Chapter Thirteen
It was easier for Isla to not take the bait Arturo handed out for her than she thought it would be, once she'd made the decision to be nice to him, to try and be friends with him.
Despite how secretive and strange he was being about this entire thing.
Isla shrugged. "I doubt it. There aren't too many people in the world that I hate. I don't think I hate any of them, actually."
"That'll change," Arturo said, tilting his head back as he finished off his glass of wine.
Hadn't that just been refilled?
The butler returned, but not with wine. This time, he came with a trolly. It actually had silver coverings on it like in fancy restaurants, but that wasn't enough to stop the delicious smells from reaching into Isla's nose and tickling the nerves that were back there.
Her mouth immediately watered at the thought of food, and she wasn't even all that hungry.
"Sir," said the butler, and he pulled off the tray. A cloud rose into the air like a nuclear explosion of steam. Okay, so maybe not quite like that. There was no mushroom cloud, but it was still neat to see.
Oh, and those delicious smells from before? Yeah, they were only multiplied by a thousand in Isla's nose. She had to swallow quickly, or else she feared she would start to drool.
"Thank you, Jeffery," Arturo said. "Why don't you tell our guest what we're having today?"
"Of course," Jeffery said, a smile on his mouth. "We have for you today a fillet of salmon, freshly caught this morning. It has been lightly oiled and seasoned with herbs before being baked in the oven. You should find it quite tender and flakey. The slices of avocado you have on the side go well with the fish. The mashed potatoes have been flavored with fresh milk, organic butter, and a touch of garlic. Red skins have been left on. Mr. Calendri prefers it that way, he finds the taste much better, and the cook agrees."
"Okay," Isla said.
Had that been necessary? Her nose was already telling her she would like what was served without Arturo showing off. And why was he showing off? He was getting into her panties no matter how impressive his cooks turned out to be.
Jeffery listed off everything else that was on the hot plate. There were steamed vegetables, also seasoned, and she hadn't noticed on the tray beneath the hot plate, a cold garden salad.
Jeffery listed everything he found important, from the herbs and spices used, to where everything had been grown. She thought she heard the word organic and non GMO thrown around, not to mention that some of the spices had apparently been imported, but she couldn't be entirely sure.
She was still having a mini orgasm over those smells, and that was distracting her from what the butler was saying.
Arturo chuckled. "Thank you, Jeffery, that's enough. I think she gets the point."
"Of course," Jeffery said, and he began to plate their meals.
Isla wasn't even all that hungry, but she couldn't wait to dig in.
The salad came first, and it was interesting to note how Jeffery offered her a choice of dressings. He had everything on his tray from caesar and french, all the way down to just plain oil and vinegar. Of course, those dressings didn't come in the bottles Isla bought from the grocery store. They were stored in metal bowls that sat over ice trays. The oil was stored in a glass container of some kind.
"French," Isla said. It was her absolute favorite thing to put on a salad.
Jeffery also plated her salmon and mashed potatoes, along with her vegetables. There was no way in hell Isla was going to be able to eat this much food, but she was sure as hell going to try.
Still, there was something a little strange about being served as though she was in a high end restaurant, the kind that she'd never bother going to because they were too expensive, when she was really a guest in a man's home.
Arturo seemed to pick up on this. He waited for Jeffery to excuse himself and walk off with the trolly before he spoke up.
"You look uncomfortable. Is everything not to your liking?"
"What? No, God, this great," Isla said. She picked up a fork and stuck her salmon with it.
Yeah, it was flaky all right. It practically fell apart when she touched it. How had Jeffery even managed to get it onto her plate in one piece?
"You don't look like you think it's great," Arturo said.
Isla shook her head, looking from Arturo to her food, and back again. "No, this is amazing, it's just a little strange, that's all. I feel like I'm in a restaurant."
Only there weren't fifty or so people around her, eating, talking, and enjoying themselves with her.
Arturo cocked his head a little to the side. "You hardly grew up poor, or even middle class. Not by a long stretch. You grew up wealthy. Isn't this how you ate at home?"
Isla paused with her food half way to her lips. She looked right at Arturo, his curious frown telling her so much in that instant.
Yeah, she'd grown up rich, but his version of rich and hers were two entirely different things, and he didn't seem to realize that. Arturo seemed to think it was perfectly normal to have someone plate his food for him, pour his dressing, and ask him if he wanted refills every single time. He was used to feeling like he was in a restaurant because he was constantly surrounded by people who were being paid to serve him.
