Page 24 of Naughty Heart

“That’s a great idea. Do you have any thoughts about how to implement something like that?” he questioned me.

“I think so. I’d be happy to put something together, if you’d like.”

Nodding slowly, Malcolm seemed to have a look of awe on his face. “That would be wonderful, Evelyn. I’m really excited about it.”

I offered a smile in return. “Me, too. I hope it’ll be successful if you implement it, too.”

“I’m absolutely going to put whatever you come up with into action,” he assured me.

Feeling good about myself, I stood up and declared, “I better get to work then.”

“Okay.”

Without wasting another minute, I spun around and walked across the hall to my office. Then I got to work on putting together some materials on an employee recognition program.

And whenever I paused to think about something, I’d glance up and catch Malcolm looking at me from across the hall.

MALCOLM

When it cameto the female form, I couldn’t say I was a leg man. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I had anything against them, either.

I liked to think I appreciated all parts of a woman’s body equally.

But right now, all I could think about was legs.

Evelyn’s legs, to be precise.

It’s not like I had much of a choice in the matter. It was Thursday morning, she was at her desk, and I’d spent the better part of the last couple of days sitting directly across the hall, being able to see her right in front of me.

And I was a guy who was trying to do everything I could to turn my current predicament within this company around, so being on my best behavior was critical. I didn’t know if it was because I’d essentially told myself that I wouldn’t be going out to have any real fun over the coming weeks that made it worse, but I was struggling right now.

The longer I looked at Evelyn’s bare legs, the harder and harder it became to have any productive thoughts about the actual work I needed to do.

I could have closed my door—I probably should have. I kept telling myself I was leaving it open in case she had any questions about anything, as she learned what she needed to know to do her job properly.

But I knew I was lying to myself.

I could have easily closed the door, and if Evelyn had any questions, she could have called my phone, sent me an email, or walked over to my office. Instead of doing that, I decided it was better to torture myself all day long.

The only thing I could be proud of was that I thought I was doing a relatively decent job of keeping the way I felt hidden. I did my best to try to be discreet, and I didn’t think Evelyn had noticed the appreciation I had for her legs.

Then again, it wasn’t just her legs I found myself admiring. Physically speaking, Evelyn had it all. Long, dark brown hair that landed right at the middle of her back, gorgeous green eyes, and the most kissable set of lips I’d ever laid my eyes on. Of course, there was also her body. It seemed every dress she wore molded to her body like a second skin. But it was never raunchy. And though she was petite and shorter than me, she did have enough curves in the places that mattered.

Ever since she started working here, I found myself envisioning her before drifting off to sleep each night.

It hadn’t even been a week. How was I going to make it to the Christmas party without losing my self-control?

Just as I was having that thought, someone blocked my view of Evelyn and scoffed, “Do you even know the holiday is approaching?”

With the ability to focus on Evelyn gone, I glanced up and found my sister standing there.

Shit.

Immediately, I stood, rounded my desk, and moved toward the door she’d just stepped through.

It was then I noticed Evelyn had looked away from her computer to see what was happening in my office. My eyes connected with hers for just a moment before I instructed, “Please hold my calls.”

She gave me a nod in response but said nothing otherwise.