Well, everyone except Rodney.
Rodney would eye her up and try to help her onto her paddleboard or tell her a joke that she would laugh at. There were moments I thought I was going to drag her back to the cabin to have my way with her.
I didn’t but, damn, I’d considered it.
I couldn’t continue down the road of purity much longer even if I tried, and for some reason, she was holding out too. When I’d put on my swim trunks, I’d thought she was going to claw her way up my body, but she hadn’t.
We remained professional, except for the visit I’d scheduled earlier that morning when she’d been away from the cabin. I’d tasked Heather with buying another bracelet, this one worth millions, with diamonds lining the inside of the wrist because I knew Izzy wasn’t flashy. There were other stipulations to the jewelry, but it was quite an easy find when we had contacts around the nation for diamonds and jewelers. The Armanelli family’s wealth extended everything. When Heather brought it over, I saw the disdain on her face, but I sent her away immediately after explaining she could keep the bracelet, but it was not significant to me other than it being a thank you gift.
When Izzy got back to the cabin each night, she worked hard and didn’t take any time to rest. I saw how, without me antagonizing her, Izzy worked herself to the bone. Other than the candy canes she ate, the woman would constantly forget to eat. If I didn’t put food in front of her, she’d skip meal after meal.
So, on day seven, we meandered back to the cabin, and I cooked up some pasta as she sat typing away on her laptop. When I placed the plate down in front of her, she practically cried tears of joy when she tasted it. “Who taught you to cook like this? Is it homemade alfredo or something?”
I laughed at the joy in her face. “My mother, bless her soul, would have been livid if she saw how you didn’t eat throughout the day. Thankfully, she taught me and my brother to cook a little.”
“I literally can’t talk to you right now. Please let me enjoy this in silence.”
The silence was agonizing though because she moaned the whole damn time and made my dick twitch.
“You staying up to work?” I asked her after she shoved the last bite in her mouth.
She held up a finger as she finished chewing. “That was quite possibly the perfect meal. So, I guess I have to say thank you first.”
As she licked her lips, I tried but failed not to watch. “Want to thank me another way?”
“Cade…” She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I have more work to get done.”
“Like?”
“Rodney needed me to send him a training, and Juda wanted me to send a few emails. I have a few more things to get accomplished.”
“You can give it a rest. You don’t have to do a million jobs at once. They all think you’re doing great out there, Izzy.” Didn’t she see that she worked herself to the bone? That everyone else’s requests of her didn’t need to come before sleep?
“They do. Sure. What about you, though?” She glanced over at me for a second before going back to her laptop.
“Does it matter what I think?” I wanted her to admit it did, that I meant something more to her than everyone else.
The woman glanced up, but then avoided my gaze and shrugged. It was the avoidance I pinpointed, the way she stopped for a nanosecond too long. I wanted her full attention now. I wanted the story she held back.
Even though she kept typing away, as if we weren’t having a conversation, as if I didn’t need her full attention, I shouldn’t have cared. I did the same to everyone else all the time. With her, though, that shit was infuriating.
She didn’t think I was worth her time? Was the damn job always more important, even after she’d worked a full twelve-hour day?
“Izzy, I’m talking to you,” I murmured, giving her an opportunity to adjust her approach.
She sighed in exasperation. “I’m aware. And I’m listening and working. Juda stayed back to help with everything in the office, and he—”
I walked over and slowly but firmly closed her laptop. “And he can do his damn job for once. Now, answer my question honestly this time. Why do you care what I think?”
“You’re the boss, Cade. Everyone cares what you think.”
I dragged a hand across her jawline and to her lips to trace them. “You never really did, though. You work hard under the guise of wanting a promotion, but that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”
She looked out the window before saying, “Maybe I’m proving to you, and to everyone, I’m not just the addict you said I was. I’m a hard worker too.”