"I was a rich girl, sure," Isla said, putting her fork down and shrugging. Then her nerves kicked up a notch as she realized how very careful with her words she needed to be. "But my parents didn't want to spoil me. I got an allowance every month when I cleaned my room and brought home good grades, and they had a monthly budget that they stuck to. I guess my family just wasn't too comfortable spending money."
"That's strange," Arturo said. He was frowning as if in thought. "Why bother living pay check to pay check when you can afford to do otherwise?"
Isla shrugged. "I don't know. I think it was how my parents were raised. My grandfather wasn't always wealthy, and he really did used to be poor. Saving money and not overspending on things that weren't necessities just seemed to carry on, even after the family got money."
Arturo was staring at her now, completely enthralled.
This was good. It meant they were learning about each other and having an, almost, normal conversation. She kept on talking while she had his attention. "We still did a lot of things ourselves, but sometimes there were luxuries. There was a housekeeper, but that was about it. She didn't wear a uniform either."
"What did she wear?" Arturo asked, still frowning in that confused, but curious way that he did.
"Her normal clothes. Well, the clothes she could clean in," Isla said. "Peggy was always great. Sometimes mom would go shopping with her, or get her nails done at the salon."
"Together?"
Isla nodded. "Yeah, together."
It hadn't been a pricey salon either. Just a normal beauty parlor that had good prices.
"With someone paid to do her laundry and clean her toilet, she spent time with her outside of the home?" Arturo asked, dark brows lifting, and definitely shocked by the notion.
Isla smiled at him, barely holding back a laugh. "Yeah, of course. They were friends, too."
Arturo stared at her. He really didn't get it.
Isla shook her head. "Okay, it's like this, whenever we all sat down to eat at our house, we did it at a nice table like this. It wasn't as big of a table, and no one served us either, you know?"
"So how did you get what you needed?" Arturo asked. He was following her, but barely.
"I'd ask my mom to pass the salt," she said. "Or my dad would realize he'd left the barbecue sauce in the fridge or wherever and he'd go to get it. The table was always pretty close to the fridge, so he never had to leave the room and go hunting for it."
Isla looked at the table quickly. "Jeffery took away the salt and pepper and the dressings, probably because the table would look cluttered with it all here, right?"
"I suppose," Arturo said. "He's around if I need more."
"Right, well, all that stuff would just stay on the table, and if I wanted it, but it was closer to you, I'd ask you to pass it over, and you would, and I'd sprinkle it on myself."
"I see," Arturo said.
He was still frowning though, even when he looked away from her. Isla had grown up rich, but Arturo's version of rich was so far out of her league that he didn't even understand living in a world where there wasn't someone paid to pass him the salt. Isla was now giving him something to think about, and not necessarily in a good way if he thought she was picking on him.
Fuck, maybe that was too much. "But this is great though. It's nice to be pampered once in a while."
"Jeffery, Sam, Martina, the rest of the staff, and the cooks, are here every night."
Okay, maybe she'd gone too far. "I wasn't trying to embarrass you."
"Who says I'm embarrassed?"
This was a clear sign for her to stop, so she did.
She took a bite of her salmon, which turned out to be the most delicious, moist and flaky fish she'd ever eaten in her entire life.
Isla actually moaned when the food touched her tongue and the flavors came together to give her tastebuds the pleasurable equivalent of an orgasm.
When she opened her eyes, Arturo was smiling at her in that predatory way she was slowly getting used to.
"It's good," Isla said, holding her hand to her mouth since there was still a bit of food in there. She swallowed and spoke again. "I take back everything I just said. Having personal chefs is awesome."
"I figured you would see it my way when you tried the food."
Isla took another bite, savoring this one a little longer than the last.
Now that she was eating, all Isla wanted to do was pig out. She was never going to admit to this feeling out loud, but part of her just wanted to stuff her face and get all that delicious flavor into her mouth as quickly as she could.
It was like swearing off of chocolate and ice-cream for six months before losing control and going on a craving binge. The only thing that stopped her from doing just that was the fact that Arturo was right there. He was watching her, and he was still smiling, even as he took bites of his own food.
Isla was very aware of the way his fork slid out between his lips every time he ate a piece of fish.
He ate like this all the time, with someone who had to be a five star chef preparing him his meals every day.
He had to have some serious willpower to not have gotten fat off of having this sort of food at his disposal all the time.
