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But for Hyacinth, it fit. Even her name was cute. She was named after an exquisite, vibrant flower. Laughing at himself, he still couldn’t believe he’d looked it up. For the fifth time that afternoon, he glanced at the time. Still more than thirty minutes before she would have to return.
Rhys knew he was on thin ice. She was his employee, even for a short time. That he hired her on the spot, without reference—or an interview—should have been a warning sign. It was irresponsible. A rookie move.
And even knowing that, he would do it again.
A knock sounded on his door. Good. He needed to get out of his head and stop thinking about the beautiful Hyacinth. Looking up, he called out. “Come in.”
As the door opened, he almost groaned.
“Hi Mr. Mannetti. I’m a bit early today, but I wanted to take a few minutes to learn the lay of the land.”
Fuck my life, he thought. It was as if he’d conjured her up.
As she stood there in his door, Rhys could do nothing but stare at her. Why did he have to hire her to work for him? Temptation was a bitch, and he knew he was about to go through hell. Then again, if she were so eager to work, then he’d make sure to get his money’s worth.
He was man enough to keep his desires in check. Now that she was here and technically one of his employees, he’d created this situation, so he had to deal with it.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Glad you came back. Let’s go get started.”
They exited his office before she could say another word. He wanted to put some space between them. Needed to do it. There was never a situation where he’d crossed the line with an employee. He wasn’t going to let it happen now. No matter how sexy she looked in her black skirt and white blouse that stretched over her curvy form.
Fuck. His dick was thickening in his pants, which was not a good look.
Arriving at the front of the restaurant, Rhys walked Hyacinth through the reservation book, how he wanted things to flow, and what her responsibilities were for the night.
“No patron should wait over fifteen minutes before they’re seated or treated with a free drink at the bar. It doesn’t happen often, but I want everyone who arrives for dinner to know that we care about them. That they’re presence here is welcome and their experience is important.”
“Do you ever have a client who leaves unhappy? Maybe their wait time is too long?”
Impressed with her question, Rhys nodded. “Once or twice. But that’s why I try to be here most nights. If something goes wrong, I can have a conversation with the person. Try to smooth things over. Even if they still leave, I’ve given them an opportunity to save face.”
They stood close together at the bar as he explained this to her. As she looked up at him, he was tempted to reach down and press a thumb to her bottom lip. So soft, plump, and juicy looking. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her.
“What type of marketing do you do? Since that’s my sweet spot, maybe there’s something else I can help you with?”
His head tilted to the side. “Do you plan to be here for more than just a few days?”
“That depends. I have a lot of student loans,” she laughed. “And I really need to find a new place to live. To do that, I need to make more money.”
“Hmph. Well, we’ll see,” he said noncommittally. “Let’s see how things work out with you filling in for Pearl. She’s going to be out for the next two weeks because of her son’s broken arm, so you’re help is appreciated. If you do well tonight, then we’ll work something out.” His eyes lifted to glance at the group of staff standing by the kitchen entrance laughing. When he looked back at her, his mouth was pursed, and his eyebrows had dipped. “I’ll be back.”
Hyacinth could tell he wanted to say more, but simply shrugged her shoulders as he walked off. And watching him was a treat. Yes, she knew he was off-limits, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the view. Her eyes took in the surrounding space. The restaurant looked like it could hold upwards of a hundred patrons. The perfect place to be seen, but it wasn’t so small no one could ever get in. When they were looking at the reservations for that night, Hyacinth noticed they were fully booked.
He’d told her that there was always one or two tables held back for unexpected VIP patrons that showed up or called for a last-minute reservation. When that happened, she needed to contact Rhys at once.
A loud voice came from behind her, so she turned around to see who was yelling.
Rhys?
Maybe her eyes were deceiving her. That couldn’t be the same man who had been courteous and patient as he explained what she would be doing. There was no way the person holding another man face-down on the table was the man who saved her life earlier today. As she looked closer, she knew her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her.
Rhys used one hand to hold the man in place. His face was contorted in anger as two other men who looked equally as dangerous stood on either side.
What the fuck was happening?
“You steal from me? From my business? From the people you’ve worked with for years? You broke my trust. Now, I should break your fucking neck.”
At her gasp, Rhys looked up. She took a step back at the anger reflected in his eyes. Should she run? Was this like a Jekyll and Hyde situation? One minute he was nice and helpful, the next he was busting open the heads of his staff. Hyacinth looked around at the other staff members to see how they were responding to the situation. She noticed some of them had stepped back. Others had a look of disgust on their face. But they weren’t looking at Rhys. No, they were looking at the employee. Whatever his name was. The guy who had been accused of theft.
