Read Online At Your Service (Silhouette Desire) by Amy Jo Cousins - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Amy Jo Cousins
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that we might want to expand the options for our vegetarian diners.” The magnitude of the changes she’d made during the chaos of the past week, without consulting her boss on any of them, had her cringing now. “Your mom was the one to decide we should go ahead and add the dishes tonight.” His raised eyebrow drew the rest out of her. “I suggested that we wait and change the menu tomorrow.”
Good Lord, she berated herself, if this is the best you can do pretending to be a waitress, you might as well quit now. Why don’t you just come out and tell him you’re a world-class restaurateur in charge of the Haley Group?
Her guilty thoughts must have communicated themselves to him. The next words out of his mouth were the ones she cringed to hear.
“No way were you just a waitress at your last job, Gracie.”
“But, really, I was,” she started to protest.
“I bet you were running the place, without getting paid an extra dime to do it, and someone else was taking all the credit.”
As explanations went, she reflected, that was actually fairly close to the truth, albeit on a much smaller scale. She sighed. “I think you’re right.” It had been Charles’s job she’d done for him, the man her family had selected and groomed to marry her. The man they’d made president of the Haley Group, despite his having no real ties to her family other than the assumption that he would eventually marry Grace. “I still should have checked with you first.”
“Hey.” He trapped her hands on the table with one hand and grabbed her chin with the other, forcing her to face him. “When I want an employee who can’t think for herself and comes running to me with problems she ought to handle on her own, I’ll tell you. Got it?” His hand on her chin moved her head up and down in a nod of agreement. “You’ve been terrific. Got that?” He made her nod again and then moved to release her.
Grace was still blushing with pleasure at his compliments to her. She’d always made sure to let the staff of her restaurants know when they were doing an especially good job, but she hadn’t realized how much she missed having someone do the same for her.
It’s only human to want someone to praise you for a job well done. I just haven’t had anyone around me who bothered to notice, except Grandmother, and once she became too ill…
In the middle of these thoughts, she noticed the silence of the room and then the focus of Tyler’s attention on her. Her chin was still cradled in his palm and his face was only inches away from hers. The awareness she had of his mouth was overwhelming.
“My mother told me to stay away from you,” he murmured, tracing his gaze over her face like a caress and brushing a hand over the top of her head. When she didn’t protest as he pulled the first pin from her hair, he tugged them all out, one by one, until the weight of her hair spilled down around her shoulders. He ran his fingers through the waves to loosen them, and flexed his fingers gently against her scalp. “She said you didn’t want to kiss me again.”
“She’s right,” Grace said, even as she leaned in closer to him, narrowing the gap, her eyes drifting shut. “I don’t.” And it turned out that the last step was so easy, she couldn’t remember why she’d been afraid of it. “I just can’t seem to remember why.”
His mouth was soft against hers, his lips gently welcoming her, coaxing her mouth gradually open until his tongue found hers and teased. A gentle dance of seduction that felt as calm and safe as the comfort of home.
Why his kisses should feel like home to her was a question she was beyond asking at this point. But she didn’t fight it when she felt herself relaxing beneath his touch, the tension magically draining from her neck and shoulders as his fingers stroked her there. When she sighed on an arch of pleasure beneath his mouth, she didn’t care that he could hear how much he affected her.
Her soft,
Good Lord, she berated herself, if this is the best you can do pretending to be a waitress, you might as well quit now. Why don’t you just come out and tell him you’re a world-class restaurateur in charge of the Haley Group?
Her guilty thoughts must have communicated themselves to him. The next words out of his mouth were the ones she cringed to hear.
“No way were you just a waitress at your last job, Gracie.”
“But, really, I was,” she started to protest.
“I bet you were running the place, without getting paid an extra dime to do it, and someone else was taking all the credit.”
As explanations went, she reflected, that was actually fairly close to the truth, albeit on a much smaller scale. She sighed. “I think you’re right.” It had been Charles’s job she’d done for him, the man her family had selected and groomed to marry her. The man they’d made president of the Haley Group, despite his having no real ties to her family other than the assumption that he would eventually marry Grace. “I still should have checked with you first.”
“Hey.” He trapped her hands on the table with one hand and grabbed her chin with the other, forcing her to face him. “When I want an employee who can’t think for herself and comes running to me with problems she ought to handle on her own, I’ll tell you. Got it?” His hand on her chin moved her head up and down in a nod of agreement. “You’ve been terrific. Got that?” He made her nod again and then moved to release her.
Grace was still blushing with pleasure at his compliments to her. She’d always made sure to let the staff of her restaurants know when they were doing an especially good job, but she hadn’t realized how much she missed having someone do the same for her.
It’s only human to want someone to praise you for a job well done. I just haven’t had anyone around me who bothered to notice, except Grandmother, and once she became too ill…
In the middle of these thoughts, she noticed the silence of the room and then the focus of Tyler’s attention on her. Her chin was still cradled in his palm and his face was only inches away from hers. The awareness she had of his mouth was overwhelming.
“My mother told me to stay away from you,” he murmured, tracing his gaze over her face like a caress and brushing a hand over the top of her head. When she didn’t protest as he pulled the first pin from her hair, he tugged them all out, one by one, until the weight of her hair spilled down around her shoulders. He ran his fingers through the waves to loosen them, and flexed his fingers gently against her scalp. “She said you didn’t want to kiss me again.”
“She’s right,” Grace said, even as she leaned in closer to him, narrowing the gap, her eyes drifting shut. “I don’t.” And it turned out that the last step was so easy, she couldn’t remember why she’d been afraid of it. “I just can’t seem to remember why.”
His mouth was soft against hers, his lips gently welcoming her, coaxing her mouth gradually open until his tongue found hers and teased. A gentle dance of seduction that felt as calm and safe as the comfort of home.
Why his kisses should feel like home to her was a question she was beyond asking at this point. But she didn’t fight it when she felt herself relaxing beneath his touch, the tension magically draining from her neck and shoulders as his fingers stroked her there. When she sighed on an arch of pleasure beneath his mouth, she didn’t care that he could hear how much he affected her.
Her soft,
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