The CEO and the Girl From the Coffee Shop (7 page)

"Give yourself
some credit," he said bumping her hip with his, subtly pushing her
out of the way and plating up the food for them both, "you did a
good job and I know that by the time Pete finishes with you Monday
the fillet I expect from you that night will be equally as good -
if not better."

She watched
him intently as he expertly plated the food, garnishing it with
such finesse that when he was finished it looked as though it would
be something served straight from
The View
.

"You really
know your way around a kitchen," Beth commented as he added the
finishing touches and carried their plates over to the small
kitchen table.

Gabriel
grinned at her and gave her a wink, before opening up the wine
cabinet to select a wine for the evening. "Let's just say cooking
is a passion of mine. One I don't have the luxury to indulge
in."

"So again, why
me? Why not someone who doesn't need to be trained?" She asked
slipping into one of the kitchen chairs.

Selecting a
bottle of white wine he grabbed a corkscrew from the counter and
made his way over to her and the table. "I could," he started,
screwing in the corkscrew, "but I seriously doubt I'd enjoy their
company nearly as much as I do yours." His eyes caught hers as he
gave the cork a jerk, opening the bottle.

He guessed her
mind went rushing back to their little encounter because she
diverted her gaze and ran a nervous hand through her long locks.
Fuck! And double fuck!
He growled at himself as his jaw
clenched. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable being around him
and that was exactly what he'd done.
We'll talk and get this
straightened out after dinner
, he told himself as he grabbed
her wine glass and poured some out to her.

As Beth made
her way to the outdoor swimming pool where she was supposed to meet
Gabriel, she still felt uneasy and the black bikini she was wearing
was only a small part of the reason. A combination of embarrassment
over her wanton behaviour with him earlier and the feelings that
were beginning to form within her for him were clouding her
judgement. Was she a fling? Was she an employee that things just
got out of hand with? Did he usually participate in sexual
activities with the women who worked for him?

Her face
blanched.
Oh-my-god!
What if he hired me with the sole
thought in mind of having me here for a quick fuck whenever he had
the urge for it?
The thought was like having a knife jabbed
into her stomach.

I have to
discuss this with him. I have to make sure
.

Her mouth fell
agape when she opened the back patio door and stepped out into the
warm night air. A soft seductive melody played from hidden speakers
and the pool area was lit by tiki torches along the parameter.
Combined with a cloudless, starry night sky, it was beautiful in
its simplicity. The shimmers of light as the full moon bounced off
of the water only added to the romantic atmosphere. She groaned
inwardly, could this get any more uncomfortable?

Slowly making
her way, with towel in hand to the pool, she watched Gabriel swim
laps, his strokes long and powerful. His body appeared to glide
over the water. As she stepped down the final step she leaned a
shoulder against the porch railing and watched him.

Sensing her
arrival, Gabriel finished his final lap and then pulled himself out
of the water, in one swift, powerful motion. The water glistened
like small diamonds over his body as it ran down his muscular torso
to disappear into his forest green swim trunks that rode
dangerously low on his hips.

My God,
he's gorgeous!
She immediately felt a stirring between her
legs. Did it really matter why he wanted her there? He wanted her,
wasn't that enough?
No! No, it's not
, a voice in the back of
her head screamed out to her, shaking her loose of the trance she'd
been in while watching him.

He looked up
and his dark eyes caught her. "Come on over the water is perfect
tonight," he motioned for her to join him as he sat by the edge,
his feet dangling into the pool.

With
hesitation she made her way over to him aware that his eyes were
examining every inch of her body as she walked. With this knowledge
she squared he shoulders and tried to appear more confident than
she really was. Placing her towel on the cool cement, she sat down
beside him, letting her feet dangle into the water. He wasn't
kidding it was just warm enough to take the cool edge off, but cool
enough to be refreshing.

"That suit
looks... amazing on you Beth," his tone of his voice was low and
silky smooth to her ears.

