Chapter 10 #3
“Victoria,” Jason found himself saying, fighting back his own smile, “you can’t take a spoon to dinner at your parents’.”
“Watch me,” she muttered, then straightened as if remembering herself.
“I mean, of course not. That would be… inappropriate.” But she took another bite of risotto anyway, somehow managing to keep the creamy rice from touching her dress in a display of coordination that had Kate and Anna sharing impressed looks.
“The green dress, perhaps?” Anna suggested.
“Yes! No. Maybe?” Victoria spun to face the mirror, nearly colliding with Maria who was carrying a stack of shoeboxes. “Sorry! I mean… those heels, actually. The ones on top. They’re perfect.”
Maria offered a small, professional smile as she set down the boxes, no longer startled by her employer’s warmer demeanor.
“Mrs. Everett,” Sam tried one more time, “about the seating?—”
“Right, right. Mother’s diagram. Very important.” Victoria took another bite of risotto, studying the tablet Sam held out. “Though I don’t see why she needs to… wait, is that a spreadsheet? For dinner? With color coding?”
“Your mother is very particular about?—”
“Social dynamics and maintaining appropriate distance between people who argued about yacht clubs three seasons ago?” Victoria finished, rolling her eyes in a very un-Victoria-like way. “Of course she is.”
The soft instrumental music provided a gentle backdrop as Jason watched his—normally ice queen—wife balance precariously on one foot, trying to slip on a heel while simultaneously reaching for her risotto spoon that she’d put on a nearby table.
The staff maintained their professional distance, but their expressions held more warmth than trepidation.
“Sir.” Gregory appeared at his elbow. “Would you prefer to eat at the counter or should I set a place at the table?”
Before Jason could answer, Victoria’s voice drifted down. “The counter! The counter’s more fun. I mean… if you want to. The table would be more… proper?” She said the last word like it was a foreign concept she was still learning.
“The counter it is,” Jason found himself saying, watching as his wife disappeared upstairs again in a whirl of fabric and risotto spoon.
He settled at the kitchen counter, accepting a plate from Gregory while enjoying the unexpected warmth filling his usually silent home.
The soft music mingled with the sounds of preparation upstairs as Victoria appeared periodically in different dresses, still clutching her spoon, asking opinions of the staff who were gradually adapting to their employer’s new approachability.
“That color is lovely, Mrs. Everett,” Sam ventured after the fifth dress change.
“You think? But is it I’m totally normal and definitely your daughter enough?” Victoria caught herself. “I mean… is it appropriate for a family dinner?”
Jason hid his smile behind a forkful of Gregory’s excellent risotto. After finishing his plate, he headed upstairs to get ready himself, the sound of Victoria’s surprisingly musical laughter following him up.
Thirty minutes later, adjusting his cuff links as he descended the stairs, Jason stopped dead in his tracks.
Victoria stood in the foyer, and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.
Her dress was elegant perfection, the deep-blue silk highlighting curves he’d forgotten she possessed.
But it wasn’t just the dress—it was the way she held herself, softer somehow, more real.
Her hair fell in gentle waves rather than her usual severe style, framing her face in a way that made his fingers itch to run through it.
When she turned to look at him, the heat in her gaze hit him like a physical force.
Her eyes traveled slowly up his body, lingering appreciatively on his broad shoulders, the fit of his suit, the way his hands looked adjusting his cuffs.
It wasn’t Victoria’s usual calculated assessment—this was pure, unfiltered desire.
When she reached his face, her lips parted slightly, the tip of her tongue darting out to wet them in a gesture that sent heat straight through him.
The look in her eyes made his blood burn—it was hungry, almost predatory, like she was imagining all the ways she could ruin his perfectly pressed suit.
No one, especially not Victoria, had ever looked at him with such raw, honest want.
It knocked the breath right out of him and stirred something primal in his gut.
“Ready?” he managed to ask, his voice rougher than intended, betraying how much her open appreciation affected him.
She bit her lip—a gesture that sent another wave of heat through his body—and nodded. “As I’ll ever be.” The words came out breathy, almost like a promise.
The staff maintained their professional composure as Jason offered her his arm, though he noticed Sam and Kate exchange a knowing look.
Victoria hesitated for just a moment before taking it, her touch sending electricity through his sleeve.
The soft music in the background seemed to heighten the tension crackling between them.
“Mrs. Everett,” Gregory called from the kitchen, “don’t forget your spoon.”
“Right!” For a moment, Victoria looked like she might actually go get it, before catching herself with a laugh that lightened the heated atmosphere. “I mean, no, of course not. That would be… inappropriate.”
But she cast one longing look at the kitchen before straightening her shoulders and heading for the elevator with Jason, her hand still burning through his sleeve.
Jason was distracted by the way Victoria’s fingers had tightened on his arm, her eyes meeting his in the elevator’s mirrored walls with that same hungry look that promised this evening would be anything but appropriate.