Yes, Chef

by Linda Verji

  Worse, her own feelings were interfering with her ability to complete the assignment. She didn’t want to seduce him. Yes, she still wanted his money. But she didn’t feel like being nice to him. He was such an asshole that smiling at him and pretending to hang on to his every word was a Herculean task. She couldn’t even count the number of times she’d been tempted to toss hot coffee into his face. But lucky for him, she was a pro.

  And as a pro, she’d seduce him even if it killed her.

  “I’m sure he just needs more time to get to know you better,” Diana soothed.

  Given that the blonde had been Worth’s assistant for close to five years, she was the perfect person to give tips about how to break the icy wall Worth had built between them. So Sin asked, “What do you think I should do to get him to like me?”

  “Hmm…” Diana started but she never got to finish her answer because Worth walked in right then.

  “Good morning, Mr. Ransom.” Both ladies greeted.

  “Morning.” He nodded at Diana then strode past Sin like she was a pesky cockroach that he couldn’t even see.

  For the rest of the day, he was his usual annoying self. When he wasn’t ignoring Sin, he was picking at everything she did. Frankly, she’d become so used to his fussiness that it was like a speck of dirt on her shoulder. She just brushed it away and went about her business. However, deep inside she knew that she’d soon have to have a talk with him. It was the only way to find out what it was about her that rubbed him the wrong way so she could fix it and get the ‘seduction’ train back on its tracks.

  After lunch, Diana had a Lamaze class, and it seemed like the workload doubled as soon as she left. Three departments sent in reports for Worth’s approval. Since the reports were so bulky, Sin had to analyze them first then summarize the most critical points on sticky notes for Worth. That took close to two hours. As soon as she was done, Worth demanded that she prepare a calendar containing the whole company’s events and activities for the year. She did this all while playing hostess to the numerous guests who came in for meetings with Worth.

  She was so busy that she didn’t even notice time flying by. By the time she looked up, it was past six p.m. Time to go home.

  “Yasss!” She breathed a sigh of relief. But it was a sigh too soon.

  Worth, it seemed, had no intention of leaving the office yet. By seven he was still in there doing God knows what. Unfortunately, Sin couldn’t leave before him unless he gave his approval. He probably wouldn’t give her that approval, but hey, she had to try, right?

  She knocked on his door, and, a moment later, he called out gruffly, “Yes?”

  She pushed the door open and walked in to find him glowering in her direction. She smiled. “Mr. Ransom, it’s past seven.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “So?”

  Was he mental? Of course that was her subtle way of nudging him to let her go home. Since she couldn’t just straight up tell him that she wanted to go home, she asked, “Would you like me to order dinner for you or are you going home?”

  “If I want-” He suddenly stopped speaking. He tilted his head to study her for a long uncomfortable moment before his mouth kicked up in a smile that made her even more nervous than his frowns. He said, “Actually, why don’t we have dinner together?”

  “Together?” Sin’s eyes widened. “You want to have dinner with me?”

  “Yes. You and I need to talk anyway,” he said. “The restaurant across the street has good food, let’s eat there.”

  Dazed, Sin walked out of the office and back to her desk to get her stuff. Had Worth just asked her out to dinner? Well, that was a swift u-turn! Soon glee rushed in to replace her shock. If he was asking her to dinner, then that meant that whatever she was doing was working better than even she had realized. This dinner was an opportunity for them to start on the right foot.

  Ava Restaurant was as posh as they came. The spacious eatery’s décor echoed luxury and comfort. Low key music filled the place with eighties and nineties tunes mixed in with the latest hits. Immaculately dressed servers weaved their way past circular tables filled with chatting diners.

  “Wow, this place is beautiful!” Sin exclaimed as they sat at their table waiting for the server to bring out their food.

  “Mm,” Worth grunted.

  Usually, Sin thrived in such situations. She was a good conversationalist and could draw the most reserved person out of their shell. But oddly enough, she felt nervous today. Maybe because it was the first time she was truly alone with Worth in a non-business environment. Also, it was hard to keep from continually glancing at and admiring him.

