Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“Excellent. And for you, Mademoiselle?”
“Oh. I’d like, um, the French onion soup to start.”
“Excellent choice, Mademoiselle. I will bring the wine and get your appetizers in.”
“Thank you, Davide,” I say. As soon as he leaves, I look at Addy. “I hope Burgundy is okay?”
“Oh, yes, it’s great.”
“Good. And Davide was right, you’ll love the French onion soup. The melted cheese on top is delicious, and it’s a huge, thick layer of goodness. Not the tiny thin portion other places dole out.”
“I’m glad. I’m really hungry right now, so lots of cheese sounds perfect.”
I smile at her.
“I’m just grateful you ordered food.”
Addy furrows her brow. “What do you mean?”
“I’m used to women who barely eat anything. They’ll order a salad and a water and then just push it around their plate, so the French onion soup is quite a departure.”
Addy blushes once gain. “Oh. Well, thank you. I like food too much not to eat, and I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to have my favorite. I’ve loved French onion soup since I was a kid,” she confesses. “Although yes, it has a lot of calories since there’s bread in it too.”
She looks self-consciously at her body. Does Addy feel that she eats too much? I hope not because her body is fantastic and my fingers itch even now, wanting to stroke those curves.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Addy,” I say in a low growl.
She looks up at me quickly, her cheeks flushed.
“Thank you, Mr. Steele. I mean, Marcus. I mean, you’re a handsome man too. Not a beautiful woman.”
I laugh at her stumbling words. She’s adorable.
“Thank you.”
I’d continue to compliment her, but she’s obviously a bit nervous at the moment, so I go easy.
“How are you feeling about the promotion?” I ask, turning the conversation to business matters. Addy smiles shyly.
“I feel wonderful, thank you. I’m grateful that you thought of me for this position. It’s a big step for sure, but I’m excited to get started.”
“Are you nervous about Monday? I know it’ll be your first official day then.”
She takes a deep breath and nods.
“Yes and no because in some ways, I’ve prepared for it, but in other ways, I’m not prepared at all. You see, I’ve been peers with the design team for so long, but now I’m their boss. Plus, Marissa set high standards for the lines House of Steele puts out, so I hope I can fill her shoes.”
I nod.
“You’re going to do great. If you think about it, you’ve been doing so much management for the design team already. I think you’ll find it’s a natural transition.”
She nods and bites her lip again, making it rosy.
“I hope so. The design team has been nothing but supportive, so I think they’ll make it easy for me. It helps that I know them and that I’ve had plenty of interaction with them over the last few years.”
I smile.
“Exactly. You’re a natural born leader. I’ve seen you work with them, and the staff treats you with respect. It was part of the reason for your promotion.”
Addy’s jaw drops. “You’ve been watching me? I thought you only focused on operations? I didn’t think you paid any attention to the design team.”
I smile ruefully.
“Sort of. Marissa was nominally in charge of you guys, but the fact is that our marriage has been on the rocks for a while now. It’s part of the reason why she began to delegate more and more to you. Even though we only made the announcement last week, she’s been pulling back from the business for almost an entire year. As a result, I was trying to fill that gap, albeit subtly.”
Addy gasps.
“You’ve been separated for a year?”
I think for a moment.
“Longer than that, to be honest. We were married straight out of design school, but she moved out of our shared apartment … I don’t know, maybe two years ago? Like I said, our marriage has been on the rocks for a long time now.”
Addy blushes.
“I had no idea,” she murmurs. “You guys were always so professional at work.”
I nod.
“Yes, we tried to be. We didn’t want the House of Steele to suffer because we were no longer interested in one another personally. Our business is our baby, and just because we’re getting divorced doesn’t mean our child should suffer.”
Addy nods, her eyes still wide.
“Yes, of course.”
At that moment, the waiter shows up with our bottle of wine. He pours me a test, and I sip it slowly. It’s excellent.
“That’s great, thanks.”
“I’m glad you like it, sir.”
The waiter pours us each a glass and leaves the bottle in a bucket of ice on our table.
“To us,” I remark. “To a fabulous partnership.”
She blushes.
“To us,” she repeats in a small voice. I grin, loving how my double entendres get under her skin. She’s going to be wonderful to toy with. We clink glasses, and then take small sips of the wine.