The flutters
in her stomach joined the growing ache between her legs. She
groaned inwardly.
Why did he have to be so damned sexy and
charming and... Ugh!

"What's the
matter?" Gabriel frowned as he looked over at her.

"I..." she
looked over at him and sighed.

"Oh. This is
about earlier?"

"Yeah." Taking
a deep breath in Beth decided to simply get it out in the open and
be done with it. "Why did you hire me?"

Gabriel's
frown deepened and as he opened his mouth to speak she held a
finger up to his lips. "Don't lie to me."

Taking her
hand in his, he kissed the back of her hand lightly. "I like you
Beth."

I would
fucking hope so all things considered!
A small jolt of anger
welled up within her.
Whoa, where did that come from?
Part
of Beth wanted to forget about being confrontational and let it go.
He looked so genuinely concerned that it tugged at her. But the
other part, the more dominant part needed to know the truth.

"But what am I
exactly
? I joked the other day that I was like a wife
without the sex and well... I have a feeling that is where this is
headed. The sex part."

His jaw
clenched, but he held her gaze, nodding. "And..."

Beth groaned
loudly. "Don't you see how wrong that is? This is a sexual
harassment suit waiting to happen! Do you have relationships like
this with all your cooks slash maids slash personal
assistants?"

A grin touched
his lips and amusement shone in his eyes as he cocked a brow up at
her. "Are you planning to press sexual harassment charges
Beth?"

Beth laughed
at the silliness of it all. When thinking back to earlier that day,
he hardly forced himself onto her. She had more than welcomed, hell
she practically begged for it! "No, of course not." She narrowed
her eyes at him, "You don't think that it was a little
inappropriate? I've been on the job for less than twenty-four hours
and you've already seen me naked and..." she could feel the heat
rush up to her cheeks, and the desire within her rose as visions of
him between her legs came rushing back to her.

"Perhaps it
was a little... inappropriate. Does that have to mean it was
wrong?"

"Well tell me
this," she countered. "The last person you had working in my
position. Did you have the same type of working arrangement as you
do with me now?"

He chuckled,
giving her hand a light squeeze. "Well, to be honest, the last
person was a sixty-five year old woman named Gretchen, who quit
because she and her husband were moving to Florida. She arrived at
6am and left at 5pm and I assure you I had no desire to touch her
in
any
way inappropriately."

Beth rolled
her eyes at him, but couldn't help but laugh a second time. "Please
don't make me laugh, I'm being serious."

His attempt to
keep a stern expression was nearly as humorous as his words. "And
so am I. She was the sweetest woman, been with my family for
decades, she practically raised me, but she just wasn't my type.
Don't get me wrong knee high stockings can be extremely
sexy..."

Pulling her
hand from his she gave his shoulder a playful swat, still giggling.
"Stop. I get it!"

"But why hire
me
," she stressed the 'me' part. He was being intentionally
elusive, but there was no way she could let it go without a
satisfactory answer.

He leaned back
on his elbows on the towel he'd laid out previously, causing her to
lean back as well, turning to her side facing him, bracing her head
with her hand, to watch his expression as he talked. "I've had a
slight," he cleared his throat, and even in the dim light of the
torch fires, she could see his face redden slightly. It was
apparent he wasn't very accustomed to explaining himself to anyone.
"A slight
crush,
if you could call it that, for you for some
time now."

Beth couldn't
stop the soft giggle that escaped her lips. With all of the models
and high-society bimbo's that she'd seen him with in pictures and
in the gossip news she had a hard time visualizing Gabriel having a
'crush' on anyone. She would have thought the roles were normally
reversed.

He raised a
brow at her, amused. "You think I can't have a crush?"

She shook her
head. "It's hard to visualize, that's all."

"I see. Well,
I have."

"But you date
these models and I saw a picture of you with some soap
actress."

