Read Online Bachelor's Special by Christine Warner - Free Book Online Page B

arc.
    “Okay, I have the culinary skills, but the school in New York didn’t go over table manners and etiquette unless you were serving.”
    “Don’t tell me I’ve discovered something where the infallible Jill Adgate lacks confidence?”
    Damn, either the temperature in the kitchen had increased times ten, or the attraction level she kept trying to squash had jumped into the triple digits.
    “I admit nothing.”
    “Jill, we’re all average people.”
    “Not from where I’m standing.”
    “You have no problem holding a conversation.”
    Yeah, only when it’s between two, as in me and you . Instead she said, “Only about mundane issues. Nothing scientific like what you’ll be discussing with a room full of radiologists or whatever they are.”
    He laughed. “Hate to disappoint you, but we probably won’t discuss business until after dinner. Over coffee on the back deck. Dinner talk usually is mundane issues.” He winked, then rubbed his temples in deliberate circles, eyelids growing heavy as if in a trance. “And according to my psychic abilities, I think talk will turn to your delicious foods.”
    When he mentioned psychic, he opened his eyes and they shared another secret smile. Her belly spun. She’d get addicted to those bonding smiles if she didn’t watch herself.
    Living with someone created a whole new sense of intimacy she hadn’t expected. Part of her liked it, and the other part feared it. Getting caught up in unrealistic thoughts about getting down and dirty with Chet—her boss—wouldn’t do.
    “How did you end up schooling in New York? We have some great culinary schools right here in Michigan.” He stood before the side door, adjusting his tie in the panes of glass that acted as a faux mirror.
    “Scholarship. I went where the money was being given.” She busied herself by grabbing an oven mitt so she wasn’t spellbound by watching his hands—his strong, capable hands—work the material of his collar around his tie. She opened the broiler.
    “Hmmm, we have a lot in common.”
    “Yeah, how’s that?”
    “I made my school choice based on the same reason.”
    Her task of turning the roasted vegetables in the broiler ceased. “You needed a scholarship?” How could someone this rich need a scholarship? Better yet, how’d they qualify to receive one? She closed the broiler and turned to face him.
    “I worked my way through college, applied for every scholarship I could, won some, lost others.”
    “You mean you didn’t…” It’s not like she could ask him if he’d always been filthy, stinking rich. Could she? Yes, she was blunt, but that seemed to cross the line.
    “—always have money?”
    Okay, now he finished her sentences. So not good. “I just assumed.” At least it explained his earlier remark about the cars he’d driven in college.
    “You know what they say about assuming.”
    She laughed, outright. Great, now he could put her at ease and make her laugh. Except when he was being sexy—which seemed to be the norm—her comfort level around him was something she’d never felt with anyone else. Well, she was at ease with Mel and her family. But Chet was a stranger, or at least he used to be up until a few days ago.
    “My family owns Castle Engineering, started by my great-grandfather. When my dad inherited the company, it was fighting to stay afloat because he’d allowed a couple of partners into the fold. By the time I took control it was on the verge of closing.”
    “You’re kidding?”
    “No. Those two partners cared more about investing in bad business deals with Castle’s capital than moving our company into the twenty-first century. I bought them out and brought the business back to life. It’s now bigger than ever.”
    She’d known he’d brought the business back into the black, but she hadn’t realized they’d been so far in the red that they were on the verge of closing.
    “I Googled Castle Engineering. The man, the business, and the