But as they neared the date for the restaurant opening, he found it harder and harder to stop seeing her as an attractive—if too serious—woman.
It made him crazy that he couldn’t accept that she wasn’t interested and move on. This was Vegas. There were thousands of women arriving every day looking to have a good time. Perfect for a frequent flier like him. He rarely stayed in the same location for more than a few days. The time he’d spent in Vegas these past few months was the most settled he’d been since leaving New York City ten years earlier.
A low chuckle vibrated his chest. “Please don’t try to explain it,” he said. “I think it’s the first honest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“That’s not true.” But she went no further.
“I think it is.”
Ashton had watched her walking the line between frustration and diplomacy with finesse and grace these many months. He wasn’t completely oblivious to how hard he’d made her life.
At the beginning of the project he’d been excited to put his creative stamp on Las Vegas. He hadn’t understood until it was too late how difficult his ideas would be to communicate. He’d demanded changes that irritated the designers and caused forward progress to halt. Forced by his filming timeline to oversee the restaurant from thousands of miles away, he’d found few things that met with his approval. The layout of the kitchen wasn’t to his satisfaction. Numerous shipments of lighting and furniture samples didn’t meet his expectations.
Then there were the filming delays caused by the Indonesian weather. Days of rain threw off their schedule. The crew joked that their ratings would skyrocket if they captured him soaked through, his clothes plastered to his body, but no one wanted to venture out into the mud and damp.
“Why don’t I tell Cole he blew the interview and then fix something delicious. You can tell me what’s bothering you while we eat.”
“The lack of a head chef is what’s bothering me.”
“There has to be something else. You’re not usually so testy.”
“I’m not testy. I simply don’t have time to eat with you.”
“Five minutes ago you were ready to sit down and taste everything Cole had prepared.” He crossed his arms and regarded her solemnly. “So I have to ask, what is it about my food you don’t like?”
“It’s not your food. I ate at Turinos while you were executive chef and the food was brilliant. You don’t seriously think I’d invite you to open a restaurant here if I didn’t love your cooking.”
“Then is it me you don’t like?” He held up his hand to forestall her denial. “I’ve been told I can be difficult to work with.”
She took a deep breath and let it out, releasing some of the tension. “You’ve been murder to work with, but I think the restaurant’s going to be worth every name I’ve called you.”
Her bluntness made the corners of his mouth twitch. “You’ve called me names?”
“Never where anyone could hear me.”
“Of course.”
“Meaning?”
“Just that you’re too much of a lady to ever let loose.”
“And there’s something wrong with being a lady?”
In the back of his mind a rational voice warned that he was baiting her. At the beginning of their association he’d often lobbed provocative statements her way. But she’d been far too professional to react and eventually he’d stopped aggravating her. This conversation felt different. As if she’d let the mask slide and was giving him a taste of her true self.
“Only that you never seem to have any fun.”
She wasn’t the only one who’d done her homework. He knew about the contest she was waging against her half sisters to one day take over as CEO of the family business. She’d had a phenomenal amount of success in her career, but Harper wasn’t one to rest on her past achievements. In that way, they were alike. No one could put as much pressure on Harper as she put on herself.
“I have a great deal riding on the success of my hotel.” She wouldn’t stop until she had everything exactly the way she wanted it. “And you aren’t one to talk. You barely take any time off between filming The Culinary Wanderer, promoting the series and managing your other restaurants.”
“I won’t deny that I’m busy, but I also take time to enjoy what I’m doing.” He cocked his head. “Do you?”
“I enjoy my work. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t.” But beneath her vehemence was a grain of doubt.
She’d tried to hide her weariness with a careful application of concealer and blush, but he’d watched her long hours bite deeper into her energy each time he came to check on the restaurant’s progress.
“But there must be something for you besides work,” he said. “What’s something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t gotten around to yet?”
“You make it sound like I’m sacrificing everything for my career.”
In fact, he hadn’t been saying that at all, but that she chose to interpret his question this way told him more than she’d intended.
“Everyone has dreams of something carefree and fun they’d like to do someday.”
“I agree.”
“Tell me one of yours.”
“I don’t get the point.”
Was she stalling? Trying to come up with something safe? “Humor me. What’s the first thing that pops into your mind?”
With her brows drawn together in exasperation, she blurted out, “I’d like to ride a camel across the desert and sleep in a tent.”
Ashton wasn’t sure which of them was more surprised by her outburst. “Seriously?” He laughed. “That’s not at all what I expected you to say. I thought you’d tell me you wanted to...” He trailed off. They’d worked together for nine months and he knew so little about her.
“Wanted to what?” she prompted, wary curiosity in her warm brown eyes.
“I’m not sure. You aren’t the sort of woman I imagine wanting to run off to Paris on a shopping spree or lounge on a yacht.” She was too driven by timetables to enjoy such frivolous pursuits. “Maybe something more serious-minded. A visit to a museum, perhaps?”
His suggestion didn’t meet with her approval. “You know, I’m a little tired of everyone criticizing me for being too serious.”
Whoa, he’d definitely touched a nerve there. “Who is everyone?”
“My family. My classmates when I was in school. Friends. Life isn’t all about play, you know.” She glanced down at her smartphone and frowned.
“It’s also
