He held up the silk fabric—striped and probably worth about two hundred dollars. A look of chagrin crossed his face. “Never learned how to tie one of these.”
Emily strode over, grabbed the tie from him, and looped it around his neck. Her hands moved swiftly as she knotted it while she spoke. “What are we going to do about the steakhouse? Has this ever happened? And tonight of all nights?”
He watched her hands move quickly and efficiently. “Who taught you how to do that?”
She blinked and glanced at the tie, straightened and knotted. “My ex was a stockbroker. He also liked French cuffs and bow ties.”
Levi smoothed a hand down the silk fabric. “Thank you.” He smiled.
And Emily forgot why she came here.
God, he was handsome. Every woman in the place would drool when they saw him tonight. If Emily lifted her head from her work more often, she might know exactly how many women had crushes on their new, young CEO. Then again, she didn’t really need to look; she could guess. All of them. And probably a few men.
“Emily? You okay?”
She shook her head. She was here because of…the restaurant. “Sorry, I’m uh—I’m worried. What are we going to do?”Smooth.
He strode toward the door and pulled out his phone, and Emily trailed after him.
She’d raced here, out of her mind with worry over the food situation, but as she watched him stride ahead in his formal attire for the dinner this evening, everything seemed insignificant, becauseoh my God.
Levi was a big guy—six three, six four? Emily was tall for a woman at five foot seven. She wore three-inch heels, so that put her at five ten most of the time. Yet Levi towered over her while she’d worked his tie, making her feel small. There was something about a physically powerful man that was a huge turn-on. She couldn’t stop staring, and the view from behind was almost as good as from the front.
“Macon, where the hell are you?” Levi barked into the phone.
Macon was the chef and the employee she’d chatted with at Esther’s going-away party. He was also really into facial hair grooming. Cute, but not her type.
“You’re sick, eh. What do you have?” There was a long pause as Levi listened and continued down the hallway and out of the executive offices, across the lobby, to the Fireside Lounge, where Shin Electronics and their partners were meeting for drinks before dinner. He entered the bar and waved off the waitress who started toward him. “Where were you last night?”
A look of irritation crossed Levi’s face. “Macon, you either email my assistant a doctor’s note and find a suitable replacement for this evening or you’re fired.”
He tucked his phone back in his pocket.
Emily gasped. “We’re screwed. So screwed. You can’t fire him. We have trained staff, but we still need a chef…”
Levi nodded in greeting to the head of Shin Electronics across the room. “Macon will be here in fifteen minutes.”
She grabbed his arm before the infuriating man walked away. “How do you know that?”
He stared down at her. “Macon’s hungover. Didn’t say as much, but he went out last night. The guy’s worked here for seven years. He always calls in sick after tearing it up the night before. Normally we have a backup chef, but tonight Macon’s it.”
Emily dropped her hand, realizing belatedly that she was holding him in place. Not strongly—he could have broken her hold. But he hadn’t. He’d waited.
She huffed out a breath. So maybe she’d overreacted, but what did he expect? She was new here; she didn’t know Macon’s habits. It was a good thing Levi did.
He strode toward the guests, shaking hands and greeting everyone, and Emily realized something.
Levi was a natural leader. He just didn’t know it.
* * *
Emily draggedherself toward the employee exit close to midnight. She was exhausted.
While Levi had schmoozed with the guests, she’d made sure things were ready for tomorrow morning’s special spa day. It was a last-minute add-on, but the head of the company insisted on it after enjoying his massage the first day, and who was Emily to argue? He’d asked for a morning massage, and a sauna for him and his staff before their afternoon meeting.
“Emily,” a deep voice said.
She turned in the parking lot to see Levi striding toward her, his tie loosened, the legs of his suit pants crinkled at the thigh from a long night of sitting, eating, and socializing. “How’d it go?”
