“Hello back.” I smiled to the both of them and returned his polite greeting.
I looked at the blonde woman. She seemed a bit absent-minded and ditsy—even more his type. I held back a laugh; I would have thought even he would have had the good sense to bring along a more suitable date to such an important event.
“Honey, how about you go grab us a couple drinks at the bar?”
“Sure,” the blonde woman said before heading off. It was impossible for me to tell what the woman’s thoughts were, if she had any at all.
“She seems… nice,” I said. “Already calling her honey. Talk about working an angle.”
“I’m not calling her honey. Her name is Honey.”
I snorted. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. As much as I tried to quell my mocking laughter it was too hard. He actually brought someone named Honey as his date to the Harold Archer Fundraising Dinner. “So that’s the flavor of the week, huh?” I couldn’t help but poke fun at the young woman’s name.
“I only brought her with me to make you jealous,” Remi said bluntly.
My smile fell at once. “You’re an asshole,” I hissed even though my eyes raked up and down his body. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, he looked damn good in a tuxedo.
Before I had the chance to answer, I saw Honey coming back with the drinks. That was when I came up with a little plan. If Remi wanted to be immature, then I would join in on his little mind games. The perfect distraction came along when an elderly gentleman approached him.
“Mr. Parker, I wanted to thank you for your work at the children’s hospital.” I overheard the old man say as I reached for a small plate across the table. I placed two of my spicy stuffed mushrooms on it and set the plate behind a large decorative piece to shield it from view. I darted into the kitchen and took the small jar with the spicy powder I made earlier. When I returned to the serving table, Remi was still talking to the man and Honey was standing there sipping her drink quietly like a lost puppy.
I looked down at my spicy powder and hesitated for a second before practically pouring the rest of it on top of the stuffed mushroom. I had been cooking for Remi long enough to know he liked his food with a little kick, but this was going to be way too much for him. I waited for the older man to leave before making my suggestion.
“They’re one of my personal specialties, spicy stuffed mushrooms,” I declared proudly. “Just be sure to eat it all in one bite that way you get all the flavors!” I gave Honey the regular mushroom and then handed Remi the mushroom that was hotter than Satan’s armpit. Honey graciously took it with a smile. At least she had manners. It seemed like she had better manners than Remi, actually. Honey looked at him and they counted to three before they stuffed the mushrooms into their mouths.
I watched with a devilish smirk as Remi’s eyes shot wide open. In an instant he was attacked with a fit of coughing. He turned at me with a knowing look in his eyes. I smiled back and gave a satisfied shimmy of my shoulders as I watched his eyes over flow with tears. He covered his mouth as he coughed a spicy powder into his hand. He was doing his best to hold back the coughing fit so he chewed quickly and swallowed before downing his entire drink in one gulp.
“Are you okay?” Honey was watching him in confusion the entire time. That only added to my satisfaction.
“Yeah,” he said all choked up, “It’s sp- spicy.” He had bits of food on his teeth. He grossly ran his tongue over them and gulped down the last bit of crumbs.
The woman made a face before shrugging, “They’re not that hot. Don’t be such a baby, Rem!” She laughed somewhat shrilly. Remi glared at me.
I smirked with satisfaction. I didn’t want to hide from this small victory. Just then Honey was distracted by the arrival of another guest. Without excusing herself, she walked out toward the entrance hall to animatedly chat up the young couple that had just arrived.
“You’re a special kind of evil.” Remi said as he leaned over the table.
I could tell he wasn’t really angry. He understood it was all done in good sport. After all, he had openly admitted he only brought his date to make me jealous.
“I’ll find you later.” He said as he walked off. I watched him round the corner and walk in the opposite direction from where Honey stood, still chatting. The room remained empty for a few minutes and I decided to sneak a mini zucchini and goat cheese tart. It was quite good, but I really thought I could do better had I been given the chance. I had just swallowed the tart when my father walked up.
He walked behind the table and gave me a kiss on the cheek, “Everything is delicious, Eevee.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him I only made the spicy stuffed mushrooms. He looked around and then lowered his voice, “I saw you talking to Remi Parker. What was that about?”
“I’ve actually been cooking for him. Remember that new job I mentioned? Remi Parker hired me as his personal chef.”
My dad was instantly surprised. My heart dropped when I noticed his surprised expression turn into worry.
“Be very careful,” he warned. “His father, Albert Parker, he’s the type of business man who, well, I call him a snake in the grass.” I nodded, thinking I didn’t exactly have a great impression of Albert Parker either. “I don’t know much about Remi,” he admitted, “But be careful when dealing with anyone from the Parker family. They always screw you.”
