But it figured that she would bring it up. “I actually do have some stuff I need to do tonight. I wasn’t just trying to avoid you.”
He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Right.” He steered her toward the bridge and the path that would lead back to the house. “You were definitely trying to avoid me. Admit it.”
She paused. “Maybe a little.”
“And I figured you would, which is why I sprinted to the kitchen. I’ll bet Raymond is fit to be tied that he didn’t get to serve me dessert.”
“Especially after the way you messed up breakfast,” she said. They strolled through the gardens. The back of the house was lit up with strategically placed spotlights.
“I messed up breakfast? I thought breakfast was great. Best breakfast I’ve had in a long time.” He’d never break Raymond of his stuffy ways. Wasn’t sure he wanted to, either.
“I didn’t mean the food,” she said.
“I didn’t either. I meant the company. It gets lonely eating by myself all the time. I’d much rather sit and eat with you.”
For a few minutes, she was silent. Then she said, “It doesn’t really work, though. You and me, I mean. The billionaire doesn’t sit in the kitchen and eat with his chef.”
He felt his stomach clench. She’d said she’d give him a chance. She wasn’t going to go back on that now, was she? “Who was it who was just telling me that I could do whatever I wanted? It’s you and Raymond and Janet who want me to fit into this little “billionaire” box and behave the way you think rich people behave. I just want to be a normal person. A normal guy, falling for a normal girl.” He let his arm fall away from her shoulders and instead took her hand in his, threading their fingers together.
“But you’re not normal.”
“So I should give away all my money so I can be dateable?”
“You’re totally dateable, you know that. You’re probably a ‘most eligible bachelor’ or something.”
They neared the back of the house, and he veered them toward the door closest to her room. “But not for you. That’s what you’re telling me.”
Sophie stopped him, putting her hand on his chest. “I said I’d give you a chance. I meant that. But I’m not going to pretend the whole thing will be easy. And I don’t think you should pretend, either. If we don’t know what we’re facing, we don’t have a prayer of conquering it.”
Those words should have been coming out of his mouth. He was the big-time CEO. What she was describing was exactly how he did business. He’d just never thought of approaching his romantic life that way too. “You’re right.”
She took a half step back. “I am?”
“You’re not sure? You sounded pretty sure a minute ago.”
“I’m just surprised you agree with me.”
He cupped her cheeks in both his hands. “Don’t be surprised. Your brain is just one of the reasons I adore you.” He didn’t wait to see if she’d blush; he leaned down and kissed her.
She pushed him away all too soon. “Someone could see!”
“I never agreed to keep this a secret.”
“Rhys—”
“We can talk about it later. And yes, until then, mum’s the word.” He locked his lips with his fingers and threw away the key.
Sophie shot him a dirty look then headed for the door. “See you later.”
“Tomorrow,” he said. “Breakfast.” He couldn’t wait to see her again.
Chapter 17
As Sophie hurried up the stairs to her room, her cell rang. She rarely got phone calls, so she wasn’t sure who it could be. She checked the caller id before answering...Stanford.
Sophie hesitated a second, then hit ‘ignore.’ She didn’t know why Stanford would be calling her but whatever it was, she didn’t want to hear it. He’d done enough to ruin her life. He didn’t have the right to do or say anything else.
As she entered her room, she waited to see if he’d leave a message. A part of her was curious about what he could want after all this time, even while she never wanted to hear from him again. But several minutes passed and it became clear he hadn’t left one.
Typical Stanford. He was probably pissed she hadn’t picked up on his first ring. Funny how she’d never truly appreciated how arrogant he was until she’d met Rhys. Rhys had his moments but he was nothing like Stanford.
And that’s what she needed to remember. Rhys might break her heart in the end, but it wouldn’t be because he was selfish or cruel.
Chapter 18
Rhys didn’t make it to breakfast. The negotiations turned nasty and he had to race into the office. His secretary picked up some breakfast for him but it wasn’t the same as sitting in the kitchen with Sophie.
But it couldn’t be helped. He also couldn’t help moving up his trip to New York to the next day. The last thing he wanted was to leave right when things were improving between Sophie and him but the negotiations were in danger of falling through and he couldn’t let that happen.
But the icing on the cake came that afternoon when Dan stopped by his office. “I found out who the mystery witness is. A guy named Holbrook. Frank Holbrook. Ring a bell?”
“Sounds vaguely familiar, but no. I don’t know who he is.” Rhys motioned to the chair in front of his desk and Dan sat down.
“He’s a former employee of yours. Looks like he was an under gardener. You fired him.”
“Was that about six months ago?” It was coming back to him. “Was he the one who was caught stealing supplies and reselling them?”
Dan quickly took notes. “I don’t know. Who would have the employment records? Something like that would show that he’s not trustworthy and that he has a good motive to lie to get back at you.” He paused. “Cause I gotta tell you, it doesn’t look good. He claims he saw you fondle Sophia and that you grew angry when she pushed you away. He says you almost hit her.”
Rhys stood, blood pumping in his ears. “Never.” His fist tightened. “I never went near her and I would never hit a woman. Good God!”
