by Ella Brooke
He laughed at her defiance, and she was a little startled at how brave she was being. She had thought a lot about what this job was going to be like, how she was going to acquit herself, and what she would need to do to charm a man who practically came from another world. But surprisingly enough, he seemed happiest when she was her normal, somewhat snarky, overly clumsy self.
“So this is Chicago deep-dish,” he said as she opened the box with a flourish. “It's...imposing.”
“You've got that right,” she said with a smile. “I mean, there are eating contests where people see if they can finish an entire deep dish pizza in one sitting, but honestly, I think most sane people content themselves with a slice or two and then stash the rest for the morning.”
“Interesting. I had not heard of pizza as breakfast food.”
Benny bit her lip.
“Well...it's not really breakfast food,” she admitted. “I mean, it is for me, but that's because I never got out of the habit of swiping my ex-roommate's extra pizza.”
“Extra...pizza?”
“Yeah, back when I was in college. He delivered pizza, and he got the leftovers and abandoned pizzas to take home at the end of the night. Sometimes, he'd come home with two or three just like this, and I was so starved of anything that wasn't peanut butter or ramen that it felt like, I don't know, manna from heaven.”
He was looking at her with a serious and sad gaze, and she checked herself, shaking her head.
“Oh, don't look at me like that,” Benny said, making a face. “I was just your average poor college student. It wasn't like I was selling pencils in the street or anything. And anyway, let's dig in before the pizza gets cold.”
The pizza was really quite good, and Benny's meal was only made better by watching someone else enjoy it for the first time.
“This is quite impressive,” he said after a few careful bites. “The cheese is indifferent, the vegetables frozen and the meat hot and greasy without having a real taste...but it's delicious.”
Benny found herself laughing at his slight bewilderment. “Fat and grease, two things that humans crave. I don't have one of these very often, but I certainly enjoy them when I do.”
They ate in companionable silence, and when he wasn't speaking or teasing her--or showing her exactly what a man and woman could do together with their mouths--Benny was startled by how cozy this was. They might have been friends getting together for an entertaining evening, and that was certainly not what she had expected from her new boss.
When Benny finished her pizza, however, she sighed, standing up and brushing the crumbs off of her fingers.
“This has been fun, but unfortunately, I need to get going. That rain is not going to let up at all, and I figure that you would like some time to settle in.”
He looked up in surprise at her words, and then he shot a chagrined glance at the rain that was splattering against the window.
“How are you going to get home?” he asked, suddenly concerned. “I sent the limo off and told the driver to pick me up again tomorrow.”
She shrugged. “I'll take a cab back to my car at the airfield if I'm feeling energetic, or if I find that I'm too tired when the cab gets here, I’ll go straight home and get my car in the morning. No big deal at all.”
His frown only deepened.
“How far from here do you live?” he demanded, and she wondered why he sounded so concerned. She had never had a boss who expressed this much consternation over her going to get her car, and she wondered what it meant. She was unfortunately too tired to make the connection, however, and she simply answered him.
“Um, maybe an hour or so? If you're worried if I'm going to be able to give you the guidance and help that you’ve hired me for, don't worry, because I absolutely intend to make you a priority--”
“That's not what I am thinking about right now,” he said, making a cutting gesture with his hand. “I am more concerned about a young woman going off in the middle of the night and trying to get home when it looks like she might fall over at any moment.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Jinan was shaking his head.
“No, unacceptable. You are going to stay here tonight, at the very least. You can get your car in the morning.”
Benny knew he was her boss. She knew it was important to keep him happy and to make sure he was comfortable with her. However, it had been a long day for her as well, and right now, it felt as if her emotions were tied into knots. She felt her temper rise up, and her mouth opened before she could stop it.
“No.”
He looked at her, surprised, she guessed, that she would ever challenge him. She had heard that the Prince of Asrac liked his own way a great deal, especially when his subordinates were concerned, and she grimly decided that she was not going to be one more easy road for him to roll over.
“I beg your pardon?” he said, and his tone was more surprised than cold, but she shook her head.
“No, I think you heard me loud and clear,” she said, tilting her chin up at him a little bit. She was suddenly acutely aware that he was much bigger than she was, that he could likely pick her up and put her on the top shelf in the kitchen without much problem, but it didn't matter. Being short and curvy had led to plenty of people thinking that they could do whatever they liked with her, and whether he was her boss or not, she refused to let him order her around.
“I am going home to sleep in my own bed,” she declared firmly. “I am going to show up tomorrow at three PM sharp as we arranged to start discussing your itinerary and some of your goals for this trip, mapping them out in more detail and making sure that we are all on the same page. If you have any problems or questions, I encourage you to call me whenever you like. That is what you are paying for, after all.”
He started to speak, but she held up her hand.
“The amount of money that you are paying means that I am definitely on call. However, it does not mean that you can tell me where to sleep, it does not mean that you get to control my travel, and it really does not mean that you can get away with making plans for me without even asking me first. If that's not okay with you, you need to find another assistant, because I will be resigning immediately.”
