Tempted by the Boss (Tempted Series Book 1) (8 page)

I could tell she was enjoying herself. Even when James put down
our gins, her eyes got huge when she saw the ball of ice in the glass. And not
only was she breathtaking to look at, but she was great company, too. Most of
the women I spent time with didn’t even flinch at my lifestyle or the
restaurants I went to, but Ella’s enthusiasm for every little detail made her really
fun to be around.

I promised myself I wouldn’t flirt with her or come on too
strong, but it was a struggle. I couldn’t not tell her how gorgeous she looked.
I had to so I’d have permission to smile at her all night. And it did feel like
that was all I was doing. I hoped I wasn’t coming across as an idiot, but she
was positively magnetic.

After she downed her first drink to keep up with me, she seemed more
relaxed within minutes, smiling and laughing more easily. I wasn’t quite sure
why, but I craved her attention. As a result, showing her a good time seemed
like the most important thing I’d done in weeks.

However, I decided it would be unfair not to ask about her plans
for the party before she got to the end of her second drink. After all, it was
in both our best interests for her to nail her pitch.

“How’s the salmon?” I asked.

She covered her mouth and swallowed. “Melt in the mouth. I think
they put something on it so it would be addictive.”

“I could ask the chef.”

“Oh yeah, you could!” she said, breaking another bite off with
the side of her fork.

“But I think I overheard him talking about his secret ingredient
once.”

She was leaning forward like I had the winning lotto numbers. “Do
you remember what it was?”

“I think so,” I said, loving her on the edge of her seat.

“Well?”

“I think they call it… butter.”

She shook her head. “You are the worst, you know that?”

I was so glad she noticed. I hope she would punish me for the
very bad boy that I intended to be to her.

She shook her head and half her lips curved up into a smile. “It
must be priceless butter.”

“Ahhh yes. That must be it.”

She put another bite in her mouth.

“So when are you going to dazzle me with your ideas for the
Christmas party?”

“Oh right. That’s why we’re here.” She reached for her gin.

“One of the reasons, yes.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. Are you ready?”

“When you are.”

“Are you familiar with The Nutcracker?”

“The ballet?”

“Yes, by Tchaikovsky.”

I put the last bite of my perfect steak in my mouth, sat back,
and nodded.

“I was thinking we could have that be the theme.”

I waved my hand in the air, encouraging her to continue.

“I want everyone to feel like they are a toy under the tree.”

“Go on.”

“So there will be a big tree decoration, but it will feel like
everyone is underneath it.”

“Is that possible?”

“I’ve made a few calls and several people are set to follow up
with me on Monday with their pitches.”

I nodded. So far so good.

“And there will be jumbo presents around the perimeter of the
ballroom to help lend to the atmosphere that we’re all under the tree.”

I took a sip of my drink. She was getting more excited with
every idea she shared, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I would’ve been
happy if she’d talked forever.

“And all the bartenders will be dressed up like nutcrackers.”

I nodded. “Cute. I like it.”

“And this is my favorite part,” she said, her eyes dancing.
“This is the sexy part.”

“The sexy part?”

“Well I couldn’t exactly plan a party for William Abbott and not
have it be sexy could I?”

God this girl knew how to get me.

“So we get all these attractive female servers.”

“I’m listening.”

“And they’re all sugar plum fairies.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was thinking they could all be wearing different dresses with
big full skirts.” She held her arms out to show me. “But the dresses will be
edible.”

“Edible?”

“Yeah, like pure fantasy stuff. So one girl’s dress will be made
of tons of candy canes, for example, and everyone will be able to pluck candy
canes off her skirt as she walks by.”

“Wow.”

“And another girl will be wearing a dress made of cake pops.”

“What’s a cake pop?”

“It’s like a bite sized piece of cake on a stick. Like if a cake
and a lollipop had a baby.”

I laughed. “Got it.”

“And another girl will be wearing a skirt made of chocolate
covered strawberries, and another will be wearing those whiskey filled
chocolates you like from Giorpinos.”

“How did you know I like those chocolates?”

A smile spread across her face. “I did my research.”

“Well done.”

