A Man Worth Shaving For: A Sweet Romantic Comedy

by Michelle Pennington

  His reply irked me even further. I enjoy a challenge. I’ll be in my office at seven. Melinda would no doubt appreciate your cooperation.

  That’s not playing fair.

  I only care about results. I’ll see you at seven.

  I wanted to throw something. Or hit something. But as much as this whole conversation felt like it was about more than work, I couldn’t forget how much was on the line. Not only did I need to prove to Logan that I was an asset to the company and knew how to do my job, I needed to be an advocate for others. If he convinced Melinda to fire the wrong people, I’d never forgive myself. So many futures depended on Logan’s analysis—as did the fate of the company I loved.

  The decision on whether or not to show up early required thought and sleep. I stared down at the speech bubbles on my phone, realizing that I should put his name in my contacts, but I didn’t want Madi to know who it was if she saw it again. And so Logan became Bossy Man.

  Chapter Nine

  I walked out of the elevator and turned the corner into the executive hallway at seven-thirty the next morning. It was the best compromise I could come up with. I hadn’t told Logan, and I wondered how he was going to take my little rebellion. In fact, finding that out was the only thing that made capitulating at all bearable. But as I turned the corner, his office was empty and the lights were off.

  Like an idiot, I stopped and stared into the dim room with the first pink light of the sunrise gleaming across the top of the desk. Of all the jerks. Had he really not even shown up when he’d all but coerced me to come in early with a subtle threat to tell my boss? Well, when he did get there, I didn’t intend to hold back telling him what I thought of him.

  “Good morning, Tessa.” His voice caressed the silence around me, soft but warmed by a hint of mockery.

  Turning, I crossed my arms and tilted my head to look him over. He still wore a wool dress coat over his suit with one hand thrust deep into a pocket and the other holding a cup of coffee. He must have arrived just after me. “I thought you said seven?”

  The corner of his lips twitched. “I didn’t feel like kicking my heels until you decided to arrive. Looks like I judged things fairly accurately.”

  Fuming would get me nowhere. “Enjoy your coffee, Mr. Jennings. I believe I’ll go get one for myself.” At a coffee shop at the other end of the city.

  But as I walked past him, he caught my arm in his free hand, pulling me to a stop. “There’s a reason I want to meet with you privately with no chance of being interrupted or overheard.” In response to my lifted eyebrow, he added. “And, no, not for the sort of reason you’re imagining, as delightful as that would be.”

  He released my arm and opened the door to his office, standing aside for me to precede him into the room. It took a few seconds for me to calm my body’s wayward reaction to his touch and nearness—and the look his brown eyes—before I could do so. And then, passing so close to him on my way into the room undid all that effort. Had he done it deliberately?

  I eyed him covertly as I set my bag down on his desk. There was no way to know. He looked calm and aloof as he set his coffee down and took his coat off.

  With a soft sigh, I unbuttoned my coat. Before I could shrug it off, however, Logan stepped behind me to help. His fingers brushed my shoulders, sending a shiver down my spine, but when I turned to take the coat from him, his expression was as still as glass. If only he would be as affected by these glancing interactions as I was.

  “Have a seat, Ms. Young.”

  I did so, but thoroughly rattled by this point and all too aware of how alone we were in the building, I couldn’t resist the impulse to annoy him. “You can’t decide what to call me, can you?”

  He pressed his lips together and sat down across from me. “It’s not a matter of decision but of focus. I’m working on it.”

  That pleased me more than it should have. Good. If I had to struggle, at least he did as well. “Okay. What requires so much privacy?”

  He took his leather notebook out of his pocket again, removed the pen, and opened it to a new page. With deep concentration, he twirled the pen between his long masculine fingers as he looked down at it as if it was a script he needed to study even though nothing was written there. When he finally looked up at me, his direct gaze lanced through me. “I want you to tell me which members of the staff you hired and which ones Melinda hired. And I want to hear your opinion on why this company has ceased to grow in the last year.”

