Uncrossing his arms, he lowered them and grasped the edge of the desk, as he continued to recline back on it. "So let's get down to it. We've established that you can't cook...""Well, I... Ummmm," she shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm willing to learn."Laughing, Roth nodded. "Fair enough. I'm willing to give you a little grace period to get up to speed. What I'm in need of is a live-in cook and housekeeper.""Live here?" She blue eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped in disbelief. He couldn't be serious. In this house? With him?Cocking his head to the side Roth arched a brow at her, amused. "Well, that would be what the term live-in implies. You'd be paid well. Your pay will increase when your culinary skills improve. We can heckle about the pay later. In addition, you'll receive room and board. I'm assuming when you said the extent of your cooking skills stopped at..." he chuckled and cleared his throat, "mac and cheese you weren't understating."Embarrassed, Ruby sho
She was a cheeky little thing. And Roth liked it, perhaps too much. He'd asked himself a number of times during the course of the day if offering her a job and having her live with him was such a good idea. While he'd led her to believe that the previous housekeeper had lived at the house, that hadn't actually been the case. Aside him and Tristan, Ruby was the first employee that he'd opened his home to. It was partially because of her apparent financial issues, but mostly because there was something about her that had him captivated. And if he were to be brutally honest with himself, the house felt too big for him, since Tristan had decided to become invisible, he could not help but smile when he introduced ruby to Tristan, Roth could picture the surprise look on his best friends face knowing a woman would be living with them for the first time since ten years. One thing Roth had in mind was that, he wanted the companionship of a woman without necessarily the relationship.One of t
The tour of the house went by as one big blur. Ruby's mind was focused on the hundreds of complicated recipes. From the glance she'd taken she didn't even recognize some of the ingredients. How in the hell was she going to pull this off? That was some crazy assed “Chef Ramsey” shit he was expecting from her by the looks of it. What if she took the job and couldn't make it work and he let her go? She supposed she could go crawling back to the coffee house, begging for her old job.The other thing that was keeping her mind from focusing was his general closeness. They had always had the counter at the coffee shop dividing them, but now he was next to her. Throughout the tour Roth would touch her shoulder lightly or place his palm at the small of her back, or take her hand to catch her attention; with each slight contact she was put more on edge as her desire for him rose. Should potential employers be holding potential employees hands? If even briefly. She didn't think so. But she liked
But... this was a negotiation and wasn't the opening offer supposed to be close to twice what you'd really take? Shit, she didn't know. Looking back up at him, her blue eyes locked to his dark ones and without thinking she requested twice as much as she made at the coffee shop.He whistled, his expression remaining blank. "Have you really thought that offer through?"Shit! It was too much. Damn, damn, damn. Maybe this wasn't meant to be. She groaned inwardly at herself, as a worried expression crossed her face.As if sensing her distress, he touched her arm. "I mean, have you really thought through what the job entails. You're on call 24/7. If I want you to get up at 3am to make me a pop tart, then I expect it to be done. If I have a hankering for something that you have to drive across town for at the most inconvenient time, I expect it to be done."Her frown deepened. She hadn't thought about it in that sense. "In that case, double my last offer."Turning to face her, he nodded. "Do
“Name,” he stated, a deep accent lacing the singular, blunt word.Clara cleared her throat and wiped her sweaty palms on her grey pencil skirt. “Hello,” she said, “My name is Clara Serim” she smiled nervously at the authority figure seated on a large leather chair behind a dark, polished marble desk so large it almost took up the entire length of the office.Roth didn’t glance in her direction as she walked forward and placed her resume on his desk with shaky hands.“Take a seat,” he muttered, still staring intently at his computer screen.Clara nodded, even though she knew he wasn’t going to be paying attention to the gesture. “Thank you.” she took a seat in one of the navy coloured leather chairs that were placed in front of his desk, and gripped the arm of the chair with such force that she watched her knuckles turn white.A few silent moments passed before his dark eyes flickered in her direction briefly, and then doing a double take.Clara eyes widen slightly and she swallowed f
Clara gasped and jumped in his hold, before pulling away in frustration. “Excuse me, Mr. Dimitri. I am here solely to achieve my goal of getting this job. I don’t know what you’re trying to do – and quite frankly, I don’t like it either. You’re rude and disrespectful. Now, if you don’t want to look over my credentials and qualifications,” I snatched the resume that I had spent hours putting together off his desk, “Then my business here is done. Thank you for your time.”She glared and turned to leave but then remembered something else she wanted to say. Clara stopped in her tracks and turned back to face him. “Oh, and you want to know what I think of you now? I think you’re a spoiled little rich sleaze who thinks he can have everyone he encounters, eating out of the palm of his hand.”She slung her bag over her shoulder and stormed out of the office without glancing back.Roth threw his head back and laughed, this woman was surely his type, mouthy and sassy, he loved the fire he had s
The 5 girls who were frozen with shock, but the red haired girl recovered quickly. “But Rothdam, surely we’re more qualified-”“I have personally looked over Ms. Serim qualifications and found her to be the perfect candidate. This discussion is over. Have a nice day.” His dismissed them coolly, before Clara felt his warm breath on her neck. “Come into my office once they leave so I can brief you on your role as my assistantistant.” Clara nodded stiffly, conscious of the close proximity between their bodies.“Don’t worry, I won’t try anything,” Roth chuckled softly. “Even though I want to.”He pulled away and Clara turned to catch his smirk just before it slipped off his face and he turned to leave.She turned back to the girls – who were looking at her as if they were measuring what coffin would fit her best – and gave them a small smile. “Thank you for your time,” Clara repeated, stepping aside as an indication for them to leave.“This isn’t over, you obese pig,” The red head sneere
"Look forward to tasting what you have to offer me?" Ruby muttered, biting back a grin and halfway hoping there was a double meaning to that comment. A surprise for me? Excitement welled up within her as she made her way over to the large walk-in closet. Pulling open the double doors she gasped, her eyes immediately focusing on the black, strapless floor length gown, hooked on a steel rack in the center of the closet, along with a matching satin wrap. "You have got to be shitting me," she muttered as she walked into closet and tentatively touched the soft fabric. The tag inside was marked Versace.She unhooked the dress and draped it over her arms as if it were made of tissue paper and strode over to the bed, laying it out on top of the taupe coloured comforter. The dress would have easily have cost her a months salary at the coffee shop, most likely much more. She had no idea when it came to prices of high-end clothing. As high-end as she ever got was "The Gap."Upon closer examinati