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“True. True.” He slapped his knees, the sound loud in the small space. “Well, I guess that’s it. I’ll get out of your hair so you can get back to work.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hargreaves. I appreciate you stopping by.”
“Oh,” he said with a smirk and a playful wink as he rose from his chair, “the pleasure wasallmine.”
On his way out, there came a knock on the door, and Conner and Sabrina shared a brief but knowing look. They’d likely just dodged a bullet.
Opening the door, Conner greeted a surprised Shawna, who stared up at him as if standing in the presence of a god. “Oh, good morning, Mr. Hargreaves. I was just bringing Miss Colloway a message. I have one for you as well.” She held out a yellow post-it note for him to take. He gave it a cursory glance and nodded.
“Thank you for your promptness, Shawna.”
“You’re most welcome. Is there anything I can get you for lunch?”
Conner appeared taken off-guard for a moment and frowned, pulling back his suit sleeve to look at his watch. “Huh, lunch already. I completely lost track of time. Tell you what, Shawna, just get me my usual.”
She nodded as if grateful for the command and watched Conner go, her eyes glued to his backside. “Mm-mm, that is one hunk of a man. I don’t know how you work so close with all of these hotties and not get a little…flushed.”
Shaking herself as if to clear her head, Shawna cleared her throat and turned a bashful smile toward Sabrina. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that. I blame my grandma for raising me on romance novels and movies. Ever since the 80s action hero phase, I’ve had an appetite for good-looking men.”
“Don’t we all.” Sabrina couldn’t hold the observation against the woman. After all, they had eyes and they weren’t dead. “What do you have for me?” She lifted her chin to indicate the yellow post-it in Shawna’s hand that she assumed was the missive she’d mentioned to Conner earlier.
“Oh! Right.” Shawna shook her head as she approached. “I swear, I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached. Here ya go!”
Sabrina took a look at the note, seeing that it wasn’t anything in need of her immediate consideration. Just a request for signature of some documents that had been sent via her corporate email that were due by the end of the week.
“Thanks, Shawna. Why don’t you go take your lunch now. You deserve a break.”
“Thanks. I think I will. But before I do, I have to run down to pick up Mr. Hargreaves’ lunch and a few others. Would you like anything? Tuna on rye or a salad maybe?”
Shawna was always on point with her work, and that extended to every aspect, right down to the meals she delivered but didn’t have to. Early in her job, Sabrina’s father had made a habit of asking for regular coffees from the café downstairs. Eventually it turned into a donut on the side and then a sandwich, and eventually, she’d gotten a little pay bump to accommodate gathering food for everyone in the office under her supervision.
Shawna made their lives easier, and Sabrina was grateful to have such a dedicated worker under her wing.
“Umm…I think I could go for a muffin, or whatever looks good to you. Just get something wherever you’re going. Don’t go out of your way.”
Shawna looked a little taken aback, and for good reason. Sabrina was usually certain and decisive about everything, right down to the food she put in her body, but today, she was in an exceptional mood and wasn’t inclined to think it through too much. Anything that was loaded with sugar and carbs would do.
“Are you sure?”
“Very. Thank you, Shawna.” Her tone was friendly but dismissive, and Shawna being the awesome lady she was, got the message loud and clear and was gone from the room in a flash, leaving Sabrina to sit back and ponder the rest of her day while trying to get some semblance of work done.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Coffee was served with a plate of blueberry scones on William’s balcony overlooking a stunning view of the city on its lake side. It was a calm evening with a light breeze that fluffed Sabrina’s hair every now and then and sent a tiny shiver dancing up her spine. To both sides of her, her men sat, sipping their drinks and scrolling through messages on their phones, tying up the loose ends of the day.
In a word, it was perfect. She envisioned ending every day this way, and she couldn’t think of anything better. It was nice to have company in her life, to know that she had someone to lean on and care for and to be cared for in return. There were no expectations beyond being there, enjoying their snacks and an occasional word in passing. They each had their own lives to manage and they respected that about one another.
It was the perfect setup, as far as she was concerned.
“So, any word on the Jacobs account?”
Conner’s casual question called Sabrina’s attention. Earlier that morning, William and Oliver had been sent off to meet with the owner of Jacobs International, a small shipping and receiving company of domestic goods. They’d been having a rough patch, and the guys thought that they could secure a bid. It was an “easy” turnaround, they claimed, something that had the potential to bring her father’s company millions in revenue in the coming years.
“The meeting went well,” William said, his nose still stuck in his phone, his thumb moving up and down on the screen. “Mr. Jacob isn’t sold yet, but he has our offer and is willing to consider it.”
“I think it’s still a little too early to count him in. He doesn’t seem eager to sell,” Oliver added.
Sabrina was disappointed to hear this. “Is he holding out for other offers?”
