- Will -
She really threw me off with the whole choking thing. I had promised myself before our meeting that I wouldn’t touch her under any circumstance and that I would treat her with professional respect no matter how difficult it was.
But she was choking so what choice did I have? I had to wrap my hands around her gorgeous waist and save her life. It was the right thing to do. I suppose I didn’t have to enjoy it as much as I did, but my life was so well planned it was exciting to have to be on my toes for change.
Of course, as soon as she was done being embarrassed, I needed to get serious again. After all, just because she was hot didn’t mean she could screw around if I hired her. Not without my close supervision anyway.
“Would you like to see a menu or will I just order for us?” I asked once she’d scooted into the seat across from me.
Her face crinkled. “Why would you order for me?”
“Because I’ve eaten everything in the restaurant, and I can make sure you don’t waist a single calorie on anything that’s not absolutely delicious.”
“I assumed everything was delicious.”
“It is. Does that mean you’d like to see a menu?”
“Please.”
I wasn’t expecting her to be so stubborn, but I suppose she was still trying to save face from her incident earlier. I figured there was no harm in humoring her.
I raised my eyes and Charlie appeared in an instant. “Good afternoon, Mr. Abbott. What can I get for you and your guest?”
“The usual for me, Charlie, and Miss Riley would like to see a menu.” I looked across the table at her. “And I imagine she’d also like to hear the specials.”
Charlie rattled off the menu for the day, and I watched Ella’s face as she hung on every word, following her jaw line to where it met her slim neck.
“Don’t bother with the menu, Charlie. That salmon dish sounds lovely.”
“And to drink Miss?”
“Do you have ginger ale?”
“We have anything you could possibly want, and if we don’t we’ll make it our business to get it.”
She laughed. “Is that a yes?”
Charlie nodded and smiled at her. Then he turned to me. “Peroni, sir?”
“Please. And I liked that bit about having anything someone might want. Did you think of that yourself?”
“I did.”
“Tell the rest of the servers it’s the new stock answer for any question starting with do you have and tell Charlotte to contact me about giving you a raise.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
I watched Charlie hurry to the kitchen, and when I turned back towards Ella, she was beaming at me.
“That’s very generous.”
“That’s business, Ella.”
“Do you always give people raises whenever you feel like it or did you just do that to impress me?”
“The first one.”
“Well I’m intrigued to know more about how you run your business, Will.”
There it was. My name in her mouth again, tumbling out from between her pouty lips. I became more determined than ever to make sure I gave her lots of excuses to say it. “That’s why you’re here isn’t it?”
“It is, and I’m really looking forward to hearing more about the role that you think might be a good fit for me.”
Charlie arrived with our drinks and disappeared like a mirage.
I took a sip of my beer. “Why don’t you start by telling me a little bit more about your experience?”
“Sure.” She pushed her shoulders back and her necklace disappeared down her shirt.
I was jealous.
“I graduated with honors from Mallard College w-”
“The all girls’ school?”
“That’s right.”
“Go on.” Now I was intrigued. I thought there were only three kinds of women that came out of all girls’ schools: Lesbians, Sluts, and Virgins. Fortunately for me, though, I didn’t get the vibe that she was any one of those.
“Anyway, I have a degree in hospitality with a minor in event management.”
“Sounds expensive.”
Her eyes dropped for a moment. “It was actually.”
“Personally, I don’t put a lot of stock in degrees. Never got one myself.”
“I understand you dropped out?” She took a sip of her ginger ale.
“Did you Google me?”
Her face turned bright red.
“I’m flattered, but I asked about what experience you have.”
“I organized a lot of parties for social clubs at school.”
Suddenly I was worried I was about to make a huge mistake. She didn’t have a clue. I couldn’t offer her a full time position.
“But I’m eager to start organizing bigger budget events for a more discriminating clientele.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes,” she said, putting her shaking fingers under the table.
“What would you have done differently at the benefit you attended here last weekend?”
“I’d like to apologize for any offense I caused by suggesting that it wasn’t a great party. I don’t know why I said that.”
“The champagne went to your head?”
“Perhaps.”
“Do you think you could’ve done a better job?”
“Yes. I do.”
It was obvious to me that her confidence was fake, but I found something endearing about that. It was almost like her bold ambition reminded me of myself at her age. Except she wasn’t half the bullshitter I was then. “I’m listening.”
“I think it was a bit stuffy.”
“Stuffy?”
“Formal. Predictable.”
“Okay. I get it.”
“I think people with that kind of money expect a showstopper, something they can’t just experience anywhere.”
“Like a band and a bar and a raffle?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Exactly.”
“And you think if I gave you shot at planning- I don’t know- the company Christmas Party, you could do a better job?”
“No one can make your money go further.”
I leaned back. “See that’s exactly what I want to here because I think the benefit should’ve been a lot more spectacular considering the budget I gave the event planning company, especially considering their experience and connections.”
“I couldn’t agree more. What you need is someone with a fresh perspective.”
I smiled. “You’re charming when you want something, Ella.”
“I’m glad you can see how much I want this.”
“I do, but I think you and I both know you don’t have much relevant experience.”
She swallowed.
“However, for some reason I think you might have enough tenacity to pull something like this off.”
“I look forward to proving you right.”
“Just keep your mouth shut now and let me make you an offer.”
She pursed her lips.
“I’ll take you on for a limited contract. Your only responsibility will be to plan the company Christmas party, the budget for which will be a quarter of a million dollars.”
Her dark eyes doubled in size.
I tried to ignore them. “I’ll give you thirty thousand dollars for the job.”
Her mouth was slightly ajar, but it made her lower lip look so fat I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
“And if the night is a success, you’ll get a twenty thousand dollar bonus.”
She was staring at me so intensely I had to drag my tongue over my teeth to make sure there was nothing there.
“Ella?”
“Yes, sir. I mean, Will.”
“Do those terms sound fair to you?”
“More than fair. I can see why your staff thinks so highly of you.”
“You got the job. You don’t have to flatter me anymore.”
“Will?”
“What?”
“If I do a good job- sorry, when I do a good job- would it be possible to discuss moving into a full time position?”
“When the time comes, we can certainly discuss it.”
“Would it be inappropriate if I gave you a hug?”
I laughed. “Not if you absolutely must.”
I stood up and waited for what felt like forever for her to take the two steps towards me.
She put her arms around me tentatively at first but once they were in place she gave me a good squeeze, and I could feel her hips and chest press against me. It was the most genuine display of affection anyone had shown me in a long time, and it felt surprisingly good.
In fact, it felt so good I had to step back so my body wouldn’t give away exactly how much I enjoyed having her wrapped around me.
But I hoped we could do it again sometime. Without clothes on.