Chapter 4 The Chocolate Incident

Posy Marin had a serious problem.

Her boss was handsome, he worked at unreasonable hours, and he had recently developed the habit of giving her chocolate as if he had personally been assigned to make her life difficult.

The worst part was that he seemed perfectly aware of what he was doing.

She was still thinking about the little tin of truffles he had given her the previous evening when she stepped out of the elevator on the thirty-first floor. She had eaten two of them on the way home, saved one for breakfast, and spent an embarrassing amount of time admiring the pink ribbon before putting it in her bedside drawer.

It was just chocolate.

Lovely, expensive chocolate, wrapped in a pretty ribbon by a man who looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel.

But still, chocolate.

“Good evening, Posy.”

She nearly dropped her handbag.

Rafe Fitzgerald stood beside the reception desk, dressed in a dark shirt with the sleeves folded neatly to his forearms. He was looking at her with the kind of calm amusement that suggested he had witnessed her little struggle with the handbag and found it entertaining.

“Good evening,” she managed. “You startled me.”

“I'm sorry. Should I announce myself whenever you enter a room?”

“That would be helpful, actually. Perhaps a small bell around your neck?”

His mouth curved.

“A bell? How charming. And here I was thinking you might prefer something more expensive.”

Posy blinked. “Why would I want you to wear an expensive bell?”

“So you could hear me coming.”

She stared at him for a moment before realising what he meant.

“Oh.”

Rafe's smile grew just a little.

“Have a lovely evening, Miss Marin.”

He walked away before she could think of a suitable response.

Posy watched him go, pressed her lips together, and silently informed herself that she was a perfectly sensible young woman who would not spend her entire shift thinking about one conversation.

She lasted approximately twelve seconds.

Evelyn had barely finished explaining the evening's schedule when she handed Posy a folder marked NEW PRODUCT REVIEW.

“Marketing has arranged a tasting session for the new strawberry collection,” she explained. “The samples arrived this afternoon, but Mr. Fitzgerald wants the feedback forms organised before tomorrow's meeting. He asked if you could help.”

Posy's attention sharpened immediately.

“Strawberry chocolate?”

“Several varieties. Strawberry cream, dark chocolate with strawberry filling, and a new one with a little sea salt.”

Posy hugged the folder to her chest.

“Evelyn, I think I'm going to love this assignment.”

“I thought you might say that.”

“Does helping with the tasting mean I have to taste everything?”

“It means you need to record the feedback accurately.”

“Of course.” Posy nodded solemnly. “I'm a professional. I can be trusted with a room full of chocolate.”

Evelyn gave her a doubtful look.

Posy lowered the folder.

“Mostly.”

The tasting room was on the same floor, just beyond the executive meeting rooms. When Posy entered, she found several elegant trays arranged across a long table, each holding rows of glossy chocolates. Tiny cards displayed the names of the flavours, and a stack of feedback sheets sat beside a silver pen.

Rafe was already there.

Of course he was.

He stood at the far end of the table, speaking quietly with the head of product development. When he noticed Posy, he excused himself and came over.

“You look pleased,” he observed.

“I've been given a very important responsibility.”

“Have you?”

“An extremely important one. The future of Moonberry's strawberry collection may depend on my opinion.”

“Then I suppose we should all be worried.”

She gasped, placing a hand over her heart. “You have no faith in me.”

“On the contrary. I have a great deal of faith in you.” His gaze settled on her face. “I'm simply wondering whether the chocolates will survive long enough for you to evaluate them.”

Posy's cheeks warmed.

“I can be professional!”

“I know.” His voice softened. “That's one of the things I like about you.”

The words landed with such unexpected gentleness that she forgot what she had been about to say.

Rafe looked entirely untroubled.

Posy, meanwhile, was desperately trying to remember how to stand like a normal person.

“Thank you,” she said at last, adjusting the folder in her arms. “I'll do my best.”

“I have no doubt.”

