Page 84 of Bargain with the Bachelor
His brows shot up. “You quit? Or were you let go?”
“Um… I guess you could say it was a mutual decision. Either way, the end result is the same. I am officially unemployed.”
She had Hunter’s full attention now. I could almost see the wheels spinning in his head. “Are you looking for a new position in Colorado… or would you consider making a move to the East Coast?”
“Why? Do you know of an opportunity? Someone looking for a personal chef?”
“As a matter of fact, I know seven someones—my housemates and me. I’ve been thinking about the idea for weeks. I just hadn’t gotten around to launching a search yet because I have so much else on my plate.”
Rachel’s eager expression cooled. “I wouldn’t be able to offer a reference from my last job. Things didn’t exactly… end well with my former ‘employer.’”
“That wouldn’t bother me,” Hunter said. “I like to think I’m pretty good at reading people… besides, you’ve got some stellar character references.”
Bonnie leaned forward from the chair she’d taken near the sofa. “Oh Rache—it would beamazingto have you living here in Eastport Bay.”
Hunter sweetened the pot. “The position comes with room and board, so you wouldn’t even have to find a place to live.”
“It’s a live-in job?” Rachel asked, her tone souring. “I don’t know about that.”
“Well you wouldn’t have to, of course, but since you’d be cooking for so many people—one of whom is nocturnal—it would make sense. If you’re worried about privacy, don’t be. The mansion is seventeen thousand square feet and divided into five separate units. We’ve got plenty of extra space.”
He threw a quick glance at me as if to say,And we’re about to have a vacancy.
Jealousy lit a fast-moving brush fire in my soul. I fought to stamp it out.
This was ridiculous. I was leaving. I had no right to feel jealous. I was making thechoiceto move out.
The guys needed a full-time chef desperately. Rachel needed a job and apparently a fresh start in life. Having her move into the house and take the job would be the best thing for everyone.
Maybe she’d even star in Hap’s new show. He could simply recast the role of Snow White. Within a short while the guys—Hunter included—would forget all about me.
I squirmed as the flames of envy burned even brighter.
Get it together, girl. This is what you wanted, right?
“I’ll give you a fifty percent raise over whatever your last employer was paying you,” Hunter said, throwing one final enticement at the personal chef.
Rachel’s eyes bulged. “You don’t even know what he was paying me.”
Hunter smiled, clearly confident he was about to close the deal. “Doesn’t matter. What do you say?”
“I’d say I’m very tempted—especially for that kind of a bump in salary. Together with the included room and board, it would give me a great start on opening up my own café, which I’ve been wanting to do forever. But…”
“But what?”
His eyes shone with the thrill of the hunt. This must be what Hunter was like when dealing with potential investors and clients—smart, persuasive, absolutely irresistible.
No wonder he’d gone from Eastport Bay’s poorest neighborhood to an Oceanview Avenue mansion on nothing but intelligence and sheer determination.
“Well, I’d want it to be spelled out in my contract… there’d be no possibility of personal involvement with any of the guys I’d be working for. I’ve been burned plenty of times as a chef—but I’m still smoking from this last job. There is nowayI wouldeverget involved with someone I work for ever again.”
“Absolutely,” Hunter assured her. “We’d be completely agreeable to that sort of stipulation. In fact… we already have a little experience with it.”
His eyes slid over to land on me, while I blushed hotly. Because I knew better than anyone that an agreement likethatone could be changed.
And once Rachel got to know Hunter better, she’d be all for taking a red marker to her contract and striking through that particular clause.
Would he move her into my room in his condo—right down the hall from his own suite?
