Chapter One
“She is in the worst mood I have ever seen,” Rebecca said, coming downstairs to the kitchen where Jackson Reed was currently chopping up lots of vegetables. He was doing it slowly but rather than take over from him seeing as she was a chef, she decided to let him cook. After all, she was a guest in his home. Her best friend in the whole world, Bella Reed, had just had her heart broken. She was staying over Christmas to help put her friend in a good mood. Jackson was of course Bella’s widowed father, and even in his late forties, he was still sexy as sin. Yeah, Rebecca was a sick person. She thought her best friend’s dad was fucking hot.
“Love can do that to you, make you so sick that you can’t think straight.”
“Is that what happened with you?” Rebecca asked, stealing a chopped carrot from his pile. She was starving. The restaurant that she had owned was now closed. She did it every Christmas. It made no financial sense at all, but for the past two years she had been doing it because she loved the festive season and refused to give up her love for her job, even though she loved cooking so much.
Besides, the festive season was supposed to be about love and coming together, not being miserable inside a kitchen while everyone was enjoying themselves out in the main restaurant. Cooking with family, for family, it was different. Rebecca didn’t know why, it just was.
“Yeah, it hurt. I hated every second that I got to wake up and she didn’t. I couldn’t dwell on it though. I had a daughter to take care of, a company with thousands of employees waiting for me. There was nothing else I could do. So I got up every single day, and slowly, the pain started to lessen.”
“I’m so sorry you lost her.”
“Yeah, well, it has been a long time now.” He nodded as she took another carrot. “You could help me with all of this.”
“Nah, I’ll let you do all the hard work. I work my ass off every other day cooking. It’ll be nice to have someone wait on me for a change.” She gave him a wink, and went to the fridge. She grabbed the wine and a beer.
Popping open the beer, she handed it to him, and took a seat once she had poured herself a generous glass of white wine.
“I can’t guarantee this will taste nice.”
“It’s the love that counts.” She took a piece of celery this time. “Don’t forget to add rosemary. Chicken soup tastes a lot better with rosemary, believe me.”
He rolled his dark eyes, and she tensed up as her pussy grew slick.
When she was sixteen, she had developed a crush on this man, so much so that she had been too embarrassed to sleep over. The thought of him seeing her as a kid had made her feel sick to her stomach. Finally, after a year and losing her virginity to an asshole, and then growing up, she had decided that there was no way she could have had a crush on him. They were worlds apart, nowhere near close to each other.
He was a successful businessman, and so was her father. Besides, Jackson was her best friend’s dad. It was never going to happen.
“You’re blushing, Rebecca. Why are you blushing?” he asked, taking a swallow of his beer. She admired his hands. Even though he was a wealthy man, she knew he was the kind that liked to get his hands dirty.
“No reason.” She took a large gulp of wine, and tried to get her wayward thoughts under some kind of control. This could not be happening. She hadn’t been turned on in Jackson’s company for a while now.
Okay, so she had stopped coming around after she had seen his first girlfriend. She had been so young, so stupid, and Rebecca had seen that she had only wanted Jackson for his money. What had he seen in the bumbling idiot?
It didn’t matter because it wasn’t like he would ever look at Rebecca, and she didn’t mind, not at all.
She released a pent-up breath, and smiled. “I’m not blushing. It’s warm in here.” She removed her cardigan, draping it along the back of her chair.
Please stop looking at me.
Rebecca frowned when she saw he was looking at her chest.
No way, there was no way he would look at her chest. It just wasn’t possible, not at all.
Biting her lip, she took another drink of her wine, not really tasting it. Clapping her hands, she stood up. “Let’s get this food done.” She rounded the counter, and even though it meant she was standing next to him, she at least didn’t have to look at him.
Her imagination was driving her wild, and right now she couldn’t deal with that. It had been too long since she was last with a man, and pleasuring herself with her hand was not exactly doing the trick. The men she had dated had always been a little rough, a little older than she was.
She had three previous sexual partners, six boyfriends in total. Of those six, three hadn’t even made it into her bed.
It’s fine, Rebecca.
You have picky tastes.
“What are you doing?” Jackson asked, stepping close to her.
He pressed against her side, and she closed her eyes for a split second.