Crazy About Curves: 10 Luscious Reads

by Adriana Hunter

  He pressed the flowers into her arms. “I know. But I’m the one who should be giving you flowers, not him. So, can I take those out to the garbage now?”

  Sophie laughed. “Of course not. They’re perfectly good flowers, and there’s no reason to throw them out. It doesn’t matter who gave them to me.” She laid his flowers on the counter then headed for one of the pantries, emerging a few minutes later with a large cut crystal vase.

  As she filled the vase partway with water and then opened the tissue paper around the flowers, she said, “Oh, look! The ends are already cut.”

  He’d have to thank Harris twice.

  She slid the flowers into the vase one at a time, arranging them as she went. The flowers Harris had chosen were more varied and exotic than the carnations, tulips and roses the other guy had sent. Sophie tucked a pink amaryllis into the vase next to a large white calla lily. A blue iris settled in next to several pink cymbidium orchids. Sophie oohed and aahed over each one.

  He’d have to give Harris a raise.

  Then Raymond swept into the kitchen. “Dinner ready to serve?”

  Sophie swung around and headed for the row of plates. “All ready.” She scooped up two of them and headed for the room on the far side of the kitchen where the staff had a break room and usually took all their meals.

  Raymond grabbed a couple of plates as well, and when Janet appeared seconds later, she also picked up plates.

  Rhys felt tempted to help, but he knew how they’d all frown at that. Still, just because he had money didn’t mean he couldn’t carry things. Before he had a chance to decide to chip in, the three of them reappeared, scooped up all the remaining plates and hurried into the break room.

  Sophie returned by herself. She hugged him tight. “Thank you so much for the flowers. I’m just going to finish getting them in water before I go eat.”

  In other words, it was time for him to leave. Still, he followed her over to the counter where she started adding flowers to the vase much more quickly than before. He put his hand on her back. “I’ll come by after dinner tonight.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He waited a moment, willing her to look at him. He wanted a kiss. Needed a kiss. When she didn’t turn, he said, “Sophie.”

  As she twisted to look up at him, he didn’t give her a chance to move away, just quickly kissed her. He knew any of the staff could wander into the kitchen, so as much as he wanted to linger over the kiss, he didn’t. “See you tonight.”

  As he left the room, he didn’t miss that she picked up every flower with a smile.

  Chapter 34

  The next day, Rhys decided to work from home. He’d signed all the things he needed to sign and met with all the people he needed to see the day before. Plus this way, he could sneak into the kitchen to see Sophie at least a couple of times during the day.

  He was just returning from the kitchen that afternoon when he heard loud voices in his foyer. He paused just out of sight to listen.

  Raymond said, “Nevertheless, sir, I’ve been told not to let you into the house and not to allow you to see Miss Sophie.”

  He must be talking to Sophie’s ex. After his last visit, Rhys had told Raymond not to let him back in. If he wanted to talk to Sophie, he’d have to get her to pick up her phone and convince her to meet him somewhere...neither of which was likely to happen. Which meant he wouldn’t have another chance to manhandle her the way he did last time.

  “Do you know who I am?” Stanford said.

  “Of course, sir. That’s why I know that you’re not allowed into the house.”

  Oh, ouch. And did Stanford even realize he’d walked into that?

  “You have no right to bar me from seeing Sophie,” Stanford said. “Step aside.”

  Rhys heard the scuffling of shoes, as though Stanford had tried to walk past Raymond and found that the older man could not be moved.

  “If you persist, I will have to call the police,” Raymond said.

  “Listen, you two-bit excuse for a Downton Abbey re-run, step aside or I’ll—”

  Rhys had heard enough. “You’ll what?” He stepped into the foyer, showing himself.

  Stanford straightened up from where he’d been leaning menacingly toward Raymond. “I’ve come to see Sophie, but this man won’t let me past the foyer.”

