Page 24 of Miss Treated

He sighed. “They like me because I tip well.”

I burst out laughing. “Sure, that’s the reason.”

He quirked a brow. “Can you think of a different one?”

Dang, I could feel my cheeks heat. “Nope.” I had to be careful, or he’d discover I was one of the masses who found him completely adorable. And not just in the looks category. The gentle way he took care of his dog, his work ethic, his effort in learning everyone’s name no matter what title they held—all of this had started to make me feel more relaxed in his company.

“The meetings on the AP process went smoothly today,” Dominic commented, unwrapping his fish tacos. “I’m sure you’re probably used to hearing this, but you’re terrific at your job. You not only put everyone at ease, but your questions are intelligent and well thought out.”

My mouth gaped at the unexpected compliment. Once upon a time I would’ve been too broken to accept it. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have felt worthy of it. Oh, shit. I was half a second away from crying. “Thank you,” I murmured, opening my Diet Coke and gulping it down so I could blame the carbonation if any tears spilled out. “I’m glad Sophia seems to be cooperating.”

She’d had little to say during the meetings. She’d sat to one side and typed quite loudly on her laptop, apparently answering emails or taking care of other work. My guess was she no longer saw me as a threat or my questions as overly invasive. This was good because now that I had the processes down, I could start to look at transactions.

“Your father, I mean Mr. Chambers, must’ve smoothed things over,” I added.

“It’s fine if you call him my father. Except maybe in a meeting when it’s more formal.”

“I wasn’t sure if it bothered you.”

He shrugged. “There isn’t a person at the company unaware of how I got this job. Matter of fact, I’d rather them know I’m a Chambers than have them actually expect me to be qualified.”

Something suddenly dawned on me. “You hate the job, don’t you?”

Chapter Ten

Dominic

The answer to Kelsey’s question was a resounding yes. I hated the job. And it made me feel like an ungrateful putz. I’d been born into privilege and hadn’t worked my way up a corporate ladder. I hadn’t ever been forced to live paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people I knew. If I didn’t work, I wasn’t about to go homeless or worry about putting food in my stomach. Instead, I struggled with my advantages in life.

My smile was strained, which I hoped she didn’t notice. “The position as COO in the successful company my father spent forty years building is a dream.”

She cocked her head to the side, her eyes locked on mine. “But not your dream?”

My position in the company was quickly becoming my least favorite subject. Especially since I’d seen how much she obviously enjoyed her job. And how impressive she was at doing it. Although insecurity was something I often experienced in the shadow of my father and my brothers, suffering the sensation while with a woman was completely foreign.

“I told my father I’d commit to the position for a year,” I blurted out.

“What happens after one year?”

Good fucking question. “To be honest, I’m not sure.” Time for a subject change. “What are your plans this weekend? You spending time with your brother?”

“No, he’s out of town, but I’ll see another friend of mine. We have dinner plans tomorrow night.”

A flare of jealousy hit me over the thought her “friend” could be a man. I was seriously crushing on this girl. “She one of the friends who came down to see you?”

“Yeah. Daisy is the best person I’ve ever met. What about you? What are your plans?”

Having her confirm it was a woman soothed my panic. “I have a charity thing for Children’s Hospital my mom asked me to attend tomorrow night, then I’ll probably work Saturday and surf on Sunday morning.”

Fuck it, there was no actual fraternization policy in my father’s company, and although we worked together, Kelsey didn’t work directly for me or for Chambers Technology. It wasn’t as if I was a very good COO as it was. What was one more strike against me? “What do you think about dinner on Sunday night?”

“It’s nice of you to offer, but you’ve fetched dinner for me every night this week.”

“I’m not offering a working dinner. I’m asking you out.”

Her eyes widened to saucers. “On a date?”

“Yeah, thought I could take you out to dinner. We could go to Old Town if you’d like?”