by Snow, Jenika
“I don’t know what to say,” she stuttered out.
“Just say yes.”
4
In all of his years of working in his restaurant, Lucas had never, ever, asked for help with a menu. From New Year’s through to Christmas, he had complete control. With Millie, he wasn’t even sure what was going on inside his head.
Sure, the girl was talented, even if she couldn’t perfect a simple hollandaise sauce. The point was, most cooks had a recipe that always seemed to be a thorn in their side. The one recipe that always seemed to evade them.
Pushing those thoughts aside, he watched her now. The way her teeth sank against her lip as she thought about his proposition. It wasn’t even close to what he really wanted to say to her. What he wanted from her was damned unethical between an employer and employee.
He couldn’t help but wonder what she’d say if he asked her to bend over the desk and spread her thighs wide. Would she be soaking wet? Begging for his cock?
“I’d love to,” she said. “I … I… I mean, this opportunity is amazing.”
“There’s a catch.”
“It’s not the cops, is it?”
He laughed. “From what I saw, you haven’t been using any of the restaurant’s products.”
“I wouldn’t steal. I swear. I wouldn’t even be here if my kitchen was a decent size at home.”
He held his hand up. “You live in a small apartment?” She nodded. “Where?” She gave him the address. Although he had known where she lived given the fact he knew every employee’s background, he wanted to see how easily she’d give it up. First, he needed to teach her to be more careful about sharing her personal information. She was too young, too vulnerable and in the big bad city, there were a lot of wolves and sharks ready to prey on women like her.
She tucked some hair behind her ear. “I won’t use your kitchen again.”
“You’ll continue to use the kitchen. There are a few conditions I have. You won’t speak of our working on the menu together with anyone else within this building. It’s secret.” He didn’t need one of his chefs turning into a diva making demands. He’d dealt with difficult men all of his life and knew how to handle them.
“Top secret, of course.”
“I’ll be training you. Do you have any formal training?”
“Well, I’m in school now, but it will take a bit of time before I graduate with my degree.”
“It always does. That’s life. It doesn’t matter what kind of training you have. I’m a firm believer that cooking is mostly talent. You’ve got to have a feel for the ingredients. Understand their taste, their smells. You need to know what goes with them.”
“Were you formally trained?”
“No. Everything I know, I was taught by my mother.”
“Wow,” she said.
He saw the admiration in her eyes and he didn’t like it. Actually, that was wrong, he liked it, only he wanted her to be on her knees staring up at his cock when she looked at him like that. Those plump lips would look so good wrapped around his dick as he pumped into her mouth.
He held the notebook in his hand, standing up and casually adjusting his hardened length so she didn’t see. He wondered if she even realized he was attracted to her. No woman had ever made him feel like this.
Anyone else would be out of a job for using his kitchen.
Millie was different.
Leaning against his desk, he watched her.
She’d taken the seat at his instruction and her hands were clenched together looking nervous still. “You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t bite.”
She giggled. “Of course. I’m just, I’m so sorry for not asking permission.”
“No apology needed.” God, he found himself transfixed by her. “You’ll be training with me. I can see your talent and I don’t want it wasted. You’ll continue to waitress until I’m satisfied. You make sufficient progress we’ll talk about a promotion. Until then, you’ll be with me. I’ll be the one closing the restaurant. When everyone leaves, I want you in the kitchen, ready. Sound good?”
“Yes. Thank you so much. This means a great deal to me.”
“Good. Now, seeing as no one is around, I think we should get to work.” He handed her the notebook. “I want you to tell me the key ingredients to a hollandaise sauce. Write them down.” He presented the notepad to her and waited.
She didn’t take it immediately.
“Go on, Millie.” Right now, he wanted to do a whole lot more with her than the basics of an egg sauce. He’d love to spread her out on his desk, to lick every inch of her body as if she was the sauce itself.
Get your thoughts out of the gutter.
She took the notepad and pen from him. He saw that her hands shook a little.
“Do I make you nervous?”
“No, yes, a little. I thought I was going to get fired.”
“That is still possible. Make no mistake, Millie. I’m not a nice man. If I believe you’re wasting my time, you’ll be gone.”
It would give him a perfect reason to fire her—so he could take her pussy.
This was going to be one of the longest Valentine’s dinners of his life. He normally hated the holiday.
She nibbled her lip as she wrote. Once she was finished, she held the pad out to him.
He grabbed it and saw she’d written down the right ingredients.
“Excellent. Now tell me the best way to put them all together to make this sauce.” He snapped his fingers. “Remember the key is heat and whisking but too much and not enough can cause your sauce to split or scramble. Come on, Millie, focus.”
She scribbled away at the notepad like a good little student. The more he ordered her around, the more she focused. He loved watching her, especially as she bit that lip.
She gave him back the notebook once again, and he looked it over.