I stood at the bar with my date, sipping my third drink of the night. She was talking to me about a magazine article she recently read. Although it wasn’t as vapid as the things most of my dates talked at me about, it certainly wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention. Although maybe it was an entirely different reason I wasn’t listening to her. She must have caught on because she stopped talking and leaned in close enough until we were touching.
“Something on your mind?”
I turned to look at her. The sound of her voice had a sexual tone to it. “I always have a lot on my mind,” I told her.
She smirked and played with the sleeve of my tuxedo jacket, “Sounds like you could use some stress relief.”
“Guess so,” I responded casually, “Any suggestions?”
Honey took a step closer to me and I felt her breasts brush against my arm. I didn’t glance down or make a face. I didn’t want her to think I was interested, because the truth was I wasn’t. Still, it was in my nature to carry on this sort of conversation. It came out smoothly without a second thought. “Oh, I can think of one thing that would really give you that release you need,” she said with a sexy smirk.
I arched my brow and took a sip of my drink. She was staring at me and while and I knew she was waiting for an invitation back to my place. I shifted my weight to my other foot, moving away from her in the process without being tactless. I reached over with my free hand and took her empty glass. “Time for a refill?”
Honey nodded and turned to the bar to order another drink. She started talking about a horrible massage she had recently and it wasn’t long before the heavy hints of what “good massages” were started dropping. Even in her conversation she was coming onto me strong and I could tell she wouldn’t give it a rest any time soon. I didn’t care. I turned my head just enough to be able to look into the formal dining room, where Evelyn was still standing behind the table. She was talking to a young man and looked quite happy and cheerful.
My stomach lurched. I took a large gulp of my drink and stared at them through narrowed eyes. I wondered what they were talking about what had Evelyn’s rapt attention and why it was that nobody else wanted to try any of the hors d'oeuvres.
“So, Remi, when was your last massage? You seem so tense,” I heard Honey’s voice in my ear. Truthfully, she’d only caught my attention now because her hand was rubbing the back of my shoulder.
“Uh, not sure,” I responded. I would have found it a completely insane question to ask were I not so preoccupied with watching Evelyn. She was still talking to the same young man, but they were interrupted when two middle-
aged women entered. The young man walked away and I saw Evelyn turn her attention to the ladies. I clenched my teeth, noticing she didn’t look quite as animated as she had a minute ago.
“I’m thinking you’re due for one, wouldn’t you say?”
“Sure,” I responded dismissively.
Honey had no intention of letting me off the hook so easily. She leaned in and wrapped both hands around me, pressing her breasts into my arm. She truly was insistent and I almost felt bad for her for working so hard at what should have clearly been a dead end. She started stroking my arm suggestively and I turned to meet her gaze; her eyes were filled with nothing but desire.
“How about you give me a tour of your place in exchange for a massage and stress relief?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass. Actually, I might call it an early night soon anyway.”
Honey was very clearly disappointed by my response. “Fine then,” she said, “You call it a night when you will. I’m gonna go mingle.” She took her drink off the bar and walked away to the banquet area.
I didn’t even care to watch her as she walked away; I had no interest in checking out that great ass of hers. I was much more interested in looking over at Evelyn. Nobody was in the room with her and I debated walking over there, but then someone walked in to talk to her, someone who appeared to be part of the staff. Evelyn smiled and nodded politely before the woman exited the room. I saw her pile some hors d'oeuvres on a plate and then turned around to walk into the kitchen.
I took three long strides before pausing. I didn’t know what I was doing. What was my plan, exactly? Was I going to ambush her in the kitchen? That certainly didn’t seem like a good idea. I ran my hand over my face and started to pace back and forth at the mouth of the entrance hall. I wanted to talk to her alone. The entire night I had been preoccupied with making her jealous, watching her, and wondering what she was thinking. All I could think about now was how beautiful and different she was from all the other women I’d been with.
She had depth to her. She was interesting. To speak in chef terms, she had a ‘complex taste’ rather than the ‘bland taste’ of the women I was used to being with. She was the only woman I wanted.
I peeked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the bar eating, wearing a white apron. I walked back to wait at the bar and, sure enough, a few minutes later I saw her round the corner and rush down the hallway with her hand covering what appeared to be a stain on the apron. Without a second thought I quickly followed.
I was excused once dinner had been served. I was allowed to enjoy the rest of the evening as a guest, although it was suggested that I not remove the Harold Archer Foundation pin I was told to wear while on duty. I didn’t mind it so I left it on, gathering a few hors d'oeuvres on a small plate before heading into the kitchen to eat them.
I knew none of the guests would make their way there and the bay window around the breakfast nook boasted a gorgeous view of the pond outside. With the reflection of the stars, moon, and garden lights it was quite a sight. I finished up and washed the dish before walking down the hallway back toward the main ballroom. I only knew of it after overhearing some guests, but given a good amount of them were still eating, I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded.
