Chapter Seven
Eric
I stood watchingthe man who'd been sent to replace my driver until his forty-eight hour flu ran its course and didn't like how close he stood to Maddie instead of doing his fucking job. He smiled at her like he planned to be fucking her before the day was over. Who the hell was this guy anyway?
At my sides, my hands balled into fists. Anger coursed through me as each second ticked by and she just continued chatting him up. She looked far too happy as he spoke to her, smiling and laughing at whatever he was saying as she stood there looking beautiful in her pink sundress, and I watched in horror as he leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Did she know this guy? Fuck, I didn't even know this guy. He was just someone sent by that employment service to fill in for Clyde while he was sick.
Maybe she did know him since he'd been referred to me by that DeVille guy, but that didn't make what I was seeing any easier to handle. They looked way too cozy together there next to the town car, him leaning on it while he smiled like some kind of fucking Cheshire cat and checked her out and she giggled at whatever he was saying.
If I hadn't had to come back to the house because I forgot those damn papers for Jack this morning, who knows what they'd be up to. Not that either one of them noticed I was watching their little meeting. They both seemed too interested in one another to notice much of anything going on around them.
Jealousy made my stomach twist into knots, and by the time Maddie turned to walk away from Mr. Loverboy Fill-In Replacement Driver, I had to fight back the urge to march over there and tell both of them they were fired. She made her way toward me and smiled but said nothing as she passed me on her way into the house. I looked back at him still leaning against my car and saw him checking her ass out as she walked away. Likely lost in some fantasy about fucking her, he didn't even notice me heading toward him.
"Enjoying the sights?" I asked, not bothering to curb the sharpness in my tone.
He nodded and gave me a knowing smile, like we shared something in common when it came to Maddie. "You do have a very nice set-up here."
"What is your name?" I asked, unsure why I wanted to know since every fiber of my being wanted to throw him off my property.
"Antonio," he answered, smirking like some kind of punk.
"Antonio what?"
"Antonio Lucero."
His name sounded like a dick's name. Between the dark hair and the whole Mediterranean swarthy look he had going on, he was giving off a gigolo vibe I hated more and more with each passing second.
Even worse, Maddie seemed to have liked him and his whole thing he had going on.
"Well, Antonio, you're here to drive, not hit on my staff. Do you understand me?"
For a second, he seemed to be irritated by my reprimand, arching one dark eyebrow and leveling his gaze on me, but then he just shrugged and smiled. "As you wish, sir. You're the boss. I was just sharing a little conversation with your dessert chef. I didn't realize that was off limits."
"What? What was off limits?"
"Talking, sir. I didn't realize talking was off limits. But now that I know it is, you don't have to worry about me trying to talk to her again."
Happy he understood how things worked, I turned around to head back to the house, relieved Antonio wouldn't be an issue from now on. As I walked away, he said something else, though.
"You might want to tell her that, though, sir. She's a chatty one. I suspect she doesn't know the rules about not being able to talk to anyone here, so she'll be back to see me by lunch."
I spun around to face him and saw that fucking smile again that told me he knew the effect he had on women with that suave way about him. The question was if he had that effect on Maddie.
"Remember the rules or you're going to find yourself replaced before you know it. I have no problem with calling your boss and telling him to send someone else."
Antonio said nothing in response to my threat, and I continued into the house to talk to Maddie, completely forgetting what I had come home for in the first place. I didn't know if I had any right to be so possessive of her. If she was just my dessert chef, whatever the fuck that was supposed to be, I wouldn't have given a damn about her talking to Mr. Suave Gigolo out there. Hell, I wouldn't care what she did if she was just one of my employees.
But she wasn't.
Maddie hadn't been merely an employee from the moment I hired her. She hadn't been in the house for half an hour before all I could think of was being inside her. I thought she wanted me like I wanted her. The way she was when we were together said she did, but after seeing her talking to the driver, I wasn't so sure.
I planned on finding out, though.
She stood at the center island kneading a ball of dough in front of her on a cutting board that had never been used before she arrived here. A frilly apron covered her sun dress, making her look like some housewife straight out of the 1950s. Even with jealousy and anger raging inside me, I couldn't help but admit she looked so cute like that.
I stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and cleared my throat. "Maddie, I want to talk to you."
She looked up and smiled, but I noticed it wasn't as enthusiastic as the smile she'd given Antonio. "Okay. Just give me a second."