He stepped aside to let her approach the table, and she hurried past him before he could notice how pink her face had become.

Unfortunately, she was beginning to suspect that noticing her blushes was one of his favourite hobbies.

The tasting session began pleasantly enough.

Posy took her duties seriously, writing down the texture, sweetness, and aftertaste of each sample. She even managed to stop herself from eating the second strawberry cream chocolate until she had finished recording her notes on the first.

Her favourite was a dark chocolate shell with a soft strawberry centre. It tasted like summer afternoons and expensive desserts, and she wrote three enthusiastic lines about it before realising Rafe had come to stand beside her.

“May I see your notes?”

She handed him the sheet.

He read it carefully. “You have described this one as ‘a little bite of happiness.’”

“It is.”

“Is that the official technical terminology?”

“Absolutely. Very advanced. Not everyone can understand it.”

“I see.” He glanced at her. “And what does a little bite of happiness cost the company to manufacture?”

Posy laughed before she could stop herself.

“I don't know! That's your department.”

“Then I'll leave the technical terminology to you.”

He returned the sheet, and their fingers brushed.

It was barely a touch. Nothing at all, really.

Yet Posy suddenly became very interested in the arrangement of chocolates on the table.

Rafe leaned a little closer to examine the next tray.

“Which one is your favourite so far?”

She pointed to the dark chocolate with the strawberry centre. “That one. It's sweet, but not too sweet. And the strawberry doesn't taste artificial.”

“Good choice.”

“You haven't even tried it.”

“Perhaps I trust your judgement.”

Posy looked up at him.

There was no teasing smile this time, no clever remark waiting behind his words. He was simply looking at her as though her opinion mattered to him.

Her heart gave a ridiculous little flutter.

“You can't just say things like that,” she murmured.

One of his eyebrows lifted. “What things?”

“Nice things. Without warning.”

“Would you prefer a formal notice?”

She covered her face with the feedback sheet.

“Mr. Fitzgerald!”

His quiet laugh was warm enough to make her peek over the paper.

“Rafe,” he corrected gently. “We're not in a meeting.”

That did not help her blush at all.

In fact, it made matters considerably worse.

“Right,” she whispered. “Rafe.”

He looked pleased, though he was kind enough not to point it out.

For the next few minutes, he let her work without further teasing. Posy gradually recovered enough to discuss the flavours, and he listened with genuine attention, asking questions that made her feel less like an intern and more like someone whose ideas belonged in the room.

It was lovely.

Almost suspiciously lovely.

Then she noticed the change.

Rafe had reached for one of the chocolates, a small dark piece filled with strawberry cream. He paused before eating it. His fingers tightened slightly around the sample, and his expression became strangely distant.

“Is something wrong?” Posy asked.

He set the chocolate down.

“No.”

“You look like you've just discovered that someone put raisins in your favourite dessert.”

His gaze returned to her.

“That's a very specific accusation.”

“I'm a very specific person.”

“I've noticed.”

She smiled, but the smile faded when he took a step away from the table.

For a moment, he seemed to be concentrating on something she couldn't see. His shoulders stiffened, and his eyes moved towards the door.

“Rafe?”

He looked at her again, and whatever she had noticed was gone behind his usual composure.

“I need a little air. Please finish the review with Evelyn.”

“Oh. All right.”

He was already walking towards the door when she spoke again.

“Are you sure you're feeling okay?”

He stopped.

The question seemed to catch him off guard more than it should have.

“I'm perfectly fine, Posy.”

“Okay.” She gave him a small, reassuring smile. “But if you're not, you can tell someone. You know that, don't you?”

For a brief moment, he simply watched her.

Then his expression softened.

“I know. Thank you.”

He left before she could ask anything else.

Posy stared at the closed door, a little worried and more than a little confused.

She had no idea what had happened. Perhaps he had a headache. Perhaps he hadn't eaten dinner. Perhaps being the head of a chocolate company meant that even chocolate could become stressful after a while.

