Catering to the CEO Read online

  “You should be. I guess I never put much thought in to where you worked, just how it all looked once it arrived.” Looking around the kitchen he noticed two doors in the back corner; one clearly led to the outside and the other into an alcove. Cassie saw where he was looking.

  “We load everything out the back door. I have our truck back there in a small parking lot. There’s also a storage shed back there for extra tables, chairs and whatnot. The other door leads to my apartment upstairs.”

  “You live here?”

  His tone put her back up; he sounded a bit appalled at the prospect. “I don’t live here in the kitchen, Adam. My apartment is completely separate and soundproofed and it makes things easier for me when we have to pull a late night.”

  “I can drive the truck back here, have the staff help me unload and merely walk up the stairs and be done with the day. Don’t tell me you don’t have something similar in your building because I happen to know for a fact that you do.”

  “True enough but this is such a…a commercial space. I spend the occasional night at the office when I’m dealing with over seas accounts but I wouldn’t want to live there full time.”

  “Well,” she replied tartly, “lucky for you that you have the kind of income that you can afford both. Most of us in the real world only have one place of residence.” She scooped up the bag with the dessert in it and walked past him when Adam reached out and gently touched her arm to stop her.

  “Okay, okay, truce. I was out of line,” he said wearily. He had no idea why he had to explain himself to this woman but clearly it would make things easier when they got back to the house if they were playing nice. “Look, things got out of hand today at the office.”

  “You think?” She liked the fact that her tone had him arching an eyebrow at her.

  “Yes, I think,” he said with equal sarcasm. “The thing is, you were right.” Dammit. “If the tables were turned I would not break the terms of my contract for any client and that was what I was expecting you to do.”

  Cassie stood in stunned silence unsure of finding her voice.

  “Your company has done nothing but a good job for mine, Cassandra, and I respect you as a business associate. I think that you are a fine cook; nothing that you’ve ever made for any of my events has disappointed and I would very much like it if you would continue on with the Fall Retreat plan and just maybe…forget what happened earlier today.”

  Adam stood and waited…patiently, for Cassie to say something. He became quickly irritated when she, like earlier, did not immediately respond. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to speak when…

  “Alright, Adam, I’ll continue on with this project.” He released the breath. “But there are some things that need to be said if we’re going to move forward and work together again beyond this event.”

  When he nodded, she continued. “For starters, I can’t speak for your staff but I can tell you that I, personally, do not appreciate being spoken to like I’m an idiot.”

  “I’ve never…”

  She held up a hand to silence him. “You do. All the time. To everyone. As you can see here, I own my own business and I know how to run it. I’m not operating out of the back of a van so clearly I know what I am doing. I would trust you if I hired you for some sort of security thing because that’s what you do for a living. As an act of simple common courtesy, I expect you to trust me when it comes to event planning and catering because this is what I do for a living.”

  “Now just a minute…”

  “I’m not done!” she snapped, pleased to see his mouth snap shut. “I am damn good at what I do, Adam, you’ve said so yourself. I appreciate you wanting to give your input, I honestly do, but I expect it to be given in a respectful tone; I’m a grown woman not a child.”

  She stood tall and crossed her arms over her chest and heaved a sigh of completion. “Now, do you have something to say?”

  Oh, man, did he! Adam’s first instinct was to blast her for speaking to him that way and then reigned himself in. Clearly that would not be the way to go and he had a feeling if he thought that dinner was awkward, dessert would be just plain painful. Mentally counting to ten, he leaned on the island in front of her. “I did not realize that the way I spoke was so offensive; no one’s ever said anything to me before about it.”

  “That’s because you would fire them,” she said blandly.

  He gave her a look that showed that she was grating on his patience. “I was not allowed to interrupt you; I’d expect the same courtesy.” Throwing her own words back at her, Cassie merely nodded and let him go on. “In my line of work, in my position, that is the way that it’s done. I demand perfection from the people around me because it is my reputation on the line, not theirs. I realize that while you are not a full-time employee of mine that maybe I can be just as demanding on you. For that, I apologize.”

  Cassie nearly fell where she stood.

  “I would like for us to continue to work together, Cassandra, and maybe now that we’ve talked this through and know where we’re each coming from, we can do so with no hard feelings.” Adam held out his hand to seal the deal and watched as Cassie eyed him warily. Mentally he was kicking himself for having to apologize because it was beneath him. She was his employee and there was no way that he would have given in and admitted to being wrong if he didn’t need her to finish this damn event.

  When Cassie finally reached out her hand to his and shook, Adam was temporarily stunned. There was a jolt that had never been there before. He looked at her and saw that she felt it too as she snatched her hand quickly back. “Thank you, Adam.”

  “I’m looking forward to this event and I know that it will be perfect just as we discussed.” Adam scooped up the bag with the dessert and followed Cassie out of the kitchen. He watched the sway of her hips in faded jeans and smiled in the darkness with pure male appreciation as she turned out the lights.

