Catering to the CEO (5 page)

It had almost been twenty-four hours since he’d given her a thought.  As he pulled his car out of the parking garage, he tried to shake her image free from his mind.  It didn’t work.  He could see the conservative business woman who he always dealt with and then, more firmly in his mind
, was the woman in jeans from last night, with her loose, wavy hair framing her face and her big blue eyes that just danced and twinkled with laughter when she was with her family. 

He sighed with frustration and then with disgust when he realized that he was driving not towards his house but towards her shop.  Her business.  Her home.  What the hell was wrong with him?  He’d known Cassie for two years!  He’d been doing business with her all this time and never managed to give her a second thought and now, for some ungod
ly reason, he was driving by her house like he was some teenager hoping to get a glimpse of her. 

The light was on in the showroom and he slowed down to see if he actually could see her.  God, he was pathetic!  As he neared a stop, he did, in fact, see her walking back towards the kitchen.  Not giving himself time to question his actions, Adam turned the car around and pulled around to the back of the building and parked by the back door.

Climbing out of his car, Adam began to question himself.  What was he going to say?  Why was he even here?  Maybe he was just concerned because of what had happened last night?  Maybe he was just checking up on her to make sure she was okay?  That was plausible, right?  He knocked and he waited.

“Adam?” Cassie said as she pulled open the door, unable to hide her surprise.  “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?

Cassie stepped aside as he came through the door.  He stood only a few feet away and watched as she closed the door and walked back into the kitchen.  She stared at him, waiting for an answer.  “Adam?”

“You never did come back to the table last night.  Are you feeling okay?”  If he didn’t know himself any better he’d swear he was actually concerned.

“Well, that’s awfully nice of you,” she smiled.  “Come on in, I was just cooking.”  Without waiting to see if he’d follow, Cassie walked back over to her work station and finished tossing ingredients in to a bowl.

“Do you have a client tonight?”

“What?  Oh, you mean this?”  When he nodded she continued.  “Well, normally I make enough for two or three when I’m concocting; you know, so that I can get a second or third opinion.  Katie is usually my guinea pig but she left early tonight.  So she’ll have to taste it as a left over.”

“What are you making?”

“I’m not exactly sure yet,” she said with a grin.  “I’ve got chicken and artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella…I think I’ll use some penne and maybe some Vodka sauce.”  At this point she’d stopped talking directly to him and more to herself as she walked around the kitchen grabbing ingredients.  She was putting a pot of water on the stove to boil when she remembered that he was there.

“Sorry, I get distracted easily when I’m cooking.  Why exactly did you stop by?”  She began heating olive oil in a large skillet as Adam walked a little closer.

“Like I said, I wanted to make sure that you were feeling all right after last night.”

“Oh, right, yes.  I’m fine.  No big deal.  I took some Advil and lay down for a little while and drove myself home around eleven.  I’m fine today.”

“That’s good,” he said, watching as she tossed all sorts of things in to the pan and tossed them around while seasonings abounded.  “That smells amazing.”  The words were out before he could stop himself.

She flashed him one of those smiles that he was really starting to like right over her shoulder, never stopping the pan flipping action she had going on.  “Thanks.  I just love it, the creating, and the experimenting.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but a girl’s gotta eat, right?”

Adam nodded.  “You cook for yourself every night?”

“Absolutely!”  She lowered the flame on the stove and went to grab the pasta to add to the boiling water.  “Do you cook?”

“Does hitting ‘cook’ on the microwave count?” he asked, hating how pathetic he sounded.  Truth be known, after standing here and watching her cook, smelling the wonderful aroma of whatever this was that Cassie was throwing together, his microwave dinner had lost more of its appeal than usual. 

“Well, I’ll tell you what, grab me two plates from that cabinet over there and we’ll discuss our soon-to-be-merged family over dinner.  How does that sound?”

Like a treat, he thought. 

It amazed Adam but within minutes they were sitting up in Cassie’s apartment and eating a meal that was…well, it was even better than the one she’d cooked for her family the night before. 

“I wish I could have seen everyone’s faces when dad made the announcement,” Cassie said as she lifted her glass of wine.  “I mean, I’m sure I would have been equally shocked; none of us had any idea that he was even dating.  Did you know?”

“Not a clue; but then again, I don’t spend a whole lot of time with Bev talking about her social life.”  After the words were out he realized how cold and calloused they sounded.  “I mean, with my schedule we don’t…”

Cassie shook her head and smiled.  “No need to explain; I completely understand.  Not many families spend as much time together as mine and honestly, we didn’t know.”

“Why would your dad not want you to know?” Adam tasted his own wine and mentally nodded with approval.  Not only could the woman cook but she had good taste in wine. 

“I really don’t know.  I mean, we’re all adults with our own lives and we want him to be happy.  My mom’s been gone for over ten years so he’s mourned enough.  We often talked about wanting dad to find someone and start living again.  I guess he wasn’t sure how we’d react.”  Reaching for a napkin, she gently wiped her mouth.  “We talk about everything in my house and he never thought to talk to us about this.”

“Are you upset?”

Cassie shook her head.  “Not at all.  It’s so obvious that they’re crazy about each other and I think it’s wonderful.  All I want is for dad to be happy.  He’s sacrificed so much for us and now we’re all grown up and doing things, creating lives for ourselves and I want him to be selfish now and focus on what makes him happy.”

“Maybe just being a dad made him happy.” 

Cassie put her fork down and looked at Adam; tears glistening in her eyes.  “That was quite possibly the nicest thing you’ve ever said.”  She reached over and touched his hand.  “Thank you.”

