Chapter Five
Jesse
After
I stood in front of the brewing station in my kitchen, holding a cup underneath the spout, and watched it fill with latte. Using a long spoon, I added some frothed milk and sprinkled some cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg over the top. This was Emery’s favorite way to drink coffee. Because of the time I usually went to work, I would leave his cup on his nightstand, so he would wake up to the aroma.
I no longer had to do that.
I carried both of our drinks into his office where he sat at his large mahogany desk, studying a set of blueprints. I placed his coffee off to the side and moved behind his chair, wrapping an arm around his neck, pressing my lips to the side of his throat. “I asked Luz to pack up several of your suits and have them sent to Boston. I know you already have some there, but a few more can’t hurt, especially with how often you’ll be traveling.” Luz was our housekeeper in Vermont. “I also sent Marion a message, letting her know you’ll be visiting weekly, so she can plan accordingly,” I said, now referring to our housekeeper in Boston.
He didn’t look up from the design he’d been staring at. “You think of everything.”
“That’s my job.”
I breathed through that thought and filled my nose with his scent. There was a constant rotation of different shampoos and soaps in our shower. No matter what he used or the cologne he added after, Emery always smelled like leaves during a spring rainstorm with a hint spiciness like the cinnamon and nutmeg I’d shaken onto his coffee.
After several deep inhales, I pulled my mouth away, observing how handsome he looked at his desk. He had on a pair of dark jeans and a plaid button-down with a navy sweater on top. And even though I couldn’t see them, he had on argyle socks and dark brown leather shoes.
I just knew my husband that well.
Emery began to move his chair, swiveling it around to face me. When he stopped in front of me, I stepped between his legs, setting my coffee on his desk, so both of my hands were free. My palms went to his cheeks, loving the way his whiskers felt on my skin. He kept his beard longer in the winter and trimmed much shorter in the summer. Winter was my favorite and he had reminded me one of the reasons why after Alicia’s party when he had rubbed it across my entire body.
From the look on his face, I had a feeling he was thinking about the same thing. “We have the house all to ourselves today,” he said, confirming my suspicion. His hands slowly slid to the back of my thighs. “When was the last time I was able to do this”—he rubbed his nose across my navel, air from his lips bursting through my top—“on a week day?” He continued to wrap around until his fingers were on my butt. His lips slowly parted, his eyes fiery with seduction. “I’m going to put you on top of those blueprints and then I’m going to—”
“You have an interview in fifteen minutes.” I put a finger on his lips. “But I want you to remember the thought you just had and when the interview is over …” I leaned in a little closer. “I want you to put me on top of those blueprints and do to me whatever it was that you had planned.”
He kissed the back of my finger and it started to tremble.
“You’re turning me on so much, I’m shaking,” I said, pulling my hand away at the same time the doorbell rang. “She’s early, I like that.” I slipped out of his grip and took several steps back. “I’ll go get her and we’ll meet you in the dining room.”
He nodded, and I walked out of his office, still feeling the tremors as I headed down the rest of the hallway. When I looked through the peephole, I was surprised by the tiny girl I saw on the other side. She appeared even smaller as I opened the door and her frail frame was shivering inside her large down coat.
She certainly wasn’t a client of Cinched.
“Tabitha?”
Her smile showed the result of several years’ worth of braces. “T-that’s m-me,” she chattered, waving her mitten covered hand. “It’s n-nice to m-meet you, M-Mrs. Black-k, I’m ass-assuming.”
“Yes.” I moved to the side, giving her more than enough room to get past me. “Please come in out of the cold.” Once she stepped in and I shut the door, I shook her small, frozen fingers. “Can I get you something warm to drink?”
“I-I’m okay, th-thank you.”
“Then, please follow me.”
I led her back the same way I had come and brought her over to the table where Emery was already sitting. In front of him, I’d placed two notebooks, pens, and a printout of Tabitha’s résumé. If he wanted me involved with the interviews, we were going to conduct them the way I would at Cinched.
“Tabitha,” I began when I reached the dining room, “this is my husband, Emery.”
“Mr. Black,” she said, moving closer to him, extending her hand the same way she had done to me. “It’s an honor to meet you.
Once they shook hands, I pointed to the other side of the table and said, “Please make yourself comfortable, Tabitha.”
I joined my husband across from her and the three of us took a seat.
“I asked my wife to join us,” Emery said. “I hope that isn’t a problem.”
“Not at all,” she answered. “I’ve done my own bit of research on you, Mrs. Black. Your achievements are just as impressive as Mr. Blacks.”
“Thank you,” I replied.
I didn’t need to look at her résumé to know what it said. I’d already memorized it, along with the résumés from the four other candidates we were interviewing this week. I’d chosen an eclectic group of women, as young as twenty-four, which was Tabitha’s age, to as old as mid-fifties. I wanted a range with various levels of skills.
Emery needed to see what was out there.
“Why don’t you tell us about yourself,” I said to her.
“I’m a graduate of the University of Connecticut,” she began, giving me the feeling that this was well rehearsed. “My first job out of school was with a family in Burlington where I was a nanny for their children ages two and four. The parents worked non-stop as I’m sure the both of you do. So, in their absence, I was responsible for their household, doing everything from cooking, driving, to doctors’ visits. I even went with them on family vacations.” Her voice was the sound of innocence. And even though she was several years older than Viv, they looked the same age.
“Why do you no longer work for the family?” he asked.
Emery’s stare was on Tabitha, so mine stayed on him as she answered, “They moved to California. They asked me to join them, but my family is here, and I don’t want to live far away from them, so now I’m job hunting.”
He sighed. Tabitha couldn’t hear it, but I did. Then, I saw him set the pen down on the table, which at some point he’d picked up as though he were going to take notes. Not any more. He had nothing to write because he’d stopped listening. She had bored him to death before she had even gotten to the nannying part.
This interview was already over.