  While Adam couldn’t deny that Cassie Jacobs was an attractive woman, he also couldn’t deny that she had crossed a line with him; one that he didn’t allow anyone to cross. Unfortunately, in this particular situation he had to bide his time in order to meet a deadline. If there had been anyone willing to take over the event, he would have taken them on in a heartbeat. But with the event being in a mere eleven days, his hands were tied. Once this retreat was over, however, so was his business with Cassie.

  Permanently.

  Chapter Three

  Adam walked out behind Cassie and waited beside her as she set the alarm and locked up. They climbed into the car and he could see that some of the tension had left her. Excellent. That meant that she believed what he had said and that the dogs should be called off when they arrived back at her father’s house with dessert.

  It didn’t take long, however, to note that something was wrong. Cassie had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and she was breathing deeply as if trying to get through something. “Are you alright?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

  “Fine,” she said tightly, fumbling slightly as she reached for her cell phone. Adam wanted to offer to dial for her or at least remind her to keep her eyes on the road while she dialed but in a flash she had the phone to her ear and was speaking.

  “It’s me…we’re on the way home…no, no I’m not. Thanks.” Tossing the phone back into her purse with some irritation, Cassie resumed her death grip on the wheel.

  “Cassandra, what’s going on?” Adam demanded.

  “It’s nothing,” she managed through clenched teeth. “I would appreciate it if you just wouldn’t speak right now.”

  Before he could argue any further, they were pulling into the driveway – practically on two wheels – as her entire family piled out the front door. Within seconds, Cassie’s sisters were helping her out of the car while her brother grabbed her things. Her father stood at the door with Bev as Cassie was essentially carried into the house and out of sight. Adam stood by the passenger side of the door wondering just what in the hell w
as going on.

  With the dessert bag in one hand he slammed the car door shut with the other and stalked to the house. Stephen and his mother were still standing there waiting for him. He stopped in front of them and waited for some sort of explanation.

  “I’ll take that in,” was all Stephen said as he took the bag from Adam’s hand and went into the house. Adam looked to his mother for answers.

  Bev looked at the irritated expression on her son’s face and had to stifle a smile. “Well?” he demanded. “What was that all about?”

  Stepping away from the door and out on to the porch, Bev let the door close and stood next to Adam. “Cassie has a condition; it’s a woman-thing. It just flares up occasionally and apparently it did so tonight. She’ll be okay in a little while. No worries.”

  “No worries?” he snapped. “She damn well nearly passed out in the car! Then we get back here and the whole family just about carries her inside! That doesn’t sound like just a ‘condition’, mother. What’s wrong with her?”

  “Adam, trust me. It’s all okay and Cassie will be fine in a little while. Her family is concerned about her but that’s because they love her and don’t want her to be in any kind of pain, ever. I think it’s kind of sweet.” Bev turned and looked into the house, sure that this was the kind of family that she wanted to be a part of. She sighed and looked back at her son who didn’t seem the least bit appeased by her explanation.

  “They’re a wonderful family, aren’t they?” she asked.

  Wanting more of an explanation than his mother was willing to give, Adam couldn’t help but be annoyed. “Yeah, sure, they’re great. You’re not the one they were giving the evil eye to all night. That doesn’t seem so wonderful to me.”

  “You had it coming. You hurt Cassie and in turn they wanted to hurt you because of it. They stick together. You have to respect that.”

  “Respect what?”

  “Their loyalty.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbled and looked into the house to see Lauren and Matt heading for the kitchen and Katie not far behind them. “I guess we should head in.” Nodding, Bev waited as Adam opened the door for her and went inside.

  On the way to the kitchen, Adam couldn’t help but look around to see where Cassie had gone to. He found the rest of the family setting dessert plates on the table and pouring coffee but no signs of Cassie. With a sigh of frustration, he sat down in the same chair he’d used during dinner. Lauren slammed a plate down in front of him and sat down across from him. And glared.

  “At least you apologized,” she said with a sour look and waited for Adam to respond.

  “I know when to admit I’m wrong,” there was confidence in his words but one look at Lauren showed him that she wasn’t buying it.

  Without appearing to care, Adam looked around to see if Cassie was going to join them or if there was any clue as to where she was. Conversation kicked up around him while dessert was served and within moments he got caught up in listening to his mother and Stephen’s story of how they met.

  Rolling his eyes would have been completely inappropriate, so would checking his watch; there was no choice but to sit back and listen to Bev and Stephen take turns talking about their awkward blind date that they had been set upon by friends. Bev’s eyes shown bright as she talked about the point where they knew they were in love.

  It didn’t take long to see where this all was going. Shifting in his seat, Adam could only pray that his instincts were wrong. He wasn’t used to his mother dating as it was; she used to date quite often when he was younger but after one particularly nasty situation, she’d stopped. It had been easily ten years since she’d been serious with anyone.

  “I know that this might be something of a shock to all of you,” Stephen was saying when Adam tuned back in, “but I’ve asked Bev to marry me.”

  The room erupted in congratulations to the point that baby Ella was startled and started to cry. Katie rushed over to pick up her daughter and soothed her as she went over to hug her father. Adam stood back and observed before offering his own reserved congratulations to their parents.

