Chapter Seven
Though Ross was deep in conversation with his lawyer, he somehow felt Essie’s presence outside his office door, even before she gave it a knock. “Hold on a minute, Barry. Come in,” Ross said.
As Essie entered, Ross felt his body, his entire body, immediately spring to attention, like a trained Pavlovian dog. He couldn’t help but notice the look of surprise she tried to hide at seeing the mess his office had become in the short time he’d been working. He was a bit of a manic worker and liked to spread things out, so just about every available surface was covered. There was no place for her to set the tray.
He watched as she did a little spin, which showed off her figure nicely, but as she came up empty, she turned back to him in frustration. “Barry, I’m going to have to get back to you. I’ll call you in a half an hour or so.” Ross cut off his call without waiting for a reply and got up from his seat.
Essie gave him a quick glare. “You didn’t have to do that. I need a place to put the tray, and then I’ll go so you can work.”
“Who said I was hanging up for you? Presumptuous, aren’t we, Ms. Bradford?” Ross gave Essie a grin. And he got back a hard stare.
“Not at all. I thought we agreed we were on a first-name basis, Ross. Now, do you care to let me know where to put the tray? It’s getting pretty heavy.”
Ross ran over and cleared space on the seating area’s coffee table. He then took the tray out of Essie’s hands, and fought to ignore the little spark of electricity that sizzled through him when their fingertips grazed. He had no time for shivers or sparks. He had a deal to get done, despite what Misha’s plans for him were.
“Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.”
Shit. Even her voice gave him shivers. All sweet and full of sass, but still with a hint of honey, even though she seemed mad as all get-out. “I’m sure I will. Now, tell me what it is. And while you’re at it, you can tell me why you’re ready to spit nails at me.” Ross took a seat on the couch and lifted the cover on the plate, giving it a look over.
His eyes popped up when Essie cleared her throat. “Lunch is a simple ratatouille. Eggplant, bell peppers, onions, zucchini, some tomatoes, all served over quinoa. And for dessert you’ve got a seasonal fruit plate with a vinaigrette dressing.”
Ross looked over the tray and frowned.
“What’s the matter?”
Ross gestured for Essie to take one of the chairs and watched as she seemed to do a double take before taking a seat, as if the chair would bite her or something.
“Okay. I’m sitting. What’s wrong? I’m here to serve you.”
Ross couldn’t help his raised brow at that last comment, and still she was as taut as a fully loaded slingshot. “Are you going to tell me what has you so stiff-lipped and fired up?”
“I don’t think I’m being stiff,” she said. “But what is slightly bothersome to me is the fact that I didn’t need you butting in when I was hashing things out with Chef Scott.”
Ross was quiet. It wasn’t as if she was wrong. He had been high-handed, but a guy like Simon needed to be pulled in, and pulled in quick, otherwise he could get out of hand. “I apologize for that. But as I said, this is my vessel, and I know Simon’s reputation. He can be a bit of a bully, and you are my guest. I wanted to make that clear, so he wouldn’t think anything otherwise. I will apologize, though. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable in any way. If it was any other situation, I would let you handle it yourself. But since you’re my guest, I felt it was my duty to step in.”
Essie’s lips tightened. He could tell she didn’t like his high-handedness, but, hopefully, she couldn’t fault his logic. She looked over at Ross as he was eyeing the green smoothie.
“I see you are frowning. Is there something wrong with your lunch?”
Ross looked up, slightly bewildered. “There’s no chocolate.” He searched the tray again. “None of your chocolate puff pastry, chocolate tart, not even a hint of my favorite, your chocolate mousse.”
Essie gave him a long look before speaking slowly, as if he were a child. “First of all, man cannot live on chocolate alone.”
“So say you, but I beg to differ.”
Essie let out a snort, but at least he got a hint of a smile. “As I was saying, man should not live by chocolate alone. And how was I to know that you wanted it at every meal? Is that why you hired me, for my chocolate?”
His brow shot up and she blushed. A distinct rosiness radiated under her deep brown skin. She knew she walked right into that one, and it was cute as hell. Essie shook her head. “Really, Ross. Grow up. Besides, Misha would have my ass. There is no way she would sanction that sort of diet for you.”
“Why? It’s not like I need to lose weight. I’m in great physical shape.”
Essie looked him over then, and with her dark, assessing gaze, his old jeans and sweater suddenly felt about two sizes too tight.
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” she finally said. “You can have a bit of chocolate, but you need to up your fruit, too.”
He grinned at a small victory, then frowned again. “And I’m not really a fan of quinoa.”
“Please don’t tell me my newest client is a five-year-old. Misha warned me your taste in food was somewhat”—Essie paused—“shall I say, juvenile?”
“Hey, just because I like a burger now and again doesn’t make my tastes juvenile.”
“Fine. But if those burgers are from a fast-food restaurant that you’ve had your driver pull up to more than three times a week, I’d call that juvenile.”
Ross gave her a hard stare and she gave him one in return. He blinked and Essie grinned, no doubt enjoying her moment of victory.
“You know, nobody who works for me gives me so much grief.”
“Why am I feeling that nobody gives you grief if they work for you or not? Now pick up your fork and eat your lunch like a good CEO.”
Ross shook his head and did as he was told. Essie smiled, clearly enjoying the fact he was enjoying her food. She took pride in her work and he could respect that. For so long with him it always seemed to be about the bottom line, just numbers on a page. But when was the last time he really looked at the work he was doing? Took time to look and enjoy all he’d built?
“What is it now?” Essie asked.
He looked her in the eye, enjoying the moment of getting lost in their depths. “Nothing at all. This lunch is terrific, Chef.”
She grinned a wholly satisfied grin, which was nothing short of glorious on her.
“Well done. You can stop gloating. You know you did great.”
“You caught me. Later we’ll talk breathing and maybe some meditation?”
At that, Ross let out a growl and Essie chuckled as she got up to make her exit. “Okay, I won’t push my luck. At least not for today. I’ll see you at dinner. Don’t work too hard.”
“Don’t worry, I always do.”
As Ross watched Essie’s retreating back, and then headed back toward the phone, he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the banter with Essie. He couldn’t remember the last time he had fun simply talking to a woman, or anyone for that matter, about a subject that wasn’t business related. With her, talking came easy. And now as he picked up his phone and looked at the closed door, he found himself already looking forward to dinner and their next conversation.