  “Basically, you want me to dish the dirt on my employer.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “She’s hired me to fix her business. I’ll do everything I can to help her. But owners develop blind spots that handicap them, and it’s my job to discover what they are. My gut tells me you know at least some of them.”

  “I’ve worked as her Human Resources manager for three years. Of course I do.”

  “Telling me won’t be a betrayal, if that’s what worrying you. You’ll be helping her.” He paused with that hint of a smirk he often wore. “Plus, it will help me determine how perceptive you are—how good you are at your job.”

  “I still don’t understand the need for privacy.”

  With a quick look down at the desk, he said, “I will need to meet with you more than anyone else. Keeping some of those meetings off the radar will help to minimize any rumors that might arise otherwise.”

  “And people discovering us alone in the building together wouldn’t be worse?”

  Leaning across his desk, he crossed his arms in front of him and smiled at me. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  After a long, slow exhale, I gave him a sharp nod. “Okay. I’ll give you a list of employees later today with my hires highlighted. Everyone else will be Melinda’s. As for why Booms and Nibbles is struggling, I think Melinda got too ambitious when she hired Cindy, the previous CEO. Cindy was all about chasing trends and hitting big numbers, but that meant sacrificing our core demographic and muddying our brand. In the end, the customers who have supported us for so long were forgotten as Cindy and Melinda chased after a larger market share. Thank goodness Melinda decided Cindy had taken things too far. But there have been little things too. People who are only just okay at their jobs have led to production and shipping issues, poor customer service policies, and marketing gambles that didn’t pay off.”

  Logan listened attentively, his eyes slightly narrowed in concentration. When I paused, he wrote a few things down in his notebook. But I wasn’t done yet.

  “Now let me tell you why we’ve survived despite all of that. No matter how many mistakes we’ve made, we still provide a product that is desperately needed by so many women. Yes, it’s a smaller section of the market than that of standard women, but we are one of the few brands that cater to them—women with curves who need real support and comfort, women with wide chests but small cup sizes, women with boxy torsos, women with small waists but thick thighs. It’s hard to develop such a wide variety of fits for a ready-to-wear market. It’s expensive, and it takes a lot of research and development because we can’t fall back on the same sizing that’s been used in this industry for the last half-century. But the women who need it want to be comfortable and feel beautiful. They don’t mind spending extra—they just want to have good choices.”

  “There’s no doubt you’re passionate about this,” Logan said. “Honestly, I seldom see this level of enthusiasm outside of the owners themselves. Is it because you are part of this company’s demographic?”

  I pointed my finger at him. “Your eyes had better not shift down.”

  Logan raised his hands in a show of innocence. “I wouldn’t. Besides, I gathered enough data on that particular point before our relationship became a professional one.”

  My cheeks flushed. So he’d noticed my figure, huh? Well, of course he had. Hadn’t I noticed everything about his build and good looks? I didn’t hold that against him and only wondered what his opinion of it was. Men who clearly valued fitness and co
uld have their pick of any woman were not usually the types to appreciate women built like I was, but I couldn’t deny the chemistry between us. Although, perhaps he just liked my personality. That could be a factor for attraction, right?

  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Tessa.”

  “Ms. Young, remember?”

  “Not well enough, apparently. Are you going to answer my question?”

  “Yes, part of my enthusiasm is because I’m a customer too. But I’m also fiercely proud of Melinda’s determination to provide career opportunities for women who don’t necessarily fit the corporate mold. She hires with her heart, but her intentions are good. She started this company out of her own home, sewing bras for herself and a few friends who couldn’t find the sizes they needed in stores. At the time, she struggled with self-image issues after a painful divorce and she swore that her daughter would grow up to love her body. Her daughter was a toddler then, and one night she surprised Melinda by referring to her ‘booms and nibbles’ in a natural, matter-of-fact way just like she did with her ears, arms, and feet. And it all came together.”

