had a bad day. Hell, he had them a lot. For this weekend, however, that lone meeting, the only blemish on her impeccable record was going to be forgotten. Adam had big plans for this weekend and only some of them were business related.
“So I’m thinking that, weather permitting, you can make the deck into a fabulous dining venue. We can add twinkly lights and rent some extra tables and chairs, use some real linen table coverings…you know, move what’s inside to the outside so that your guests can enjoy the sounds and smells of the ocean. What do you think?”
In that moment Adam realized that she had been talking the whole time he’d been thinking. Cassie had not even seen his house and yet she was already making plans as if she’d been there and what she had planned, from the little he’d heard, sounded lovely.
“I don’t think we’ll have to rent too much, after all, they’ll only be eight of us.”
Cassie did the math in her head and she knew it was three couples and Adam. She was wondering who that eighth person was going to be. “Okay, that makes things a little easier and more intimate. You can do a large table for eight so that everyone is not crammed together and it can still be covered in linen, we’ll do seat covers so they’re not feeling like they’re sitting on folding chairs. We can decorate the table with tea lights and larger candles and pull together a centerpiece that is themed with seashells and sand…Oh, it’s going to look lovely.”
Adam’s head snapped towards hers at the use of the word ‘lovely’; a word he’d just used in his mind earlier. Cassie was describing everything that he’d had in his mind for this weekend without him prompting her in any way. Grace was the only other person that thought like him and even that had taken time. She had worked for Adam for ov
er a year when she finally stopped asking him how he liked things and simply presented what he liked.
“What about the menu? What are you thinking on that?”
Cassie glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and with a wicked grin on her face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Okay, you said that they would arrive on Friday afternoon after lunch, right?” He nodded. “So you’ll want to greet them with something light to eat, some cocktails. We can do some cheese and crackers, some crudités and dip and perhaps some fresh fruit.”
“For dinner, we’ll keep it casual. After all, they’ll have been on the road for several hours after traveling the previous days so we don’t want to command a formal environment that will have the wives fussing about getting ready. We can grill some steaks, get some fresh lobster…I do a fabulous seafood bar for some events that I can scale back and make for eight.”
She stopped and thought some more. “We’ll do grilled vegetables, a field green salad, and lots of wine, fresh baked bread…” Cassie turned and looked at Adam whose face looked grim. “Uh-oh,” she mumbled. “You’re not liking any of that, are you?”
On the contrary, she’d nailed it again.
“No, no, what you’ve outlined sounds wonderful.”
“Are you sure because you look pretty intense. Did you have something else in mind?”
Yes, telling you that you got it all wrong! He thought to himself. “Actually, you described the perfect meal.” Adam stopped and inhaled, releasing it slowly. “What about dessert?”
“Well, in staying with a more casual mode, I think a variety of desserts would be preferable. Something light and fun…finger foods, that sort of thing.”
He frowned. “Such as?”
“Oh, there would be an assortment of cookies, some gourmet chocolates, and fresh fruit again, maybe some chocolate covered strawberries and some cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes? Seriously?”
“Cupcakes are all the rage right now.”
That disbelieving look was back and Cassie was beginning to find it endearing. “It’s true. Cupcakes are a big thing. They are taking the place of wedding cakes. You can decorate them any way you’d like and they are easier to serve.”
“But you still have to eat it with your hands,” he said with disgust.
“So? You’ll be eating the fruit and cookies with your hands…”
“It’s a…looking professional thing. You cannot possibly look like an intelligent or articulate person while eating a cupcake.”
Cassie refused to argue further. She knew when to drop a cause. “Okay, fine, no cupcakes. How about the rest of it? Does it sound okay?”
Adam merely nodded and when Cassie turned forward in her seat she saw that they were pulling into a long and winding driveway. She sat up a little straighter, not wanting to miss a thing. Adam had forgotten how long it had been since he’d been here. Now, pulling into the drive, knowing that he had Cassie to himself all weekend had Adam feeling none of the tension from moments before but pure anticipation.
Cassie gasped when the house came into view. It was massive; more than massive and seemed to be overlooking a cliff. “Is that the ocean, like, right there?” She actually cringed at her own words. What else would it be?
“Yes, that’s the Atlantic and the sunrise on it is spectacular.” Adam pulled the car around to the front of the house and pulled down his visor and hit a remote button that opened one of the garage doors. There were multiple levels to the house and with Cassie being in recovery mode and their luggage, it would be easier to use the elevator.
When Adam told Cassie as much, she merely gaped at him. “An elevator? You have an elevator?”
“Of course.” He found her naïveté to be adorable and watched her as they waited for the elevator to open and their weekend to begin.
Cassie was practically bouncing on her toes in excitement to get up and into the house. From the outside it was magnificent, she was sure her opinion would not change once she saw the inside.