He grinned and
chuckled. "Without the glamour and the make-up, they aren't near as
beautiful as
they
think they are," he stressed the word
they,
"Besides, most are fake and superficial. Fame does
that to people. Not all, but most. And you really can't blame them.
When you have thousands - millions even - of people constantly
telling you how wonderful, beautiful, talented you are, it's bound
to sink it and have an effect."

"I see. So
again, why me? Why offer me this job?"

"Do you know
what one of the highlights of my day is?" he rolled over to his
side so he was facing her directly, mimicking her position by
bracing himself up on his elbow.

Beth
shrugged.

"Going out of
my way each day to stop by the coffee shop to get a cup of that
horrid coffee you people serve. It's horrible. I imagine the only
reason the shop stays in business is the good looking women it
tends to employ."

Beth laughed
her agreement with his assessment of the coffee. "So why
hire
me? Why not just ask me on a date?"

He clucked his
tongue off the roof of his mouth. "Alright answer me this. How many
times a week did you get hit on by customers?"

It was Beth's
turn to blush. She saw where he was going with this and saw his
point. "A few or so."

"I didn't like
the idea of being another one of those asshole customers. And so
when I showed up and realized you were in a situation that I could
help with I figured it would be a good chance to get to know
you."

"Inviting
someone to live with you is a really fucked up way of getting to
know them Gabriel," she chided.

"Is it," he
agreed, his amusement slowly fading to be replaced with the heated,
hungry look that she was becoming very familiar with and sent her
pulse racing. He touched her hip, just above the string that tied
at her hip, holding the bottom together and slowly trailed his
fingertips over her hip, and along her waist.

She wanted to
close her eyes and sigh. She wanted to fall into his arms and let
him do whatever he pleased with her as long as it meant she could
touch him, and feel more of his sweet caress. She needed to get the
conversation back on track before he...

Oh good
lord!

With his hand
stopping just below the side of her breast, he lowered his mouth to
hers, gently kissing her. His lips barely touching hers was enough
of a tease that the fire within her for him flared up with a
vengeance. "We should discuss this Gabriel," she protested,
reaching over and flattening her palm against his wet, hard chest,
her fingertips tracing the contours of muscle.

He moved over
her, pressing her back against the towel, as he nipped at her neck.
"Why wouldn't I want you here," he countered, his tongue lashing
out and teasing her neck where he'd just gently bit.

"There are
more qualified people..." She groaned inwardly as he began to kiss
his way down her neck, slipping her arms up over his powerful
shoulders.

To her dismay
he stopped his teasing to gaze down at her, his eyes catching hers.
"You're beautiful, and sweet, and funny, and your smile lightens up
my mood no matter how bad it may be," he stated kissing her lightly
after stating each attribute. "Why wouldn't I want you near me? I'd
have been a fool to have let the opportunity pass me by."

Her ability to
keep a clear head was rapidly dissolving as her body took over.
"How could you possibly know these things from five minutes a day?"
she gasped as his mouth came crashing down onto hers. His kiss was
demanding and she happily surrendered to him, no longer concerned
with the why's or how's. As their tongue danced, she held tight to
him, pulling his hard body down to hers as she moaned against his
lips.

His cock,
thick and hard under his shorts pressed against her leg, enticing
her and she wanted it. Beth slipped a hand from his neck and was
about to snake it under the waistband of his shorts when he
suddenly - and to her dismay - stopped kissing her and grabbed her
wrist.

Her brow
creased as she opened her lust filled eyes up to stare at him. What
did she do wrong?

A wide,
mischievous grin spread across his lips as he stood and extended
his hand to her. "Come for a swim with me."

A swim?
Damn he's infuriating.
She scowled up at him as she took his
hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Her pussy was an
inferno of need and she was grateful that her bathing suit bottoms
were black, because she could feel her juices soaking them. She
chanced a glance down at giant bulge at the front of his trunks and
licked her lower lip.