Page 18 of Executive Benefits

“Well, since I know Frank and understand that the ‘rebranding’ might just go to his head?—”

“Hey! I resent that remark,” he said with a grin. I waved him off.

“Your rebranding is very clever. Do you mind if we go talk now?” I had to make it up to her, but I wasn’t going to talk about everything in the dining room.

“Sure,” she said. “As long as you don’t mind the fact that I’ve already had a drink.” She leaned into me, and a sharp spark shot to my dick. Now, I was pretty sure she was flirting with me. “I was off the clock, you know.”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “Do you want another?”

“No.” She shook her head, moving off the stool. I grabbed her laptop bag before she could and didn’t let her take it. “I’d like a mildly straight mind when I work. Although I could have some water.” She turned to Frank and asked for some.

After she got it, I led her back to the office so we could get to work.

8

JULIA

“Iknow you said you didn’t want anything, but we’ve been here for hours and everyone’s gone home,” Nick said, standing up and going into one of his filing cabinets. He pulled out a pretty crystal snifter filled with a dark, malt-colored liquid. “Would you like to try? It’s aged about seventy years and I think we both need a break.”

The warm glimmer in his sapphire eyes had me saying, “Sure, why the hell not?” before I could even think about it.

We’d already gone over the new budget, but there were still a few things I wanted to talk to him about, and honestly, I was enjoying his company. I’d found out that he’d been a chef in Manhattan working under some of the best chefs in the world and the only reason he moved home was to help take care of his sick mother.

His father was heartsick when Nick’s mom passed away, and Nick’s dad died a few weeks later. By then, Nick was heavily involved with Kendra and they decided that being a big fish in a small pond was more lucrative.

Plus, Nick’s parents left everything to him since he was an only child.

While he and Kendra didn’t live in his parents’ old house, they kept it as a rental, and once he and Kendra separated, Nick moved back into his old house. Sadly, his parents' deaths left him without parents anymore, but they also left enough money and the house to where Nick didn’t have loans.

It sounded like a bittersweet kind of story.

“Excellent.” He pulled out two crystal tumblers that matched the snifter and poured.

“Do I want to know why you have glasses and alcohol in your filing cabinet?” I asked as he placed a glass in front of me. I looked into the glass and could already smell the oak and cherry that had a deeper sweetness than just the bourbon I’d had earlier in the evening.

I checked my phone out to see the time.

I placed the glass to my lips and took a sip.

It was almost midnight.

Oops.

I placed the glass back on the desk and gave Nick my attention.

“Well...” He released a long sigh. “Kendra, the woman who barged into my office, is my ex-wife. She was only a fan of alcohol as long as she was drinking it.” He huffed and shook his head. “But you don’t want to know about that.”

“That’s why you asked me to leave? Acted like we were in a relationship?” I asked. I didn’t want to get too far into that subject, but I did need to understand why he kissed my cheekand lingered close to me. It threw me off at first, but I could sense something was up and I didn’t want to call him out on it when the look in his eyes was so desperate.

Not that I was complaining, I definitely didn’t hate his being so close, especially when he smelled of food and spice. I picked up the glass and took a sip of the warm liquid while picturing myself burying my lips into his neck while my fingers ran through his thick salt-and-pepper hair.

The bourbon didn’t burn going down, at least not in a cheap alcohol way. It was a smooth cinnamon caramel flavor that made me want more. I took another sip as he sat down. “I’m sorry about that. It was unprofessional of me.”

He took a drink and placed the glass down. “We’ve been separated for about two years, but everything got finalized over the last six months. We were going back and forth about the business. I only wanted my restaurant, and the day we had our first court meeting was the day I won it.” He rocked back in his chair proudly, crossing his ankle over his knee and raking his hands through his hair.

I wondered what it felt like and took another drink.

I sat back and crossed my legs too, watching as his gaze carved its way around my legs. I shifted again, trying to see if he really was checking me out or if the alcohol was affecting me.

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