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“Sure, sure, I’ll see you guys over there after shift.”

I hurried across the factory, realizing that I probably should have used the entrance and locker room on this side of the building. I’d gone in on the other side just out of habit. Then again, I wouldn’t have seen my friends if I had.

My concerns about everyone on my team treating me like a snot-nose kid aside, I was looking forward to having a new challenge. I could do my regular job in my sleep after being in the same position for so long. I was excited to use my forklift driver certification and learn more about how we created some of our other products.

When I got to the main work area for sector eleven, there was a group of people gathered on one side of the room. I walked over to join the group just as David Weston, one of the suits from the admin office, climbed up on something to raise himself above the crowd. Typical suit, they all thought they were above us.

Although David was also George’s brother-in-law, which meant I ran into him at social events several times a year. He wasn’t too bad of a guy, other than the stick up his ass and the fancy pants clothes he always wore.

“Everyone! Your attention please.” His voice was as snooty as the pinstriped suit he was wearing. “I’m pleased to introduce you to the new foreman for this sector, Jordan Bowerman. Jordan, come on up here.”

David shuffled to the side of whatever he was standing on and to my surprise, a woman appeared next to him. And not just any woman, the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on.

From back here I could only see her from the shoulders up. She had curly red hair that was pulled back behind her in a ponytail or a bun, I couldn’t tell from here, and several red curls had escaped to frame her face. I pushed through the crowd to move closer.

The new lady foreman was dressed simply in faded jeans, work boots, and a plain black tee shirt that did little to hide her generous breasts. She had curvy hips and strong looking thighs that I immediately pictured wearing as earmuffs. My gaze returned to her face, noting her pale skin, little button nose, and bright green eyes.

Our eyes met briefly, and I felt the oddest sensation, kind of like I’d touched something electric. My entire body was buzzing with excitement, and it wasn’t because I was going to be driving a forklift. It was because of the woman in front of me. I suddenly remembered something that Leo had told me years ago, after his wife’s funeral.

“The first time I saw my Anna, it was like being struck by lightning,” he’d said. “I didn’t even know her name, but I knew without a doubt that she was the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. And I did. Or the rest of her life anyway.”

I’d chalked the romantic sentiment up to an old man’s sorrow about losing his wife, but now I knew the truth: love at first sight was real and I’d just experienced it. I just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

Jordan

“The new foreman is a lady?” someone whispered loud enough that I heard it up here.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. After so many years working as one of the only women in manufacturing, I was used to getting this reaction. I’d fought tooth and nail to move into a leadership role and done well enough at my last place that they’d offered me a generous incentive to move here to Texas to replace someone who’d been encouraged to retire. Encouraged because his team wasn’t meeting all their benchmarks. Or any of them, really.

I had a lot of experience turning around teams like this, having done so several times at my previous factory, but I wasn’t sure if I’d made the right decision relocating like this. Small town Texas was like a different country compared to the urban area of Michigan I’d come from. I’d heard that the men down here were much more stubborn about gender expectations than the men up North, but then again, I wasn’t one to back down from a challenge either.

“Hello everyone.”

I stood up straight and made my voice loud and strong as I met the eyes of several of the workers.

“Thank you David for that warm welcome. I just moved here from Detroit, where I was the head foreman at your sister factory. I have over twenty years of manufacturing experience and I’m trained in Lean Six Sigma. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all and helping this team improve its efficiency and meet its manufacturing benchmarks.”

I heard a few grumbles in the back as people heard my underlying message. I’d been brought here to clean things up and increase their productivity. Not everyone would like that, especially from a woman foreman, and I knew from experience those would be the ones who challenged me the most.

“You’ll find I’m a tough but fair supervisor. I’ll spend my first week shadowing the team to get an idea on how you guys do things here while I get to know you. Then we can talk about next steps. In the meantime I’ll let you all get to work now.”

I glanced down at the crowd again, seeing the guy I’d locked eyes with earlier. He was young and hot and tall, with broad shoulders and bulging biceps. He had short dark hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. I wasn’t normally a fan of facial hair, but on this guy, it looked good. Not that it was something for me to think about. He was part of my team, and judging by that baby face, way too young for me anyway.

I came from a long line of non-traditional workers. My grandmother was a factory worker in World War II, and my mother was one of the first women to work on a construction crew back home in Detroit. Women in my family were hard as nails, strong as hell, and had one important credo: “Don’t shit where you eat.” Nothing ruined your reputation as a woman in a non-traditional field like getting romantically involved with your coworkers.

David Weston jumped down from the pallet we were standing on, probably eager to return to the admin offices with all the other suits. Ignoring his hand, I hopped down on my own, landing easily a few feet away from the hot young guy. Most of the workers had dispersed, but he remained in place, watching me with an unnerving stare.

“Did you need something?” I asked, adding a touch of sternness to my voice.

“Yes ma’am,” he said politely.

He had a Texas twang that I quite liked.

“I just got transferred over here from another area, so I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Jim Alvarez, I’ll be covering the forklift for the next three months while your regular guy is on paternity leave. Today’s my first day over here, so I’m gonna need someone to show me how you do things in this sector.”

He reached out a hand and I shook it automatically. I wasn’t a small woman, but his large hand completely engulfed mine, warm and strong. For some reason, his touch made me feel a little off kilter. I pulled my hand away and resisted the urge to wipe it on my pants, as if that would make the tingling go away.

“I can show him around and get him set up since you just got here and all,” another guy offered. “I’m John, by the way. I’m also certified on the forklift if you need back-up.”