Daddy’s Billionaire Chef

Grabbing my phone, I searched for her brother’s company, quickly skimming to find Julia’s position. By following their employee listings, I could see that she was on track to become a senior coordinator, then a manager someday.

Although I would have happily moved her into my house, giving her everything so that she never had to work again, I wanted Julia to make her mark in the world however she wanted to.

As long as I could be standing beside her.

Which was impossible, since there was an ocean between us and she hadn’t been returning my calls or texts. I’d have to find a way to show her how important she already was to me, even from thousands of miles away.

It was going to be tricky.

Chapter 15

_____

Julia

It was all I could do not to stomp my feet and glare at everyone at work, but since I really wanted to be taken seriously at my job, I plastered on a bright smile, and attacked my paperwork with gusto. Mostly ignoring Matt’s texts, I managed to get quite a bit done by eleven am.

I was surprised when Ethan called me into his office, since we didn’t normally have a lot of contact from day to day.

“What’s up?” I asked, sliding into his guest chair.

“I just got a call from Patricia. I’m sorry, but Jerry Jonah has decided that he wants his restaurant done with ultra minimalism, so he’s switched to another company. Don’t worry, I have a bunch of other great accounts you can work on.”

“He switched in the middle of a project?” I gasped. “That’s...not cool?”

Ethan shrugged. “I know. I’d heard that the guy was a total asshole, but I really wanted to have a restaurant in our portfolio.”

Gripping the armrests, my knuckles were white. If it weren’t for that jerk, I could have taken a few days off and gone to Italy. I probably still wouldn’t have, if I were busy, but I could’ve had the option. I still wasn’t prepared to think that Matt was right in dismissing my job so lightly, though.

“It’s just one account out of many,” Ethan said with a smile. “Relax, Julia. I’ll get you some other interesting stuff. Promise.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Grabbing another coffee on the way to my desk, I couldn’t wait for noon so that I could go for a walk. Maybe some fresh air would clear my rotten head space.

I was actually counting down the minutes to my lunch break when Jenny popped into my cubicle at two minutes to noon. She set down a blue glass bowl filled with hot pink and orange daisies.

For a second I thought it was both tacky and fabulous at the same time. Then I realized with a pang it was very close to the pattern of the tablecloth at the Thai restaurant Matt and I had visited last week.

“We need you in the boardroom immediately,” she said.

“Oh, okay.” I grabbed my notebook and pen, wondering what new client Ethan had set me up with already.

When I got there, Kim, Patricia, and a few more of my coworkers were all gathered around. Jenny sat me at the head of the table then turned on the giant TV.

I stared in disbelief as a talk show came on called, “Italy Loves to Eat.”

“This is their most popular English language evening show,” Patricia said.

“Why did you need me for this?” I asked Jenny.

“I got a phone call instructing me to make sure you watched,” she said with a mysterious grin.

“Keep your eyes on Maria, the hostess,” Patricia said with a wink. “She flirts outrageously with every male guest. She’s absolutely shameless. It’s why most of us watch the show.”

Watching Matt stride onto the set and shake the hand of the overly made up woman in a skin tight dark pink dress was absolutely bizarre. I felt like I was having an out of body experience.

“Oh my God,” Kim muttered. “Who is that breathtaking man?”