“Now, this is all logical. Let’s go and put it into practice.” He got to his feet, taking hold of her hand. The moment they touched, he felt that zing of electricity rush up his arm, flooding his body.
For a second, he paused, taken aback by how good it felt to simply hold her. In that moment, he realized he’d never dared touch her.
“Are you okay, sir?” she asked.
He was more than okay. Taking control, he held her hand firmly and started for the kitchen. Letting her go was hard to do but he was able to do it. He had to keep his hands busy because otherwise he’d do something a boss really shouldn’t do.
There was no way he could fuck this woman in his kitchen, was there? The temptation was going to drive him crazy.
5
Lucas stayed off to the side, watching as Millie waited tables. Her movements were fluid. She knew her shit, that was for sure. He was focused on the way she spoke to the customers, how she smiled genuinely at each and every one of them. A restaurant didn’t just succeed from good food and a great atmosphere. The staff was what brought it all together.
It had been a week since she’d come into his office, and since then she’d been all he thought about. But to be honest, since he’d hired her, she was all he thought about.
There was something about Millie that drew him in, had him aching and desperate, had him wanting more than just for his business to thrive.
He never thought of himself settling down. He never saw himself getting married and having a family. But then that all changed in the blink of an eye. That also changed when he first saw Millie. He had to make her his.
She was smart and talented, beautiful. She lit up a room. And there was a lot he could teach her. He didn’t want to ruin this with lust and sex. He wanted her like he wanted to succeed. But he wanted her to come to him on her own.
He forced himself to turn away and head back into his office, and once he was in there, he shut the door and walked behind his desk to sit down. He kept himself busy going over the Valentine’s Day menu, having options on what they could serve, how they’d prepare everything.
He’d sit
down with Millie and go over it all, go over every detail, making sure everything was precise and perfect.
Lucas looked at the draft menu, but he couldn’t focus. All he could think about was Millie. All he could think about was having her in his bed, her hair fanned out over his pillow, her mouth parted as she came for him.
God, he was already hard just thinking about her, envisioning all the dirty fucking things he wanted to do to her.
What he wanted to do was go home and jerk off, think about her as he came. But he had to be professional. Yeah, he could be real fucking professional.
And then, once everything was all said and done, the menu planned out, everything in its place, then and only then would he make Millie his.
* * *
Millie felt Lucas watching her, and the few times she glanced back it was to see his focus trained on her. And although she wanted to be unaffected by Lucas, the very real truth was, Millie wanted him desperately.
She’d never felt this kind of arousal, this kind of intensity. But the way Lucas watched her, as if he were a lion stalking his prey, made her very aware that he was a man and she was a woman.
It had been an entire week since she’d spoken with him in his office, and it felt like an eternity. Although she’d been busy with her studies and thinking of ideas she could run by him for the menu, the main thing that stayed on her mind was just him in general.
What it would feel like to have his hands on her body, how it would feel to have him kiss her. Her thoughts were obscene, filthy.
She wanted to feel him slide his fingers along her arms, down her sides, and grip her thighs, pushing them open. She wanted his mouth between her legs, licking, sucking, tasting her. She wanted him to do that and so much more. But it wasn’t like he desired her as well.
Watching was probably how Lucas read people, how he judged their character. It was a damn shame, because the things Millie would let him do to her had embarrassment flooding her. Even now, as she thought about it, she felt her cheeks heat.
No doubt he’d be such a ... man in bed.
If given the chance, she would let Lucas devour her.
And she’d enjoy every minute of it.
6
“I did it,” Millie said.
Her excitement was so infectious, Lucas couldn’t help but enjoy watching her success. She’d made a simple poached egg with grilled asparagus and hollandaise sauce. He’d been the one to taste test, and it was delicious. He couldn’t recall enjoying anything more and she let out a squeal the moment he told her how good it was.
What he loved next, though, was the way she threw her arms around him. The firmness of her full breasts, the softness of her body against his own. Running his hands down her back, he knew it was inappropriate but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to touch her, to feel her surround him. She drove him wild for a single taste of her and he knew, at the same time, that he couldn’t have her.
She was off limits to him.
His hands stopped at the base of her back even as he wanted to move further down, to touch her, to feel her against him.
She pulled away and he was sure her gaze lingered on his lips.
“Thank you.”
“Now you’ve got to try it.”
He held her with one hand on her hip, refusing to give up this perfect chance of having her in his arms.
Slicing into the egg for a second bite, he did the same to the asparagus and gathered up some sauce as he did so.
“Open,” he said.
She did as he asked and he couldn’t help but imagine her on her knees in front of him as he held his cock in his hand, waiting for her to open up for him. She took the food from him and moaned.
“That is good, even if I do say so myself,” she said.
Lucas struggled with control.
She looked so tempting and inviting.
Would it really be so bad to kiss her? He couldn’t think of a single reason why he shouldn’t.
Yes, he was her boss during the day but right now, he was only her tutor.
