IN BED WITH THE BOSS

“I…” She hesitated, shrugged a shoulder and started again. “I can cook if you have something in the kitchen.” She said.

Scott burst into laughter. “You can cook?” Dubious, he scanned her beautiful hair, gown and shoes. “In that? Impossible!”

Jennifer snorted. “You’re not starting off this truce thing well. And yes, I can cook.”

If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he might’ve missed the flash of insecurity that was there and gone in an instant.

“Show me to the kitchen? That is, if you don’t mind me…?”

“No, this I have to see for myself,” he assured her, and strode past her toward the room he rarely used.

His housekeeper often prepared dinners for him that she left warming in the stove. So the pantry and refrigerator should both be stocked. “I’ll even supply you with clothes so you don’t get anything on your dress.

See how accommodating I am?”

“Until tomorrow,” Jennifer added from behind him.

“Until tomorrow,” he agreed.

———-

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tasted it for myself,” Scott exclaimed with wonder, staring down at his empty plate.

Jennifer shook her head, smothering a smile, although her cheeks hurt with the effort. Forking the last of the chicken carbonara to her mouth, she tried not to blush under his admiring scrutiny. She was twenty-five and an heiress-needless to say, she was used to compliments. But coming from this man… She had to admit that it meant much more, and it was weird because she had no idea why.

“Can I say something without breaking the tenuous bonds of our truce?” Scott asked, cocking his head to the side.

She met his gaze. “Sure.”

“I would’ve never pegged you for someone who enjoyed getting their hands dirty in a kitchen. What you did in there-” he dipped his head in the direction of the kitchen “-was skill. And spoke of someone who really enjoyed it. You’re a walking contradiction.”

“So your all-knowing file didn’t include that information?” Jennifer mocked. Picking up her wine glass, she sipped the moscato, silently debating how much to tell him. This man wasn’t her friend. He was even planning to ruin her brother, but why did she feel so at ease with him? Like she could trust him? She had no idea. Then, before she could make up her mind, her mouth was moving. “My mother loved to cook. We had a personal chef, but when Dad wasn’t home, she’d commandeer the kitchen and cook for all of us. She would let me help, and some of my happiest memories are of the two of us preparing a pot of gumbo or baking a quiche. I learned to cook from her, but I also inherited my love of it from her.”

God, where had all that come from?

“Anyway, now your dossier is complete,” she added flippantly. “I’ll clean up.”

She rose from her chair and, grabbing both their plates, circled the bar and headed toward the sink. As she set the dishes in it, he said :

“Your mother would’ve been very proud of you. Please leave the dishes. You did all the work, the least I can do is clean up. Will you please come back and sit me so we can…. I don’t know… talk?”

Jennifer turned around to look at him. She didn’t say anything, but he knew what that look meant. She was confused, and so was he. He never anticipated that this would happen when he started out with his plan. That he would care about Jennifer and value her presence and opinion as a friend. All he’d wanted was revenge against Bruce for what he’d done to his sister and he’d planned to use Jennifer to get to Bruce. He had not wanted a friend, but he was frustrated and he wanted someone to talk to.

He’d hired Vivian as his assistant… he didn’t plan to be attracted to her, but he was. He’d planned to use Jennifer, and he didn’t plan to like her as a friend, but she’d become one somehow. It seemed like none of his plans were going the way he’d wanted. He was becoming soft and he didn’t know if he liked it or not.

Jennifer returned to her seat. “So what would you like to talk about?” she asked him.

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know” he replied, “But the night is still young. I figured you’d spend the night in one of the rooms… if you don’t mind. Unless you’d prefer I take you back home so you’d be home alone… I guess I figured it would be better if you just stayed and we keep each other company… I for one know that I don’t want to be alone right now. Too many angry thoughts.”

“About my brother?” Jennifer asked with a smile.

“No… yes… I mean… I don’t really know. I just want to talk about anything” he replied.

Jennifer smiled and nodded.” Okay… and yet you have no topic in mind, so let me start. Why are you… Scott McCall, billionaire and successful company owner, spending your evening alone with me when you could be… I don’t know… doing something else…. Having a date with a beautiful woman perhaps?”

Scott’s eyes narrowed, but there was laughter in his eyes. “Is that a weirdly complicated way of asking me if I’m single?” he asked

Jennifer smiled. “Well, if you want to put it that way,” she said. “I mean, I’m allowed to wonder. So… are you?”

Scott hesitated. “…. Yes, I am” he replied finally.

“You don’t seem so sure, Mr McCall. What was that pause for?”

Scott looked away. Nothing seemed to pass by this woman. “There was no pause” he insisted.

“Hey…. You were the one who said you want to talk, not me. So spill… who knows, maybe I’ll be able to help. I’m a woman, you know and that means I know how women think.”

Scott sighed. Every plan of his seemed to be going to hell so why not just go with the flow, he thought. “Fine” he said finally. “I didn’t lie, okay? I am single… but there… there’s this… this girl…”

“Ohhhhhhh” said Jennifer, batting her eyelids ridiculously. “There’s a girl…”

“You have to stop that if you want to go on,” Scott said playfully.

“Okay…I will stop…go on”

“I… I care about her, deeply” Scott began, “Even if I don’t want to. She’s not the kind of woman I usually go out with so this… attraction is very… new to me.”

“So what’s the problem if you care about her. She’s not your type? What’s wrong with her?”

Scott shook his head. “Oh nothing is wrong with her.” he said hastily. “And she’s definitely my type. She’s so damn perfect too… but”

“But what?” Jennifer insisted. “You say she’s perfect and yet you can’t be with her? I don’t understand.”

“I can’t give her the kind of relationship I know she’ll eventually want. I don’t believe in impossible relationships… They are not for me and she…. She works for me too. She’s my personal assistant, damn it. What kind of relationship am I going to have with her? I’ve never gotten business mixed with pleasure before and I guess… I guess I just don’t know how to handle it. ”

“Wow,” said Jennifer. “That’s the kind of stuff that gets worker’s mouths running, you know…. Gossip. Can be really messy sometimes.”

“You get it,” Scott agreed.

“But… you sound like you like her a lot,” Jennifer added. “Does she… feel the same way about you?”

Scott stared into thin air for a moment. Memories zapped through his brain as images of himself and Vivian tangled up in bed resurfaced. The feelings the mere thought of her invoked bothered him, but the memory of the expression on her face when he walked away from her that morning was much worse. He shook his head. “I…. I guess she does, but I… I don’t know. Sometimes I think she hates me so I can’t be sure. Besides, she has told me that she does at some point so I… I don’t know.”

He got up and paced the room. “But it doesn’t matter. It will never work out”

“Because you haven’t even tried.” Jennifer cut in.

Scott stopped pacing to glance at her. “What?”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“You heard me.” said Jennifer, meeting his gaze and mirroring his expression. “Gosh, you men are the same, you know. You care so much about your pride and you’ll do just anything to make sure other people don’t see you miserable. You don’t want anyone to break down those unnecessary walls you’ve built around yourself so you push anyone who can away.”

Scott came back to his seat and glared at her. “So you’re not only a cook tonight but also a therapist. Is that it?”

“That’s not the point. The point is that you finally found someone who gets to you and you’d rather push her away than let her in. Your reasons are ridiculous if you ask me”