Page 26 of Cinderella Hired for His Revenge

“Well...thank you.”

“Have you eaten?”

The words had barely been spoken when her stomach let out a loud growl. Heat bloomed in her cheeks as he chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a no. I didn’t have time to grab dinner before I left New York City. Sara usually leaves a plate of cold cuts and fruit in the fridge if she knows I’m coming.”

Alexandra had met Sara, the housekeeper, earlier. A smiling woman with a booming voice that belied her petite stature and a long brown braid that stretched past her waist, she’d oohed and aahed over the flowers to the point that Alexandra hadn’t been able to resist sending her home with one of the spare bouquets she’d brought for the cocktail hour. Sara’s effusive praise had been worth the little niggle of worry that something would go wrong tomorrow, and she’d regret giving away the spare.

But, she reminded herself, that was part of the business, part of what she’d worked so hard on over the past few years. Before, when things went wrong, she’d always had someone around to fix things for her to the point she’d been nearly helpless. As she’d slipped from the world of wealth and glamour to a simpler existence, she’d been confronted with how much she had taken for granted. Big things like managing a budget or little things like making her bed or scrubbing the floor in her kitchen. The first time she’d deep cleaned her studio and stepped back to survey her work, she’d felt prouder of the scarred yet shiny wood floors than she had ever felt of the trophies and medals strategically placed in her father’s library from the numerous activities he’d enrolled her in.

Giving something as simple as a bouquet of flowers to someone as kind and jovial as Sara was worth a little bit of stress if it kept her tethered to the real world and reminded her of who, and what, was important.

“I met Sara earlier. She’s very kind.”

A frown crossed Grant’s face.

“Yes, she is.”

Alexandra smiled.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Not a bad thing, just...” Grant rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture that almost seemed self-conscious. “I always thought of her as efficient. But she is kind.”

“Efficient is a good trait, too.”

“It is.” He moved to the refrigerator in the kitchen, one of two set into the wall. “Would you like a glass of wine, too?”

It suddenly dawned on her what Grant was offering.

“You...you want to eat together?”

He glanced over his shoulder, one eyebrow arched.

“Was that not clear?”

“I don’t think employers and employees usually eat together, so no. I thought you were just offering for me to dig around in your fridge.”

Grant grimaced as he reached in and pulled out the plate he’d mentioned. More like a platter, a silver one with curved handles and covered in berries, slices of cheese and meat, olives, artisanal crackers and several little bowls of various dips.

“I was overly harsh during our tour. My bedroom is a private space, one I hadn’t intended on sharing.”

His explanation both mollified and saddened her. Not only was it a private space, but he also probably didn’t appreciate having an ex-lover who had ended things in such a spectacularly horrible fashion invading his sanctuary.

Yet, at one time she would have been one of the few people invited into that space. Just another reminder that staying the course and keeping things professional over the next two weeks was in both their best interests.

He set the platter on the table and pulled out two plates and a bottle of wine.

“Sara always makes enough to feed at least three people. But it gives me something to pick at for a day or two.”

He poured the wine, golden liquid bubbling inside the glasses.

“Champagne?” Alexandra asked as she lifted the glass to her lips, the bubbles tickling them.

“It’s a sparkling chardonnay from Rio Grande do Sol. Brazil has set itself apart as one of the top exporters of sparkling wine in recent years.”

Alexandra grinned at the pride in his voice. She took a sip, her eyes widening as a light sweetness hit her tongue.

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