Isla took a bite of her potatoes, if only to take her mind off the fish.
No, that didn't help either. Of course they were creamy and delicious and perfect.
Isla moaned again.
"You should save those noises for the bedroom," Arturo said.
"Give me food like this to eat in your bedroom and I'll make better noises than this."
The words left her mouth before she could even properly think about what she was saying, and she totally didn't care even when she did realize it.
What did it matter anyway? Who cared if she acted a little immature and kind of, well, not like she was trying to impress him, that was for sure.
This was who she really was. Isla loved good food, and though she wasn't about to turn into a pig around him, she wasn't about to put a stop on the little noises she made.
This was part of her plan, after all. She wouldn't fake who she was. That way, Arturo might actually like who she was.
If he didn't and this all ended with him still kicked her to the curb, then no harm done so long as she still got back the family company.
Isla managed to get through her meal without making herself look like she had absolutely no self control.
She'd finished off her salad, but had to leave behind a little bit of her fish and potatoes. She was too full to eat the rest, and Jeffery returned for her plate.
"Coffee, miss?"
"No, thank you, I'm too full."
Jeffery smiled. "Ah, then should I wait a few moments before bringing your desert?"
Isla tensed in her seat. "Desert?"
Arturo was still smiling at her.
Isla laughed a little. "If I'd known someone had gone to the trouble of also putting together a nice desert, I would've saved more room."
"Not to worry, miss," Jeffery replied. "The deserts are rarely made in house. Usually they are ordered out and will keep in the freezer."
"Really?" After all the showing off Arturo had done with the food he got to eat every day, that part surprised her. "What would you have been serving then?"
Arturo was the one who answered for her. "Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen."
Isla blinked at him. "Really?"
Arturo shrugged. "I don't care what anyone says. There's almost nothing in the world better than that. Except for peanut butter ice-cream. That's in the freezer, too."
Isla blinked again, and again.
Arturo reached for his water glass. "What? Did you think I only ate five star meals all the time? I might be a spoiled little rich bastard, but I still know where to get the best food for less than fifty dollars."
Isla smiled. "That was...it was just unexpected."
And something nice to know about him. Maybe he wasn't as totally sheltered with his money as she'd thought he was.
An image of Arturo, as a young man, still a child, really, after the death of his mother, popped into her mind.
Arturo wasn't sheltered. No one could be sheltered after having a parent taken away from them. Especially when it was done by another parent.
Now she really wished she hadn't been looking over those articles in her bedroom.
"I think that will be all, Jeffery," Arturo said, pushing his chair back and standing. "Isla and I will be retiring for the night. You can do the same when you finish here."
It looked as though Jeffery actually bowed at little at the waist. Not so much that it was weird, but Isla definitely noticed it. "Of course, sir," he said, and he collected Isla's and Arturo's plates and glasses, setting them on his trolly and cleaning up.
Isla didn't move. Part of her thought she should offer her assistance. At least hand him the plates or help stack them. Jeffery always seemed to know where her hands were about to go, however, and he always beat her to the punch, reaching for the plates and taking them before she could touch them.
Arturo was behind her in that moment, and Isla's chair was pulled back from the table while she was still standing in it.
She looked up. Arturo was smiling down at her, offering his hand. He could almost be another polite gentleman who was interested in winning her approval, instead of the billionaire who wanted to play a game with her.
"Come with me, Isla, we have business to take care of."
It was the glint in his eyes when he spoke of business, that reminded her he was anything but a gentleman.
Isla shivered. Goose bumps formed along her arms and her legs. Even on her thighs.
This was perfectly all right, because tonight, she didn't want a gentleman. Gentlemen were usually not so notable when it came time to go to bed with them. Arturo looked like he would be very notable indeed. His grip was strong and warm when she put her hand into his larger palm, allowing herself to be pulled from her seat to stand.
So close. She was so damned close that she could smell his cologne. She could feel the hard firmness of his muscles beneath the expensive, casual suit he wore.
Any lingering trace of nerves she might have had, fled her in that moment. All she wanted was to be taken to bed, and to find out exactly what sort of skills this man had that gave him such a playboy reputation.
"Are you ready?" Arturo asked softly, his thumb brushing across her cheek.
************************************
Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter please vote by pressing the little star button below, or the heart button if you're reading this on the new After Dark app :) Comments and suggestions are welcome as well, thank you if you voted!
Cheers!
~Mandy