Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Boss - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 1) (12 page)

“Will you at least tell me how you like your steak?”

“Medium rare,” Jennifer responded.

“Okay,” Andrew squared himself to her and leaned over the table slightly. “I’ll order for you but if I get it wrong, I warned you.”

Jennifer shrugged. She wasn’t too good at picking out new entrees from unfamiliar restaurants anyway. She was almost certain that anything he picked would more than likely be fine; she just wanted to see him sweat beneath the pressure. He was interested in her, that much she could tell, but she had no idea why, and that bothered her.

“So where have you seen me?” Jennifer questioned once Andrew placed orders for the both of them.

He took a moment with his glass of wine before answering. “Around. You attend a lot of events with Melone,” he waited before adding on, “and sometimes by yourself.”

Jennifer’s lips firmed. “Why have you never introduced yourself to me before?”

Andrew watched Jennifer thoughtfully. His eyes ran over her face. He sat back in his chair and rested his hands on the tops of his thighs. “I don’t like to interrupt people while they’re clearly working.”

Jennifer considered his answer. He wasn’t being honest, but he obviously didn’t want to tell her the truth.

“I know your role with Melone, but only because I’ve talked to him.” Andrew offered after a while. Jennifer shifted. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her boss talking about her behind her back.

“You though,
Jessica
,” Andrew toyed with a growing grin. “I don’t know anything about
you
.”

Jennifer wanted to look away but found she couldn’t. Melone was somewhere on her mind, but not really. He was miles away, in Jersey, with an old time best friend doing who knows what. He had never shown an interest in her, although Jennifer was certain he was nicer to her than anyone else he employed. She felt it had to count for something, but here was a man—an exceptionally good looking man, who wanted to know about more than just the reports she was able to produce.

“What do you want to know?” Jennifer stammered at length.

Andrew’s smile grew. “Whatever you’re willing to tell me. Do you date?”

Jennifer looked away, covering her mouth with her thin fingers.

“I’m sorry, was that to direct?” Andrew laughed, watching Jennifer recover from her shock. She shook her head.

“Um, date? As in,” she swallowed, “like a relationship?”

Andrew chuckled, nodding. “Well, yeah. That would be the kind. Do you see anyone?”

She shook her head, probably a little too fast. “Uh, no. No, I,” she took a deep breath, “I’m way too busy right now for that.”

“Busy?”

Jennifer nodded matter-of-factly as if it would answer his question. When Andrew’s questionable face failed to change, she reached for her glass of wine. “I mean I do date, but right now, no.”

“Because you’re too busy?”

Jennifer lingered on the question before answering. “Yeah. Yes, I mean,” she looked down, “I travel a lot. Sometimes I’ve been gone as much as two weeks out of a month.” She met Andrew’s eyes again. “My last relationship couldn’t take all the traveling, the late night events I attended, the weekend stuff I did to stay on top of things for Melone.”

“You work on your days off? Is that why you stopped racing?”

He threw questions at her like rapid fire. His eyes never left her face. Suddenly, she found herself getting irritated. She didn’t like the scrutiny in his eyes or his voice.

“Sometimes, as it’s necessary. You ask a lot of questions,” she responded, her last sentence abrupt and complete with a click of her tongue.

Her jab didn't faze Andrew. He took a slow, steady breath in before he rested his back against the chair. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Jennifer’s resolve weakened. “Your turn,” she said quickly. “Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m a male.”

She laughed. “Tell me more. What do you do? Besides work, that is?”

Andrew nodded thoughtfully at the question. “I was just about to ask you that. I like to travel. And fish. I do that too. I hike.”

“Outdoors guy.”

“Beach guy too, and the ocean. I love parasailing.”

Jennifer looked at Andrew with a renewed interest. “Saving for a yacht?”

“Actually…” he laughed.

“No way!”

Andrew nodded. “Why not?” He shrugged. “I love fishing, why shouldn’t I try a little deep sea diving one day off my own boat?” He chuckled. “One of the things I love about my money is that I can literally do anything I want, whenever I want.”

Jennifer smiled. He was starting to sound more like the other millionaires she knew. “All that money must be nice. I’m surprised you don’t have your own plane,” she chuckled at her tease until she saw Andrew’s face. “Seriously?”

