When I’m with You (Because You Are Mine #2)(24)
Author: Beth Kery

“I chose the best qualified candidate.”

She gave him a dry glance. “I wasn’t going to fall into bed with any male chef that you hired.”

He gave a small grin. She stilled at the appearance of the twin dimples, the flash of white teeth. “What about Mario?”

“What about him?” Elise asked, crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

“Wasn’t that where things were headed on that night I caught you two here?”

“No. I had no intention of sleeping with Mario.”

“What, precisely, were you doing here with him then?”

“He was going to supervise my training. When he asked me to dinner, I didn’t really feel I had the option of saying no. I didn’t know he was planning on trying to get me into bed.”

He gave her a weary glance and walked toward his desk. “Right. That dress you were wearing screamed a practical day at the office. I hired the best candidate for the job, but I’m not at all unhappy that she’s a female, the truth be told. I know the effect you have on men. They lose about forty points off their IQ in your vicinity. No need to light the fuse if it can be avoided.”

“I resent your constant allegations that I’m promiscuous.”

“That’s funny,” he said, unconcerned by her offended act. He lowered to the chair behind his desk. “Because I resented learning about your constant displays of promiscuity. I even witnessed them a time or two.”

She stilled. “What do you mean?” she asked slowly, not sure she actually wanted an answer.

“Half of Europe saw that photo of you dancing nude on top of a cocktail table at the engagement party for the son of the archduke of Luxembourg,” he said dryly.

“I was wearing a thong,” she defended, chin up. Lucien’s sharp, annoyed glance made her wilt on the inside, however.

“And how about the night I came upon you in a secluded alcove at the Opéra de Paris? You were busy demonstrating what was apparently your enthusiastic, deep affection for a married, middle-aged politician. I believe you were nineteen at the time. Do you recall?”

“I . . . you . . . wait.” Her heart squeezed tight and seemed to stop in her chest. “Was that you who interrupted when I was with Hugh Langier?”

His sarcastic expression was her answer.

Enthusiastic, deep affection.

Oh no. She shut her eyes, but Lucien’s stare continued to score her. She hadn’t seen who had walked in on her tryst with Langier; she only knew someone had. Knowing that someone was Lucien made her feel light-headed with shame. How could she have been so impulsive—so stupid—at times?

No. She wouldn’t think of it. She wasn’t that person anymore.

“I doubt you’d like what I did to your paramour when he came into Renygat two nights later,” Lucien muttered. “Slimy sod.”

“He wasn’t my paramour,” she bit out, but then she fully absorbed what he’d said. “Did you hit him or something?” Lucien gave her a bland glance. “You got in a fight with a senator?”

Over me?

He didn’t comment further, but she saw the way his nostrils flared, a sure sign he was subduing his anger. What he’d referred to had occurred during the height of her careless self-indulgence. There’d been a time when she found life meaningless, when everything had been a joke. Her only concern was to have as much fun as she could, and damn the consequences. Acquaintances in Paris—not to mention her parents—had looked the other way during her wildest, most desperate, period.

Wasn’t it better that Lucien was angry versus uncaring?

“I know you believe in me, Lucien. Even if only a little bit. I know you’re not so callous as you behave. I wish you’d quit putting on the act,” she said, plucking up her façade of confidence.

“What do you mean?”

“Ms. Riordan told me that you specified that her job was provisional upon her taking me on as a stage.”

A silence stretched between them. She’d been stunned and pleased when Ms. Riordan had revealed that morsel of information during their discussion.

“And I told you, if you are to live in this city, I’d just as soon have you nearby where I can monitor you. Speaking of which,” he said, talking over the disgusted sound she made. She knew very well he’d just sidestepped her revelation that he’d done something kind for her. “I’d like to escort you tomorrow evening to Ian and Francesca’s party.”

Her heart leapt. Denise Riordan had been hired. Francesca was no longer his employee. Lucien would feel freer now to act on his proposed relationship. A thought struck her, deflating her ballooning excitement like a dead-on torpedo.

“You want to supervise me, don’t you? I told you I wasn’t going to tell anyone that I know you from before. Don’t you trust me?”

“Let’s just say that I’d rather be in close watching distance so that I know where I stand.”

“You don’t, in other words.”

“Trust is something that has to be earned, Elise,” he said quietly. “And don’t play the martyr. I know that you don’t trust me completely, either. Not yet, you don’t.”

His intensity took her by surprise. She absorbed what he’d said, feeling unsteady.

“Where shall I pick you up?” he asked after a moment, his quick topic change only increasing her sense of being off balance. “At the address you put down on your application?”

“No.”

She realized how abrupt she’d sounded. The last thing she wanted was for Lucien to see the rundown extended-stay hotel where she was living. It would only affirm his belief that she was scatter-brained and impulsive. She did some quick thinking when she noticed his narrowed gaze on her. “Can we meet here? In front of the Noble Tower building?”

His handsome face settled into an unreadable mask. “Of course, if you prefer it. Seven thirty?”

“That will be fine,” she said, starting to back out of the office. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Elise?” he asked sharply when her hand was on the door.

“Yes?”

“Your employment with me has ended now that I’ve hired Denise.”

She held her breath.

“Just remember. My rules,” he reminded significantly. “Denise being here means your salary will stop as well. You do have adequate funds to live here in the city, correct?”

“Of course. Didn’t you tell me that Papa would never see me starve?”