Page 13 of Irresistible

Chapter 7

Scarlet hurried back to the bank to deliver everyone’s lunch order. In just a few short hours, she had been transformed from a bank teller into a personal assistant and delivery girl. She thought that she would have more of a learning curve, but things seemed to be going well in the short amount of time she had already spent in her new position.

“You have everything?” Jim asked nervously as Scarlet traipsed into the lobby.

“Of course! Attention to detail is one of the most important characteristics that one seeks in a personal assistant,” Scarlet replied with a cheeky grin.

Jim smirked and moved on to his office. One by one, Scarlet dropped off lunch orders to people around the branch. Shortly afterwards, all that remained was Richard’s order. She made her way back to the newly-decorated office and dropped off the packages of food. The big box of cookies was clearly visible from his desk, and he noted it as soon as he looked up from his computer.

“Awesome. Thanks so much. I think everyone will like the cookies. It’s just a small thing that makes the day go by a little faster, you know?” Richard said before sitting down to return to his work.

“Absolutely. Is there anything else you need right now?”

“Actually, can you go pick up my dry cleaning? I should have told you on your way out. The place is actually right near Charlie’s,” Richard said, once more staring at his computer screen.

“Of course,” Scarlet replied without a second though. “Do you have the slip? They’re probably not going to believe me when I say I want to pick up a suit for Richard Grant.”

“Scarlet, I was kidding. I just came up with the most stereotypical task that someone could ask an assistant to do. I wouldn’t ask you to do that,” Richard said, chuckling to himself.

Of course he was kidding. Scarlet had fallen for the joke as easily and quickly as she had fallen for him. She would have done almost anything he asked her to do without even a second thought. She didn’t even stop to think that he might be ribbing her. Keeping her promise to Jim was going to be a heck of a lot harder than she originally thought. In any event, she figured that she could just play this off and play the innocent, unsuspecting assistant who couldn’t see a joke coming from such a smart boss.

“Oh, haha. Of course. Silly me,” Scarlet laughed, playing with her hair in a nearly unavoidable display of affection and attraction.

“Why don’t you join me? I see you still have your lunch there. I need to take a break, anyway. Let me just send this email, and we can move to that table over there,” Richard said, pointing to the small, circular, dark wood table in the opposite corner of the room.

Scarlet immediately blushed. She couldn’t believe that Richard was inviting her to have lunch, just the two of them. On the one hand, she wanted to say yes immediately. On the other hand, this seemed like a bad road to go down if she wanted to keep her promise to Jim. There had to be a way out of this while keeping her dignity and image intact.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to seem like I’m slacking on my work. There’s surely something I should be doing to help out at the teller’s desk or something that you need help with, right?” Scarlet asked, sounding disappointed that Richard might answer in the negative.

“I’m sure. How often can someone say that their boss told them to take a load off and have lunch? These days, it seems like companies are too busy working their employees to the bone. Sit. Sit down,” Richard said. Scarlet tell that it wasn’t a request. It was a command.

She took her seat at the small table and unwrapped her lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of tomato soup. Without fail, she loved dipping the sandwich into the soup and eating the resulting divine combination while watching the excess soup drip off onto her napkin. It was one of life’s little perks, especially in the winter. While she certainly did not want to embarrass herself in front of Richard, this was not a tradition she intended to give up, no matter how childlike it made her look.

“Ah, grilled cheese and tomato soup. That was one of my favorites as a child. My mom would always make it for us on a cold day like today. Mmm, that really takes me back,” Richard reminisced.

“Can I offer you a bit? I can never finish these anyway,” Scarlet lied. She had never met a grilled cheese sandwich she couldn’t finish.

“If you’re offering, then sure,” Richard replied.

Scarlet tore a generous corner off the sandwich and offered it to Richard, who quickly dipped it in the soup and wolfed it down. She could tell it was a very deeply satisfying experience for him.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Scarlet laughed.

“I’m sorry. I don’t usually impose myself like that. But grilled cheese is the definition of comfort food to me.”

“It’s no imposition. I’m always happy to share whatever food I have.”

Scarlet was being incredibly liberal with her lies. Jim always tried to steal her food, and she went to increasingly great lengths to keep him from it. She even went so far as put one of her sandwiches on top of a mouse trap in the refrigerator. It was incredibly conspicuous, so Jim dared not to press his luck. But it sent a message. Scarlet was not to be trifled with when it came to food.

“Yeah. We didn’t have much food when I was growing up, so I always cherished what we did have.”

This came as a surprise to Scarlet. She always assumed that these bankers were all born in the lap of luxury and bred to perpetuate the family wealth. To her, those circles were all reserved for those who had the deepest connections and the deepest pockets. There was no reason to think that they even let people in from outside of a certain class. But, she supposed, that’s what the American Dream was intended to be. One is supposed to be able to come from nothing and become the CEO of a major bank with enough hard work and a touch of luck. It looked like Richard was the poster child of the American spirit.

“Really? Did you have a rough upbringing?” Scarlet asked.

She kicked herself immediately for even asking the question. It was an incredibly inappropriate thing to ask anyone, especially your boss. Maybe this would help turn him off and keep any sort of feelings from brewing up between them. Richard glanced away upon hearing the question.

“I’m sorry. That’s a really rude question to ask. Forget I said anything.”