Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Boss - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 1) (11 page)

“When will you get here?”

“Surprise, Angel. I have to go now. See you later.”

She lowered the cell phone, heart still questioning the fondness in James’s voice when he spoke to her. This was the man she had come to love. The last couple of days were just a fluke. Sure, he dropped a lot on her at the last minute and had really been a jerk about it—but he always came around.

Jennifer wondered if his surprise would be an apology. That wouldn’t be very exciting at all. Several years ago, that might have been a joke between them, but they had grown close. They made a great team together, an effective team. The surprise had to be more than an apology, Jennifer decided.

It was possible it could be work related, but with Katie out the picture, the surprise could actually mean something more. Only now, Jennifer wasn’t so sure how she really felt about something more.

Returning to work took a mental shift, but she was able to manage. She put thoughts of James outside her mind and began to pull the exact details from Rocket Panda, starting with their particular contract. She looked at their billed services and began to list the information in a word document. From there, she focused on the end results, the final figures from their work with the company.

They had been able to cut certain marketing costs, but they had also helped Rocket Panda reach a ceiling of sales revenue they had yet to be able to achieve prior to their contract with Melone Group. With lowered marketing costs and an increase in revenue, the CEO of that particular firm had been quite impressed indeed—and those were just a few of their accomplishments.

Jennifer continued to weed meticulously through the old reports, pulling out important highlights of the last month and a half. She barely heard the knock at the door, a soft rapping. Absently, she left her station situated at the bed and went to the door to open it. Andrew stood staring back at her. In a quick assessment, she saw him look her over. He glanced inside of her room.

“Are you ready for dinner?” Andrew asked, returning his eyes to Jennifer. She stuttered for a moment at the interruption.

“What dinner?”

“I made reservations at Eddie Merlot’s in Englewood. It’s about 30 minutes away so we should get leaving in about ten minutes.”

“Andrew, I have work to do.” Jennifer motioned to the inside of her room. “You heard James on the phone.”

Andrew nodded. “I did hear him,” he responded. “What are you having for dinner then?”

Jennifer chuckled, a bit exasperated. She ran a hand through her hair. “I haven’t thought about that yet.”

“So why not let me take you to dinner?” He rolled his eyes playfully as if the answer didn’t need more consideration. “I already made reservations. I’ll drive.”

“This report is huge,” Jennifer’s voice was flat. She shook her head.

“Let me help you.”

Jennifer studied Andrew. He was relaxed, and his words were a smoothing comfort to the strings of tension rattling throughout her body.

“This deal doesn’t just rest with you. I’m a partner now. That means your job is my interest too. James has you do so much because you’re the only one he
had
. I can help you with the presentation tomorrow. I bet you haven’t even eaten since Castle Rock.”

Jennifer touched her stomach. She looked down, feeling her insides grumble in agreement. She hadn’t given dinner much thought and probably would have just ordered in, if at all.

“You work so hard,” Andrew continued. He reached for her face and stroked the bottom of her chin with a curled index finger. Jennifer smiled at his touch. “Why don’t you just give yourself a break and eat like a human tonight with me?” Andrew leaned against the door post with a shoulder. He seemed to tower over her even with the lazy lean he had moved into.

“C’mon, Jessica.”

Jennifer arched a lip. “Jessica?”

Andrew smiled. “You forgot to look her up, didn’t you?”

Jennifer warmed at Andrew’s soft voice. She rolled her eyes playfully.

“You can look her up at dinner with me.”

He pulled a grin from Jennifer. She wasn’t quite sure how he was able to do that to her. She was a workaholic, and never shared so much as a secret with other employees of the office. She considered his words. James did keep her pretty busy with requests, expectations, and work. She had never actually thought much about it. He paid her very well to be at his beck and call, so that’s what she did. Hearing Andrew speak about her work ethic made her feel proud.

She glanced into the room and towards the bed, where papers had been strewn across the her makeshift work table. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to work where you sleep, but the bed always seemed much more efficient than a desk. Meeting Andrew’s eyes again, Jennifer shrugged. She had changed from her moist romper knee high yoga pants and a tank. Andrew was back in professional casual wear, slacks, a collared shirt, and a thin black belt to seal it all together. He really knew how to dress well, as most millionaires did.