As the doors slid open on the main floor, her jaw dropped. They walked out into the living area and Cassie stopped and turned in a full circle to take it all in. Whoever Adam had hired to decorate was a genius. There were light oak hardwood floors that were polished to a high gloss finish that almost had Cassie afraid to walk on. In the different seating areas, plush looking area rugs were used to clearly define the spaces. The walls were painted in tones of golds and yellows and everything was just so open.
Forcing herself to move, Cassie was immediately drawn to the large kitchen area. She lovingly ran her hands along the granite countertops and marveled at the stainless steel appliances and had to hold in a near-orgasmic groan. This kitchen was her dream. With two refrigerators and an eight-burner stove she knew that cooking here for Adam’s clients would not be a hardship of any kind.
She was pulling open cabinets and inspecting the restaurant quality cookware when she finally took notice of the ceramic tile under her feet. Cleanup would be a breeze, too, she though. All the while Cassie was lost in her own world, Adam observed her. The grin that was slowly creeping across his face couldn’t be contained.
It took a moment for Adam to realize that Cassie was talking to herself. “I can fit appetizer platters in here and use this one over there for the steaks to marinate in before grilling…I’ll keep all of the fresh vegetables and salad ingredients in this one…” she cut herself off and went back to a cabinet that contained several pots and pans. “I won’t have to bring my skillet…I wonder what’s in the pantry…”
With a soft chuckle, Adam left her to her explorations and grabbed their luggage and climbed the stairs that were in the back of the kitchen up to the second floor where he considered which bedroom to let Cassie use. Most of the bedrooms had incredible views of the ocean as well as their own bathrooms and French doors that led out to the deck, but, if he were honest with himself, Adam wanted to have Cassie up on the top floor with him in the master suite.
He was a bastard to consider that for this weekend, being that Cassie was still technically recovering from surgery. Still, a man could hope. Choosing a corner bedroom which was one of the largest, Adam placed Cassie’s suitcase on the bed and opened the doors to the deck to air the room out. Glancing around he noted that the room would suit her with its cream walls and ivory bedding. The furniture in this house was masterfully crafted and the mahogany four poster king bed fit here perfectly.
There was only a brief moment that Adam allowed himself to think of Cassie alone in the giant bed before turning on his heel and walking out of the room and up the last flight of stairs to his suite. Taking up the entire top floor, the room could easily sleep twenty. The deck was private, there were windows spanning the entire back wall and the bathroom was a spa dream. Another vision of Cassie in the massive marble tub came to mind but Adam quickly swept it away.
This weekend was about seduction, no doubt, but not one that he was going to act on just quite yet. Anticipation was only part of whole scenario. By the time they were back in Raleigh Sunday night, he would know for sure if Cassie were willing to be with him, on his terms, and then maybe, just maybe, he’d be on his way to having her out of his system.
Placing his own suitcase in the closet, Adam strode from the room and headed back down to the kitchen. At the bottom of the stairs he noticed that Cassie was no longer in the kitchen but found her out on the multi-level deck. She was still talking to herself and Adam actually wondered if she was aware of the habit.
“If we use these two tables together with the right linens, no one will notice that it’s not one table…add some torches and twinkly lights…floating candles in the pool…” she turned and noticed Adam standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a smile on his face.
She liked to see him smile. He didn’t do it often enough.
“This is far more spectacular than I envisioned, Adam.” She briefly outlined what she was thinking and hoped that he would be pleased. “Wha
t do you think?” Cassie looked at him anxiously. He’d been silent the whole while and while Adam was known for many things, keeping quiet wasn’t one of them. She nervously chewed her bottom lip and waited.
He knew that she was waiting for high praise. He knew that she wanted him to be just as excited about the plans as she was and dammit, he couldn’t help but feel that way, too. “I think it sounds wonderful, Cassandra. You’ve truly outdone yourself.” She positively beamed. “I do have one suggestion…”
Of course he did, she begrudgingly thought to herself.
“I want to hire a server. This is all too much for one person. I think you are more than competent to handle the prep work and presentation but for the larger meals, I’d like you to have help.” He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Besides, you will be acting as hostess for the weekend, so…”
“Hostess?”
He nodded. “For something like what you’re describing, I think it’s only fitting that you act as our hostess. I’m sure you’ll make the wives feel more comfortable if you interacted with them and not just served them.”
Cassie considered what he was saying though she was conflicted. She knew how to be the caterer, the server, the event planner. She was used to dealing with gatherings of any size but going unseen. What Adam was suggesting would put her smack-dab in the middle of the action in a more personal role and Cassie wasn’t sure if she could do that comfortably.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Adam finally asked after watching the play of emotions on Cassie’s face.
“I’m just not used to being seen at events,” she said slowly. “I mean, I’m used to having a staff that interacts with the guests while I supervise behind the scenes…I’d feel a little self-conscious sitting down to dinner with your clients…”
“You’ll be fine. You’ll have a server to help you.”
“I guess I can bring one of my girls…”
“No. We’ll hire someone from here since it will only be for two meals, tops. There’s no need to pay one of your staff for a full weekend when they’ll only be needed for two hours.”
Catering to the CEO Page 8