“I noticed they’ve been available at every party since the first
time you had them.”

“I’m impressed.”

She shook her small fists in front of her like she was dancing
in her chair.

“Are you sure you can pull that off? That those dresses can be
made?”

“I sketched exactly what I wanted and two companies have already
confirmed that they can do it. I just have to get them bidding against each
other to get the best price.”

“And this would all be within the budget?”

“Of course.”

“Ella, Ella, Ella.”
I shook my head.

"Will, Will, Will.” She mocked.

My pants felt tighter instantly.

She scrunched up her face. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s going to be sensational.”

“Really?”

I lifted my glass. “I knew you could do it, but I must say I
wasn’t expecting to be that bowled over.”

“Bowled over?” She clinked her glass against mine. “So you think
it has enough ‘wow’ factor?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted a permanent
position.”

She winked at me playfully over the top of her glass.

“I guess I had nothing to worry about.”

“You were worried?”

“Worried is the wrong word. Anxious.”

“Little old me made you anxious?”

“All right, I can tell you’re pleased with yourself.”

“Very.”

“Would you like another drink with dessert?”

“I’m so full. I don’t know if I-”

“You have to have dessert. I insist. It’s the best part.” I
looked around for a dessert menu. Not that I needed one. “Especially after all
that talk about sugar plum fairies.”

She shrugged. “You make a good case.”

“I just need to get a menu.”

“Don’t bother.” She looked across the table at me. “I trust you know
what’s best.”

“You’re so easy going after a few drinks. What a pleasant
surprise.”

“Very funny.”

“I think I know exactly what you’ll like anyway.”

I caught James’ eye, and he appeared beside us in an instant.
Then I ordered one chocolate cake and one apple crumble.

“Do you like ice cream?” I asked her, suspecting I already knew
the answer.

She nodded reservedly, but her excitement was obvious.

“Make those both a la mode, James.”

“Right away, sir.”

“Do you get sick of people calling you sir?” she asked when
James was out of ear shot.

“Do you get sick of being told how beautiful you are?”

She looked down. “Those aren’t exactly the same.”

“How are they different?”

“One happens a lot more than the other.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it then. I’ve been
speaking my mind for too long to change now.”

She topped up her glass of water and drank some of it right
away.

I watched her intently without saying anything.

“So which dessert is for me?”

“Both,” I said. “I’m just going to keep one in front of me until
you’re ready to switch plates.”

She tilted her head. “You’re serious?”

“Completely.”

“I’m not going to eat both desserts while you just sit there.”

“We’ll see about that.”

James arrived with the desserts on cue and looked back and forth
between us.

“The apple crumble, please,” Ella said, eyeing me.

James put the desserts down and walked away.

She glanced at the chocolate cake in front of me and then back
at her own plate. “I love it when the dessert is warm and it melts the ice
cream.”

“I love your obsession with details.”

She picked up a small spoon and broke a piece off the side of
her crumble, topping it up with ice cream on its way to her mouth. When it hit
her tongue, she closed her eyes and sucked the spoon clean like she was
auditioning for a yogurt commercial.

“Do you like it?” I asked, wetting my palate with the last of my
gin.

“It’s heavenly,” she said, continuing to take bites like she was
deliberately trying to turn me on.

I watched her eat the whole thing. Bite by bite until it was
gone, closing her eyes half the time so that her long eyelashes cast pretty
shadows on her cheeks.

When she had two bites left she looked up at me. “Would you like
to try it? I should’ve asked you sooner. I guess I got carried away.”

I smiled. “Sure.” I slid my plate towards her. “You might as
well try the chocolate cake then.”

“I’ll
try
it,” she said, sliding her crumble towards me.

She broke off the tip of the chocolate cake with her spoon, and
when she put it in her mouth, she actually groaned a little.

It made me want to have her right there.

“That is divine,” she said. “No wonder you come here so much.”

“I’ve actually enjoyed it more tonight than I ever have before.”

“Really?” She dragged her fat lip over the back of the spoon.

“You’re great company.”

She tilted her head. “Thanks. So are you, Will.”

