by Joyce Jordan
“Thanks,” Moira smiled and hugged him. “It was. Now I have to think of ways to surpass it. Good thing is that I am just starting, so I have a whole lot of recipes to go through. By the time I am done with them I will be so famous you will need to quit your job and be my full time bodyguard.”
“Last I heard, you were offered a full time position with that famous French pastry chef, which you declined.”
“I know. Fame has never been my dream, I just love making great breakfast pastries and dinner desserts,” she sighed as she replied.
They talked some more before Sam had to go to work. As he walked out of the apartment, Moira locked the door and continued to her bedroom. She took a shower then sat in front of the flat screen television flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch. Nothing seemed to hold her attention. Her mind kept going back to Conrad King. She was still stumped at Janet’s call earlier. Hoping she wasn’t going to get into trouble about providing his dad with treats, she dozed before a call from her best friend – Serenity woke her up.
Chapter Three
Conrad had seen a fair share of beautiful women in his thirty years, but never anyone as beautiful as the little pastry chef. He hadn’t paid much attention to his dad over the last couple of weeks about her, but now he wished he had listened and paid attention. If he didn’t know his dad better, he would think he was about to propose to the little pastry chef. She had avoided looking at anyone when they had been served with the desserts, but on their second trip to the boardroom, she hadn’t been able to avoid eye contact as everyone had congratulated her. With the sweet tooth he had inherited from his dad, he had enjoyed the double layered chocolate cake he had opted for. Since his dad now had a standing order that she delivered to Janet twice a week, he was thinking it wasn’t such a bad idea if he had such an order too. But he needed way much more than what she concocted in the kitchen.
Apparently she had been at the doctor’s office when Janet called her. He wasn’t happy about that. She hadn’t even offered to come back to the office. He was used to people changing their plans to suit his needs. Well, hopefully tomorrow he would get his chance. But it didn’t help that the rest of the afternoon was shot. Since the meeting had been concluded he had tried to catch up and concentrate on work but a pair of green eyes kept interrupting him. After Janet had told him she wasn’t available he had given up and gone to meet his friend – Lucas Conrinthos.
“So what’s eating you up?” Lucas asked him.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Just that you have hardly heard a word I have said and you haven’t given any notice to the several women who have strutted by here.”
“Sorry.” Conrad sighed. “Jet leg.”
“Conrad? Are you seriously going to bull shit a bull shitter?”
“Fuck you!”
“Well that’s more like it. So you want to tell uncle Lucas what’s going on?”
Conrad laughed. “Well uncle, I don’t know yet. But once I do, you will be the first to know.”
His friend gave him a longer than usual stare before he replied, “Well fair enough. So you want another beer?”
“I’m driving, so I better not. And I better get going. I have work to catch up on before the weekend if we are still on.” Nice save Conrad thought to himself. Lucas was too observant. Seeing as they grew up together, it was no wonder he could read him like a book; and this was not the time he needed Lucas to think he was being troubled by some little girl.
“Yes we are. Are you bringing Elizabeth? She called me several times looking for you. I’m guessing you never returned her calls?”
“Not sure yet. She broke it off just before Christmas when I refused to take her shopping in London. Now she calls me every other day saying she is sorry.”
“Well she sounded really sorry. I’m guessing it didn’t work out with Hawkins. I saw her clinging to him right around the time you left for your trip,” Lucas said as he took a sip of his beer.
“That pompous ass? The same Tom Hawkins who lives off rich women?”
“Yes, the one and only,” Lucas snickered.
“Well, no wonder why her voice messages sound desperate.”
“Speak of the devil. She coming faster than a tornado to your three o’clock.”
A heavy scent of perfume descended upon them before the owner stood to Conrad’s right hand. “Conrad darling! You haven’t called me back,” Elizabeth pouted.
“Elizabeth. Sorry, I have been very busy. And sorry you just caught me as I was leaving. Take care. Lucas, see you.” And with that he rushed out of the bar. By the time Elizabeth recovered and called his name, he was already at the door. Unfortunately for him, she followed him outside.
“Conrad. I know you are in a hurry, but I think we need to talk,” she said to him. “I need to apologize. I was hasty when I broke things off with you.” She took a small exaggerated breath. “I have had time to think and I really want us to get back together,” she said with tears in her eyes.
If Conrad hadn’t known that the tears were fake, he might have felt sorry for her. If she hadn’t snuggled with the enemy Tom Hawkins, he might have considered that as an option. If he hadn’t met the little pastry chef, he might have considered that option too. Unfortunately a lot had happened since the break up and some things were just irreversible.
“Sorry Elizabeth. It’s too late now. I know you have moved on. Try and make things work with Tom,” he added then kissed her cheek and walked to his car the valet had just brought around. He took off before things could spiral further down. Thank goodness there hadn’t been people around otherwise they might have had to find a quiet spot to talk. He hoped she didn’t try and make contact again. He had some fun times with her.
