Page 27 of A Billionaire for Christmas
He was once again making a valid point. Her face fell. ‘That still doesn’t excuse the way you’ve behaved towards me. Being super rich doesn’t give you the right to?—’
‘It doesn’t. You’re right,’ he huffed. ‘But I find it very difficult to believe that you haven’t planned all of this. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman has gone out of her way to “befriend” me. In the cold light of day, you being here at my lodge is too coincidental. I won’t be made a fool of, Molly.’
Molly choked. What was he accusing her of? Being a gold digger?
‘Okay, I see. Well, apart from none of that being remotely true, let’s pretend the last few days simply did not exist, shall we? I’ll be your chalet chef, you be you, rude and arrogant, enjoying your luxury winter break, and no harm done.’ She heard her voice catching. ‘After all, it clearly meant nothing to you anyway.’
Molly, with tears pooling in her eyes, swivelled around so that he couldn’t see her. She had some pride left; not much, but some.
‘That’s not true, I just meant?—’
‘It’s fine. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s humiliating enough. Let’s just try to avoid each other as much as possible, with the exception of youpaying meto prepare your breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, pre-dinner aperitifs and five-course, haute-cuisine fecking dinner, until this whole nightmare is over.’
She heard him tut behind her as she slammed the door shut.She leaned against it to calm herself. He really was infuriating. She heard him do a loud ‘Ahem.’
Shit!She gingerly opened it again. He was standing in the darkness with a thunderous expression on his face.
‘Do you still need me to make the eggs Florentine?’ she asked through tight lips.
Levi put his hands on his hips. ‘Don’t bother. I’ll sort myself out.’ He eyed the neatly stacked shelves. ‘How hard can it be?’
Molly bristled. He could be incredibly dismissive.
‘I appreciate this is all uncomfortable for you. You can begin duties once my family gets here.’ At least his voice had softened when he spoke to her. Maybe he did haveoneremorseful bone in his body after all. ‘And I’d appreciate your discretion. I need you to keep these emotional outbursts, this infatuation or crush or whatever it is, in check. I don’t like people to know my private business, not even my family.’
He was ashamed of her! Molly’s eyes ballooned. Could this get any worse? She felt an inch high.
‘Fine!’ she yelled, slamming the door shut again.
She felt like screaming at him. It was far from fine. As far from fine as it was possible to get. He was so annoying and arrogant. She would not sleep with him now if her life depended on it. And as for her eggs bloody Florentine. She would show him. How dare he dismiss her so easily. He was paying her to cook so she would bloody well show him what an amazing cook she was. She hadn’t designed the menu to go all out to impress for nothing.
A few minutes later, Levi emerged from the pantry with an armful of supplies and clearly no idea what to do with them. This cheered Molly as she ignored his many attempts to find a saucepan, searching high and low in the cupboards, and began clarifying her butter and whisking in the ingredients for a smooth and rich Hollandaise sauce.
‘Where are all the pans? I’ve tried every cupboard,’ he asked in an exasperated voice. Molly shrugged her shoulders. She knew exactly where every single pan was. She had reorganised the entire kitchen the moment she arrived. If she was anything at all, it was unnervingly meticulous in the kitchen.
‘Fine, if you want to be childish about it,’ Levi said, dumping all his ingredients on the bench.
She did indeed want to be childish about it. She leaned across, ignoring him, to retrieve the bagels that had just popped up in the toaster, and carried on whisking, blanching the spinach, and in a whirl, she laid out a plate, tossed on the bagels, buttered them lightly, took out the poached eggs, laid them carefully on top, drizzled the sauce, seasoned them with black pepper and garnished them with shavings of parmesan, a sprinkle of toasted flax seeds and a pinch of the French-farmed sea salt she never went anywhere without. It was her secret weapon. The eggs smelled and looked amazing. The spinach, twirled into a nest underneath, added colour and texture. It had taken her under five minutes. Levi glared at her, his bread now burning in the toaster and his box of eggs yet to be cracked.
‘Shame you were in such a hurry to dismiss me,’ she said brightly as she carried them away. ‘I mean, how hard can it be, right?’
* * *
Stomping back to her room, Molly scraped the eggs into the bin. Stubbornness had made her not give them to Levi, but anger had stolen her appetite. Now that the rest of the family were no longer going to arrive today, she suddenly had an entire day to fill. Plopping down on her bed, she took out Ava’s bucket list journal. There was no way that Levi was getting his hands on her restaurant. She had to find a way to save Le Petit Ange or Ava would come back from the grave and haunt her forever. She stroked the smooth cover and with a wistful sigh flicked through the pages of Ava’s writing, the photos of her walking on stilts, petting an elephant in Thailand, dancing in the rain during a typhoon. Molly picked up a pen and began filling in the blank pages with dates, times and her thoughts on the three challenges she had been able to tick off. The priceless camel, the wedding, the naked sauna.Excruciating.Nine more left and five days to complete them.
After she made sure that Levi was not hovering around, Molly made her way back into the open-plan, state-of-the-art kitchen to prep for the meals for the following few days. She was not prepared for the mess that awaited her. To all intents and purposes, it looked as though a gang of youths had broken in and had a food fight. The benches were cluttered with tubs of butter and jars of peanut butter and jam with the lids left off. Broken eggshells and bags of open flour spilled across chopping boards, abandoned utensils lay next to three frying pans, each with charred scrambled eggs in, lying discarded on the hob. A carton of milk and a split bag of spinach were propped up against the toaster, which still had burnt bagels in it. Lord knows what he had eventually managed to eat. Molly rubbed at her tired eyes. Levi clearly had no idea how to cook. There was a pack of bacon open on the countertop. It was from America. Out of curiosity she opened the fridge to return it and found a selection of drinks and foods, also from America, that must have been shipped in. How the other half lives! She got to work cleaning the surfaces and loading all the plates and dishes into the dishwasher. Levi must expect his staff to run around after him. Cleaning up was obviously beneath him. She wondered if he had been born into such privilege. Did he have staff to do everything for him? Luckily for her, she liked the therapeutic nature of cleaning. Her kitchen at home was always spotless. As a chef it was second nature to tidy up after herself.
She might as well keep busy and show him how professional she was capable of being because, as much as she hated to admit it to herself, he had seen a very unprofessional side to her so far. A side to her that until she’d set eyes on him at the Cigar Lounge, she’d not even known existed. She took a moment to let the events of the last few days percolate. While she was still furious with Levi and how unfeeling he was capable of being, there was no denying that the sexual chemistry they shared was off the charts. She’d never imagined kissing someone could feel like that.
‘What are you smiling about?’
Molly jumped, dropping the carton of cherry tomatoes she was holding. She watched them scatter everywhere.Typical.She swooped down to retrieve them.
‘Sorry,’ said Levi, bending to help her. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you. I came to clean up the mess I left behind.’
Me, or the mess on the bench?she thought.
Molly continued picking the tomatoes up as he crouched right beside her. What did he not understand about avoiding each other for the week? This was practically the opposite of what they’d agreed. She sneaked a look at him, instantly regretting it when their eyes collided and her heart leapt traitorously. She hastily fished up the remaining cherry tomatoes. She couldn’t think straight with him around. New rules would have to be brought in.