I also figured there would be a linen closet of some sort in that direction given what I had overheard Mrs. Montgomery tell some of the other hired staff. I wanted to drop the white chef’s apron there, which I stained with red sauce while eating my hors d'oeuvres. I was just glad I had thought to wear it or else my gown would have been the one with a big, red splotch on it. I was walking rather calmly when Remi quickly came around the corner and nearly ran into me.
I sputtered a few hushed curse words before he tugged me inside an open door right next to us. He quickly closed the door behind him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing,” I protested, making to get out of the room, but Remi blocked the door. I groaned in frustration and walked away from him. It took me a moment to really process what had just happened as I looked around. We were in a large room with bookshelves filled to the ceiling. There was a fireplace going, comfortable couches, and a coffee table. I thought it looked more like a reading room than a study. The mansion was certainly large enough to house both and then some.
“Listen,” Remi sounded serious, “Can we just call it quits with this rivalry between us?”
“That can’t happen if you keep insisting on destroying my dreams.”
Remi looked at me and gave a little laugh. I crossed my arms and looked away toward the crackling fireplace. “That’s not at all what I’m trying to do.”
I turned away, walking toward one of the bookshelves. I would rather read the titles on the books than look at his smug face one second longer. If he hadn’t been such an incredible jerk, maybe I would have believed him about calling a truce. But after everything that had happened between us, I found that highly unlikely. The more I interacted with Remi and the more sides I got to see of him, the more I came to the conclusion that he was just an impossible person in the worst kind of way. I heard his footsteps head toward me and I turned around. He stopped in his tracks.
“We shouldn’t let business get in the way of personal feelings.”
I stopped breathing for a moment. I rewound his words in my head to make sure I heard him correctly, “Why do you think there are any personal feelings?” I wanted to sound dismissive, maybe even a bit mocking. I was sure he was trying to play me again no matter how sincere he sounded or looked.
“It’s more of a question on why I wouldn’t think there are personal feelings,” he muttered, taking a step closer to me.
I took a step back. I clenched a fist at my side, determined not to let myself be swayed by him yet again. I replayed everything he had done and said up to this point to remind myself he wasn’t someone to go down this road with. He was an arrogant, self-serving asshole who had already hurt me in more than one way and was setting up to make it all worse. I had to keep repeating that in my head in an attempt to resist the feeling in my chest and stomach.
“Because you seem to think everyone wants you,” I told him plainly.
“Maybe,” he halfheartedly agreed as he took another step toward me, “But I know I’m not wrong about this.”
“Wrong about not mixing business with pleasure? No, I completely agree with that,” I told him coldly.
He took yet another step toward me and I inched away from him. “No, I mean about you. I’m not wrong about you. I’m not wrong about us.”
“Us,” I repeated. “There is no us, Remi.”
“Only because you keep putting up a wall.”
I was taken aback, but seeing him take two steps closer to me was distracting. I took yet another step back away from him only to find I was up against the bookshelf now. I was backed into a corner. “Fuck,” I said under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I snapped. “I am putting up a wall. You hired me and if you aren’t someone to be trusted with boundaries then I have to–”
Remi stepped closer to me and I saw how quickly the distance between us was closing. My heart started to race. “You and those boundaries,” he laughed. “I’ve seen you with your walls down and, fuck, if that isn’t amazing then I don’t know what is.”
“Shut up.” I shook my head and moved in until the shelves were pressing into my back. “You don’t know anything about really breaking down walls. You only know about games.”
“Does this seem like a game to you right now, Evelyn?”
“No, this isn’t a game at all,” I told him.
Remi swallowed and took another step forward, our bodies now separated by only a few inches. He towered over me with a smile; it wasn’t smug or satisfied. It wasn’t the genuine smile I had glimpsed a few times either. It was an entirely new one I couldn’t figure out. All I knew was that it made me feel nervous in a totally different way than anything else. My heart thumped
in my chest and all I could focus on was Remi and his brilliant blue eyes staring into me.
“You look gorgeous tonight,” he told me.
I looked down at the white chef’s apron covering my gown. I looked at the sauce stain and grimaced, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “Obviously not in this,” I said with a laugh.
“Of course in that,” Remi told me softly.
Then I felt his lips brush softly against mine. My heat leapt into my throat, still beating at a million thumps a second. I gripped the shelves behind me. He pressed his lips against me and I remained still. I didn’t kiss him back, but I didn’t pull away either. My breath stilled as he pressed against me. I leaned into him a little. This time was entirely different than the last two times I had shared a moment or anything else with Remi. And that terrified me.
“Evelyn,” he whispered against my lips. I could hear the honesty in his voice.
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