  “Thank you, Adam,” Stephen said as he shook his hand. “I know we all got off to a rocky start this evening but it seems like you and Cassie have managed to work things out and we’re not the type to hold grudges around here. I want you to know that your mother means the world to me.” To reinforce his point, he put an arm around his fiancé and pulled her close before kissing her.

  Bev absolutely beamed and Adam could not deny that his mother believed herself to be in love. But why did it have to be with the patriarch of this particular family? How was he supposed to keep his promise to himself to fire Cassie as his event planner and coordinator after the Fall Retreat when they were practically family?

  By the time dessert was finished and he and Bev were getting ready to leave, he still didn’t have the answer as to what to do about Cassie nor had she returned to the festivities. As much as he tried to tell himself that he wasn’t concerned or didn’t care about her, he couldn’t deny being curious.

  Once he was in the car with Bev and heading back to her house, Adam knew that he couldn’t wait any longer to know what was going on. “Okay,” he began cautiously. “I know that you said that Cassie had some mystery ‘condition’ but seriously, what’s wrong with her? Does this secret ailment have a name?”

  With a sigh of defeat, Bev answered. “You know, Adam, sometimes I wish you’d learn to just leave some things alone. Some things don’t need to be discussed.”

  “Mom…”

  “Cassie has Endometriosis; it’s a gynecological problem. It’s very painful when it flares up. Apparently that’s what happened tonight. According to Stephen it doesn’t happen often but when it does, she has a rough time of it.” She tsked with pity. “Poor girl.”

  “So why doesn’t she just do something about it?”

  “Gee, it’s no wonder you’re the CEO of a big corporation. I wonder why Cassie hasn’t thought of that. ‘Do something’! Why don’t I call her right now and tell her that you’ve solved yet another of the world’s problems!”

  “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, mother,” he said wearily. “I’m not trying to make light of this, I’m just saying that maybe there’s something that can be done to help her, that’s all.”

  Bev turned and looked at her son. He always did want to solve all of the world’s problems. It was an admirable quality and he had a hard time when things were beyond his control. “She’s taken medication, she’s done everything the doctor’s have said; the next option is surgery and she doesn’t want that.”

  “Why not?”

  She looked at her son with disbelief. “Not everyone is excited about getting cut open, you know.”

  “But if it would cure this problem…”

  “There is no real cure for this. It’s manageable but not curable. Even with the surgery, there is the very real possibility that it will return. She’s learned to live with it and has these occasional setbacks. She’s lucky that she wasn’t out at an event or anything and could just be comforted by her family.”

  Adam made a non-committal sound and continued to drive. He didn’t want to talk about Cassie any more. He’d had enough of Cassandra Jacobs for one day. He was just about to broach the subject of the engagement when his mother spoke again.

  “You know I don’t like to pry in to your business, dear, but I have to tell you I was more than a little embarrassed when I heard about your behavior today.”

  So much for not talking about Cassie any more.

  “It’s none of your business…”

  “I know, I know,” she said, placating him. “It’s just that I can’t imagine you being so hard on anyone, especially a woman.”

  Adam rolled his eyes at his mother’s naïveté. “Mother, please,” he began. “Cassie is a business woman; she doesn’t expect preferential treatment and how I conduct myself at work is none of your concern.”

  “It’s just that…” />
  “You don’t seem to mind reaping the benefits of how I do my business,” he snapped.

  Refusing to let her son see her hurt, she merely nodded and turned to look out the window for the remainder of the ride home. Once there, she kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for coming with her before climbing out of the car. She didn’t invite him in and held herself in check until she was safely ensconced in her home before allowing any tears to fall.

  ****

  By seven the next evening, Adam was mentally exhausted. He’d spent a brutal day dealing with a difficult client and all he wanted to do was go home and enjoy the silence. As he walked through his building, he noticed that everyone else was long gone and to just hear the sound of his own footsteps was a godsend.

  Out of the building, wishing the security team a good night, he almost felt his spirits lifting. It had been a long time since a client had frustrated him so. Adam was the security expert, why wasn’t that good enough? His conversation with Cassie from the night before came to mind. He could thoroughly see her point now that he was deeply entrenched in a situation that frustrated him as much as she must have been frustrated.

  It had almost been twenty-four hours since he’d given her a thought. As he pulled his car out of the parking garage, he tried to shake her image free from his mind. It didn’t work. He could see the conservative business woman who he always dealt with and then, more firmly in his mind, was the woman in jeans from last night, with her loose, wavy hair framing her face and her big blue eyes that just danced and twinkled with laughter when she was with her family.

  He sighed with frustration and then with disgust when he realized that he was driving not towards his house but towards her shop. Her business. Her home. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d known Cassie for two years! He’d been doing business with her all this time and never managed to give her a second thought and now, for some ungodly reason, he was driving by her house like he was some teenager hoping to get a glimpse of her.

  The light was on in the showroom and he slowed down to see if he actually could see her. God, he was pathetic! As he neared a stop, he did, in fact, see her walking back towards the kitchen. Not giving himself time to question his actions, Adam turned the car around and pulled around to the back of the building and parked by the back door.