Chapter Four
The next morning Moira was in the kitchen by six. She had two departments that had ordered some breakfast pastries for their morning meetings. The cafeteria was opened at 7:30am, and she needed to make sure that they had enough pastries to cater to the first crowd that came in between 7:30-7:45am. The second wave usually came in between 8:15-9am then it tapered off with stragglers until 10a before they started serving the lunch crowd at 11a. She usually worked for 30-45 minutes in peace before one of her team members joined her and the other breakfast chef and his team joined. By that time she usually had a few trays baking. Since she had joined Ford Kitchens, Stu had slowly reduced the breakfast pastries he usually bought. Bread was the only item that he continued to bring in from an outside vendor. Soon her team would know how to make the usual breakfast trays of croissants, muffins, tarts, scones, cinnamon rolls and danishes, including a few gluten free options.
Once her first trays of breakfast items were baking, Moira concentrated on her lunch items. With the cold weather today, she switched two of their menu choices and opted for something a little warmer and more filling. She had almost forgotten about Conrad King wanting to see her until her mobile broke her concentration.
Since she needed an ally, she took a few pastries and filled a small box. As soon as she entered Janet’s office, she saw the door to Conrad’s office was ajar. Since William was semi-retired, Janet served both William and Conrad King as their executive assistant. She had a secretary who assisted her, a young girl who gave her the eye when Moira stopped by her desk outside Janet’s office. She couldn’t understand the girl’s problem. For whatever reason, she had shown an instant dislike to Moira since she had first seen her a few days after she started working in the cafeteria. Fortunately, Janet saw her and immediately called her through.
“Morning Janet. I brought these for you,” Moira said with a smile,
“Thanks dear. How many miles do I need to walk if I eat all these sweet temptations?” she asked peering into the box.
“Janet, with the amount of walking you already do during the day, that should be enough. Unless of course you have a boyfriend you haven’t told me about,” she replied and laughed at Janet’s shock.
&nb
sp; “At my age? Besides my Andrew would turn in his grave,” she said with a blush.
“Really Janet? Still hiding behind Andrew? One of these days, the two of us will go to a mature club and I will find you an older gentleman to take care of you.”
“Moira…”
“Please I am not done. But if you prefer the younger guys, that’s not a problem too,” she laughed at the unflappable Janet who was blushing as if it was a new fashion.
The ringing of the phone saved Moira of Janet’s response. She shooed Moira into Conrad’s office as she answered the call.
Moira knocked then walked into Conrad’s office hoping for a quick in and out session. Her hopes were dumped when Conrad looked at her intently as she walked in. A good thing she was wearing flats otherwise she would have tripped and fallen flat on her face.
“Mr. King, Janet said you wanted to see me?” Moira asked. Since she still wasn’t sure what was going on, she made it a question rather than a statement. As she got closer to his desk, he stood and came around his desk.
“Conrad. We don’t do formalities here at King International,” he said as he held out his hand.
Moira took it, “Okay. Moira,” she acknowledged before stating her name, although she knew he already knew it, but when she tried to disengage, she found her hand held hostage. “Uh, can I get my hand back?”
“In a minute.” The next thing Moira heard was the click of the door shutting and locking. Then he pressed his intercom and told Janet he didn’t want any interruptions.
Okay, now Moira’s head was spinning with all sorts of possible scenarios. Although kidnapping was the first to flash into her mind, she quickly threw it out. Too many witnesses. Christi, Jeff and Vinny all knew she was up here. Janet and the secretary- Marie too. Although if push came to shove, Janet and Marie would probably say whatever their boss asked them to say. After a quick run down, the only scenario left was that this guy was hitting on her. The most unlikeliest of possibilities was what was starring her in the face.
Well, let’s not jump to conclusions. Sometimes things are not what they seem. Isn’t that what some of her favorite mystery books always proved to her time and time again.
Finally he released her hand and told her to take a sit. Once Moira was seated, he moved to a side cabinet holding a few cups with saucers, an electric kettle and some teaspoons. Moira wasn’t sure but she thought she saw a sugar basin and a milk jug too. It seems Conrad was raised the English way.
“Tea or coffee?” he asked her from across the room.
“Nothing, thanks. I already had some,” Moira replied.
He took his time and made himself a cup of tea. She saw him adding two cubes of sugar and some milk. After what seemed like hours he made his way and instead of sitting in his chair, he sat right beside her. He tilted his chair a little and took a few sips of his tea before he spoke.
“Moira. That’s a lovely name.”
“Thank you sir.”
“The word ‘Sir’ is for people like my father. I would prefer it if you called me Conrad.”
“Sorry, I thought ‘sir’ was a sign of respect and didn’t have an age group per ser,” Moira replied. Okay that just came out. She hadn’t meant to get into word games or dictionary meanings with him. But calling him Conrad just seemed too personal, especially when she still didn’t know why she was here, why she had been summoned. Technically she didn’t work for King International, but Ford Kitchens, so if he had any issues with her cooking or baking, then he needed to take it up with Stu.
“Touché. I guess we can address that at a later time. I heard you were at the doctor’s office yesterday, I hope everything is okay?”
Okay. Weird. Why were they discussing her visit to the doctor. Small talk maybe? “Just my annual check up, that’s all,” she replied. Moira felt like his gaze didn’t leave her face, but in order to confirm she would need to lift her gaze higher than his tie. “I really don’t mean to be rude, but I have items in the oven that I need to get back to.”
