Black Rose

Chapter 7

I headed to the door and actually rang the doorbell. I was half expecting Carol to be the one to answer the door, but instead the man of the house himself did, looking breathtaking in an all black suit. He looked like he was about to say something, but his words caught in his throat as his eyes widened.

"Good evening Mr Black," I said softly.

He shook his head. "Good evening Miss Kidman. Please, come in. Let me take your coat."

I went in and he took off my coat, standing behind me, before whispering. "Jesus!"

"Problem Mr Black?" I asked, turning to face him with my most innocent look.

He cleared his throat. "None Miss Kidman."

"Where's your lovely house guard?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I'm going to assume you mean Carol?"

I nodded. "I gave her and everyone the weekend off."

"The whole weekend? You have big plans for your weekend?" I asked.

"Depends on how tonight goes," he replied.

I turned to face the direction of the dining room. "Hmm. Am I to assume that you cooked our dinner then?"

"Slow your roll Miss Kidman. I don't cook for women I don't know. My chef cooked for us before he left," he informed.

I ignored his jab. "So you can cook? I was beginning to think you'd die if you were ever left alone."

He laughed. "What would give you that idea?"

"Fabio mentioned that everyone you hire has to know how to cook," I pointed out.

"That is true, but that's only for Grace's benefit. I never want my daughter to be stuck with anyone who wouldn't be able to take care of her," he explained.

"Well, I don't know how to cook. Does that mean I'm fired?" I tested.

"In order to be fired, you would've had to have been hired. Besides, I highly doubt you can't cook," he played back.

He's right about that.

"Are we going to stand here the whole night?" I questioned.

He laughed. "I look forward to getting past this hard shell you're protecting yourself with. We can head to the dining room."

"It's not a hard shell. I just haven't eaten all day since some arrogant man decided to ruin my day," I retorted as we headed to the dining room.

We arrived and I was amazed by the transformation. I've been in this room before, but I have never seen it look so elegantly set up. There were candles lit around the room, giving it a soothing ambience when combined with the smooth classical music that was playing softly in the background.

"It is a hard shell Miss Kidman. You're adamant on shutting me out for whatever reason, but like I said, I love challenges," he replied, opening my chair for me.

"Thank you," I said. He nodded before heading to the other end of the table.

The table is long enough to seat at least twenty people, so there was quite some distance between us.

"Pardon my manners for not mentioning just how exquisite you look right now. You're truly a sight for sore eyes," he commented.

I blushed. "Thank you Mr Black. You don't look bad yourself."

"I took the liberty of pouring your wine for you. I noticed that you like it red," he informed.

I took the glass and took a sip of the obviously expensive wine. "It's superb."