Woods

I stood just out of sight as Della calmed the feuding cooks. I wanted to handle this. I hated having to watch her stand between two men yelling at each other. But I couldn't interfere. She was so happy with her new job. At first I hadn't wanted to give her much work, but she'd put her hands on her hips and pitched a fit one day when she saw me outside dealing with a staff issue. Once I realized this was going to make her happy, I let her have more of my work.

She was good at it, too. Not once all week had she had an episode. I had been watching her closely, and I had others watching her to make sure she didn't need me. I was getting more done knowing I could just check on her at any minute. And she was in my office a lot. We were having a hell of a lot of office sex, too, which was making me very happy. Vince wasn't thrilled about it but he didn't complain too much.

"How're things working out with your new assistant?" Jace asked in an amused tone. I turned to see him dressed to play golf.

"She's very good at what she does," I replied.

Jace chuckled and looked over my shoulder as she calmed down the cooks. They were both looking at her now. She was hard not to look at when she was all fired up and red in the face. If the new waiter didn't stop looking at her like he wanted a bite, I was gonna have to fire his ass.

"Want to grab some lunch? I was gonna eat before my tee time."

I was going to ask Della to eat lunch with me but she had several things to do and I knew she'd turn me down so she could work instead. I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

We walked around to the entrance and the hostess smiled up at us as we went toward my table. Della came into the dining room and spoke with the hostess, then headed over to Jimmy. She had been a server when she'd first come here and Jimmy had become one of her friends. I was good with that since I knew Jimmy had more interest in me than her.

"She looks so professional," Jace drawled.

I knew he was looking at her skirt and heels and that damn bun in her hair. It was driving me nuts. She said she needed to dress this way to appear professional, but I'll be damned if she didn't look like a fantasy.

"Don't look at her," I snarled.

Jace chuckled. "Relax, man. Not interested in your woman. I have my own."

I knew this but I was feeling territorial watching her move around dressed like that and drawing attention to herself. She was writing something down on a small notepad. Jimmy was probably telling her the things the servers needed ordered. He was the head server. She put the tip of the pen she was writing with in her mouth and chewed on it as she listened to Jimmy, then went back to writing.

"Heard anything from the crazy bitch?" Jace asked.

Angelina had disappeared and I liked it that way. I had to check on my mother more and that was a pain in the ass because she was mad at me. She still believed that Angelina was innocent and I was the asshole who had run her off.

"No, and if she knows what's good for her she won't ever come near me or Della again."

The new server who had been looking at Della in ways he shouldn't have walked over to her and said something that made her smile. She nodded her head and then glanced over his shoulder to see me watching her. The smile on her lips grew before she shifted her eyes back to the guy. I saw her say something to him before turning back to Jimmy, who had an annoyed expression on his face. That told me enough.

Jimmy nodded his head my way and said something to the guy, who glanced back at my table, then walked over to us. Jimmy had sent him to wait on us. Good man.

"Hello, Mr. Kerrington, what can I get you to drink?" the server asked as he filled our water glasses.

"Della is mine. Keep your distance. If you need something, ask Jimmy. He tells Della what is needed. Not you," I told him without caring that my tone was more angry boyfriend than boss.

His eyes went wide and he nodded. "Yes, sir," he replied.

"Get me a sweet tea," Jace said.

"Coffee," I told him, and then turned my attention back to Della, who was standing back, waiting to approach me. She looked wary.

"Hey, baby," I replied, standing up and walking over to her. She smiled at me, then glanced back at the server, who had just walked away.

"What did you say to Ken?" she asked.

"He doesn't need to be looking at you and talking to you. He needs to be working," I told her.

She pressed her lips together, then nodded. "Okay. But he's new. You just hired him last week."

I slipped my arm around her. "Yes he is, and I understand that. He should have been worried about the fact that his boss had just been seated and needed to be waited on. Not the incredibly hot female talking to Jimmy."

Della shook her head, then laughed. "Okay, fine. But be nice. Jimmy needs help."

"Eat with us," I told her.

"Can't, I have to place an order for new aprons and there's an issue with the hot-tea button on the machine. I have to get the service guy here to fix it."

"You have to eat," I told her.

"I'm eating a late lunch with Blaire," she informed me, then grinned. "Now, let me work, boss."

I lowered my head to her ear. "Call me boss again and we're gonna end up in a cleaning closet real damn fast."

Della shoved away from me, laughing as she walked off.

I loved that girl.