Benny took a deep breath then let it out slowly. There was what felt like an enormous amount of adrenaline in her system, but she thought she was doing a decent job of keeping it to herself for the moment. She could go and have a tiny nervous breakdown somewhere later, after she had figured out if she still had a job or not.
“All right,” Jinan said.
“All right?” she asked cautiously. “That's it?”
“Well, it sounds like you covered it all just fine from where I was sitting,” he said with a slight smile. “It tells me what to expect from you, and I certainly can't argue with that.”
“Well, good,” she said, and grabbing up her coat and just-dry umbrella, she stalked out of the house.
It was only when she was on the porch, looking out over the raining street that she realized there was absolutely no car waiting for her.
“Well, that wasn't too bright of me,” she said out loud.
It was a shame, it had been such a great exit, after all. At least she still had a job.
She was just opening up her Uber app on her phone when the door opened up behind her.
“I just wanted to make sure that you were all right,” Jinan said, the teasing note clear in his voice. “I assumed you had everything well in hand.”
Just then, a strong gust of wind blew a slap of rain against her, but she refused to even flinch, not when he was watching her with that slightly raised brow and smile. God, she could stop thinking that smile was so handsome any time now.
“Just fine, thank you,” she said, not even looking at him. “I'll have a ride coming in just a few minutes.”
“Well, good. I just wanted to let you know that I have complete faith in your ability to take care of yourself then.”
“Good. I can. Have a
good night,” she said pointedly.
“Good night, Benny.”
To her relief, she heard the door creak shut behind her, and she decided to ignore the soft chuckle that accompanied it.
Fortunately, the Uber ride got there within five minutes, and as she slouched in the seat listening to the driver talk aimlessly about the Cubs and how they were robbed, she let her eyes close slightly.
So that wasn't a complete disaster, at least...
***
JINAN LAUGHED A little as he closed the door, but that didn't stop him from watching through the peephole until she had made it into the car that she had called for. He shook his head, more amused than he wanted to be at her stubbornness.
Benny MacLeod was certainly a surprise, and it wasn't just because she was a woman, either. He had expected a calm and competent assistant, and while it certainly seemed as if she would do her job quite well, he hadn't imagined all the other things she would be, like adorable, and quick-tempered and clever.
And kissable, don't forget kissable.
Well, that, he admitted, might have proved to be a mistake. No matter what his reputation was, he didn't make a habit out of chasing young women who worked for him, not when there was a plethora of beautiful and glamorous models and starlets who would have cheerfully stabbed the next girl for his attention.
Perhaps that was what made her so appealing. She wasn't going out of her way to get his attention, she was simply doing her job, and right now, part of her job was pleasing him. Plus, he was in a new place; that probably added to her appeal as well. Likely, he would wake up the next day and find his interest in her waned down to that of a friendly employer.
There was something within him, however, that demurred. It told him with absolutely no uncertainty that his attraction to Benny, no matter how strange and new, was real, perhaps the most honest attraction he had felt in a long time. There was just something about her that called to him and would not let him go.
He shrugged the emotion off because it was strange. He wasn't attracted to innocent and earnest-faced young women who he worked with. That was absurd. However, a part of him kept her face first in his mind as he prowled the townhouse, still not quite ready for sleep. He wondered what her apartment looked like, what she wore to bed, whether she would change or simply collapse on the bed entirely exhausted, whether she wore anything at all.
One thing he truly did believe was that he couldn't wait to see her tomorrow.
Chapter Three
Benny woke up early the next day, and it wasn't until she had brushed her teeth and gotten her shower that she remembered everything that had happened the day before. She had kissed her boss. She had told him in no uncertain terms that she would not be going where he told her and sleeping where he said. She had introduced him to deep dish pizza.
Well, that last one likely isn't all that disastrous, she thought, but the rest is pretty bad.
She hadn't done anything really dumb enough for him to fire her yet, though, and that meant she still had a fighting chance. She dressed quickly, pulling her hair back into its bun and making sure she looked professional before stepping out into the world.
The rain had stopped, but the sky above was still a dull gray, with rain threatening at every moment. She got into her car, an elderly little hatchback that she had bought four years ago, and started the drive over to Jinan's townhouse. She got there early, but not obnoxiously so, and told herself that there was absolutely nothing to worry about, nothing at all. Of course, that was before Jinan opened the door.
Really, Benny found herself thinking, it is unfair for someone that rich to look that much like a model.
She could tell that he hadn't been up all that long. He was only wearing a pair of jeans that hugged his legs, he was still barefoot, and his dark hair was still tousled from his pillow. There was some dark stubble on his jaw that made her want to reach out and touch it, and she only realized that she was hypnotized when he cleared his throat pointedly.
