~VICTORIA~
"I guess I should have asked you where you were dropping me off," I said, looking around.
Sebastian had parked in front of Al Porto Italia. A valet in a red and gold uniform was hurrying to open the door for him.
"I thought we'd get dinner first," he said, not looking at me.
I was rather hungry. And although it was thoughtful of him to offer me food, the idea of sitting across each other at dinner — just the two of us at the table — made me more nervous than I usually was in his presence. Especially since he still seemed irked about the clothes issue. "It's fine, Mr. Chase," I said, forcing a smile. "I can take the bus from here."
But he had already gotten out. He walked around the car and opened the door for me. "I have something to discuss with you before you go," he said. "You can either wait in the car, or join me."
I stared at him, not knowing what to say. My heart was beating so hard, I was afraid he might hear it. So I just nodded and got out of the car.
Inside, a stout, middle-aged man in a suit greeted us cheerfully. "Mr. Chase!" he said. "I didn't know you had a reservation with us tonight."
"No reservation, I'm afraid, Aberto," Sebastian said. "Will you be able to fit us in?"
"For you, of course!" Aberto gestured to a waiter, who nodded and left. "We will have a table ready for you and your lovely date in a few minutes."
Date.
Standing beside Sebastian's tall, imposing figure, it was hard not to be aware of his staggering sexuality and confident grace. I was trying to appear unaffected, but at the mention of that word, I felt myself blush.
"This is Ms. Victoria Slade," Sebastian said. He didn't seem at all bothered by Alberto's assumptions. "Ms. Slade, Aberto owns Al Porto."
"Lovely to meet you," I said, shaking Alberto's hand. "And I'm not his date." In my nervousness, I could barely speak audibly.
Aberto burst out laughing. "Sebastian, did you kidnap this young lady, perhaps? She looks like she is ready to run the moment we take our eyes off her."
Sebastian smiled. "Ms. Slade is merely anticipating your seafood risotto," he said. "I told her yours is the best one can get outside Italy."
"Ah, we do our best. I am homesick most days, so I try to bring Italia to Los Angeles."
The waiter came back to inform him the table was ready. Aberto escorted us to a table by a window, and excused himself to go back to the kitchen.
I looked around at the plush interiors and elegant couples sitting at the white cloth-covered tables dining on wine and exquisitely plated dishes, and wished I was home. My boss was probably still angry with me, and the prospect of having to sit through dinner with him was not something I was looking forward to.
The waiter pulled out a chair for me, and I smiled at him. The young man responded with a smile. He had dark hair and fine features, and his eyes sparkled. For a moment my heart lifted. "Grazie," I said.
"Prego, signorina."
"I'll have my usual, Marco," Sebastian said. He sounded almost curt. "And the lady will have the same."
"Very good, sir," Marco said. But he looked back at me, as though to confirm the order. I smiled and nodded, grateful for his consideration.
"Will you be having wine tonight, Mr. Chase?" Marco said.
"Your best chardonnay, please. Thank you."
"Are you always this friendly to everyone, Ms. Slade?" Sebastian said, after Marco had left.
"I try," I said. "When you work in the service industry, you appreciate the little things."
"Are your customers rude to you at work?"
"Sometimes," I admitted. "It makes you appreciate kindness more."
As I spoke, I felt a little ashamed of myself. Sebastian had been incredibly kind to me today, and the fact that he was a little too direct with the way he spoke did not change that.
"Are you and Ms. Williams old friends?" I asked, attempting to bring up a more cheerful subject. "She's amazing."
"Deborah and I have known each other several years, yes."
"Does she dress all your employees?"
"Only the really stubborn ones."
I couldn't help grinning. Did he just make a joke? "She does have a way with people," I said. "I think I was more afraid of her than you."
"I'm not surprised. It was her idea for you not to change back into your clothes, wasn't it?"
"Yes," I said, embarrassed. "I told her I didn't have to get dressed, I was on my way home."
"She did that so I would take you out to dinner."
"Why—"
"Ms. Slade, you are not an unattractive young woman," said Sebastian. "It will be unavoidable that people will suspect you and I might be... involved."
I swallowed uneasily. "I guess," I said. "But surely they don't expect you to be dating a waitress."
Sebastian looked at me, an amused look in his eyes. "I didn't mean 'dating,' Ms. Slade. I meant sex."
~SEBASTIAN~
The word hung heavy in the air between us as soon as I said the word.
Sex.