She made a mental note to ask Evelyn whether he was all right.

And then she returned to her feedback sheets, because worrying about her boss was one thing. Falling behind on her assignment was another.

Rafe did not return for nearly twenty minutes.

By the time he came back, Posy had finished the tasting notes and was carefully sorting the forms into a folder. She looked up when he entered, then immediately looked back down, pretending she hadn't been waiting to see whether he seemed better.

He noticed anyway.

“Have you finished?”

“Yes. I've organised the feedback by flavour and added a short summary of the strongest responses. I also marked two comments that might be useful for the packaging team.”

He accepted the folder and skimmed the first page.

“This is thorough work.”

“Thank you.”

“And you didn't eat all the samples.”

Posy stared at him.

“I knew you were going to bring that up again.”

“It's an impressive achievement. I thought it deserved recognition.”

She tried to look offended, but her smile betrayed her.

“I ate the approved samples. That's completely different.”

“Of course.”

“And I would like it recorded that I showed extraordinary restraint.”

“I'll have a certificate prepared.”

“Make it pink.”

“Naturally.”

She laughed, and the sound seemed to ease something in him. His shoulders relaxed, and he looked at her with a gentleness that made her suddenly shy again.

Then he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and brought out a small, individually wrapped chocolate.

Posy stared at it.

“Is that for me?”

“I thought you might appreciate a reward for your extraordinary restraint.”

She accepted it carefully, trying not to look as delighted as she felt.

“You really shouldn't encourage me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I'll start expecting chocolate every time I finish my work.”

“Then I suppose you'll have to keep finishing your work.”

She looked up at him, caught between laughing and blushing.

“You're impossible.”

“So I've been told.”

He held her gaze for another moment before turning towards his desk.

Posy remained beside the table, holding the chocolate in both hands.

It was such a small thing. A single chocolate, wrapped in dark red foil. It wasn't a grand romantic gesture, and it certainly wasn't a declaration of anything.

Still, he had remembered that she liked strawberry chocolate.

He had noticed her work.

He had brought her something simply because he thought it would make her happy.

And somehow, that was much more dangerous to her composure than any expensive gift could have been.

She slipped the chocolate into her handbag to save for the journey home.

Then she followed him back to the office, determined to behave like a perfectly ordinary employee.

She made it all the way to her desk before he called her name.

“Posy?”

She turned so quickly that the ribbon in her hair swung over her shoulder.

“Yes?”

Rafe glanced at the open folder beside her keyboard.

“You've left your pen in the tasting room.”

“Oh! Thank you. I'll go and get it.”

“You can collect it tomorrow. I've already asked someone to bring it up.”

She blinked. “You noticed my pen?”

“You left it beside the strawberry samples.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know.”

His mouth curved into that maddeningly calm smile.

“Good night, Posy. Don't stay too late.”

She stood there for a second, trying to decide whether she had just been teased or cared for.

Possibly both.

“Good night,” she said, managing a small smile of her own. “And please don't forget to eat something.”

His expression changed, softening around the edges.

“I'll try.”

“Promise?”

He regarded her with quiet amusement. “You're very persistent for someone who was entrusted with a box of chocolates only an hour ago.”

“It's a gift. You can't take it back.”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

Posy finally escaped to her desk, cheeks warm and heart doing something entirely unprofessional.

Across the room, Rafe watched her settle into her chair before lowering his gaze to the folder in his hands.

The strange restlessness that had seized him in the tasting room had not entirely disappeared. He still couldn't explain why it had eased when Posy spoke to him, or why the simple sweetness of her concern had steadied him more effectively than anything else he had tried.

That was a problem he would have to solve privately.

For now, he allowed himself one small indulgence.

He glanced towards Posy's desk, where she was carefully arranging her papers, and smiled.

She had no idea how charming she was.

And judging by the way she blushed whenever he complimented her, perhaps it was better that way.

For the moment, at least.