“Formal?” Jennifer asked.

“Yeah. A cute dress or something. Can you be ready in ten minutes?”

Not likely. The light curls Jennifer love to bump her hair with for volume had completely fallen out during the hike earlier. Absently, she ran a hand through her hair and looked down at the handful she held.

“It looks good. I promise. Ten minutes. Can you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Jennifer tried to imagine the last time she left her home without curls. She wasn’t even sure when she had come to value them so much.

“Jessica,” Andrew grinned at her. “You look,” he paused on a word, his face changing, “You look great with it just the way it is. You’ll be all right. I like it straight.”

She wasn’t sure how he could tell she felt uneasy about her hair, probably from the way she kept looking at it in her hands. Jennifer felt a discomfort creeping over her. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a step into her room.

Andrew reached for her wrist. “Is your hair naturally curly?” He asked suddenly.

Jennifer tried to hide the flush in her face. “No. But I was told I look better with more volume,” she looked down, feeling stupid for talking about it out loud with Andrew. What did it matter to him?

“Who told you that?”  

James Melone did. And her hairdresser had confirmed it. Usually, Jennifer loved trying new styles and new looks. With one particular pick, James had fawned over her all night. She liked the way he had looked at her. She wasn’t aware that he liked curly haired women, but she never got that look out her mind since then. It encouraged her to strive for the curls every chance she got. On the other hand, Katie was a dyed blonde with perfectly straight hair. She didn’t quite understand that one.

“I don’t know, Andrew,” Jennifer took another retreating step into her room, but this time Andrew stepped forward.

He moved his hand from her wrist to the top of her hair where the pushed his fingers through. She felt his fingers run through her hair and found herself closing her eyes. She wanted to find his hands and cover them with her own. Instead, she stood still. Nothing came. Her hope fell when she opened her eyes. Andrew had dropped a hand and had taken a step back. He was looking behind himself, towards the door. He turned back to Jennifer and removed his other palm quickly. He offered her a weak smile.

“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said softly. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “And I would
love
just to take you as you are right now to the resturant,” he paused and cast a cursory look over the length of her body, “but they have a dress code.”

Jennifer couldn’t help but smile. She locked hair behind her ears. “Okay. So what do you propose?” She put her hands on her hips and arched her back, wondering if Andrew would look at her again. He did. This time his eyes lingered. She smiled.

“Just grab a dress.” He took a step back. “The first dress you see, okay?”

Jennifer laughed. “What if I don’t like it?”

Andrew pressed his lips together and looked at his watch. “We have five minutes to go, or we’ll miss our reservation. It’s a nice restaurant.” Andrew pointed towards the hall but ran into the doorpost as he attempted to leave.

Jennifer giggled this time. “Wait for me.”

“In the lobby,” Andrew reached for the door handle, with the other hand he rubbed his forehead.

“No, right outside.” Jennifer grinned when she saw a flash of worry in Andrew’s face. “You can tell me which dress you like.”

“We don’t have time for that.” He covered his face and muttered something into his hands. Jennifer laughed.

“Just two dresses, okay? Tell me which you like more.” Jennifer waited to catch Andrew’s eyes. He was interested, but still torn between the pressing time limit. Glancing at his watch again, he looked to Jennifer with purpose.

“Two dresses.”

“Okay. Two. I promise.” She grinned and skipped to her luggage on the floor beside her bed. Squatting down, she ruffled through the clothes. She packed more than a week’s worth of possibilities, simply because you could never be too sure about what an occasion might warrant. Many of her dresses were made of light, ethereal fabric. She didn’t care too much for thick cotton against her skin.

She grabbed a black floral print, sleeveless dress, and another dress, multicolored with a smock waist, also sleeveless. As she stood, she held the black floral dress up first.

“How’s this?”