He swirled, paced. He couldn’t stand this. He didn’t do anything, nothing, and he couldn’t even protect his good name. She held all the cards. He was helpless. He’d never felt helpless before.
“Have you thought about character witnesses?” Dan said. “It would be good if we could add a few more of those.”
If an under gardener was coming after him, no reason he had to stick to staff inside the house. “The gardener Harris knows me quite well, for all the hours I’ve spent in the gardens. He’d know Holbrook too.” And Harris wasn’t stiff and superior like Janet or Raymond. A little gruff, maybe, but a good guy. Rhys stared out the window at the skyline, his hand still pumping–fist, relax, fist, relax.
“What about a girlfriend?”
“Hunh?”
“Seeing anyone? Preferably someone who looks nothing like Sophia and can vouch for your good character?” Dan tapped the end of his pen against his legal pad.
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. “No one who would help you.”
Dan leaned forward. “If there’s someone who could hurt us, I need to know about it.”
Rhys sat down at his desk again. “Wouldn’t you be obligated to give it to the prosecutors if I tell you?”
“You’ve got that backwards. They have to tell the defense what they find, but we don’t have to give them jack. Tell me.”
The last thing he wanted was for Sophie to get caught up in all of this. But at least he could control Dan. If Skinny’s people found out about Sophie, who knew what could happen. “I’m dating my new chef.”
“Shit, Rhys.”
May as well lay it all out. “Her name’s Sophie.”
Dan’s head hit the back of his chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I don’t want her involved in this.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t want her involved in this either. I suppose she looks just like Sophia too?”
Rhys choked. “Hell, no. Sophie’s gorgeous. Soft and sweet
and round in all the right places.”
“Sophia’s quite beautiful—”
”No, she’s not. I’ve told you over and over, she’s not my type. To me, she’s just this shy of ugly.” He held up his fingers.
“You’re going to have a hard time convincing the judge of that.”
“You’ve told me.” Over and over. Rhys was sick of hearing how hot Skinny was, how easy it would be for her to convince the judge that Rhys had been after her. The truth was, he found her to be okay-looking physically...but once you added her personality into the mix, she was flat-out unattractive. He had a hard time understanding why no one else saw that.
Dan scowled at his notes. “If your girlfriend were anything but the chef, we might be able to use her. As it is...”
“Good. Like I said, I don’t want her sucked into this.” It was up to him to protect her.
“We might not have a choice. You need to prepare yourself. I won’t say anything, but if the prosecution gets wind of a new woman in your life, they’ll be all over it.”
Meaning he should have gone along with it when Sophie wanted to keep things quiet. Maybe it wasn’t too late; maybe he could tell her he’d decided to let her have her way.
Then again, Janet and Raymond had to guess that something was up, the way he’d been hanging around the kitchen. And who knew who else had seen them together. He hadn’t been trying to hide.
“I’ll do what I can to keep it quiet,” Rhys said. Being away for the next week or so would help; no one could see them together if he was out of town.
Chapter 19
That night, Rhys could barely manage to eat his dinner all alone in the dining room, thinking about Sophie back in the kitchen. The food was great; the lack of company wasn’t. So when he finished his meal he followed Raymond and the dirty plates back to the kitchen.
He knew he should be more circumspect but there was no way he could leave for New York without seeing her first–hopefully for the rest of the evening.
As he followed Raymond into the kitchen, Sophie had her back to the door. “His dessert’s on the counter,” she said.
“What’d you make me?” As he got closer, he thought it looked like a small piece of chocolate cake.
“You’re not supposed to be back here,” Sophie said, but she was smiling. She leaned against the counter near the dessert plate. “It’s chocolate-raspberry cake. I went simple tonight.”
Her idea of simple was out of this world. The cake had a layer of chocolate frosting on top plus raspberries scattered around the plate and chocolate sauce drizzled on top of everything. “Looks amazing. Got a fork?”
Raymond cleared his throat. “There’s a fork on the table, sir.”
“Sir?”
Raymond didn’t even blink. “I’ll take your dessert to the dining room.”
“I’ll eat it here.” When Raymond started to object, Rhys raised his hand. “Yes, I know. It’s unseemly. It’s inappropriate. It’s also what I want to do. And since I’m the one who pays the bills around here, I’m going to do it.” Rhys flipped his hand over so it lay flat. “Fork?”
Scowling, Raymond went into the anteroom where the silverware and dishes were kept. He returned with a dessert fork and laid it on Rhys’ palm.
“Thank you.”
Sophie’s eyes were dancing, but she didn’t say anything.
“Will that be all, sir?”
‘Sir’ again. He’d never cure his butler of the word. “Yes. That will be all.”
As Raymond left, Sophie returned to her work, putting things away and cleaning up. Rhys popped a forkful of the cake in his mouth and couldn’t hold back the moan of delight.
“You like it?” Sophie peeked over her shoulder at him.
“Amazing.” The raspberry was a hint, a note. The cake was moister than anything he’d ever had before, and melted in his mouth. “Tell me why you’re not working in some five star restaurant?”
