The beating tempo of her rapid heart had raced up until she heard it clear in her ears singing an non identified rhythm that spoke of anxiety. If only he could move away from her just a little bit, then she would regain her composure. But then, it was obvious he had been sent from the fire pit itself to come torment her until she makes a big mistake that would drag her down. Being around Tristan Jenkins was not helping her at all. Actually, it was destroying her gradually as it sucked whatever it was that it wanted from her. Everyone they say do run away from their nemesis but it seemed that in her aspect, Claire was ramming right into hers each time she tried to run away.
Enough with the talks in her head, what she wanted to understand right now was why he was there and not seeming to want to give way. He was looking right into her eyes. Really unexpected. And even though she had imagined this scene a countless times over, right now it did not feel right. Yes; as a growing teen and he being her crush, Claire used to find herself wondering what it would be like if they were in this position. She often thought that he would lean in close like he was seeming to try, put his hands behind her head to hold her and then kiss her. It was all a fantasy that would never happen unless that right now, he was really leaning forward to her and leveling his face to meet hers. Heart tempo seemed like the poor heart wanted to explode. He had to stop coming close but instead he continued doing so until when his nose was only a few inches away from hers that she was forced to put her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened so much that they wanted also to escape their sockets. He stopped there, right there and gave a side smile that always had this butterflies effect on her. That had been what she had taken to first off and now he was doing it again when she was in that awkward situation. That familiar hotness between her legs which she had been getting each time they were up close was starting again. The heat sent radiation all over her body that she was having a hard time fighting the urge to lean in for a brief kiss.
“Claire right, well I’m still of the opinion that you are scared of me.” he said suddenly as one of his hands came close to her.
It went up and she was screaming in alarm just inside her head. It had better not be what she was thinking would happen as she was not prepared. Claire could not believe what she was thinking about right now. It was dawning on her how perverted her mind had become simply because she was around a man like Tristan. She swore to herself that the sooner he reaches behind her head, the sooner she would stop everything from happening. She just had to remain calm till then so as not to dash into conclusion. He picked a fistful of her hair and then took in the scent in the most seductive way ever or so she thought. Suddenly, he looked into her eyes and told her once again that she was obviously scared of him.
Of course she was. She was scared of him and things he might do to her. She was scared also of being around him but luckily for her, while her head thought though naughty things, her mouth had no part in them.
“I’m not scared of you sir.” she mumbled into her hand that was covering her mouth
“Can’t hear you Claire.” he said.
Okay, it was high time she begged him to return to calling her Miss Willows. Calling her right now by her name directly was doing lots of things to her. It seemed like he was intentionally doing it all to her with the way he called her. She had to make him shift from her that instant so she brought her hands away from her mouth but not totally. Just enough to say a few words clearly.
“Not scared of you Mr Jenkins…” she began and he frowned briefly
“Tristan. We agreed on that right?” he demanded from her.
Oh right. They did agree on that but she had forgotten to add the clause that says no calling the other person so sweetly. He was not moving which apparently means he was waiting for her to correct herself.
“I’m not scared Tristan. I’m just not breathing fine with you… you… taking up the air.” she said.
He smiled now still mischievously and made to move. Claire was already thanking the heavens that he was finally doing what was right when he suddenly leant in as her guard was down, covering what was left of the gap between them and kissed her.
“There you go. I guess you can breathe well now.” he said to her and moved away to the work island where the ingredients were being kept.
He was acting like nothing had just happened. All too causal while she was stuck in a world where a thousands of myriads were sparkling and exploding. She did not see that kiss coming and could not explain why. This was supposed to be inappropriate but he made it feel alright. It was not right at all. He was her boss and crush. He was a celebrity and nothing good would come of it. But what she could not understand was why it felt alright regardless the odds against her and him but a little closeness from Jake and she was feeling like she was doing something against Tristan. There had to be some bad fairy playing some jinx on her. It took her a while to realize that he had been calling her all this while she was spacing out.
Claire forced herself back to reality and walked over to the work island only that she kept her distance from him. He was looking at the ingredients she had sorted and she did not want to imagine what would happen next before it actually begins to unfold. Earlier she had imagined a kiss and that had come unexpectedly. It meant no more imaginations for her whenever she was around him.
“Sir… sorry. Tristan, what are you doing?” she asked him seeing how concentrated he was on what he was doing
“We have to make food right?” he asked again
“We? But.. I… we…”she could not finish what she was saying
“Hmm. You lost air again? Should I assist you?” he asked her drawing near
“No no no!!! I’m breathing fine. Just fine. See?” she asked and started demonstrating by taking in air. Inhaling and exhaling that her nostrils seemed to be flaring.
Tristan saw and started laughing. He put his hands up in defense saying she had won obviously. Claire found her voice again and asked what he was doing. He said he thought she might need assistance from a great chef and he was more than willing to give it. She argued she did not see why that would be necessary any longer as she was doing just fine on her own. He looked her over.
“You must really want me gone.” he said to her
“You? Um… yes. Gone from my kitchen.” she said
“Your kitchen?” he asked
“Yes.” she said
“How does the kitchen in my house belong to you?” he asked her
“You said it so yourself.” she said
“Whenever did I say that?” he asked again obviously not understanding her
“In your Chicago show. You said whoever mans the cooking, owns the kitchen.” she said quoting him.
It was supposed to put him off but too late did Claire realize her mistake. She caught him smirking like he had won some heavenly title.
“So you do watch me Miss Willows? You must really want to know things about me.” he said his tone changing
“No that’s not… that’s…” she could not find words to complete her pending sentence and it hurt her right now as it made her feel like she had actually hurt his feelings.
“Not what you intended? I’ve heard that a million times from your type Willows and guess what, I don’t care what you intended. You win. Kitchen is yours, just make sure I don’t throw up after.” he said coldly and walked out of the kitchen.
Rather than rejoicing in her heart of hearts that she had successfully sent him away. Claire actually felt downcast. She had not intended to hurt him with her words which come to think of it now, she could not seem to pick out which she said that would cause him to be this way. Well, she had better put all her efforts at making certain he does not indeed throw up her food as he had warned her already. The memory of that kiss from earlier was suddenly tainted by the negative energy around them. She turned to face her duties.
He was getting in on something and he could feel it. Obviously she had been sent by one of their numerous competitors trying to bring him down. He just needed Alfredo to seek out everything he needed to know about her and then he would deal with her. How on earth could she quote him so well if she did not spy on him before being sent to him. Either way, he was certainly going to toy with her and after that with the truth about her origin, he would humiliate her for thinking she could pull a fast one on him.