I couldn’t wait until she was ready for me to show her the
extent of how good my company could be.

When there were a few bites of cake left she stared down at her
plate like she was trying to decide between letting me be right and just
finishing the damn dessert.

“I won’t hold it against you if you eat it,” I said. “I think
you’ll only regret it if you don’t.”

She looked up at me with a face full of preemptive guilt. “I
think you’re right.”

She hoovered up the rest of the chocolate cake and ice cream as
daintily as she could in her slightly inebriated state. The only bad thing
about her being tipsy was I couldn’t tell when I was making her blush anymore.

After I paid the bill, I escorted her out of the restaurant. She
held onto my arm the whole time, making me feel even richer than usual.

When we reached the curb, I turned to face her. She smiled at me
for a moment, but the fresh air seemed to snap her out of her reverie.

“Can I bring you home?” I asked.

“Excuse me?” She let go of my arm.

“Can I give you a ride,” I said, wishing she’d just said yes.

“Oh.” She ran her hand over her head. “No. Thank you. I better
just get a cab.”

“It’s no trouble.”

She shook her head and mumbled. “That’s what you think.”

“What was that?”

“I had a wonderful evening.” She looked back and forth between
my eyes. “The most wonderful evening.”

“It doesn’t have to end now. It’s still early.”

“Good night, Will.” She leaned forward and held her cheek to
mine. I could feel her hot breath on my ear as she whispered. “Sweet dreams.”

But when she walked away, she took my sweetest dreams with her.

The months leading up to Christmas went ridiculously fast, and I
underestimated how intense orchestrating the details of the party was going to
be. My schedule was dominated by work. I slept only when I had time and ate
only when I remembered to do it.

I didn’t let my outside reflect the exhausted mess I was on the
inside, though. After the compliments Will had given me when we had dinner at
Capulets, I made it my business to look good, and found it fun trying to catch
his eye. Not that the compliments continued. He was friendly of course, but he
didn’t go out of his way to linger around my desk. Plus, he had to travel a lot
to the other branches to make sure they were on track leading up to the
holidays. So I didn’t see him nearly as much as I would’ve liked.

The Monday after we had dinner, he brought me a pumpkin
cappuccino and told me to give it to Emily and set up a time to tell her about
my ideas for the party. Then he basically left me alone to get on with it. I
didn’t know if I’d offended him. I didn’t know if when he asked if he could
bring me home if he’d meant what I thought he meant. God knows I’d gone home
with men after far less enchanting dates. Or evenings, I guess. It wasn’t
really a date per se. More like an appointment, the most fun appointment I’d
ever had.

Still, while I didn’t see him much in the weeks leading up to
the party, when I did, he still looked at me that way. Like I was a piece of
art. Like I was something collectible. Truthfully, I felt a little ashamed of
how much I enjoyed him looking at me like that. Especially because I knew it
wasn’t appropriate. Nor was it appropriate that I had full on fantasies about
him when my mind wandered. But I knew they weren’t real. I knew they were just
as ludicrous as the fantasies I had about Channing Tatum for a year after I
went to see Magic Mike with Jackie.

Will and I couldn’t really be together. I just had a silly
crush. Which was harmless as long as I didn’t let it affect my job. So as much
as I wanted to drop everything and imagine Will’s big hands on my body, I
couldn’t stop executing the Christmas Party Plans.

And even though he seemed to find me attractive- he’d said as
much anyway- that didn’t mean anything. I knew how charming he was with
everyone else, and it would be foolish to think that there was something more
going on between us. After all, that was the secret to his success. He made
people feel special, indispensable, and important. That was why everyone he
worked with was enamored with him. And just because I was too didn’t mean it
was okay to get carried away by the way he looked, the way he moved, and the
way he smelled. It was a good, clean man smell. It was so pleasant it was weeks
before I let myself wonder how he smelled when he was sweaty.

I wish the thought had never entered my brain in the first place,
but I couldn’t help it. One day a few weeks ago, he walked in the office to
pick something up from Emily, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him
without a suit on. He was in a sweaty t-shirt and sweat pants with a little
white towel around his neck. My eyes didn’t even know where to look. I swear it
was the first time I understood why anyone would ever whistle at another human
being.