  His navy suit and white shirt were the perfect complement to his tanned skin, good looks and the elegant charm he seemed to exude so effortlessly. Sin couldn’t blame all the women who kept sneaking longing glances at him and shooting her jealous looks. Worth looked like the perfect date.

  “Do you come here often?” she asked, trying to draw him into the conversation.

  “Often enough,” he offered shortly and in a bored tone.

  Well, he was a chatty Cathy, wasn’t he? Sin thought derisively. Fortunately, the server chose to bring out their food then. Sin was having the restaurant’s signature pan-seared chicken breast with shallots dish while Worth had ordered a Norfolk steak with peppercorn sauce. After setting their food in front of them, the server left.

  “Mm. This chicken tastes amazing.” Sin smiled as she savored her meal. “You should’ve ordered it.”

  “If I wanted it, I would’ve ordered it,” Worth said. His reversion to his usual brusque self was enough to startle her, and she frowned. But before she could ask him why he was so rude to her, he rushed on, “There’s a reason I brought you here, Sin.”

  “Is there?” she asked as a knot twisted in the pit of her belly.

  If luck was on her side, he’d reveal that the reason he’d been so rude to her was because he actually liked her but didn’t want to show it to everyone in the office.

  He said, “I brought you here to set ground rules for our working relationship.”

  Immediate disappointment shot through her. “Oh!”

  Worth smirked. “Let’s start with your shoes.”

  “My shoes?”

  “Your shoes!” He nodded. “They’re too loud, too annoying. The click-clack sound they make when you walk is distracting. From now on let’s stick to flats.”

  Was this boy kidding her? Her heels were distracting? Every woman in their company wore heels, and he’d never complained. Suddenly hers were distracting? This dude! Also, the closest thing to flats she owned was sneakers. She had a feeling his picky ass would have something to say if she came to work in sneakers. Ridiculous! He was officially off his rocker.

  She didn’t even answer him. She just stared at him.

  But that didn’t stop Worth. He continued, “While we’re on the subject of annoying things, let’s talk about your smiling.”

  She sat back in her seat with her arms folded over her chest and gave him a narrow-eyed stare. “My smiling?”

  He mimicked her posture but kept his smirk. “Yes, your smiling. Smiling is okay but smiling all the time for no reason is annoying. It makes you seem silly and frivolous. I don’t like silly people around me.”

  Well, I’m not smiling now, you silly, overgrown bastard.

  Despite the hot anger that was radiating for Sin, Worth pressed on. “Also, you knock on my door too often with unnecessary questions. Do I need something? Am I okay? Do I need help? Like you’re some customer service rep.”

  He sighed as if just the thought of her constant knocking was enough to tire him. “I’ve told you time and time again that if I need something, I’ll call you but it seems you have a hearing problem. I’m not an invalid who needs constant watching over so I’ll repeat it; don’t randomly barge into my office.”

  Wow! This dude! So these were the things he spent his days pouting about when he wasn’t harassing her? Sin was surprised he didn’t
just pull out a list from his pocket and start reading from it because apparently he still had more to complain about.

  “Also-” He swiped a thumb over his bottom lip. “- I heard that you’ve been going around the office asking how you can get me to like you.”

  The only time she’d had such a conversation was this morning when she and Diana had been talking. Obviously this doofus had eavesdropped on the conversation but was now trying to pretend that someone in the office was comfortable enough with him to tittle-tattle about what she was doing.

  “Humph!” She snorted loud enough for him to hear.

  Anger flashed in his eyes. “Did you just snort?”

  “No.” She didn’t even blink at the blatant lie. “And I didn’t go around the office asking about you. I just asked Diana. The only reason I did that was so that I can get to know you better.”

  “To know me better?” Worth made a face. “For what?”

  “I’m your assistant,” Sin gritted between her teeth. “I have to know you to help you better.”