Before Cassie could remove her hand, Adam turned his over and linked his fingers through hers and gave a gentle squeeze.  This wasn’t supposed to be happening, Cassie thought.  She wasn’t supposed to be enjoying herself with Adam; she still didn’t fully trust him.  The fact that they were going to be family soon didn’t help matters.  But sitting here next to him, enjoying a meal, talking like two regular people, not business associates, had her seeing him as if for the first time.

That wasn’t to say that she’d never taken notice of Adam; hell, a woman would have to be blind to not notice him.  Adam was the stuff that most fantasies were made of – until he opened his mouth.  That was certainly a deal breaker, for sure. 

Realizing that she was staring, Cassie casually pulled her hand free from his and went back to her meal.  Clearing her throat she began, “I guess he could have been satisfied with just being a father to four kids, but now that we’re all grown, I want him to do something for himself.  He’s raised us all and as much as I know he wants to help with Ella, he needs your mom.”

“I think Bev needs him to.  I guess I didn’t realize how much or how lonely she was until I saw them together last night.  It was a bit eye opening.”

“Um, Adam,” she said cautiously and blushed. He didn’t think that women actually blushed anymore.  “As long as we’re being honest, you have to know that I don’t normally...argue with clients.   I mean, I can usually get what I want without having to be…bitchy.”  If possible, her blush deepened at her description of herself. 

“If it means anything,” he began, “I seriously provoked you.”  An inner voice told Adam that he was going to have to kick his own ass soon if he didn’t stop apologizing and getting sappy with this woman.  In one day’s time he had fired her and then pretty much begged, groveled and put himself down in order to make her feel better. 

As wonderful as dinner was, he had to get out of here.  There was no way for him to hang on to who he was and what he was planning while he was getting all “in touch with his emotions” here in Cassie’s home.  He had to get out of Dodge quick.

Tossing down his napkin, he stood.  “Let me help you clear this up and then I have to get going.  I’ve got a midnight conference call.”  He didn’t but it sounded plausible.  “I’m hoping to catch an hour’s sleep before it starts.”

Cassie shooed his hands away from the dishes.  “Not to worry, I’ve got this.  You go and do what you do.”  To prove it, she began clearing the table and placing dishes in the sink.  When everything was cleared, she noticed him standing next to the table watching her, his brows creased.  It was both exciting and unnerving.  Leaning against the counter, she folded her arms across her chest and observed him right back – only with a smile.  “This was an unexpected surprise, Adam.”

He nodded, almost mesmerized by the sight of her.  He had to get out.  Now.  “Thank you for dinner.  That, too, was an unexpected surprise.  A delicious one.  Thanks for sharing.”  He turned to go down the stairs and Cassie followed him.

“Oh, wait one minute,” she said and walked over to the walk in refrigerator.  When she came out she had a round foil take out container.  “Here,” she said.  “Take the rest of the leftovers for yourself for dinner for another night.  I know you’ll still have to nuke it but at least it’s homemade.”  She handed it to him with a smile and Adam felt like he’d been kicked in the solar plexus. 

With a gruff ‘good night’ he was out the door, in his car and pulling away.  He had no idea what had happened tonight but it made him uncomfortable and if there was one thing he knew for sure about himself it was that he hated to be uncomfortable. 

Speeding off into the night he looked down at the take out container as if it were Plutonium.  It was a simple gesture; one that just showed her kindness.  Switching his focus between the container and the road Adam had a feeling that he’d left Cassie’s tonight with more than just another meal. 

He might have actually left there with the ice around his heart starting to melt.

Chapter Four

The room was done in massive amounts of greens and gold’s and when Cassie was done with it, the guests would feel as if they’d wandered through the mountains of North Carolina amidst the fall foliage.  It was magical to look at.  Though Cassie had not seen Adam since their impromptu dinner the week before, she knew he was going to be pleased with the results. 

With one last look around, she noticed Katie coming towards her.  “Any problems?”

“None,” Katie said with a smile. 

“That’s what I like to hear.”  Feeling confident, she walked the room one last time and felt satisfied that she had done all that she could for the day.  Taking the elevator up to the tenth floor, she found Grace sitting at her desk and smiled and waved as she approached.

“Are we ready?” she asked giddily.

“As we’ll ever be,” Cassie confirmed.  “I just did a final walk through and the room looks amazing.”

“You are impressive.  I bow to the master.”  With great fanfare, Grace did an over the top bow and both women started to laugh. 

And immediately stopped when Adam stepped out of his office.

Grace immediately sat back down in her seat and pretended to get back to work, straightening stacks of paper for effect and said in a clipped professional tone, “Thank you for the update, Miss Jacobs.”  Cassie thanked her for her time and went to turn and leave.

“Cassandra?” Adam called after her.  “May I speak with you for a moment?”  He was careful to stay respectful and courteous just as he told her he would.

Cassie followed him into his office and immediately gave him an update on the event status.  He smiled with pleasure.  Adam never had a doubt that she would pull it all together and make it look beautiful and professional.  That’s what he paid her for.  No, what he wanted right now wasn’t so much an update on the retreat as much as to just talk with her. 

But in the end he had to remember his initial plan.  Cassie had crossed a line with him and while he couldn’t outright fire her like he’d wanted to – not with their parents new-found engagement – but he had to find a way to end their business arrangement that didn’t have him looking like the bad guy.  It was just taking a bit longer to figure out how exactly he was going to accomplish that.

“If you’d like to come down to the ball room, I’d be more than happy to give you the tour.”

“I trust you,” he replied smoothly.  “I’m sure it will look exactly as you promised and my staff will be thoroughly impressed.  I have every confidence in you.”

His words shouldn’t have made her feel all gushy inside but they did.  The man never praised anyone and lately, he’d been doing that a lot to her. 

“I…um…I tweaked the menu a bit,” she began nervously, almost afraid to broach the subject that had nearly ended their working relationship.  “I added…”