The worst thing was that when he made eye contact with me, I
wasn’t smiling politely like I normally tried to do. I was staring at him like
a creepy stalker. To my credit, I wasn’t drooling, but it seemed like it should
definitely be against the rules for him to come in like that. Surely other
people’s productivity was similarly disrupted. I spent the next hour wondering
what he was like when his heart was racing and holding my cold water bottle on
the back of my neck.

But somehow, against all odds and the fact that my boss was
walking porn, I’d managed to pull everything together in time for the Christmas
Party. Now it was just a question of whether I could pull it off on the night.
Which I had to do if I was going to earn my money back for all of Emily’s damn
lattes. Not that they weren’t worth it. On the contrary, she saw through the
whole charade for a good three weeks, but eventually she seemed increasingly happy
to see me. Then one day I complimented a brooch she was wearing that her late
husband bought her at some fancy market in Paris, and she gushed about their
honeymoon there for a good ten minutes. Which in Emily time was like two and a
half hours. After that, she was much more tolerant of me. 

“Do you think it would be inappropriate to get Emily a Christmas
Present?” I asked Jackie across the rack at Macy’s.

“How should I know?” She kept her eyes on the dresses in front
of her. “Would she think you were sucking up or would she appreciate it?”

“Probably both.”

“Let’s worry about your dress first. She’s number two on the
list of people I want you to impress on the night.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for coming all the way out to help me
pick something.”

“Wouldn’t miss it. This is your big society debut. What you wear
is half the battle.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

 I smiled. “What about this one?” I held up a dark green dress.

She crinkled her face. “That would be perfect if you were going
as a Christmas Tree.”

“I think it’s pretty.”

“The green isn’t right.”

“I didn’t know we had a color concept in mind already.”

“We do. And it isn’t green.”

“What are you thinking then?”

“Something more like this.” She held out a floor length red
dress. When she twirled it, I could see that it had a plunging neckline.

“I’m supposed to be behind the scenes, Jackie. Not Cameron Diaz
in the Mask.”

“First of all, she looked amazing in that movie. Second of all,
you are not supposed to be behind the scenes. It would be a shame for you to
look less amazing than the party itself.”

“The plunging neckline is a bit much, though, don’t you think?
For a work thing?”

“You could at least try it on.”

“How much is it?”

She found the tag and inhaled sharply through her teeth.

“I only have what’s left on the gift card, remember? Plus, I
want to get something for Emily.”

“I know, but the sugar plum fairies are going to be stiff
competition.”

“True.”

“And this isn’t just a party. It’s also an interview. I mean,
isn’t the goal to look so good Will can’t imagine attending another party
without you for the next few years?”

“Sort of.”

“And if you secure that job, you won’t have to worry about money
again for a long time, right?”

“I suppose.”

“So this dress isn’t really a purchase.” She tilted her head.
“It’s more like an investment.”

“I get what you’re saying. Really I do. But the plunging
neckline is still too sexy.” I held the dress up in front of me. “I can’t do my
job when I’m on the constant verge of a wardrobe malfunction.”

She bit her lip and scanned the rack. “Ah ha!” She grabbed another
red dress off the rack. “How about this one?”

“That’s the same dress, dummy.”

“No it’s not. This one has a plunging backline.” She twirled the
hanger. “See?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never worn a backless dress.”

“Instead of in your face sexy like that one-” She nodded towards
the dress I was holding. “It’s understated sexy. Which is exactly what you’re
going for.”

“I don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?! It’s perfect. Business in the front,
party in the back.”

I laughed. “Oh brilliant. Just what I wanted. A dress that makes
people think about mullets.”

“Trust me. No one is going to be able to think about anything
when they see you in this dress.”

I looked at the striking red dress in front of her. I did want
to look pretty, and even though the plunging back was very revealing, the front
was conservative. There was a chance it would be the perfect way to hold my own
in a room full of sugar plum fairies.

I sighed and looked at Jackie’s hopeful face. “I guess there’s
no harm in trying it on.”