  “No, thank you. I don’t like people digging into my life. Anything I want you to know, I’ll tell you on my own.” He sat up in his seat. “If you have so much free time, then use it to learn how to do your job properly or make yourself a better person.”

  How did that even make sense? Forget seducing him. Even if she was planning on being just his assistant, then common sense dictated that she know every little thing about him. What he liked, what he didn’t like, the people he wanted to see, the people he was avoiding, how he liked work done… every little thing. But he was sabotaging her at every turn. If he was going to be this way, then what did he even need an assistant for?

  Unfortunately, she never got the chance to say all this because right at that moment, Worth pushed back his seat and rose to his full height. Even though his plate was still three-quarter way full, he looked at his watch and said, “I have somewhere else I need to be. You can stay. If you want something more just order it on my tab. They know me here.”

  And with that he walked away, leaving her seated at the table and staring at his back in absolute shock.

  “IT MUST HAVE been bad if you’re speechless.” Ten winced as she studied Sin who was curled up on the couch like a broken fetus.

  “You needed to be there to understand.” Sin turned to face the ceiling. Still reeling in shock courtesy of Worth’s restaurant monologue, she heaved a deep breath. “Wow! No wonder Claire can’t stand his ass.”

  “You should’ve just offered to pay everyone’s bill in that restaurant,” Ten suggested, “then put it on his tab.”

  “Believe me, I was tempted.” Sin suddenly sat up and turned to face her friend. “Ten, I think Worth and I were husband and wife in a previous life.”

  “Wh-a-t?” Ten laughed in between amused gasps.

  “Think about it.” Sin explained, “It’s the only logical explanation. We were married, probably for a stupid long time and grew to hate each other. That’s why we can’t stand each other now.”

  “You call that a logical explanation?” Ten chuckled as she edged closer to sling her arm across Sin’s shoulder. “Oh, you poor thing! Worth must’ve done a number on you.”

  “I think he’s trying to kill me.” Sin set her head on her friend’s shoulder. “And if he is, he should just use poison cause that’s a more humane method than this constant torture.”

  “That murderous bastard.” Ten patted her back. “What do you want Mama to do? Do you want me to stab him in his sleep?”

  Sin’s gaze was filled with hope as she met her friend’s eyes. “You can do that?”

  “Mm.” Ten nodded. “I finally got assigned to his apartment.”

  “Hmm….” Sin seriously considered then with a sigh, she shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to go to jail. Besides, we still need his money.” A moment later, Ten’s exact words finally pierced her distress. “Hey, did you say that you finally got into his apartment?”

  Her friend grinned. “Yup.”

  “What did you find?” Sin was practically bouncing with excitement. “What did you find?”

  Ten promptly doused that excitement with icy water. “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Nothing,” her friend repeated. “No hidden secrets. His laptop just had the usual guy stuff; movies, work documents, porn-”

  “Kiddie porn?” Sin asked hopefully.

  “Sorry!” Ten winced. “Normal porn. The documents I found were shockingly boring; birth certificate, degree, awards… etc etc. Basically all the effort I put into getting in there was a big old waste of time.”

  “Well, that’s disappointing?” Sin wallowed in her disappointment for a couple more minutes before she sat up straighter. “I guess that means we’ll have to go deeper.”

  “How much deeper?”

  “His lawyer.” Sin picked up her phone from the coffee table. “I’m sending you his address. I need you to break into his office, check out his files on Worth and see if he’s handled any fishy stuff for Worth. You know like hushed up sexual assaults, hit and runs, underhanded business deals… the kind of stuff rich people pay megabucks to keep hidden.”

  Ten stared at the address Sin had just texted her. “Is this another high security place?”

  “It’s a high-end lawyer’s office.” Sin grinned. “What do you think?”

  “Ugh!” Her friend collapsed back into the seat with a groan.