  “At my orders,” Rhys said. “And if you ever try to browbeat one of my staff again, I’ll make you pay.” It wasn’t an idle threat, either. Rhys didn’t know exactly how he’d make the man pay, but he knew he could. All the same, he hoped he didn’t have to.

  “I have a right to see Sophie.” Stanford’s jaw tightened.

  Something really wasn’t adding up. Rhys knew firsthand how amazing Sophie was. But this guy didn’t seem to have ever understood that. “Why are you so hot on her now? You didn’t just let her get away. You threw her away. What changed?”

  “That’s none of your business. I want to see Sophie.”

  Figures he wouldn’t answer. “If you want to see Sophie, make arrangements to see her on her day off. Right now, she’s working and she won’t be disturbed. Moreover, I won’t allow her to be harassed while she’s in my house. If she wants to see you, fine. But she made it quite clear last time that she didn’t want to see you. So get lost.”

  “You don’t have the right to do this. Just because you’re fucking her—”

  Rhys rushed forward, crowding the man. “Shut your mouth and get the hell out of my house.” He stood a good two inches taller than Stanford, which made it easier to stare him down from close quarters.

  “Make me.”

  Rhys stepped forward, pushing the man backward without actually touching him. “Get the door, Raymond.”

  Raymond yanked the door open then came to stand next to Rhys, creating a wall that pushed Stanford toward the open door. Finally, the man scowled, emitted an annoyed grunt, and left. Raymond and Rhys stepped out onto the porch to watch Stanford storm to his car and peel down the driveway.

  “Well done,” Rhys said. “I wish you hadn’t had to deal with that, but you handled it well.”

  “Thank you, sir. You did, too.” Raymond paused as the two of them stepped back into the house. “Sir, if I might be so bold, I think I could find out the answer for you.”

  It took Rhys a second to remember. “You mean why he’s so hot to get Sophie back?”

  “Yes, sir. I have friends in the community. I can put out some feelers.”

  Which just served to remind Rhys that there were no secrets in the house. The staff might act discreetly and in many cases be invisible, but they knew everything that went on. Everything. “I’d like that very much.”

  Chapter 35

  The next day, Sophie was cleaning up after lunch when Harris opened the back door and stuck his head inside. “Sophie, we have visitors. Spread the word.” He left before she could get any more information out of him.

  Visitors? Why didn’t Janet tell her? But no–if Harris felt it necessary to stick his head in, these visitors must be unexpected.

  And what did that mean for dinner? How many should she cook for? And did she have enough ingredients? She might have to make a quick trip to the store.

  She was still reviewing her dinner menu and checking the ingredients when the door from the house opened and a cloud of expensive perfume wafted inside. The perfume encased an older woman wearing a bone white suit, matching heels and the largest diamond Sophie had ever seen. Her blonde hair was swept up on top of her head, her makeup pristine.

  The woman looked her up and down. “So you’re the new cook. I hope you’re better than the last one. Denise?”

  That’s when Sophie realized another woman stood behind her, this one dressed more conservatively in a pants suit, and carrying a pad of paper in a leather case. The woman–Denise–handed the first woman a piece of paper.

  The haughty woman handed the piece of paper to Sophie. “Here’s the menu for the next two weeks. We’ll eat at six.” She turned on her
heel and left the room, Denise following close behind.

  What the hell? The woman hadn’t even said who she was. And why did she think she could give Sophie orders?

  Sophie wanted to go find Janet, but was afraid she’d run into the woman again. Maybe Harris would know who she was.

  As Sophie headed out the back door to track down Harris, she looked over the menu. All three meals were detailed, as well as food “to be available for snacks.” Chocolate chip cookies weren’t even on the list. Every bit of it was dated...dishes from ten, twenty, thirty years ago that any self-respecting chef these days would either refuse to make or would have long ago morphed into something else. And she was supposed to cook this?

  Harris wasn’t too hard to find, hiding in the shed. “So who are they?” Sophie said.

