Her New Boss: A Rouge Erotic Romance (21 page)

‘You ordered me to cook, boss,’ Zoe said, turning the stove on with an angry jerk of her hand. ‘So I’m cooking.’

‘You’re mad because I didn’t call.’ He leant against the table, arms crossed over his chest.

The obvious statement made her quirk a brow. ‘No, I’m mad because you …’ Zoe frowned. The not-calling part was most of it, but she wasn’t in a mood to agree with him at all. ‘You didn’t treat me very well.’ She picked up a rag and began cleaning furiously, wiping up the mess she’d made with the chicken.

‘What do you mean?’ Jackson demanded. His stricken look as she brushed past him made her pause in her tirade. Lifting the lid to check the stock, she absentmindedly threw down the rag. ‘This isn’t the 1800s, you could have called me. Should I be offended by the fact that you didn’t try to get a hold of me?’

‘That is beside the …’ Zoe glowered at him in frustration. ‘You’re the man. It’s your job. Besides, you’re my boss. Like I’m going to call you socially.’

‘My being your boss never came into play when we were
together
. I never pressured you to …’ He took a deep breath. ‘I never forced you. Don’t you dare cry –’

‘Don’t you dare finish that insulting sentence,’ Zoe warned, lifting her finger. She paced to the counter to finish cleaning it and frowned when she couldn’t see her rag.

‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. A man in my position has to be careful about women who try to –’

‘Don’t you dare finish that one either.’ Zoe frowned, eyeing the floor. To herself, she whispered, ‘Where in the world did I put it?’

‘I don’t understand what it is we’re fighting about or why,’ Jackson said. ‘I only came here to ask you to cook for me. I realized you’d never actually cooked a meal I could eat and I came to rectify that. If I’m to tell people about your cooking, I should be able to tell them I’ve sampled it.’

‘Fine. Tomorrow’s special is going to be chicken and dumplings – homemade, thanks to the recipe book Constance left for me. I’m afraid the roast I made for today is all gone. Sold every single last piece of it.’

‘Really?’

‘You don’t have to sound so surprised.’ Zoe frowned. ‘Will tomorrow work? I’m tired. It’s been a long day.’

‘Of course. We’ll do this later, during business hours.’ Jackson looked as if he wanted to say more. ‘I’ll leave you be.’

He turned to go. Zoe felt an acute disappointment that he hadn’t even tried to seduce her. She missed his touch, ached for it, and he was just going to leave? Not that she’d given him any reason to stay.

Stopping at the door, he pointed at the stove. ‘I might have to miss tomorrow. You threw your rag in the pot.’

Zoe gasped, hurrying to her stock. On opening the lid,
she
saw that the cleaning rag dancing atop the rolling boil. She cursed, hurrying to fish it out, even as she knew the stock was ruined and she’d have to start over. By the time she threw the rag into the trash, Jackson had left and she felt no better for having yelled at him.

After closing up, she went back to the bed and breakfast. A clean towel awaited her in the bathroom, having been laid out in one of Marta’s nightly rituals. The woman had never once said Zoe had to bathe after work, but the small implications were there. Zoe didn’t mind. She liked to shower the day’s work off before bed.

As the hot water hit her flesh, she closed her eyes. She wished she could take back how she’d handled Jackson. Her words hadn’t been lies. She had been hurt by his neglect over the last few days. That hurt had caused her to strike out in anger.

The soap trailing over her flesh caused her nerve endings to tingle as she thought of him. Why had she fought him? If she’d just played it cool, acted like she didn’t care, she could have been with him right now, satisfying the fire burning deep inside her.

Touching herself was a bittersweet sensation next to the memory of Jackson’s flesh, and no matter how she stroked her clit, dipping her fingers inside her slick pussy, she couldn’t make herself come like he could. When she climaxed, the weak pleasure it gave caused her to cry out softly. Tonight, he hadn’t even tried to make it better between them and it was quite possible that it’d be several more days before she saw him again.

Chapter Ten

‘I LIKE HER
. She’s got spunk. Your dad would have liked her too.’ Constance Levy eyed her son. ‘A good, clever mind, too. Willing to learn and accept different things. I think you’ve done very well for yourself with this one.’

