Sara thought, without ever having knowingly seen a custom-tailored shirt. Nice. More men should go custom. Maybe she should go custom.
“It’s a great old warhorse,” he nodded to the machine, “so I suppose we can allow it this one eccentricity.”
Eccentricity. Each letter sounded crisply. Sara could listen to him talk all day. Since she dealt with personnel records, she knew Simon Northrup was from Boston and had gone to boarding school in England. The resulting accent might not be as noticeable up North, but in Texas the clipped edges and slightly formal word choice contrasted with the good-ole-boy twang she heard all the time. Contrasted in a good way. A sexy way. She was beginning to see why he appealed to Hayden.
As he rolled up his sleeves, Simon asked, “Are you a new employee? A temp?”
Gritting her teeth, Sara sighed inwardly. Unmemorable. That’s what she was.
“Wait—I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” He studied her, his head tilted slightly in a way that emphasized his square jaw.
If Hayden hadn’t gone on about him, Sara would never have noticed the square jaw. “I’m Sara Lipton from payroll. I was trying to avoid the wait at our machine.”
“Well, we’ll see if we can’t get you back in business here.”
Sleeves rolled up to reveal arms more tanned than she’d expected, Simon closed the side door Sara had opened, raised the heavy top section and leaned over the machine.
From then on, Sara saw everything in slow motion…the way his shirt clung to him as he bent over the machine and reached inside; the way his flanks stretched; his hips flexed and the fabric of his dark slacks stretched, smoothed, outlined and emphasized his fabulous behind….
Oh, boy, did it emphasize. Sara inhaled deeply. Simon’s rear end was indeed a thing of beauty. She was an immediate European-cut convert. Who knew?
She swallowed, aware of a nearly irresistible urge to touch it. No, not touch…grab. Manhandle, as it were. It was a revelation. Was this the way men felt about women?
“The paper isn’t jammed in the normal spot,” Simon said from inside the copier.
Sara thought of Hayden’s deliberate jamming which she now not only understood, but applauded. “I really appreciate you taking the time to fix it.” Take all the time you want.
Simon raised himself slightly to glance at her over his shoulder. Sara nearly whimpered when the movement shifted his hips, resulting in the perfect calendar shot. Man and machine.
Actually, just the man was plenty.
“My pleasure,” he said before turning back.
The pleasure is all mine. Sara had picked up her employee evaluations and gripped them closely to her chest. She hadn’t thought she was the type to appreciate a man’s physical attributes à la carte like this. Usually, she accepted or rejected the whole package, not that Simon’s total package was anything to reject. It was just that there were some spectacular, uh, aspects to consider. So she considered them carefully, even while acknowledging that this package was not for her. Undoubtedly, some other woman unwrapped it at night.
“Got it.” He straightened and tossed two scraps of paper into the wastebasket.
“Thanks.” Sara would retrieve them later. Her department now shredded all document-related trash to ensure privacy.
Simon washed his hands at the sink, then poured a mug of coffee. “Happy copying,” he said on his way out before she could say anything memorably brilliant.
Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh. How could this man have been working just two floors away from her for the past year?
Okay. Calm down. Realistically Simon Northrup was not her type. Or rather, she wasn’t his type. She didn’t have the…the something men who looked like that required in their women.
Hayden had it. In fact Hayden had too much of it.
Missy had a younger version of it.
And Sara was going to do her best to get it.
She retrieved the paper and hurriedly finished her copying. She was going to have to use this machine more often.
When Sara made it downstairs to the lobby of the Perkins building, she saw Hayden and Missy sitting at one of the glass-topped tables in the atrium near the fountain. They already had salads and there was a third one for her. Missy was showing Hayden a magazine. From Hayden’s bored expression, Sara knew it was a bridal magazine. At least they hadn’t strangled each other yet.
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Hayden was saying as Sara got within earshot.
“The blue is the problem!” Missy reached into the tote bag she carried everywhere—the official Melissa and Peter Wedding Tote. It had once been a pristine white, but was now looking a little shopworn. Missy had been engaged for a year and a half while she planned the ultimate wedding.
She held up a wad of fabric swatches. “I have to make a decision soon and not one of these matches the Jordan almonds!”
“So have them custom dyed. I know a company that will dye them any color you want. They can even match your baby blue eyes.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Sara murmured under her breath as she slid into a chair.
Hayden had a dangerous sparkle in her eye. “In fact, they’ll even inscribe Melissa and Peter or the date on each individual almond.”
Missy’s eyes widened. “They will?”
“In gold or silver if you want.”
“Oh…” Missy stared off into the distance, her expression approaching rapture, as she added personalized almonds to her wedding vision.
They’d seen her zone out before and undoubtedly would again. Sara leveled a look at the unrepentant Hayden.
Moments later, Missy returned from wedding Valhalla. “Okay.” She clicked her pen. “What’s the name of the company?”
“Bridal Sweets,” Hayden told her. “I’ll have to look them up and get back to you.”
“Hayden, you’re a doll. Thanks!” Missy beamed at her. Hayden smiled back.
Sara was sure the world would stop spinning. “Okay, now that Missy’s almond problem is taken care of, I’d like you both to turn your attention to me.”
“That won’t be any fun,” Hayden muttered.
“Mr. Northrup fixed my paper jam,” Sara said to taunt her.
“Mmm.” Hayden closed her eyes. “And did you enjoy it?”
“Oh, yes. It took a while because the jam was way in the back.”
They both exhaled.
“What are you two talking about?” Missy asked.
“Never
