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He held up a hand. “You’ve more than met every requirement set before you thus far. Since you have, I’ll ignore your very smart mouth.”
That very smart mouth opened and closed on another retort. She perched on the edge of the loveseat, her breath tripping as his gaze rested just a shade too long on her tight yellow blouse. She hadn’t worn it to showcase the girls, but it was a nice side benny. Apparently her boss had noticed.
What the hell was going on? Had she entered some new dimension? He never looked at her like…a woman.
Good God, that was it. He was suddenly viewing her with something that could only be termed appreciation. And an edgy speculation, as if he were about to reach out and feel her up like he might cantaloupes at the supermarket.
She was certainly plenty ripe for him. Her eagerly budding nipples and drenched panties attested to that fact.
“Sorry, Spencer,” she enunciated his name carefully, “but maybe I’ve missed a step. What extracurricular activities do you mean?”
Again a pause. This one ended quickly, with another of those enigmatic not-quite-a-smiles as he rolled his chair back from the desk and swiveled toward her. Trying to make her feel more at ease, she guessed.
As if that would ever happen.
“Standard question, Ms. Crossman. I’m merely trying to weigh your devotion to The Book Nook. We do everything we can to ensure our employees’ loyalty. Retirement plans, generous time off, opportunities to advance.” His canny dark eyes narrowed, his stare dropping to her cleavage-revealing blouse yet again before returning to her face. “Do you aspire to advance, Ms. Crossman?”
So much for using her first name.
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. The only thing she aspired to do at the moment was to kneel down in front of his chair to see if that bulge in his pants was as big as her hormone-lad
en brain kept insisting it was. “Yes. I do.”
Truthfully she wasn’t sure about that, but she liked keeping her options open.
He shuffled some papers on his desk and opened a folder. “Your résumé states you have a degree in calculus, but you started working here full-time shortly before graduation. Why is that?”
Great. She was being interviewed when she hadn’t even applied for a position. When she wasn’t even sure she wanted more responsibilities. She was happy doing what she was, where she was.
“I love books more than I ever loved math.” She shrugged. “I’d planned a career as a business analyst until I took a job here. Within a few weeks, I knew this was what I was meant to do.”
The corners of his mouth crinkled. Not a real smile, exactly, but close. “My final major was environmental forestry. My sister got me a job here after I’d been out of school a few years. She enjoyed it, but books aren’t her passion like they are mine. And I’d been on the six-year-plan in college to begin with, so she knew I’d try anything.”
Her wickedly smart boss hadn’t done well in his courses? Wow. “College took you six years?” she asked, still not quite believing it.
“Yes. It took me two years to settle on a major. Does anyone finish in four years anymore?”
She shrugged. “I did.” Actually three and a half, but who was counting?
“Of course you did.” His smile seemed as awkward as his posture. Was Spencer trying to share some of himself? Or did he have another agenda?
“I’m sure they snapped you up here,” she said, at a loss how to react to this impromptu session of You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.
“When I interviewed here, I was working construction. No, I wasn’t snapped up. I started on the lowest rungs. And I stayed there until I got clear about what mattered most.”
She skipped a glance over his broad shoulders, encased in an expensively cut suit jacket, and imagined his skin sun-browned and gleaming with sweat. Maybe he’d even worn a wife-beater, though that strained the bounds of credulity. Still, mmm. “You have the body for construction,” she said, then wanted to slap herself. Hard. Preferably across the mouth.
His smile relaxed a fraction. “The first few years I worked here, I still wasn’t focused. But eventually the store, this store, and the way it was run got its hooks into me. Working here showed me what it could be like to love your job. To live for it.” His gaze sharpened. “Sometimes you don’t know what you need until you explore all the options.”
Finally, some common ground. She smiled. “So you understand.”
He didn’t reply.
Kelly took a deep breath and her head reeled at the oversized dose of Spencer’s mountain-fresh aftershave she inhaled. God, she had to get it together. He’d made her horny for three years. She could deal.
“I didn’t mean to be rude earlier,” she said into the silence, noticing his hand had again dipped into the drawer. She itched to stand up and see what the hell he was fondling but her thin grip on her composure kept her seated. “Think I’ve had too much caffeine. I’m jittery today.”
“We’ve been busier than usual lately and nerves fray. Especially when one has multiple pursuits to occupy their time.” He didn’t give her a chance to interrupt. “The Nook’s going to have an opening in upper management soon and I’ve had my eye on you. Or I did, before today. Frankly I’m not sure you’re ready to lead this store. And I’m not willing to make a mistake.”