Andrew nodded. “That looks great—oh, that one’s even better,” his eyes grew wide as she lifted the second dress. With a smile tugging at her lips, Jennifer looked over the green multicolored dress. It was thigh high and had a back cut out trim to it.

“This one wins your vote?” She looked towards Andrew again. He nodded eagerly.

In the bathroom, Jennifer changed quickly. It wasn’t hard. Most of her dresses carried an unspoken “bra optional” status, although she chose to keep the one she already wore on beneath the silky fabric. She fanned her hair in the mirror, and then grabbed her brush and ran it through a couple of times. She couldn’t even remember the last time she wore her hair straight. Jennifer stepped out the bathroom and curtsied.

“How do I look?” She twirled around once and then stopped to hold Andrew’s eyes. He looked at her with a piercing gaze.

“You look like you always look. Beautiful.”

Chapter Twelve

Dinner and a Surprise

JENNIFER BROKE THE stare. She looked down at her feet and muttered something about her shoes before she turned away. Moments later, she exited the room with a pair of low heels on and a small clutch. In the elevator, she dared to meet Andrew’s eyes again.

“How do you know how I always look? You’ve seen me maybe all of two days, and now you’re an expert on how I look?” Her tone was harsher than it should have been.

Andrew avoided looking down at her and faced the closed chrome doors of the elevator. For a moment, he said nothing. When the elevator stopped, he smiled and met Jennifer’s eyes.

“Just because we’ve never spoken before doesn’t mean I’ve never
seen
you before.” He turned to vacate the elevator before Jennifer could ask more. His stride through the parking garage caused Jennifer to jog every third step in order to keep up.

In the car, Jennifer pulled her seatbelt on and crossed her arms over her chest. Andrew started the engine. She tried to think of all the events where she might have seen Andrew’s face. There were many, but she was certain she had never seen him. His name certainly sounded familiar, but she had never met him previously. Ever. She was sure of it.

In Chicago, wealthy individuals roamed the same crowds. They attended the same events and partied the same way. For her, attending those events were just another part of her routine, of her job as James Melone’s assistant. She remembered how Andrew helped her to save face while dining with the mayor. He certainly seemed to know a lot about her and yet she felt as if she knew nothing about him practically, except what he told her directly. Still, it sounded like he didn’t tell anyone those things that he had told her. A part of her liked that. It felt like she shared a secret with him. Then again, secrets could also be bad.

Jennifer opened her clutch and pulled out several pieces of jewelry, bracelets, and necklaces. She hadn’t had the time to adorn them properly before she left and used the moment to fill the air she felt thickening with unease.

Once at Eddie Merlot’s, they were escorted to a table along a back wall. The atmosphere was just as intimate and magnificent as the air created at the Terrance in between Chicago’s downtown skyscrapers, minus the fabulous outside seating. Instead, dim lighting and short, spacious cushioned chairs greeted them. It seemed crazy to think that hours before she was scaling a mountainside with Andrew. Jennifer grinned and took a seat quickly.

“Pleased with the place?” He asked.

Jennifer nodded. “You seem to know the area well,” she leaned back in the chair and looked around to the other chairs and tables across the restaurant floor. “I like that.”

Andrew chuckled. “My heart will always be with this state,” he leaned forward. “I own land in Estes Park, near Rocky Mountain National Park.”

Jennifer’s eyes widened. “Really? That seems interesting. A ranch?”

He shrugged. “You could call it that.”

With a nod, Jennifer placed her clutch into her lap. After ordering wine, Andrew motioned to the menu with a wave of his hand.

“This is a steak house, but they have great salmon if you’re more into fish.”

Jennifer smirked. She opened the menu and ran her eyes over the list. After a moment, she sat the menu down and took a deep breath.

“Why don’t you tell me what to get?” She tested, meeting Andrew’s dark eyes. He frowned slightly.

“That’s impossible. I don’t know what you like.”

“No?” Jennifer smiled. “You seem to know an awful lot about me though.” She watched his face change to serious. “Why don’t you give it a shot?”

Andrew reached for his glass of wine and lifted it to his lips slowly. After a drink, he replaced the glass and heaved his shoulders up with a deep breath.