“Thanks. I don’t know what I was going to do if you hadn’t come in when you had.”
“Call the fire truck?” Sawyer grinned, returning the woman’s friendly smile.
“I would have let the house burn down before that happened. I’m trying to land a permanent job; I can’t call a fire truck. It would cause too much attention.”
“And a blazing fire wouldn’t?” Sawyer laughed at the woman’s convoluted thinking.
“I wouldn’t have let it get that far. I would have thrown my own body over it first.”
Sawyer whistled in admiration. “You must want this housekeeping job bad.”
Now it was the other woman’s turn to laugh. “No, I’m afraid I’m at a total loss as a housekeeper, but I would make a great personal assistant. The housekeeper came down with the stomach flu. I’m interning for a job as R.J.’s personal assistant, so guess who gets to fill in for her?”
Her ineptitude explained, Sawyer helped her clean the mess on the stove, removing the pan that had caused the fire to the sink. Going back to the stove, she checked on the food still cooking. To call it a disaster was being polite.
Sawyer rolled her sleeves up and tried to save the meal as best she could, giving the woman directions as she cooked the meal. When Ax stuck his head in the door later, seeing Sawyer helping, he gave a wink then left them to fill the plates.
“You take those two, I’ll take these.” Sawyer lifted the two plates on the counter, leaving three other ones. “I’ll come back and get those,” Sawyer said, going through the swinging door.
Sawyer sat one of her plates down in front of R.J. and the other in front of Briana. The other two plates were sat in front of Ax and his companion. Sawyer started to go back to help with the remaining plates.
“Sit down, Sawyer.” Kaden’s firm voice brought her to a standstill.
“I—I won’t be a second.”
“Sit down.” He stood up, pulling a chair out for her.
“Ms. Jordan can handle the rest. Have a seat, Sawyer,” R.J. broke in the staring contest between her and Kaden.
She looked at the young woman, noticing her worried frown and gave in, taking a seat at the table.
She looked across the table to see Ax trying to hide his amusement as he ate his food, at the same time that a plate was slid in front of her. Giving into her own hunger, she began eating.
The food was good. The potatoes were creamy and so was the undercooked meat she had managed to save while making a quick pan of gravy. The asparagus she had roasted melted in her mouth. The silence at the table was due to the fact that everyone was enjoying the food as much as her.
“Can I get anyone anything else?” the sweet voice of R.J.’s assistant had her smiling as the young woman nervously waited for everyone’s reaction.
“No, thank you, Ms. Jordan. That was delicious. We’ve missed having a good meal lately and that made up for it. I’m looking forward to breakfast,” R.J. said as an afterthought.
Sawyer barely hid her laughter at the look of panic crossing her face before she could hide it. Sawyer decided to set her alarm so that she could rise early enough to help her.
The woman disappeared back into the kitchen as they rose from the table. Sawyer was still angry at Kaden for ordering her around, but he ignored her as he went into the other room with two of the other women guests. Sawyer had no intention of watching the women flirt with him for the rest of the night, instead deciding to go to bed early.
She caught Briana before she went into the formal living room.
“I’m going to go to bed.”
“It’s pretty early,” Briana protested half-heartedly. Sawyer felt that the woman wasn’t anxious for her company, either. R.J. must have told her why she was with the band, or perhaps she simply stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the other women.
Sawyer went up the steps to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She went to the drawers and pulled out one of the new nightgowns that had been purchased for her. Getting changed, she enjoyed the feel of the silky material sliding over her skin. Her nipples tightened against the material. Sawyer ran her hand through her hair as she went to her bag, pulling out her brush before passing it through her long hair. Brushing her hair had always soothed her.
As she continued to brush, she walked barefoot across the carpeted floor, going to the window and pulling the curtain open. She stared out into the night, seeing a large pool lit up. R.J. and the band must have gone outside to enjoy the fresh air. The pool area was well lit, so Sawyer had no difficulty making out who sat around the pool.
Kaden was sitting on one of the lounge chairs with a pretty woman sitting next to him, while her hand was casually rubbing his thigh.
“I wonder if she asked his permission?” she said into the silence of the bedroom.
Almost as if he could hear her voice, his eyes lifted to the window she was standing at. Sawyer froze in place as his gaze took in the gown she was wearing, her hair framing her face. The hand holding the brush dropped to her side, realizing belatedly it was the movement of her brushing her hair that had drawn his attention to her window.
She dropped the curtain, taking a shaky step back. Setting the brush down on the nightstand, she turned out the light before climbing into bed. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the escalating tension between her and Kaden. She had been around several good-looking men the last few years as a waitress, but had never experienced the desire to get to know any of them. It was a constant battle, however, to stay away from Kaden. The only thing saving her was her instinctive dislike of him. God help her if she ever discovered he was a nice guy under that sexy body.
Chapter Ten
Sawyer was busy in the kitchen when R.J.’s assistant came in.
“You shouldn’t be in here. Mr. Cross wasn’t happy that you helped out last night. R.J. had a talk with me after dinner.” She went to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee, taking a piece of stuffed cinnamon toast. Sawyer watched her in amusement, noticing R.J.’s talk didn’t stop the woman from taking advantage of the available food.
“Ms. Jordan.” Sawyer paused. “What’s your first name?I can’t keep calling youMs. Jordan.”
“Just call me Jordan.” Her twinkling eyes laughed at Sawyer. “He doesn’t want us getting friendly. That’s not in my job description,” she mocked R.J.’s snobby attitude.
Sawyer rolled her eyes. If the young woman knew just to what depths R.J. would sink to keep the band happy, his professional façade would be exposed.
“I can live with calling you Jordan.” Sawyer went to pour herself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the kitchen table.
They sat and talked for several minutes, and Sawyer discovered she liked the woman. She was around Vida’s age. She also was friendly, bubbly and wanted to prove to R.J. that she could handle the job as his assistant.
Kaden came into the kitchen as they finished their coffee. When he went to pour himself a cup, Sawyer escaped without a word, trying not to wonder if he had spent the night with the woman she had seen him with the previous night. Stir crazy and not wanting to return to her room, she went out the front door. It was pretty outside. Wanting to stretch her legs, she wandered around the side of the house to the pool area. Bored, she sank down onto one of the lounge chairs, trying to think of something to keep herself occupied.
“Are you going to run off if I take a seat?” Kaden stood next to her chair, waiting for her answer.
“N —no, and I—I wasn’t running. I was finished,” Sawyer clarified.
Expecting him to sit down in the lounger next to her, he instead sat down beside her hip, facing the house. He had put on a pair of sunglasses; the dark lenses stared down at her, giving him a ruthless appearance.