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“Well, definitely not in the course of my normal life,” she said with another smile.
He returned it; her stomach knotted. She had two more mouthfuls of food.
“Are they rude to you?”
Was that sympathy in his voice? She hoped not. She didn’t want him to pity her. But she wasn’t going to lie to him.
“Sometimes I think they’re just rude in general. Not all of them but a lot. So, the fact I’m in their orbit, in a service role, yeah, they can be rude to me.”
He shook his head with disapproval. “I hate that.”
“It’s fine. Some people just think they’re better than others.”
“They’re not.”
“I know that. Which is why it doesn’t really bother me. If anything, I laugh about it.” Then, remembering he was essentially her boss—or her boss’s boss’s boss’s boss, at least—she quickly clarified. “Not ever around the guests, of course. Just later, when I’m alone.”
“I don’t doubt your professionalism, Skye. I’ve come up against it myself, remember?”
She breathed out, then stood. She’d finished her dinner, and her champagne, and now had to get home. She looked around a little regretfully.
“Well,” she said, reaching for her bag. “I’d better be off.”
He stood. “I’ll have Alec take you home.”
“Oh,” she frowned. “That’s fine. I’ll just take the subway.”
His features tightened and for the briefest moment she felt something from him—something that put her in mind of his position in the business world. Easy authority. Not like Jay, who’d bullied her and forced her to submit to him because he’d needed that to feel good. Leandro seemed to radiate confident leadership now. “This won’t work if you take the subway. For as long as you’re seeing me, Alec will drive you.”
She laughed huskily. “But I use public transport all the time.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want your mugging on my conscience.”
“I have no intention of getting mugged.”
“Why not use my driver?”
“Because he must have better things to do than transport me around New York…”
“It’s his job.”
Her eyes glittered a little. “Now who’s taking the help for granted?” She said, only half-teasing.
“Alec likes to drive and is very well remunerated. Believe me, he won’t mind.”
She shook her head a little. “But I would.” She pressed a hand to his chest. “This isn’t a big deal, is it?”
A muscle throbbed in his jaw. “If you object to Alec driving you, then I will take you home myself.”
“No,” she rejected even more quickly, recognizing that he wasn’t going to back down. She didn’t really want to back down either, but he was right. This wasn’t a big deal. If it weren’t for Jay and how he’d messed Skye up, she would probably have gleefully accepted the offer of a lift right from the beginning. At this time of night, it would be a pretty quick commute across the river. “That’s okay. Don’t go to any trouble. I’ll go with your driver.”
He relaxed visibly. “Bene. I’ll see you tomorrow, cara. Just text me what time you need to be collected.”
CHAPTER SIX
SHE HAD ALEC DROP her off a little way down the street. She didn’t want to risk anyone seeing his car out the front of her home. It wasn’t like Jay sat out in the street and spied on her, but she’d learned a long time ago that you could never be too wary with that guy.
Besides, she wasn’t sure she wanted Leandro’s driver to know which house was hers.
