Free Under the Boss's Mistletoe by Jessica Hart Page B

the door, intending to stand back and usher Jake through, but Jake was too quick for her. He reached an arm behind her and held the door, leaving Cassie no option but to go ahead of him. It was that or an unseemly tussle, but as it was she was left looking like the little woman rather than the cool, capable businesswoman she wanted to be.
    No, not a good start.
    Giovanni spied her across the restaurant and came sailing over to greet her, his arms outstretched.
    ‘Cassie! Bella!’ His kissed her soundly on both cheeks before holding her away from him. ‘You’re looking too thin,’ he scolded her, the way he always did, before turning his beady gaze on Jake. ‘And who is this?’ he asked interestedly. ‘It’s about time you brought a man here!’
    ‘Mr Trevelyan is a client, Giovanni,’ said Cassie hastily.
    ‘Shame!’ he whispered to her, plucking a couple of menus from the bar. ‘He looks your type, I think.’
    Cassie opened her mouth to protest that Jake was most certainly not her type, but realised just in time that she could hardly embark on an argument with Jake right there. She would just have to hope that he hadn’t heard. He hadn’t recoiled in horror, anyway. In fact, he didn’t seem to be paying them much attention at all, which was a little irritating in one way, but a big relief in another.
    So she contented herself with crossing her eyes and giving Giovanni a warning glare, which he ignored completely as hegestured them towards a table tucked away in a little alcove where a candle flickered invitingly. It looked warm and intimate, and perfect for lovers.
    ‘My best table for you,’ he said, handing them the menus with a flourish. ‘Nice and quiet so you can talk to your client,’ he added to Cassie with an outrageous wink.
    At least the dim lighting hid her scarlet cheeks. Cassie was mortified. ‘Did I mention Joss and I were thinking of taking our clients to the Thai restaurant next door in future?’ she muttered, but Giovanni only laughed.
    ‘I will bring you some wine and Roberto will take your order and then, don’t worry, you can be quite alone…’ Chuckling to himself, he surged off to the kitchen, leaving a little pool of silence behind him.
    Cassie unfolded her napkin. ‘I’m sorry about that,’ she said awkwardly after a moment. ‘He’s quite a character.’
    ‘So I gather,’ said Jake.
    ‘I mean, he’s lovely, but he does go a bit far sometimes. We bring a lot of clients here, but it’s usually at lunchtime, and they’re usually brides, so it’s become a bit of a standing joke that I never come with a boyfriend.’
    She trailed off, horribly aware that she was babbling. Jake was making her nervous. There was a tightness to him tonight, a grim set to his mouth, and an air of suppressed anger. Surely it wasn’t anything she had done, was it? Everything had been going so well down in Portrevick. Had he heard something?
    ‘Er, well, anyway…We’re supposed to be talking about the Hall,’ she said brightly.
    Jake seemed to focus on her properly for the first time. ‘You said you had made some progress?’
    ‘I have.’ Cassie told him about the contractors she had engaged. A small army of them was already hard at work. ‘They’re mostly cleaners,’ she explained. ‘There’s so much wood in the great hall that it doesn’t need much decorating—although they’re repainting the roof—but the walls, the floor and the fireplace need a thorough clean and polish. It’s all well in hand for the Allantide Ball.’
    ‘Good,’ said Jake absently. Cassie wondered if he had even been listening. He was frowning down at a knife he was spinning beneath one finger.
    ‘I’ve also been in touch with various local caterers, florists, photographers and so on, and started to draw up a directory of our own.’
    ‘It all sounds very promising,’ said Jake as Giovanni’s nephew appeared with a carafe of wine. Less expansive than his uncle, or perhaps just more sensitive