“Doesn’t Melone?”

Jennifer scoffed and shook her head. “Unless he’s hiding that from me too.”

“Hmmm,” Andrew glanced down. “What else does he keep from you?”

The question stopped Jennifer. She didn’t mean for her statement to sound like that. James didn’t keep anything front her—wait, that wasn’t true. He didn’t tell her about Andrew, or about how he always ate with the mayor. He even seemed hesitant to tell her about Katie back when they finally became official. That had only pissed her off.

She only took care of everything else in his life—it didn’t make sense why he had suddenly tried to hide Katie from her. Once she found out that he was with someone, things changed. She couldn’t remember how, but she knew they just did. It was proof that he wasn’t interested and never would be; still, it never kept her from crying to herself on those weekends when she felt too lonely to go out and too alone to call someone because she worked too hard and too much to keep friends at her side.

Jennifer cleared her throat and smiled as three different employees swirled around their table. Their food had arrived. Andrew received a steak dish with a bright cream sauce, a mushroom gravy-like topping, and fresh garden veggies. A thick cut of sesame topped tuna lying atop raw seaweed with a side of spiced fruit was set before Jennifer. She marveled at the dish.

“You didn’t order me a steak?” She asked, poking at the seared tuna with a fork.

“Ever had tuna like this?” Andrew sliced into his steak, cutting off a thick square. As he took a bite, he closed his eyes. “Eddie Merlot’s is so good,” he managed between the bite.

Jennifer chuckled and then decided to try the tuna. It was spicy, juicy, and meaty with just a hint of fish.

“Oh my god,” she said in a breath.

“Good isn’t it?”

With a rushed nod, Jennifer sawed off more to place in her mouth. She didn’t even realize she could like tuna, but Andrew knew. She looked at him, silently watching as he smeared a piece of his steak in the sauce. Before he placed the meat in his mouth, he stopped to meet Jennifer’s eyes.

He glanced at his fork and then held it out to Jennifer without words. She leaned forward and bit the meat off his fork, chuckling in the process. It was good. She could taste the seared spices on top and the burst of opposing flavor in the cream, which appeared to be pickled and lime infused.

Andrew withdrew his fork as he watched Jennifer savor his order. After the bite, she dabbed at her face with the thick napkin.

“To go back to your question,” Jennifer began by clearing her throat, “I do work of many of my off days.” She reached for her wine glass.

“Melone requires that?” Andrew asked carefully.

Jennifer shook her head. She didn’t think Melone would ever demand out of her what she required out of herself.

“I do it because I’m dedicated.” She offered Andrew a thin smile. She also did it because it wasn’t likely she would ever have a chance with James
unless
she had been able to make herself exceptional. Then again, she was pretty sure she nailed that last part, and perhaps two or three more times since then, and James never asked her out In fact, he went and got involved in something serious with Katie.

“So you don’t get out much?”

“Only when I travel,” Jennifer admitted. Her life sounded bland and unappealing. Sometimes she visited the spas in the hotels she roomed in. Other times, she barely left the room, too busy and focused on reports, speeches, and gathering information.

“It’s settled then,” Andrew reached for his glass and took a swig. “Before we fly back you need to let me show you the top of Pikes Peak.”

Jennifer scrunched her shoulders up at the idea. “Maybe Saturday.”

“It’s a date.” He seemed to hover as if he waited for Jennifer to refute the title of the appointment, but she didn’t. Instead, she smiled and looked at her plate.

After a moment, she met his eyes again. “Are other men like you?”

“There’s no one like me,” he smirked.

“Yes, well,” Jennifer sat her fork down. She didn’t think she was going to be able to finish the whole slab of tuna before her. “Most of the men I work with are like—”

“Melone?”

Jennifer chuckled. “No, I was going to say Tony Stark.”

Andrew laughed. “Playboys?”

She nodded, and then she frowned. “And Melone’s not like that.”

“Have you dated him?”

Heat crept along her neck. “No. But I do spend quite a bit of time with him.”

Andrew nodded. “But it’s work related, right?”

Clenching her teeth, Jennifer nodded. “Yep.”