  “You met them?” He moved some of his tools around. Sophie couldn’t tell if he was putting them away or taking them out.

  “Yeah, the woman came and told me what to cook.” Sophie held up the menu.

  Harris grunted. “That’s how she is. Good thing she don’t come around much. And she learned early on not to try to tell me what to do in the garden–Rhys had a fit the first time she did it.”

  So this wasn’t the first time she’d visited. “But who is she, that she thinks she can tell us all what to do?”

  “She’s his mother. Used to be mistress of this house, and thinks she still is. I pity the poor woman who marries Rhys. She’ll have a harridan for a mother-in-law.”

  His mother. Sophie looked at the menu. “I guess that means I need to do what she says.”

  “It’s safest,” Harris said. “Unless Rhys tells you different.”

  They talked a few minutes more then Sophie headed back for the house. She couldn’t figure out how to feel about all of this. Part of her felt angry at the woman. Another part felt depressed at the idea of cooking the food she wanted. And still another part feared Rhys’ mother finding out they were dating.

  She pulled out her cookbooks, looking for recipes for the dishes for that night’s dinner so she could put together a grocery list. The more she thought about it, the more she agreed with what Harris had said about that woman being a harridan.

  Chapter 36

  Rhys realized he’d made a mistake in going into the office when he got the call from Janet. She sounded about as frantic as practical Janet could get, but he finally understood the message–his mother had shown up, planning to stay for a while.

  He knew he’d told her not to come. He remembered it distinctly. But he hadn’t yet called her back to make sure she’d gotten the message. But in any case, the trial wasn’t for another two weeks. Was she really planning to stay that long? Her visits never failed to turn his life upside down–his and that of all his staff. That’s why he did his best to go to her once a year or so, to try to avoid her coming to him.

  He left the office as soon as he could, but it was still late afternoon by the time he got home–more than enough time for Mother to turn everyone inside out. He found her in the parlor, talking to someone on her cell phone.

  She waved at him when he stepped into the room, then turned back to her call. After he’d stood waiting for a good five minutes, he decided he’d had enough. He left the parlor, located Raymond, and asked him to bring Mother to him in his study when she decided to get off the phone.

  Nearly half an hour later, she stomped into the room. “Really, William. Did you have to have your help drag me here? You could have just waited until I was done.”

  Waited more than half an hour? She had to be joking. But he didn’t want to go down that path; they had other things to talk about. “What are you doing here? I told you not to come for a few months.”

  “Oh, I know that’s what you suggested, but I already had my heart set on coming. So here I am.” She waved her hand to the side as though presenting herself.

  She probably thought that was cute. “This is a bad time for you to visit. And it’s even worse because you didn’t even give us any notice.”

  “I told you I was coming.”

  “You told me you wanted to come, and I told you no. You never said you intended to come in spite of my wishes.”

  Mother perched on the edge of the chair in front of his desk. “Don’t be like that. I’m here now. The rest of that doesn’t matter. Come give me a kiss.”

  He ignored her request. “I’m not going to tell you to leave. But just remember that this visit is no different than any other. No ordering my staff around.”

  “They have to help me with the things I need,” she huffed. “Else what good are they?”

  And that boded no good. Not that it mattered. He warned her off every visit, and every visit she went ahead and did as she pleased.

  She stood. “And now it’s time for dinner. Come along, dear.”

  He glanced at his watch as he stood. “It’s only six o’clock. Dinner isn’t until seven.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that. I set the cook straight.”

  Rhys got a tight feeling in his stomach. Mother had gone to see Sophie. Oh, God.

  They sat down to dinner, and he instantly knew something was wrong. The food didn’t look like Sophie’s food. There were too many courses. And it looked and tasted oddly like the food he’d always had when he visited his mother. “You didn’t bring your chef, did you?” he said.

  “No, of course not. I must say, this cook is better than that last one. Although the last one was prettier.”

