Oh, Keep Your Shirt On - Michelle Pennington Page 0,28

by my presence.

“What? Oh, no. We’re just talking.”

“I see.” One of the best tools I had to control a situation was, funny enough, calm silence.

As the seconds ticked by, I watched both of the women grow steadily more uncomfortable. The tall one finally spoke again, this time obviously annoyed. “I’m the Brand Manager. My office is right down there.”

Since she didn’t tell me her name, it was clear she was just trying to establish her superiority. But even if my position wasn’t as high as hers, my main job was to keep them away from Mr. Jennings. As far as I was concerned, the only people I’d give way to were Tessa and whomever owned the company.

The sweet-looking, petite woman relented first. “Um…I’d better get going. I’ll talk to you later, Angela.”

After a short stare down, the tall woman—Angela?—walked away too.

Pleased with my victory, I walked back to my desk and continued exploring the different programs I needed to learn.

A moment later, Mr. Jennings emerged and crossed the hall to Tessa’s office. Since I’d seen the two of them leave the restaurant together the other night, I suspected there was more between them than they showed here at work, and that was great with me. I’d be perfectly happy if part of my job was to help them keep their romance secret.

Tessa had given me an amazing opportunity. She deserved to find some happiness.

Only after that thought flashed through my mind did I wonder when I’d started to associate romance with happiness.

Chapter Eleven

Anxious to finish some of the training I needed to do, I got to work early on Friday morning and passed by Tessa’s office just in time to see Mr. Jennings carefully setting up an action figure on her desk. I smiled at this latest evidence that something was going on between them and got situated at my desk before he came out. I didn’t want him to know I’d seen what he was up to.

At eight o’clock, I took him a cup of coffee and the reports he’d asked me to print off for him before he went to his meeting with the design team. He thanked me quietly and went back to work but caught my attention before I left his office. “Actually, Krista, I’d like you to come to this meeting with me. Would you be able to?”

No doubt he wanted to have someone to buffer him from Angela, so I didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”

And so I found myself sitting in a meeting with Mr. Jennings and Angela in her office, trying not to zone out in case I needed to take notes on anything. Mr. Jennings hadn’t asked me to, but I wanted to at least look like I was doing something besides playing bodyguard.

When they finally finished, Mr. Jennings glanced at his watch and stood up. “I’d better hurry. I have a meeting with Melinda in a few minutes.”

“Thank you for your recommendations, Logan,” Angela said, a warm purr in her voice.

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said as he slipped out the door.

I was on the point of following him when Angela called me back. “Krista, I realized that I haven’t shown you around our product line. Do you have a few minutes to come dig around in my sample room with me?”

Since Mr. Jennings was probably already in his meeting across the hall, I didn’t have a good excuse not to. And I was curious. Still, I studied her a moment, wondering if she was really sincere or if this was a tactic to get me to like her so she could have access to Mr. Jennings. Regardless, I replied, “I do.”

“Great. Follow me.”

As she led me down the executive hallway and around in a big loop through the other departments, she talked cheerfully. “You know, at Booms and Nibbles, we pride ourselves on offering sizes to fit all body types. Every time we hire someone new, I like to challenge our catalog by finding items to fit her.”

“Oh.” I looked down at my chest as we walked. “Well, I’m pretty small.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice. That’s exactly why I want to show you around. We have a great deal to offer women like Tessa who have big cup sizes and curvier figures, but since I’m an A-cup myself, I make sure we have a lot to offer on our end of the sizing too.”

“That’s great. A lot of what I can find in stores looks like it’s designed for preteens.”

Angela