Page 52 of The Estate
Now that he was seeing more of her personality, he could understand why she was a natural fit for the job. That part made perfect sense.
“As I’m the new kid on the block,” she smiled. “My boss Seth is a little… unsure is maybe a good word.”
“How do you mean?” he asked, wondering where this was going.
“He’s said he doesn’t have a good feel for me, my work, my process. So I’m really working hard to get my footing and show him what I’m made of.”
Cal found it hard to believe that anyone who spent more than ten minutes with Rachel wouldn’t see the passionate go-getter he saw in her. She genuinely seemed to care about her work and the people in her life. Thinking back to their meeting, perhaps it was just a boss and employee thing. Rachel had been far more reserved and tight-lipped in the office than she was at the estate.What was he seeing that other people weren’t?
Sensing her discomfort, he steered the conversation back toward more neutral territory. After that moment, the talk flowed naturally as they both dug into their food. Seeing her eyes widen in delight after her first bite of the sandwich was everything Cal could want.
“Oh my god,” she mumbled, her hand over her mouth after the first bite. “This is amazing.”
Taking a fork, he dug out a little of the lobster salad and put it on her plate. “You should try this, too.”
Once she swallowed, she laughed. “I think at this rate, I’m going to keep coming back down here until I find something I don’t like.”
“Mission accepted,” he said before diving back into his sandwich, both of them focusing on their food. Honestly, Cal couldn’t remember when he’d had as nice of a date.
Although it wasn’t a date but hearing her talk animatedly about a local author, listening to her laughter, even watching the breeze tousled her hair, it was starting to seem like a date.
Just as they were finishing, Cal’s phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he grimaced. “I apologize, Rachel. This is a vendor for this weekend. I got to get this.”
“Please, Cal. No problem,” she replied quickly.
He answered and asked the vendor to hold till he got out of the restaurant. Before he walked out, he looked back to see Rachel with her eyes closed, face turned up to the sun, enjoying the moment. Although she had her hands wrapped around her arms. It wasn’t full on fall yet, but the ocean breeze did have a bite to it.
Turning back, he left the restaurant and talked briefly with the other arcade rental vendor. So far, things were progressing on schedule, mostly. It appeared they might pull this off.
Before he walked inside, he grabbed a hoodie from the bag he kept in his car. Heading back to their table, he held it out for her perusal. At her nod, he draped it over her shoulders.
“Thank you, Cal,” she said as she snuggled into the warmth of the fleece.
Oh damn, she looked cute in his clothes. This lunch was quickly going off the rails, and he wasn’t even sure he was mad about it.
“My pleasure,” he replied, his voice a little too husky for his comfort.
She seemed not to notice, rather tilting her head, and asking, “So you just happen to have this in your car?”
“Oh, I keep a change of clothes in my car. I sometimes stay at the estate late and it seems like too much hassle to go home so I’ll sleep there. But it’s clean,” he quickly promised her. “I swear.”
“Oh, I know it is,” she replied.
“Really,” he asked. “How do you know?”
He watched her face turn the loveliest shade of pink, and he could almost see her internal debate about what to tell him. He couldn’t wait to hear the answer.
“Um, well,” she started. “I can smell that fresh laundry scent.”
“That’s good,” he said, a little disappointed.
“But it also smells like you a little,” she mumbled.
Cal froze, not daring to breathe in case that startled her into silence.
She turned her head slightly and drew a deep breath. “Like a deep warm whiskey smell with a touch of leather and tobacco.”
Cal felt her answer zip through him, like an electrical current. His eyes dropped to her mouth, and he wondered what she would taste like. Would her lips have a hint of apple and oak from the chardonnay? Were they as soft as they looked?