“Were you planning to come in?” he asked, his voice slightly burred with sleep. “Or shall we simply talk on the porch?”
She blushed a little, but that was almost becoming commonplace for being around Jinan. She muttered something that was probably an excuse and followed him into the house.
“As it turns out, I couldn't face the pizza for breakfast, so I had some bagels delivered instead. Help yourself to one if you like.”
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her how long it had been since she’d had her cereal, so she perched on the same kitchen stool that she’d used the night before. To her surprise, instead of sitting down at the table, he walked back upstairs.
“If you can bring your bagel along, come on up. There's no reason not to get started right now.”
“Oh, sure,” she said, startled. Benny hastily spread some cream cheese on her bagel, then followed him up the stairs. He was acting so casually that she didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't him standing in the bathroom in front of the sink, inspecting his jaw with a critical eye. There was a small padded bench outside the bathroom, and she took a seat there, because it seemed less awkward than standing. She took a bite of her bagel, told herself that this was likely all normal when you weren't a Midwestern girl who was new at it all, and woke up her tablet to get started.
“So today I figured we'd do some planning,” she started. “I mean, we have the big schedule that Elli and I created for you, of course, but within that schedule, there's a lot of flex, a lot of space to do what you want.”
He nodded, and somehow, she knew that even as he was gazing into the mirror, he was listening to her intently.
“Good. I want to do more than make connections on this trip, after all. I want to get to know Chicago, and America to some extent.”
“Well, those two things are at least somewhat compatible,” she said with a slight smile. “Some people say that there's Chicago and the rest of America. While there's definitely some truth to that, I think you can learn a lot about the country here...”
She was sure that she meant to say something else, but she was momentarily distracted by what he was doing. From a small black bag on the counter, Jinan drew out a long leather strap. With grace born of long practice, he hung one end of the strap from a towel hook nearby, and as she watched, he stretched it taut and drew a wicked-looking straight razor along its length. The sound of the bright steel against the leather made her shiver for some reason, and she made herself get back to business.
“I've put together a list of things for you to consider, and I have suggestions for times when they might be appropriate blocked into your schedule and available whenever you want to see,” she said, her voice slightly higher than now. “I've sent you an update to your schedule that will allow you to overlay the entertainment and enrichment opportunities over the rest.”
At least Jinan didn't seem to notice her lapse. Instead, he rubbed his face briskly with a steaming hot towel then swished some lather out of a cup using a small brush.
“That sounds like a good idea. This isn't a pleasure trip, but from what I can tell, Americans do like mixing business and pleasure, and that seems like as good an idea to me as any. Is there anything in particular that you recommend?”
She had to rewind her memory to figure out what he had said as he started to lather his face. For the love of little green frogs, he was just shaving. This was something that men did every day, most of them. She knew what shaving was like. Why was it so arresting when it was Jinan doing it?
“Um, well, in just a week or two, we're finally going to be getting that warm front that was promised. That means that you can actually see Chicago at its best, instead of having it be this sort of snow-shrouded ice fortress. Until then, there's the museums, of course, and I'm pretty sure every tourist hits the Bean...”
“The...bean? That sounds fascinating,” he said drily.
“Oh! It's really not a bean. It's this enormous metal sculpture in Millennium Park
called the Cloud Gate. It does look like a bean, though, and most people love it or hate it, really. It's pretty famous, though, considered a part of the Chicago experience, so to speak.”
She barely noticed as her voice petered out. For some strange and completely bewildering reason, she couldn't take her eyes off of the sharp razor that was suddenly in Jinan's hand. There was something almost wicked about the expert way he drew the blade along his jaw, shaving his face with a casual disregard for the blade at his throat.
“Well, more importantly, what do you think of it?”
“Of what?” she asked distractedly.
“Of the Bean?”
“Oh!” Benny said, suddenly dragged back to reality. “Oh, um, well, honestly, I know it's cool to hate it, but I kind of love it. It might be silly and strange and sort of hard to miss, but I like how the light hits it. I like everyone making faces in it and walking around it. It sort of brings people together one way or another, and I like that.”
He rinsed off his face, splashing steaming hot water on it before turning to her with a slight smile. “Well, then I certainly want to see it.”
“You're really good at that,” she blurted out.
“Pardon?”
She cringed at how strange that sounded, but in for a penny, in for a pound, and besides, it was actually a compliment.
“Shaving,” she said. “I mean, that looks like it took skill, and I certainly wouldn't want that much sharp, naked metal next to my skin.”
“Oh, the straight razor?” Jinan laughed a little. “It's a bit of an affectation, I'm afraid. My father, before he died, and my uncles all used electrical razors, quite sanely and quite efficiently. When I was a little boy, however, I saw my grandfather shaving with a straight razor, and I decided that it was the best thing in the world. He taught me well before I needed to know, letting me practice with a blunt razor so I didn't hurt myself. That's not to say I didn't give myself a good cut here and there. Here, come here, I'll show you.”