Not the best thought but still, he wanted to kiss her.
Life was too short to waste on all the reasons why you shouldn’t do something.
He put the fork down, staring into her eyes. Such pretty eyes, and then, he took the leap.
Slamming his lips down on hers, he kissed her. At first, she was tense and tight within his arms, but slowly, her nerves slid away.
She melted against him so perfectly. Sliding one hand up her back to cup her head, with the other he gripped her full ripe ass. He’d been wanting to touch her for so long and now that he finally was, it felt so good.
He didn’t want to stop.
Pressing her up against the counter, he rubbed his cock next to her body, hearing her moan as he did.
He caressed his tongue across her lips and she opened up. He plunged in, tasting her, wanting even more. He moved his hand from her ass to her leg, lifting it up over his hip so he could feel her more closely.
They were wearing too many clothes right now. They were getting in the way of what he wanted.
And he was used to getting what he wanted.
* * *
Millie couldn’t think, couldn’t focus.
Lucas’s hands were just as good as she’d known they would be. The moment he touched her, though, she didn’t want him to stop. This wasn’t due to the success of the food she’d just cooked. No, she wanted him so badly.
Feeling his rock-hard cock against her made her ache in all the most delicious ways.
Just as suddenly as he started to kiss her, though, he pulled away.
His mouth was swollen and she knew hers would be as well.
Millie didn’t understand what she’d done wrong.
“What is it?” she asked.
“We shouldn’t be kissing.”
“Why not?”
“It’s …I’m your boss.”
It was the first time she’d ever seen him not in control and she liked it.
“I don’t mind.”
“It was inappropriate of me.”
He was shutting down. Casting her out and she couldn’t have that. Why did he have to go and get all serious on her right now? This wasn’t just about the food but also about enjoyment. She loved being around him. She could even handle his really bad moods when one of the chefs pissed him off, which turned out to be often because of their refusal to do exactly as he said.
Biting her lip, she watched as he pulled himself together, and she didn’t want him to do that. They had something. She’d felt it in the kiss they had just shared and there was no way she was going to let him give this up without a fight.
She’d never fought for anything in her entire life.
She was used to being cast aside, never really excelling at anything. He was the first person to ever make her believe that she could achieve something and now he was going to take all that away because he was her boss?
Millie wouldn’t ruin his reputation, nor would she scream about their relationship no matter how brief it was. But she wasn’t going to walk away.
So, for the first time in her life, she took the leap.
She jumped into his arms where he had no choice but to hold her or risk them both falling over and hurting themselves. He let out a moan, which she captured with her lips, kissing him back. He wasn’t the only one that could take charge.
She’d prove to him she wanted this, boss or not.
7
Her kiss had taken him off-guard, her passion rivaling his own. Lucas had wanted to go slow, to try and be professional, give her time, space. But then she’d all but thrown herself in his arms and he knew he couldn’t stop himself a second time.
He curled his hands around her waist and pulled her impossibly closer to him.
Lucas slammed Millie against the wall and took her mouth in an all-consuming kiss. He speared his hands in her hair, tugged at the strands hard enough that she was forced to tilt her head back and accept his hard
kiss. But Millie gave as good as she took, and the sting of pain from her biting his tongue and lips had his cock getting so damn hard that it hurt.
“So fucking good.” He should stop, make himself act like her boss. But here he was, his cock hard, the only thing on his mind making Millie his.
He groaned against her mouth and forced himself to pull back. Her lips were parted, swollen and rosy from their kiss.
“I should go slow and easy with you. I should stop because this is wrong.” She was breathing hard, heavy. “But I can’t, Millie. I won’t.”
She was shaking her head before he even finished talking. “I feel like I’m burning alive for you.” She was breathing so hard and fast, her pupils dilated, her mouth parted. Millie leaned in this time and tugged at his bottom lip with her teeth.
He moved away only long enough to reach behind her, curve his hands under the crease of her ass, and lift her so she was forced to wrap her legs around his waist. Yeah, Lucas was going to do this. He was going to break his own rules, fuck one of his employees, and he wasn’t going to regret one minute of it.
Lucas wanted her naked, wanted her in his bed, surrounded by his things, his scent.
But they had this kitchen right now. He wanted to taste her, lick her until she came all over his mouth.
He was a hungry bastard, and the only thing that would sate his appetite was Millie. He thought about fucking her in every way imaginable, how filthy it would be, how he’d make her come more than once.
“What do you want me to do, baby?”
She licked her lips and looked down at his crotch. A groan spilled from him.
“Everything,” she said.
Lucas kissed her again, slid his tongue between her lips, tangling his with hers, tasting every part of her, needing more. Millie was nice and thick, curvy like a woman. He loved that she wasn’t skin and bones, that she’d be able to handle the kind of fucking he’d give her when the time came. Because although he wanted her right now, wanted his cock deep in her pussy, tonight he’d taste her, make her come.