While his intentions for the moment were strictly professional, the thought of having her in his bed, or for that matter, bent over his desk made his cock come alive. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to conceal his growing erection from her. She looked a little indecisive, and the last thing he wanted was for her to feel he wanted more than a strictly professional relationship. Whether that was the case or not.
"So what do you say? Let me show you around?" Standing, he extended his hand to her. She hesitated briefly, looked up, met his eyes with her sapphire blue ones and accepted his hand. His larger hand eclipsed her soft, delicate one as she rose to her feet.
He led her to the door and opened it, ushering her out and then exiting after her. The first stop would be the kitchen and then he's play it by ear from there.
"To address the cooking issue-"
"Are you sure you wouldn't be more suited to have a real chef?" she asked, looking up at him.
He laughed "No, I know what I want."
"I just want to be honest with you. Even with a lot of practice I doubt I'll be able to get even close to cooking as well as you'll want from me." She ran her hand through her hair once more, the golden strands, slipping by her fingers one-by-one. It was killing him not to reach over and stroke her soft, silky hair. Or better yet, wrap it around his fist as he pulled her lips up to meet his in a hard, demanding kiss that would leave them both breathless. Oh God, the things he'd like to do to her.
Her eyes dropped to his groin briefly and then she quickly glanced away flushing. Did he have the same affect on her as she did on him? If he pulled her into his arms and slid a hand up her inner thigh, under her skirt, and then between her legs would she be wet for him. He groaned inwardly as his cock hardened further. If he didn't get a handle on this attraction for her it would be a nightmare having her sleeping down the hall from him.
Fuck, this was a bad idea.
Bad or not, it was what he wanted. By the way she flushed and averted her gaze so frequently, especially after the marriage comment he assumed that indeed she did as well. Hoped she did. At the coffee shop he was just another asshole customer, one of hundreds; hell, thousands she served each week. He wanted to know if he was more than just another guy to her.
"Don't underestimate your abilities, Beth. I have faith in you." He had a warm smile on his face, as he gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder.
She laughed lightly as they approached the kitchen. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you well in advance."
"Warning noted."
As they walked into the massive, fully equipped kitchen Beth gasped beside him.
"This is your kitchen!"
Gabriel shrugged. It looked like any other kitchen to him. "Your kitchen, if you want the job." Remembering the large library of cookbooks in cabinet over the sink he brushed past her and retrieved roughly a dozen of them. Carrying them over to the sit-down breakfast bar he plunked them down. "And this will be your homework."
He watched as she inspected the books, apprehension in her expression as she picked one up and flipped through it. Taking the book she was fingering through from her, he placed it back on the counter and took her hand. "You can study later. Come on... Let me show you your room and the rest of the house." Fearing she would back out, thinking it was too much, he decided giving her the rest of the tour would perhaps persuade her to give it a shot.
****
The tour of the house went by as one big blur. Beth's mind was focused on the hundreds of complicated recipes. From the glance she'd taken she didn't even recognize some of the ingredients. How in the hell was she going to pull this off? That was some crazy assed “Chef Ramsey” shit he was expecting from her by the looks of it. What if she took the job and couldn't make it work and he let her go? She supposed she could go crawling back to the coffee house, begging for her old job.
The other thing that was keeping her mind from focusing was his general closeness. They had always had the counter at the coffee shop dividing them, but now he was next to her. Throughout the tour Gabriel would touch her shoulder lightly or place his palm at the small of her back, or take her hand to catch her attention; with each slight contact she was put more on edge as her desire for him rose. Should potential employers be holding potential employees hands? If even briefly. She didn't think so. But she liked it and God help her, she wanted so much more than that.
Between worrying about the cooking and his close proximity which was turning her body into a raging ball of hormones, she was a wreck. I can get used to being near him, she told herself, the attraction will wear off.
Their tour ended at the back of the house as he led her to the pool area, featuring a large kidney shaped outdoor pool; lights inside the pool illuminated the water as it shifted colours between blue, red, yellow and green. The area was secluded. Well trimmed hedges that she guessed were close to nine feet high encased the area from the odd chance of someone lurking about. But she was certain intruders would have a hard time getting onto the property to begin with because of the tall, iron fencing circling it.
The pool looked so tempting and the evening was so beautiful, that she'd have loved to strip down and dive in. With regret, she took one last look at the pool and turned her back to it, reclining back against the wrought iron railing and glancing over at him.
"So let's get down to it." Gabriel said as he leaned back against the porch railing, his back also to the tempting pool.
Taking a deep breath in, she released it slowly and nodded. "Okay." She shouldn't be nervous, she should be excited. This was an opportunity to get out of the shit job she was forced to go to each day, and to live here with him, in his palace hideaway. This was an amazing opportunity.
"What do you think would be a fair wage?" He looked down at her, his face not letting on anything he was thinking.
Shit! Wage? How much should she ask? She had no idea. She had assumed he would have a number in mind. "So this is a negotiation?" she asked teasingly.
A grin touched his lips briefly before he swallowed it down. His eyes, however, told of his amusement. "Yes, I suppose it is."
She narrowed her eyes at him. She was getting the impression he was just humouring her, but played along. She had to consider she was going to get free room and board. And boy what a room it was! She could fit her whole apartment in the bedroom he was planning on assigning her. Then she would have free utilities. Those two things alone cost her close to seventy percent of her pay each week.
But... this was a negotiation and wasn't the opening offer supposed to be close to twice what you'd really take? Shit, she didn't know. Looking back up at him, her blue eyes locked to his dark ones and without thinking she requested twice as much as she made at the coffee shop.