“Sienna, you’ve met James and this is my head chef, Andy.” I gave James a warning look before speaking again. “Sienna is going to be my new personal assistant.” His eyebrows shot up to his hairline, but he wisely kept quiet.
“Well, I haven’t—”
“I’m going to show her around, see you later.” I tightened my grip on her hand and strode from the kitchen, headed for the dining room. I felt a finger poking my shoulder and slowed my pace, turning my head to glance back at Sienna. She didn’t say anything, and I stopped to face her fully. “What is it, baby?”
She raised a single eyebrow. “Oh, am I allowed to speak now?” I grinned and motioned with my hand for her to continue. “Are you always going to be this bossy?”
“Probably,” I answered immediately with a shrug.
Sienna rolled her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. “At least you’re honest about it,” she muttered. Damn, she was cute. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d smiled so much. “Well,” she continued, “cut the ventriloquism act. I’m not a puppet and can speak for myself.”
Something inside me burst with warmth and before I could check the instinct, I tugged her forward until she fell into my chest. My arms went around her and I lowered my head to brush my lips over hers. “Fuck, you’re as soft and sweet as you look,” I murmured. I allowed myself one more touch of our lips and enjoyed the sight of her brown eyes darkening with desire and a sweet blush gracing her cheeks.
The fog cleared, and she quickly took a step back. I let her leave my embrace but once again, took her hand firmly in mine.
“Is kissing you in the job description?”
I smirked and tapped the end of her nose. “Nope, just a perk.”
Her eyes dropped to my lips for a second before she seemed to realize what she was doing. She huffed and muttered something as she marched past me, entering the seating area of the restaurant. My eyes followed her example and dropped down, except they were glued to her ass as she walked ahead of me.
I showed her around the rest of the space and introduced her to the staff on duty. Her eyes sparkled, and it was easy to see her falling in love with the place. I was extremely pleased with her reaction as I always hoped my wife would be as passionate about Saphyre as I was.
Wife.
Fuck, that sounded good. I couldn’t wait to put my ring on her finger and my baby in her belly. However, for the moment, I kept those thoughts to myself.
Saphyre was just opening their doors for lunch when we finished, so I commandeered a small table in a secluded corner and ordered lunch. She asked me about my plans now that my show was done and I told her about my goal to open another restaurant, as well as a guest spot I’d agreed to. I was going to be a judge on a reality cooking show.
I asked her questions about her classes as well as her family. Her parents apparently lived in a small town a couple of hours away, and she had a brother who was a pilot and lived in Chicago.
“Do you have class tonight, baby?” I asked when we finished eating. She shook her head as she sipped from a glass of sparkling water.
“I go to school in the mornings and twice a week I have labs at two in the afternoon.”
I stood and held my hand out to help her up. “Great. I can take you to your new home, and we’ll get you moved in this weekend.”
She placed her napkin on the table before allowing me to help her stand. Straightening her shoulders and spine, clearly attempting to close as much of the gap in our height difference as possible. She looked me square in the eye with a determined glint. Part of me wanted to laugh at her effort to be intimidating, the other was wary of what she had to say.
“I told you before, Owen. I’m fine with my current living arrangements. You don’t even have to add the cost that you would have paid in room and board to my salary.” I was about to steam roll over her and demand that she move in with me, but then I saw a shadow pass over her face as she mentioned her place. I decided to dig into that a little later, while taking the bees and honey route for a moment.
“Let me at least show it to you and then you can decide.” I smiled hopefully and in the next breath, her shoulders sagged and she agreed. We headed to my office to gather my things and while she was a few steps ahead, I pulled out my phone to text a friend of mine. He owned a security company, and I wanted him to run a check on Sienna. I needed as much information about her living arrangements as possible so I could come up with leverage to move her in with me as quickly as possible.
4
Sienna
“Mmm,” I sighed, waking up feeling deliciously warm. I stayed where I was, keeping my eyes closed, and enjoyed the sensation. It wasn’t until I stretched my arms above my head that I realized most of the warmth was coming from a body sprawled next to me. I tried to scoot away, but I was pinned to the mattress by a heavy arm draped over my belly.