At his laugh, Moira was forced to look up and oh yeah, the panty dropping smile tugged at her. If she were honest with herself, she would even confirm that were panties were wet and if she stayed here any longer, they could get drenched and standing would be an issue because the black skirt she wore today would definitely show a damp patch on her rear as she walked out.
“You have fire. I like that. And that will make our union that much more interesting.”
“Excuse me? Did you just proposition me? To sleep with you?” Moira thought she had seen and heard it all, but this just took it to a whole new level.
“Settle down. It’s just two adults having some fun. Nothing long term, just a couple of nights, and if we enjoy it as much as I think we will, maybe a few nights a week.”
Now Moira had to stand and move away before she became physical. The view of the ocean in the distance soothed her.
“If you need some time to think about it, take a couple of days,” he added as he walked over to her.
“No, I don’t need a couple of days. My answer is negative.”
“Moira…” Just then her timer on her phone went off.
“Sorry, that’s my cake timer. I need to leave,” Moira said as she turned towards the door. She thought about running away when he followed her to the door, but quickly decided that would be stupid since that was her exit, and the only exit she had seen when she entered the room.
“Would you mind telling me why your answer is in the negative?” he asked when he reached her.
“Does there have to be? How about I’m just not that interested in you?” Before she could blink, Conrad grabbed Moira’s waist. She opened her mouth in surprise, and nothing came out. Conrad took that as an invitation and fastened his mouth to hers. The kiss was hot and fast and over before Moira could struggle out of his arms.
“I don’t take negative answers very well Moira. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” The lock clicked open and he pulled the door for her. Moira was never more grateful that Janet was not at her desk, than at that moment. They walked to the elevators in silence. Moira refused to acknowledge his presence beside her. She wasn’t sure if it was shock, or if she was afraid to say something she couldn’t take back. But goodness, is that how be proposed to all his playthings? And did women really take that as accepted?
Fortunately an empty elevator was waiting. Moira rushed inside and hit the close door button. Since Conrad wasn’t used to women running away from him, it registered a little too late and he couldn’t get the door to re-open. Now that put a smile on her face, which quickly disappeared whe she thought about how hot his kiss had been. It was surprising how the same mouth that said such foul things could kiss like that.
Moira was saved from thinking more about it all when she entered the kitchen. Since the breakfast items were moving along smoothly, she asked Vinny to take care of the cakes while she took both Christi and Jeff and showed them how to make bread and butter pudding. They did the mixture and poured it into a few trays. They would let it bake in another hour’s time. Next the three of them moved on to make some single serve fruit cups and single serve fruit plates. When they placed the bread and butter pudding trays into the oven, Jeff went to help Vinny with the icing for the chocolate cakes, and left her and Christi to make custard pudding to complement the bread and butter pudding.
Before long they were serving the lunch crowd and her team was having lunch too. As was now habbit, they met after lunch to discuss the next day’s menu. Moira prefered to have some of the dough for her pastry’s made ready the day before so that whoever came first could just start the baking process right away. They now had a good idea of what people’s favorites were and tried to include that daily, especially the breakfast pastries. Lunch is where Moira tried to switch things a little bit and introduce at the least a different dessert dish every couple of days. Since it was winter season, she was trying to include a lot more hot dishes and then switch to cold dishes from spring to f
all. A good thing winter wasn’t too long in Miami. Cold dishes were easier because they could be kept nice and cool in their large walk in fridge.
She left soon after the meeting with her team and left them to make preparations for the next day. She found Stu in his office arguing with a vendor about some invoice. She left him to go to the kitchen and greet his staff that managed catering for weddings, parties and other events. This is where she grew up when she wasn’t at her home or uncle Clay’s, in uncle Stu’s kitchen. As she grew older she had spent more time in this industrial sized kitchen and helped with some of the functions. Now Stu was hoping that one day she would move onto helping him run the events. Huge deal and she wanted to get into it one step at a time. Baby steps she had told Stu.
Chapter Five
Fuck, who runs from him? Especially a woman too? Conrad was still thinking about the elevator incident. Now he was trying to get hold of Moira and he was being told she was in a meeting with her boss, Stu Ford. Although it had only been five minutes when he last checked the time, he was wondering how long they would be in that meeting. It didn’t enter his mind that he was no stranger to hour long meetings, or even two hour long meetings. Food discussions can’t really take that long could they?
Before he knew what he was doing, he had called Lucas. “How long do your discussions with the chef or whoever manages the kitchen take?”
“Well good morning to you too my friend.”
“Sorry. Morning. So how long?”
“Why are you asking?” Lucas asked relaxing in his chair.
With a bark that would have shaken lesser men, “Are you going to tell me or not?” Conrad shouted.
“Well, well, well,” Lucas said and laughed until Conrad swore and hung up.
He needed to get laid before he killed his friend. Unfortunately the green eyed blonde was playing hide and seek with him. Just then his phone rang and he debated to let it go to voice mail. “I swear if you laugh, Lucas, I will kill you with my own hands.”