  The two of them were busy discussing strategies of how to break into Worth’s attorney’s office when Sin’s phone rang. She wasn’t even slightly surprised to see Claire’s number lighting up her screen. It was as if the woman had ESP. Every time Sin’s plans to seduce Worth went sideways, the lady seemed to sense it.

  “How’s the plan going?” Claire asked as soon as Sin picked up the phone.

  “It’s going,” Sin hedged.

  “Is it? Is it really?” Claire harangued. “You said you were an expert at this yet there hasn’t been any progress.”

  Tapping down on the instant irritation that rocketed through her, Sin soothed, “It’s only been a week since I started working for Worth.”

  “You said you could do it in thirteen days,” Claire complained. “And I gave you everything you said you needed to make that happen.”

  “I said I once got a guy to marry me in thirteen days,” Sin corrected. “Worth isn’t that easy, but I’m sure I’ll be able to slip past his defenses.”

  “Hmm… okay!” Claire said, but the reluctance in her tone left no doubt that she was losing faith in Sin. After a brief pause, she said, “While you’re there in the company why don’t you find out information about his company. Maybe something like their financials or plans for the year? The contracts they’re working on right now. You know, that kind of stuff.”

  “What?” Sin took the phone off her ear and stared at it for a moment before coming back to Claire. “Are you asking me to get you confidential information about his company?”

  “Well no… um… yes,” Claire stumbled over her words. “It’s not like you’re doing anything different right now.”

  “Yeah, I am. I only came in here to get you the stock for RGC.” Sin wasn’t an idiot. She knew what Claire, in her roundabout way, was trying to get her to do. She quickly nipped it in the bud. “I didn’t sign up to be a corporate spy.”

  “You don’t need to get so prickly.” Claire quickly backed away. “It was only a suggestion.”

  “A suggestion?” Sin narrowed her eyes. “Ah!”

  “Okay, anyway, uh… good luck with Worth.” Her tone peppy, Claire trilled, “I’m counting on you.”

  Long after the call ended, Sin couldn’t get Claire’s ‘suggestion’ out of her thoughts. Suspicion seeped in. Why would Claire be interested in W Sport? Was there something Sin was missing?

  CHAPTER 7

  As luck would have it, Worth spent the next morning outside the office which meant Sin didn’t have to deal with him and she could snoop a
round. That’s how she ended up in the Finance department.

  “Hi, guys,” she trilled as she sailed into the room bearing a six-pack coffee-carrier. “Brought you all coffee.”

  Apart from the department head, Joel, who had his own office upstairs, the other six members of the department were housed in a spacious open-plan office.

  “Double espresso for Carmen.” Sin handed a cup to the olive-skinned woman.

  “Gosh, it’s like you read my mind.” Carmen gleefully took the coffee. “How you doing, Sin?”

  “I’m good. You?” Concern in her voice, Sin asked, “How did your niece’s quinceanera go?”

  “Better than expected.” Carmen smiled. “Thanks for hooking us up with that event planner.”

  “My pleasure.” Sin moved on to the next member of the team. “Ristretto for Dean.”

  “You know me so well.” Dean, a red-haired fifty-something man, gratefully took the cup she offered. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Sin asked, “Did your doctor’s appointment go well?”

  “All’s well in the heart area,” Dean assured her.

  Sin repeated that routine three other times. Though being nice was a reward in itself, this particular exercise had a hidden agenda. If she had to give what she was doing a name, it would be ‘investing in the future’. One never knew when she would need one of her new colleagues’ help. Someone who was a friend now could turn out to be the key to a future con.

  Eventually, Sin ended up beside her target’s desk. Emanuel Conroy; thirty-something, brown hair, bespectacled, handsome but in a quiet way. He was the Finance Department’s deputy.

  “And for my favorite accountant.” Sin set his coffee in front of him. “An Americano…. and a sandwich.”

  “Thanks, Sin.” Emanuel met her with a sappy smile. The man was already half in love with her.

  “Hey, why does he get a sandwich and I don’t?” Carmen pouted.