powder blue tie and shirt and get to know that sexy body with an up close and personal hands-on inspection. The second he opened his mouth and said, “I’m here about the job,” she kicked the naughty thoughts from her mind. Stripping him and getting to know him better was no longer an option.
He had big hands; she noticed that, too, when he handed her his CV. He didn’t just sit it on the counter and slide it to her like everybody else had done. He made sure he put that high-grade piece of paper in her hand. He made sure she had to look at it, not just pick it up off the counter and add it to the pile of resumes behind the cash register. He stood there, waiting, watching her and every second seemed like torture because she could barely concentrate on what she was doing. He smelled so good, like the desert after a spring rain mixed with a hint of spice. She resisted the instinct to close her eyes and inhale the scent of the walking fantasy in front of her.
“As you can see,” he had said. “I have extensive experience in keeping people, and property, safe.” His voice was low, like a nice alto singer or the bass clef G-string of a cello and she wondered just how smooth that voice would sound in the bedroom. She had mentally kicked herself, telling herself to let it go. It had been too long since she had a serious relationship and that had to be the problem—at least that’s what she told herself anyway. Once she put her mind back on business at hand and actually managed to concentrate on the paper in front of her she saw a man who was qualified, more than qualified for the position he was applying for. She wanted to hire him; he was professional, well put together, respectful and confident. His skills were top notch according to the paper in her hand. She wanted to hire him, but she knew she couldn’t afford him. Maybe what impressed her most was that he didn’t back down. He wanted the job and he went after it. Of course now she knew his reason behind wanting the job. She was just a favor for a friend. Why did that bother her so much?
Well, it had all worked out anyway. He was going to be working for her, which was both good and bad. She was glad she had the best of the best for the security at her store, but not so glad that the sexy man nearly boxing her in the room was now officially off limits.
“So,” she cleared the husky tone from her throat. “This is where you’ll be, and of course you’ve seen the store. That’s all there is to it.”
“There’s a backdoor;” he stated, not asked.
“Yes, um…okay, let me lock the front and we’ll go.” She locked up the front door and flipped the Be Right Back sign to the facing out position. “Come with me,” she went to a door just down from the cash register. “Through here,” she pulled open the door and he followed her. “There’s no dress code really,” she said. “So you can wear whatever you want, just please don’t come in here with your pants hanging down around your thighs,” she shook her head to shake the image from her mind. “Not that you look like the kind of guy who would go for that sloppy, I forgot my belt and my pants are three sizes too big, look.” He was quick to assure her she didn’t need to worry about that look on his body at all. “Down this hall, that door back there is the backdoor for the store.” When they reached the door, she watched him survey the lock as he looked up at the miniature light bulb lighting the hallway. He shook his head. Great, he wasn’t happy with that either. She knew the light wasn’t perfect. It had a tendency to give off that Hollywood horror flick feel, but short of getting an electrician in to rewire the place there was nothing she could do about it.
“This is all you have?”
She sighed an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, that’s all I have,” she nearly snapped. She watched him take a small file from his back pocket and fiddle with the lock for all of two seconds before it easily gave way. He opened the door, looked at her and