  “Ah. That’s where it came from.”

  “Yeah. It’s a funny name, but it also takes us back to that innocent acceptance of our bodies before the world made us question it.”

  I felt as if I’d just been wrung out, like I’d gushed streams of my soul out for him like a fountain. There was no way to tell from his expression what he thought of it all—or of me—but I knew I couldn’t give any more, so I stood up to go.

  As I did, he took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. “People will start arriving soon, won’t they? Thank you for everything you shared. I promise I’ll respect your confidences.”

  “Just help this company get back on track, and I’ll be immensely grateful.”

  “I intend to.” He stood and followed me to the door. “Will you be coming to the brand review meeting at three o’clock today?”

  I paused in the doorway and turned to look back at him. He stood just behind me with his hand on the door. “Brand review?”

  “Yes. Angela is going to do a presentation on your current catalog and the new spring line—not just for my benefit but to hear the opinions of the rest of the management team.”

  Pressing my lips together, I smothered a laugh. “I wouldn’t miss it. See you there.”

  Chapter Ten

  The only thing more annoying than people coming into your office all day is watching beautiful women stream in and out of the office of a man you are desperately trying not to crush on. And if they weren’t in his office, they’d literally stand in the hallway talking, where he could look up from his desk and admire them at any time.

  It was amazing how all these previously driven, professional women now seemed to have nothing better to do than try to catch Logan’s attention, and I swear, one of these days there was going to be a catfight over who got to bring him coffee.

  Just before lunch, I printed off a list of all B & N employees so I could highlight the names of who I’d hired for Logan. As I walked across my office to the printer, I glanced his way and caught him watching me from his desk. He had his leather notebook open in front of him with his shoulders sort of tense and hunched. As I picked up the warm paper fresh from the printer, I scrunched my eyebrows together, silently asking if he was okay. His eyes flashed to Bree and Rian hanging out in the hallway before frowning at me. The poor guy was probably starving to death and couldn’t escape.

  And then Angela joined the other two women on their stakeout. This was getting ridiculous.

  It didn’t take me long to finish marking the list of employees. I folded it in half to keep the women in the hall from seeing it, put on my coat, and grabbed my purse and keys. Out in the hallway, I ignored the others and knocked on Logan’s door, barely waiting for his invitation to enter before going inside.

  As I shut the door behind me, I released a long breath and walked over to his desk. I could feel three pairs of feminine eyes digging into my back through the glass wall behind me. “I’ve always hated these offices. Give me privacy over design any day.”

  He stood up and came around from behind his desk. “I’m going to go crazy. I can’t get anything done. Don’t they have anything better to do than congregate outside my office?”

  “A week ago, yes. Today?” I grinned. “Apparently not.” I handed him the folded paper. “All the names highlighted in blue are the ones I hired.”

  As he took it from me, he stepped closer. At this distance, it was harder to keep my expression and pulse normal, so I stepped back. He took a step closer. “Let’s go have lunch.”

  “I thought you didn’t want people to start rumors about us?”

  His eyes flashed to the hallway. “I don’t think I’m getting out of here without a lunch date, anyway, so why not have the one I want?”

  If only he wouldn’t say things like that, I’d have an easier time keeping my crush at normal, non-obsessive levels. With more strength than I knew I had, I steeled myself against giving in. “I have a better plan. I’ll have something delivered for you and see you at the meeting in an hour.”

  I’d thought the hardest part of this was going to be convincing the other ladies to join me for lunch, but that was actually turning my back on him and walking out of his office alone. “Hey ladies,” I said as I shut his door behind me again. “Can I treat you to lunch at Domingo’s?”

  Angela, Bree, and Rian looked at each other, then back at Logan, who’d returned to his desk with my list in his hand. After a long, hesitant pause, Angela nodded her head decisively. “I never say no to Domingo’s.”