Jackson eyed his mother in turn, glad she was finally back in town so he could see her and ask her about Zoe. She’d been in Louisiana visiting relatives for the last week. He would have called her, but he’d wanted to have this conversation face to face, so he could read her expression. ‘I don’t remember asking for your advice.’

‘Please.’ She laughed, waving him to sit beside her at the glass table on her wooden deck. It was the house he’d grown up in, the first house his father had bought for them when they moved to Dabery. Jackson had helped add a couple of rooms onto it for his mother – a craft room and a dining room. He’d never offered to buy her a new home. She’d never take it. This was where the family’s memories lived and it was where she would stay until the day she died. ‘The first words out of your mouth the second you came out here were, “So you met the weekday cook,” not a “Hello” or an “I love you, Momma” or “How was your trip? Did you enjoy yourself? How’s the family?” You came here for the sole purpose of getting my advice about Zoe.’

‘Marta says she’s a gold-digger after a rich husband and I know for a fact that she’s interested in me because of
what
I can do for her career.’ Jackson sat and his mother automatically poured him an iced tea from the pitcher on the table. He didn’t even try to deny her claim a second time. He was there for advice.

Besides the shorter cut of her hair and a few wrinkles, Constance looked as she had when they’d first moved in. There was an ageless beauty to her, a vitality and a quiet strength. She was a good mother and a fantastic grandmother, spoiling his nephews terribly.

‘Marta is a gossip. What evidence does she have of this besides her own boredom? The woman means well and must be tolerated for it, but I raised you smarter than to take someone like Marta’s word as fact.’ Constance sighed. ‘As for Zoe’s career, good for her.’

Jackson laughed. ‘You want a woman to be with me because of what I can do for her?’

‘Don’t pretend you stole a frog’s brain this morning. You know I want the best for all three of my children. But think of it this way. She is honest, told you about her career. Your father knew I wanted to work when we first met. He never stood in my way and I loved him for that. If there was a way he could help me, by God he did it.’

‘She doesn’t fit in here,’ Jackson said.

‘Maybe so, but if she fits with you does it matter? Jackson, ever since you were a boy you were too big for this town. I don’t know why you always fought it. You had this natural curiosity. Remember those grand adventures you’d take Jeffery on?’ Constance reached across the table and held his hands in hers. ‘I know you love Dabery and it will always be home but, no matter how hard you try, the outside world will always call to you. No matter how many businesses you fix up, how many houses you refurbish, your wanderlust will come and bite you where the sun don’t shine.’

‘I don’t think she’ll ever fit with me. She doesn’t seem interested and I don’t want a woman who sees me as second to her career. Dad might have supported you working, but you never put him or us second to your careers.’ Jackson smiled to himself. His mother had had many jobs over the years. He pulled his hands away and took a drink. The sweet flavor reminded him of being a kid, playing in the backyard with his brother, stealing sips out of his mother’s glass when she wasn’t paying attention. Changing the subject, he asked, ‘Have you talked to Jeff? Are the wedding plans coming along? The photographer called me saying he wasn’t answering his phone.’

‘Why did he call you?’

‘I hired him to take some photographs of the house a few months back,’ Jackson explained. ‘What’s happening with Jeff?’

‘There was a small hiccup.’ Constance shook her head. ‘Madelyn found out from the doctor that she can’t have children. She told me she wanted to have herself checked out. You know about that accident when she was a kid. The doctors told her she could have a hard time conceiving because of the scar tissue.’

Jackson didn’t speak, feeling terrible for the couple.

His mother continued, ‘She tried to break it off to free your brother from such a fate. He whisked her away for a few days to convince her he didn’t care.’

‘Jeff always wanted lots of children,’ Jackson said. ‘Poor Madelyn, she seems like she’d be a great mother.’

‘And perhaps they shall be parents yet. There’s always adoption.’ Constance pushed up from her chair and set her glass on the tray by the tea pitcher. ‘Have no fear, the wedding will go on as planned. Have you asked Zoe to go yet?’

‘What?’ Jackson frowned, taking a big drink to hide his surprise before putting his glass on the tray. It was a mistake. He choked and ended up coughing violently. His mother merely laughed at him. Breathing hard, he asked, ‘Why would I ask her to a family wedding?’

‘To let the rest of the clan meet her. To stake claim, or whatever it is you men do. To take her out on a date. To let her know you take her seriously, aren’t ashamed of her.’ His mother lifted the tray and walked toward the sliding-glass door to the house.

