“What did you do there?”
“I started as a waitress, but as you’ve seen, I have a habit of falling and running into things. For the sake of the glasses and dishes I kept breaking, my uncle moved me into the kitchen.”
“And there were no more broken plates?”
She chuckled. “Oh, there were a few. At first everyone was hesitant to put a knife in my hands, but it’s like I’m a regular person when I’m in the kitchen. I have very few falls or cuts. Something my parents have never understood. Everyone thought I might go to culinary school, and I almost did.”
Banan took a drink of his wine and set it down. “What stopped you?”
Jane shrugged, unwilling to delve into that part of her life. No one in London knew why she was there, and for the time being, that’s how she wanted it.
“Ah. A secret,” he said.
Her heart skipped a beat at his lopsided grin. She was caught in his gaze, trapped. Ensnared.
But she wasn’t afraid. It felt almost natural to have Banan in her flat as she cooked for him.
“Everyone has secrets.”
His smile faded as he gave a single nod. “Nothing is more true than that, Jane.”
She looked away and finished chopping the onions and garlic before she put them into a pan to sauté.
“What are you making us?”
She straightened after grabbing a can of crushed tomatoes and a box linguine from a bottom cabinet. “One of my uncle’s recipes, as well as one of my favorite dishes.”
Banan couldn’t take his eyes off Jane. It wasn’t just because she looked good in her worn, faded jeans and black shirt, but he was transfixed with how she moved so fluidly in the kitchen. As if she’d been born to it.
She sidestepped to the stove to cook, but angled herself so she didn’t have her back to him. Her wineglass was near, but she only sipped on it.
“What happened today to make you need the wine?” he asked, pushed by a need to know the reason.
There was a slight jerk of her hand, which was the only sign he’d hit upon a touchy subject.
“It was just a bad day.”
“Was it because of last night and the client?”
She glanced at him, her smile easy as she said, “No. Apparently I wrote it down wrong. Mr. Arnold wasn’t at all happy, but then again, he never is with me.”
“Is that what Richard Arnold said you did, wrote it down wrong?”
Her response was a shrug of one shoulder.
“Why do you stay at PureGems?”
She dumped the pasta into the boiling water. “Most people don’t care for their bosses. I’m no different from thousands of other people.”
“I suppose.”
“What about you? Do you like your boss?”
He swirled his wine in the glass, watching the dark liquid. He knew she spoke of his supposed boss at PureGems, but Banan referred to Con when he said, “Actually, I do.”
“Interesting,” Jane said with a grin.
He’d come to Jane for a reason, and the sooner he did what he was supposed to do, the sooner he and his brethren could get on with their mission. “There have been rumors around the company about Arnold. They say he isna a nice man.”
“He can be rude,” she admitted, and then frowned.
She didn’t like talking about people, that was obvious. But why would she stay loyal to someone like Arnold? Banan couldn’t piece it together. He tried another tactic.
“The rumors I’m hearing is that he’s mixed up with something that could bring the company down.”
Jane’s head lifted to look at him. “Do all drivers gossip about Arnold?”
“There’s always talk. I’m just asking.”
“Yes, but that’s a very particular question.”
Damn. Banan was going to have to be careful around Jane. She was careful. But why? Was it because she was loyal or had something to hide? “Just something I heard that I thought was odd. It got me curious.”
“And you think because I’m his secretary that I would know? Is that why you asked me to dinner?”
“Nay. I asked you to dinner because I wanted to get to know you. I’m just making conversation. We work for the same company.”
She pressed her lips together, and kept her gaze on the vegetables sautéing. “I’m sorry. I do this, Banan. I…I never say the right things.”
“You did nothing wrong,” he assured her.
He saw how tense she’d become since his question. She had just begun to relax in the kitchen, and he’d ruined it. But then the image of her frightened face as she left PureGems earlier flashed in his mind.
She didn’t trust him enough to talk about Arnold, maybe not because she was loyal. But maybe because she was scared. His time getting to know Jane was going to take longer than he realized.
And somehow that pleased him.
That should have sent him out the door to have Rhys replace him, but he didn’t want to share Jane with anyone. Especially not another Dragon King, and not when their magic to prevent them from falling for humans was disappearing.
“Why do you drive for PureGems?”
He met her inquiring gaze and realized she was asking more than what her words said. She wanted to know what had gone wrong in his life to that made him just a driver for a company.
Banan came up with another lie quickly, one that would put him in a good light. And better earn her trust.
“I’m no’ just a driver. I’m a bodyguard of sorts hired to look after things.”
She stopped stirring the food and said, “Does Mr. Arnold need a bodyguard?”
Banan shrugged and took a drink of wine. “I doona know. All I know is that I was hired by corporate to keep an eye on Arnold. I go where they tell me.”
“Interesting,” she murmured, and looked back at the food. “Tell me what you did before coming to London.”
Banan suddenly hated the lies, so he decided to add a healthy measure of truth to his answers. “I’m part of a large family.”
Jane grinned as she got out two baguettes of bread and put them on a baking sheet to heat in the oven. “How large?”
“Large,” he said. “So large that sometimes you need to get away for a bit.”
“But you always go home?” she asked, and looked his way.