  “Ooh, chips and salsa sounds perfect,” Rian agreed. “I’ll get my coat.”

  As the other two women hurried off to get their things, I looked at Bree, waiting for her answer. She shrugged and looked down her nose at me. “I don’t eat lunch.”

  Was that a comment about my size? From anyone else, I wouldn’t have thought so, but the way Bree’s eyes glanced over me while her top lip curled, I couldn’t miss her inference—that I needed to skip a few meals too. But since I’d already made up my mind to move her to another position and away from Logan, I had no problem smiling back at her. “That works out great, since you just wasted an hour of the company’s time hanging out in the hallway. I suppose you can spend your break that way if you want to.”

  I wasn’t usually so sharp with people, but I couldn’t deny an evil sense of satisfaction at Bree’s expression. No doubt she’d spend the rest of the day fantasizing about clawing my eyes out.

  Domingo’s was a short walk down the block and a favorite of most B & N employees. As soon as the three of us were seated at a table, I ordered some street tacos for Logan and arranged to have them delivered to his office. As expected, Angela and Rian didn’t let my order pass without comment.

  “Why didn’t you just invite him to eat with us?” Rian asked.

  As the waiter had just set a basket of hot chips fresh from the fryer in front of us, I had a perfect excuse to put off answering. I grabbed the salt shaker and doused the chips before giving the basket a good shake. “Because I know how busy he is. And besides, he’s doesn’t want to get too friendly with us.”

  Rian sighed and selected another chip. “That explains why he’s so serious and distant.”

  My brows furrowed in surprise. Serious? I could see that…a little. But it was just an act he put on. Couldn’t they see the amusement in his eyes? Or the way his lips twitched when he wanted to laugh? And distant? No. It would have been such a relief if he had been, but something about him pulled you in. Despite all the awkwardness and the tension of our situation, I felt way too connected to him—too comfortable.

  Angela laughed. “But who cares if he’s like an iceberg? I’d cuddle up to those shoulders any day. And man, just the way he walks…” Her eyes went dreamy for a minute. “That man knows how to move that gorgeous body of his.”

  The suggestive purr in her voice both annoyed m
e and sent a flush of heat through me. “Hey, are you two going to spend this whole lunch gushing about him?”

  “Yes,” they answered together before bursting into laughter.

  The waiter came with our food then, so I hoped it would be enough to distract them. But as soon as he’d moved away again, Angela looked up from her taco salad and grinned mischievously. “I saw him without his suit coat on the other day and his white shirt was thin enough to show off what he’s got under it. Let me just assure you that he’s as built as you’ve been imagining.”

  My cheeks flamed. I hadn’t been imagining, precisely. Remembering? Yes. Because I’d once had those strong arms around me and been pressed against that firm chest.

  But this conversation just reminded me that Logan was a living, breathing fantasy. The dangerous kind. Not only was he here for just a few weeks, but he’d already told me he didn’t do relationships. And even if he did, I wasn’t exactly Logan-worthy.

  I took a bite of my avocado enchilada and made a decision. It was time for a list of all the reasons I couldn’t let myself get swoony-stupid over him. Angela and Rian were goners, but they didn’t seem to care. I did.

  While I’d been locked inside my own thoughts, Angela and Rian had continued chatting, but Rian’s words snapped me back into reality. “The meeting is going to be interesting. We’ve never had a man in there before. Are you going to leave out all the sexy stuff?” she asked Angela.

  “No. Why should I? I’m sure he’s seen plenty of it anyway, and that’s one of the big branding decisions we’re trying to make right now anyway. Besides, I kind of want to see if I can figure out what he likes.”

  Rian’s mouth fell open. “Like you’d ever get to use that information.”

  Angela shrugged with all her natural confidence. “You never know. Crazier things have happened than two people getting together at work.”

  Was the girl a complete idiot? I’d never thought so before. “You seriously think seducing the business consultant determining your fate is a good idea?”