Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her nerves before straightening up; squaring her shoulders. She finally got out of her car and made her way up the front steps. She was just raising her fist to knock on the large oak door when it was opened by a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, wearing a stern expression.
"Miss Ruby," he gave her a nod and stepped aside, ushering her in.
"Thank you," pasting a tight smile on her face to cover her nerves, she nodded back at him and walked into the house. The inside was just as magnificent as the outside. The front door brought her into a main room, a large white marble fountain at its center, with two cupids' back to back arrowed poised and ready to shoot as the highlight of the masterpiece which reached up past the first floor and to the second.
On either side of her was a staircase leading to the second floor, which overlooked the first. Wow. She knew there would be a look of marvel on her face, but at that point, she didn't care. The inside of his home, at least the first room reminded her of an Arabian palace, with all the gold coloured trim and marble. She halfway expected belly dancers to appear and dance their way down the winding staircase. But, of course, they didn't.
"This is a beautiful house," she managed to gasp. She looked over at the man who had opened the door and caught a glimpse of humour in his eyes, which faded quickly as he nodded, the stern expression reappearing.
"This way. Mr Roth is expecting you," With a firm hand at her back, he led her down a hallway, which was softly lit by elegant stained glass scones on the walls.
You could get lost in this place! As beautiful as it was, it seemed too big, if that were possible. It's more like a museum than an actual home. "In here," the man who had yet to give her his name knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in," a voice that was unmistakably Roth's called out from behind the door. Turning the knob, the man pushed it open and stepped aside for Ruby to walk past him. Once she was in, he closed the door softly behind her. Roth's home office was unlike the rest of the house. It was small, quaint even.
The walls were beige with burgundy trim, and to her left was a fireplace, giving the room a soft, warm glow. "Come on over and have a seat, Ruby." His voice, which was soft and seductive, took her eyes from their exploration of the room to Roth, who was leaning back against his desk. He had one ankle crossed causally over the other, and his arms folded over his t-shirt clad chest. Her breath hitched at the sight of him. Gone was the suit and tie, which always hung loosely around his neck.
Tonight, he wore a v-neck black t-shirt which stretched across his lean, nicely defined chest, and instead of the dark trousers, he wore faded denim. It occurred to her that this was the first time she'd ever seen him in anything other than a suit.
She ran a shaky hand through her silken locks. The coffee shop was her domain. She felt in control there. But here, in his private man cave, he was the master and she felt as though she was in his thrall.
A warmth spread through her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm just as a soft throbbing between her legs caught her attention. Oh, this was a bad idea. His dark eyes met hers, sending a shiver down her spine and causing the throbbing between her legs to intensify.
A devious smile touched his lips as if he knew where her mind had led her while he motioned to the chair in front of him. She exhaled loudly, just then realizing that she'd been holding her breath. Doing as instructed, she sat in the chair indicated, crossing on her leg over the other and sitting up straight, shoulders squared.
"Hi." That was the best she could come up with. No other words seemed to come to her at that moment.
His grin widened.
"Hi."So you have me here, Mr Rothdam. Now, what are you going to do with me? The way her body was responding to his presence ruby knew, without a doubt, what she'd like him to do with her." Stop it Ruby!, you're here for an interview. That's all, " she scolded herself silently.
Uncrossing his arms, he lowered them and grasped the edge of the desk as he continued to recline back on it.
"So let's get down to it. We've established that you can't cook..."
"Well, I... Ummmm," she shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm willing to learn."
Laughing, Roth nodded. "Fair enough. I'm willing to give you a little grace period to get up to speed. What I'm in need of is a live-in cook and housekeeper. "
"Live here?" She blue eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped in disbelief. He couldn't be serious. In this house? With him?
Cocking his head to the side Roth arched a brow at her, amused. "Well, that would be what the term live-in implies. You'd be paid well. Your pay will increase when your culinary skills improve. We can heckle about the pay later. In addition, you'll receive room and board. I'm assuming when you said the extent of your cooking skills stopped at..." he chuckled and cleared his throat, "mac and cheese, you weren't understating."
Embarrassed, Ruby shook her head. "Afraid not. It's really good, though."
"No doubt." Taking a deep breath in, she exhaled slowly. "With all due respect, I have a feeling you can well afford a real chef, one who knows how to cook and do what you need them to. Why me?"
"Fair question." Roth clucked his tongue off the roof of his mouth as he eyed her. "The thing is that when I say live-in, it means just that, and to be honest, I'm a fairly hard man to live with."
Ruby grinned, and she had a hard time believing that.
"But this is a rather large house," she countered.
"Okay, let me rephrase then. I want someone who I think I'll enjoy having around, even though my best friend stays here with me, I still feel like I live in this house alone" Roth's gaze caught hers and once again ruby felt a familiar pleasurable chill rush down her spine and the throbbing between her legs that that had just begun to die down resumed in full force.