“Have you ever been around him outside of work?”

She considered Andrew’s question. They flew together a lot; occasionally she went places ahead of him. They drove long hours together and spent long days in the office. They also had long nights at meetings, events, benefits like the one they held Tuesday; but, now that she thought about it, she didn’t recall ever meeting James to just…just what? Hang? Chill? Climb mountains like she did with Andrew earlier?

“Do you date?” Jennifer asked, changing the topic.

Andrew grinned and nodded. “I’m dating you.”

Jennifer was blushing before she could tell herself to stop. “We’re having dinner together and you insisted.”

“It’s a date. Earlier was a date too.” He winked at her, having placed another bite in his mouth. After he had finished it, he added, “I enjoyed earlier a lot.”

Jennifer bit her lip, running her left hand along her collarbone and shoulder. “Me too. Even though I almost died.”

Andrew chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Do you like to dance?”

“What?”

“Dance?” Andrew pointed towards the ceiling. Jennifer followed but didn’t see anything. After a moment, she realized he was indicating the soft purr coming from hiding speakers. It was playing old smooth jazz favorites. Jennifer looked around.

“I don’t think there’s dancing here.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Andrew smiled at her, waiting.

Scratching behind her right ear, Jennifer shrugged. “I guess it’s all right.”

“Good. Dance with me.” Andrew reached for her hand across the table, but she refused.

“I don’t think there’s dancing here,” Jennifer repeated more firmly.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “They’re not going to kick us out,” he grinned mischievously.

“But people will stare.”

“All five of them?” Andrew chuckled. Jennifer looked around their table. There were two tables filled within range, but still far enough away to make her concern seem illogical. They didn’t seem to be interested in what was taking place at their table.

“If you don’t want to dance with me…”

“I’m not a good dancer,” Jennifer said in a rush.

“Neither am I,” Andrew grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief.  “I still like to though. You can just close your eyes and pretend no one else is here, okay?”

Even as the words left his mouth, she knew she would be dancing with him. Andrew stood and reached for her hand. He waited patiently. Casting another uneasy glance around them, Jennifer lifted her hand and slipped it into his grip. She was reminded immediately of his strength.

He tugged her effortlessly from the table and took a couple of steps away. Jennifer saw a head turn in their direction. She squeezed her eyes shut, her grip tightening within Andrew’s palm. She heard his soft laughter and let her body move towards his. Within seconds, her face was against his chest. She felt his strong heartbeat. The feel of his solid arms around her back with his hand on his waist comforted her. She took a deep breath and dared to open an eye. With her face buried in his shirt, she couldn’t see anything.

After a moment, she pulled her head back and looked up. Andrew was looking down at her. He smiled.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” He glanced around. “And no one’s rushing us with brooms and fire pokers to get us to sit down.”

Jennifer laughed and forced herself to look around. He was right. The two tables closest to them seemed to be engaged with themselves. She thought she saw a waitress near the kitchen entrance ogling over them, but when she looked, there was no one standing near the door. Jennifer relaxed considerably.

“See?” Andrew asked. He began to rock back and forth. Jennifer let him lead the way.

“Point taken,” she wiggled her fingers within Andrew’s palm. She liked the way her body seemed to fit into his. “So tell me about yourself. You have money,” she paused to roll her eyes, “but so do a lot of other men I know.”

Jennifer giggled as Andrew twirled her around. She spied a glimpse of the kitchen staff. They were definitely watching, but soon she was pulled into Andrew’s chest again, and she found she didn’t even care.

“What makes you different?” Jennifer asked at last, searching Andrew’s face.

Her question didn’t faze him. He slowed and placed both hands on her hips. “You’d have to tell me.”

She couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. “You don’t date a boat load of women?”

He grinned. “Define date.”

Jennifer took a deep breath. She moved her hands, one to his shoulder, and another to the small of his back. “An event, much like this one, where you get to know someone, preferably a member of the opposite sex.”

Andrew laughed. “Now you’re speaking my language. Yes. I date, but not a boat load of women at the same time. That would be awkward. A boat load?” He murmured something. Wrinkling her nose, Jennifer stopped swaying. “What are you doing?”