I wasn't sure why I had even brought it up. Perhaps it was the twinge of jealousy I felt when Victoria's face lit up as she smiled at the waiter Marco. Or the way her wine-red hair glinted in the dim light of the Al Porto Italia. The way her skin glowed made me ache to reach out across the table to caress her hand. Slowly.
Perhaps I just wanted to unnerve her a little, the way I was coming undone bit by bit every second we were in the same room together.
The slight flush on her cheeks gave me little gratification.
"I see," she said, looking down at the place setting in front of her. She toyed with a spoon for a while, as though contemplating what to say next. "But you said I was here because you needed to discuss something with me. Was this it?"
"No." Sebastian paused as Marco arrived to pour water into our glasses.
"I'll bring your wine momentarily, Mr. Chase," said Marco.
"However," I continued after the young man had left. "I'm bringing this up so we're clear on the limits of our... professional relationship, Ms. Slade."
"I didn't think there was any confusion about it, Mr. Chase." Victoria frowned. "If you think I've behaved inappropriately in any way—"
"No," I cut in. Damnit, this talk wasn't going as I had planned. She didn't do anything. It was me. "I wasn't implying ... What I meant was, you're a young, unmarried woman working in my household. And as such, people may... infer a great deal more about our relationship than what it is."
She stared in silence for a few moments. "Then," she said. "Shouldn't you be speaking to them?"
Of course she was right. But we had to talk about this. It wasn't as though I was reaching for an excuse to take her out to dinner. "My concern is you, not other people."
"But as you say, I have not behaved inappropriately, so I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."
I sighed. "What I mean is you must expect people making assumptions—"
"I don't think I should be expecting anything except to be treated like a professional," said Victoria. She pressed her lips together tightly, then went on. "I expect this most of all from my employer. I haven't made a move on you, Mr. Chase. Neither have I confessed to having feelings for you. I do my job the best I could. You barge in my other place of work, drag me away to buy me clothes, and make me have dinner with you at a ridiculously romantic Italian restaurant. And yet you sit there telling me that people might see us as having a relationship outside of our professional one. Don't you think that's a bit unfair?"
She took a long drink of water, set it back on the table, and waited for my reply.
I sat in silence, reeling from her words. They stung me more than I was willing to admit, and I tried to keep my face impassive as I tried to think of what to say.
"This won't happen again," I said. "If that's what you're afraid of. I don't make a habit of dining out with my staff."
I heard someone clear his throat. It was Marco, approaching us with the wine. He poured some in my glass. I took a sip and nodded my approval.
Victoria smiled and thanked the young man as he poured her wine. Marco smiled back, his eyes raking over her face appreciatively.
Clearly the boy was doing this to annoy me; I tried not to glare at him as walked away.
"You don't understand, Mr. Chase," Victoria said. "I'm saying I don't care. I did what you wanted, I got myself clothes for work. And I'm here now because you say you need to discuss something with me. What Deborah or Aberto or anyone thinks about what goes on between the two of us doesn't concern me. I'm only trying to do my job."
"Then we shouldn't have a problem." I took a drink of wine to mask swallowing the sudden lump in my throat.
"We don't." She gave me a small smile, and I wondered if she did that to soften the blow of her words. "If you like," she said, "we could discuss that other thing now, so I can leave you to enjoy your dinner."
"Ms. Slade, people may think we're on a date, so the last thing I want is for them to assume I said something so terrible that you would leave me in the middle of dinner."
After a long pause, she smiled a little and nodded.
"So if you will permit me," I said. "I would like to take you home. After we've had dinner."
"All right."
"Do you like wine?"
"Yes, I do." Victoria ran her fingers over the base of her wine glass. "This Chardonnay smells really good." She hesitated, then asked, "What did you want to discuss?"
It was clear she wasn't going to relax until I'd finally tell her what it was I wanted to discuss.
"I've set up a meeting between you and Benson's homeroom teacher on Friday morning," I said. "It's standard procedure whenever a student has a new tutor. You'll go over the curriculum for the semester and discuss the areas where Benson needs to improve. Will you be available? You'll be accompanying Benson to school, and meeting his teacher after first period."
"Oh of course," she said. "What time should I be at your house?"
"You'll leave at six-thirty. I suggest you spend Thursday night at the house to save you time."
I mentally kicked myself as soon as I spoke.
"Spend... the night?"
*** End of Excerpt**
Thank you for checking out my story. If you'd like to read the book, it's available for purchase as an ebook (mobi + epub) at https://gum.co/sebastiansprice
Comments (0)
See all