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admiring how quickly you do that. I like to cook; I was studying your technique, and I um, got distracted.” He was lying through his perfect teeth Jewel thought. But that smile, holy hell, it did things to her. She clenched her legs together.
    She swallowed. “Okay, but was there something else?” she repeated her question hoping he would move along. The girls behind him were laughing and giving her the knowing nod. She was sure Louis was seething by now if he were still paying attention the casino’s attorney who had yet to greet him.
    “Yes, of course.” He winked at her. “I am wondering about the food I saw you take last month to bring to the food pantry. I have been going over loss reports for the board, and wanted to be sure they were recorded somewhere. I’m finishing up the quarterly reports, and needed to see the kitchen accounts.”
    Jewel’s heart hammered in her chest. She hadn’t been expecting that at all. She remembered that night, and how guarded he had been. She had to admit it had looked bad, but she had explained her actions and he had seemed to accept them. It was something she had been doing since she started working here. Louis had asked her to take over the chore because of her proximity to the food bank. “Um, yeah. The inventory is kept in a white binder. It is hanging over there by the telephone.” He glanced towards the binder, hanging exactly where she said it would be. He’d known that, but had wanted to gauge her reaction. Other than a slight flaring of her nostrils, she had answered smoothly and without delay. He gave her a quick nod, and began to turn. But her voice stopped him. “Louis is very careful to not over order. But sometimes we do. We don’t always know how many of the customers will be eating in, or where exactly in the casino they will choose to eat.”
    He gave her a stunning megawatt smile that she was sure had charmed many panties off of many women. She felt slightly dizzy and knew if she spent any time with him alone, she would be stripping hers off in less than ten seconds. God, he was just too handsome for words. But she wouldn’t be doing it for her own kitchen. She just wanted to. Period. The man was as hot as they came.
    Joseph saw the girl gaze at him with interest though she tried to mask it. He saw the signs. Her eyes sliding quickly down his body. Her nostrils flared. But he also noticed how quick she had come to the defense of her boss. She was loyal. He liked that. “Of course. That’s understandable. I’m sure it’s hard to predict how much you’ll need. But with the recent thefts, and overages, and merchandise loss we have had, we are just cracking down a bit, and making sure everything matches up before we begin signing the new purchase orders.”
    He watched her reaction. He saw her swallow. Hard. “Oh, I didn’t know there was a problem.” She knew it was dumb before she said it, because it happened all the time. People took a bit home, not realizing each and every little theft added up. But she hadn’t realized it was such a huge problem was what she meant to say.
    His smile evaporated with her words. “Theft is always a problem in a place this size.” Jewel felt uncomfortable under his inspection, she couldn’t explain it. This man ran hot one minute and cold the next. He unnerved her. There was just no other way to describe it. Her attraction to the man, and the dreams she had of him recently, were one of the reasons. And then there was the fact that she felt a slight twinge of guilt too. She sometimes took a few vegetables out of each crate to bring home before dropping them off the rest at the pantry. She vowed to herself to not do that again. She herself was a client at the food pantry, but she would now wait to take the items from them from now on.
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” she mumbled lamely as she pushed the pile of beans out of her way and began to finely chop the onions also sitting on her work station. Her discomfort