  Really? Did Mother not realize that his last cook was suing him? Or did she not care? “This doesn’t taste like anything Sophie would cook.” He caught Raymond’s eye where he stood behind Mother. Raymond shook his head slightly. What did that mean?

  He knew one thing. If Sophie had cooked like this from the beginning, he’d have looked for another cook. Or sent her for lessons.

  He suffered through the rest of the meal, then through an evening with his mother. He escaped as soon as he could, but Sophie had already left the kitchen. So he headed for her room instead.

  Rhys rarely went into the staff’s living area but he knew which room was Sophie’s. Luckily for him, she was inside, watching TV.

  His first inclination was to ask, ‘what did she do to you?’ but figured that wasn’t that great of an opening salvo. Instead, he flopped down next to her on the couch and put his arm around her shoulders. That was when he realized they’d never done this before–sat like two regular people and watched television together.

  And now he couldn’t figure out how to start the conversation. Saying, ‘the dinner tonight wasn’t so great’ wasn’t a good way to start. Neither was, ‘is that what you thought my mother would want to eat?’

  “Did you like dinner?” Sophie said.

  He held his breath. Exactly how was he supposed to answer that?

  “Sorry, that wasn’t a fair question. I just–I like choosing my own recipes.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She looked at him. “You know what she did, right?” She paused. “You don’t know what she did. She gave me a menu of exactly what I’m supposed to cook for every meal for the next two weeks. Including snacks. That’s what you had for dinner.”

  Even without seeing the tight strain of her lips, he knew how well this would go over with Sophie.

  “By the way, chocolate chip cookies are nowhere on the list. Guess you’ll have to do without.”

  Yeah. She was angry. At least there was something he could do about it. “You work for me, not her. I’ve told you you can choose the menus. I expect that to continue, no matter what my mother says. And as for dinner tonight–it was very well cooked, but not to my taste. I’d prefer you don’t make that again.”

  Her eyes lit up first then a smile tugged at the edges of her lips. “Yes, sir.”

  Rhys kissed her, hard. “Don’t call me ‘sir.’”

  “Never? It might be kind of fun.” Her eyes flicked toward the bed in the far corner.

  “Role-playing is f
ine. Not so sure I want to play those roles, though.”

  Now she smiled. “We’ll hold it in reserve for now.”

  He leaned into her for a long kiss. “Let’s stay here tonight. I can guarantee Mother won’t be able to find me if I’m here.”

  Sophie laughed. “Fine. As long as you’re okay with my alarm going off at six. I’m one of the earliest risers here.”

  “I can live with that.” He leaned in for another kiss.

  Chapter 37

  Sophie made a lovely breakfast casserole the next morning along with pancakes and three different kinds of syrup. While she cleaned up, she thought about the trial. Rhys and she hadn’t talked about it since their fight. She still wanted to testify, but she was pretty sure he hadn’t changed his mind about not wanting that to happen. They’d have to talk about it soon, though. They were running out of time.

  She was just wiping off the counter when the door from the house opened.

  “What on earth was that breakfast?”

  Sophie felt her spine grow stiff. Rhys’ mother. He’d said he’d talk to her about the menu. Either he hadn’t gotten to it yet or it didn’t take. Sophie stepped around the partial wall so she could face the woman. “I cooked what Rhys told me to cook.”

  Janet appeared in the doorway. “Is everything all right in here?”

  Rhys’ mother turned toward Janet. “I specifically told this woman what to cook, and she disobeyed me. I expect you to discipline her immediately.”

  Before Sophie had a chance to say anything, Janet said, “I’m sure there was just a misunderstanding. Sophie has been a wonderful addition to our staff.”

  “There was no misunderstanding,” Mrs. Blackwell said. “I gave her a menu of what to cook. She followed it last night but not this morning.”

  “I’m sure we can rectify this—” Janet said.

  Sophie interrupted her. “You’re right, there wasn’t any misunderstanding. Last night after dinner, Rhys gave me different instructions. Since he’s the one who employs me, I did what he said.”