“I like this. Instead of cooking the same thing over and over for perfect strangers, I get to cook new and interesting things for people I care about.”
When she said ‘people’ instead of ‘person’ he was reminded that she cooked for the staff, too. “Do the others appreciate your cooking as much as I do?”
She wiped down the counter near where he sat. “More.”
“More? Not possible.”
“You’re not very vocal. Especially those first few weeks.”
She meant the time when he was pretending he wasn’t who he was. Rhys grabbed her around the waist and pulled her toward him. “Let me rectify that.” He kissed her. “Your cooking is wonderful and I love it.”
Her arms slid around his neck. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Pulling her closer, he laid a kiss against the side of her throat. God, he could eat her up.
“I guess you meant it when you said you didn’t want to keep this a secret.”
“Oh?” He peeled back the neck of her top and kissed her shoulder.
“Raymond surely guesses something’s up.”
Of course he did. And Rhys was a fool. “I was thinking maybe you’re right. Maybe we should keep it quiet.”
Chapter 20
Good thing his face was still buried in her neck. Sophie wasn’t sure she’d managed to cover her dismay at his words. “How come?” She already knew the answer–he didn’t want anyone to know he was dating her. Her, the round-in-the-middle help.
He lifted his head up and took her face in both his hands. “It’ll give us a chance to get this thing started without distractions. You know–distractions, like Raymond and Janet, who I’m sure would not approve.”
Sophie laughed in spite of herself. She was being silly; if he didn’t like her, why date her at all? “All right. But if you want to keep it secret, you’re going to have to stop coming to the kitchen.”
Rubbing his hands up and down her back, he said, “I like coming to the kitchen. It’s so much more friendly here than in the dining room.”
She felt her body warming up as he continued to touch her. If she didn’t stop him soon, she’d have to throw him on the counter and have her way with him. “All right. But stop trying to eat meals down here. Let Raymond think everything’s gone back to normal.”
“Okay.” He pressed his lips against hers. “I agree, under duress.”
Right. Sophie pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. She’d worry about stopping him later.
Rhys ran his hands up and down her back but more gently now, one hand tangling in the hair at the back of her neck as he pulled her closer. The world receded until the only things that existed were her body and Rhys’ body and the electricity that sparked between them.
Then Rhys pulled back. “I think we should go upstairs. But we have something to talk about first.”
It was way too soon for upstairs...right?
“I have to leave on that business trip sooner than planned.”
Sophie tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Oh. When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning.” He rushed on. “It was last minute. They need me for some negotiations or they’ll fall through. I wish I didn’t have to leave, especially when you and I are...”
After a second, she said, “No, of course you have to go. It’s your job. How long will you be gone?”
He winced. “Longer than I want to be. At least a week, maybe more.”
A week. It wasn’t the end of the world, but oh, she’d miss him. She smoothed down the shoulders on his perfectly pressed shirt.
He squeezed her. “Say something, Soph.”
“I’ll miss you.”
Pulling her tighter into a hug, his face on her shoulder, he said, “I’ll miss you, too.”
“I guess I won’t have to worry about you eating in the kitchen for a while.”
“I wish.” After a long moment of holding each other, his hands drifted lower on her back. “Now, about going upstairs...”
“It’s too soon.”
/> “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want. We could just lie on my bed and hold each other.”
She laughed. “Yeah, like that would happen.”
He squeezed her, tickling her waist at the same time. “Are you saying I have no honor?”
Squealing, she managed to say, “No, I’m saying I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you.”
His eyes darkened. “Really.” He licked his lips, gazing at hers.
“Really,” she said softly.
Rhys moved so fast she didn’t see it. One second they were staring at each other, and the next they were kissing, hard, fast, hands gripping and squeezing and rubbing. Her body responded to his like they were made for each other and she wanted nothing more than to melt into him, to melt with him, to become one.
“Upstairs,” he murmured against her lips.
She knew she should object but she could no longer remember why. “Yes.”
The word had barely left her mouth when he jumped up, pulling her through the door to the rest of the house and down the long hallway to the stairs near the front. If he didn’t want anyone to see them, surely there was a better way to get to his room. But before she could say that, they were halfway up the stairs and by then there was no point.
The stairs curved upward and opened onto a landing that overlooked the sparkling white foyer. He led her past two cream-colored doors with ornate brass doorknobs. In between, paintings of what could only be Rhys’ relatives and ancestors covered the walls.
They went through the third door into a room twice the size of the spacious kitchen. It was done in creams and browns, a perfect mix of sedate wealth and masculinity. A fireplace was set into the wall to the left, though it was too warm for a fire at this time of year. To the right lay a large bed–larger than a king-size, if she wasn’t mistaken–flanked by two floor-to-ceiling windows.
Rhys kicked the door closed and pulled her against him, kissing her for all he was worth.
She wanted to tease him about “just holding her” but couldn’t catch her breath. He slid his hands under her shirt, touching her skin and skimming upward toward her bra. Then his hands slid away again just as quickly, and around to her front. He broke the kiss so he could watch as he pulled her shirt up, revealing one inch of skin at a time.
Crazy About Curves: 10 Luscious Reads Page 86