Jackson thought of the fight they’d had. ‘Did she talk to you about me? What did she say? Is this when you gave her the recipe book? Did she know you were my mother?’

Constance chuckled. ‘You already know I met her. She came in a couple of Sundays back to pick up her phone and stayed to help me, plying me with questions about “Southern cuisine.”’ Her laughter deepened. ‘I don’t know about cuisine, but I described to her some of the local dishes and a few Cajun ones I’d learnt from your great-aunt Eliza. She’s got what your gramma would have called a natural instinct in the kitchen. You did good giving her a chance and giving Bob some time off. It’s good for Callie and the boys to get away. And, no, I didn’t feel the need to tell her I was your mother.’

‘Did she say anything to you about me?’ Jackson asked, insistently.

‘She said you gave her a chance at her dream and she’s very grateful for it. You are helping her, aren’t you? Because when I spoke to your sister, she said you were making some odd decisions.’

‘Callie told you my plan, didn’t she?’ Jackson should’ve known. ‘Why didn’t you say anything about it?’

‘What is there to say? So, are you going to do the
honorable
thing by her and help her out? Or are you still on your drunken mission to teach her a lesson?’

‘Fine, it was a stupid idea.’ Jackson didn’t have many of them and he wouldn’t admit it when he had to just anyone. ‘And you know me, once I have an idea I don’t back down from it. I got her down here and I gave her the job. I don’t think I’ve really punished her, though. She wanted to cook in one of my restaurants and that’s what she’s doing. It’ll look good on her résumé.’

‘You are helping her out, aren’t you? Not just dumping her in the diner for a few months while Bob’s on vacation. What’s next after Bob gets back?’

‘That’s up to her.’

‘You are helping her.’ This time it wasn’t a question, but a motherly order.

‘She helped herself. A couple of guys from California came into the diner with their wives. They were here to acquire horses for a movie and one of the wives just happened to be a reporter and critic for
Chef d’oeuvre
magazine. She impressed them. Apparently their cover story flopped and they needed a new angle to replace it. The reporter is pushing through an article about Zoe in the summer issue and the editor faxed me a preliminary copy to comment on. They called her a culinary diamond.’

‘And what did you call her?’

Jackson sighed heavily. Part of him still didn’t want the article to come out, but he refused to stand in her way. So finally, at three o’clock in the morning a couple of days after receiving the fax, he’d sent off his answers to Josine’s questions. Simply, he replied, ‘A chef.’

‘Good for you, dumplin’. Can you believe what that jerk Contiello did to her?’ Constance clucked her
tongue
. ‘Shameful behavior. You think twice before ever considering hiring that man.’

‘What did he do?’ Jackson had to admit that he’d been curious, but it seemed a very touchy subject with Zoe. He doubted she’d tell him if he asked. Though to know she’d volunteered her story to his mother, a stranger she’d known less than a day, caused a great pain to wash over his chest.

‘You don’t know?’ Constance came to the table and set the tray back down. ‘Contiello tried to buy some of her original recipes. She told me about them and they sound great – especially the ranch sauce. I suggested she write her own cookbook. She said she has a journal she keeps them in, everything she’s created since she was a little girl.’

‘That’s it?’ Jackson’s brow furrowed in question. ‘He offered to buy her recipes?’

‘I guess he offered an insultingly cheap price, like ten dollars a recipe, and when she said no, he got angry. He treated her like dirt, making her come into work early to take care of janitorial duties, making her clean the bathrooms while everyone else cooked for some big event, threatening her job. It all rings of blackmail if you ask me.’

‘So he fired her?’

‘From what I understand, she blew up at him and quit. I say good for her, but she says that it ruined her chance of getting another chef position until you came along.’ Constance smiled at her son. ‘I am so proud of you. You did a really good thing with Zoe. It’s not fair that she lost everything because of one jerk.’

‘To hear Contiello tell it, she tried to steal recipes from him.’ Jackson had never really trusted Contiello’s word.

‘I don’t know this Contiello, but I trust Zoe to be telling the truth.’

‘How can you be so sure? You don’t know her.’

Constance laughed. ‘Because I raised three kids and I know when one of them is lying. She’s about as bad at it as Callie is.’