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The small boutique advertising firm, Taylor and King, had just celebrated their first client a few months ago. More clients had filled out their portfolio, and the owners Morgan Taylor and Drew King decided to expand their office staff from eight to ten. They’d discussed it at the meeting last week and the new people should be starting within the next few months.
Lacy pushed open the door and the first face she saw was Emily’s, the receptionist.
“How was your weekend?” Emily smiled. Blond, brown eyes, and beautiful, she was practically perfect. Emily had to be the nicest person Lacy knew. Seriously, she was sunshine packaged in a pretty person. Her outfits flowed and swirled around her as she walked. And the things she remembered about everyone. . . just little stuff, but it made Lacy feel like she was part of a family at work. “Did your roommate finally sublet her room?”
“New roommate moved in Friday. A dude.” Lacy made a wincing face, knowing Emily would commiserate. “How about you?”
“Spent the weekend at Grandma’s beach house. Quiet but nice.” Emily smiled softly. The phone rang and she reached to pick it up. Emily’s love life resembled Lacy’s. Non-existent.
Lacy knew why her own love life sucked. Someone like Emily shouldn’t be single. She should have a steady guy ready to put a ring on her finger.
They’d talked about it at one Happy Hour when Emily had been able to attend. Usually, she spent her weekends at her grandma’s and left a little early on Fridays to beat the traffic rush to the beach. Taking care of her grandma didn’t leave her with a lot of time to date or even find a guy.
Lacy waved to Emily and continued past the reception area. They had an open office. Desks in the center so as they worked, they could throw out ideas. The bosses shared an office, but the door typically remained open. A couple of small offices were available if someone needed to make a phone call or have a small meeting. A large conference table sat along one wall of the area for meetings with the whole team. Ben Clarke, the accountant, had the other office. His door was typically closed. He never joined the team at Happy Hour. He didn’t really talk much at all.
Unlike the normal divisions, like in larger advertising firms, the bosses encouraged everyone to be a part of the team and contribute to whatever proposal or ad campaign they could. Even though Lacy had a couple of years of experience in copy writing and Claire’s experience was in the art department, they all worked together, dividing things when necessary.
Dropping her purse in her desk drawer, Lacy headed into the kitchen for more coffee. As she opened the door, Logan and Claire stepped away from each other. They were best friends and always had their heads together. But there didn’t seem to be an actual sexual relationship there.
Claire was the type of girl who was one of the guys. Otherwise, her beauty would have intimidated Lacy and she wouldn’t even have thought of having a crush on Logan. Because if Claire decided she wanted Logan, Lacy wouldn’t stand a chance.
Claire smiled and tucked her dark hair behind her ear. “Hey, Lacy, good weekend?”
“Yeah, you?” Lacy met Claire’s eyes before glancing over at Logan. His dark crew cut hair and dark eyes made her internally sigh. In the afternoons, his strong chiseled jaw would be speckled with dark hairs, making her want to rub against it like a cat. Gah, she loved him so much.
She brought her gaze to Claire as she started talking.
“We went to the bar and watched the game on Sunday.” Claire smiled at Logan, who smiled back. “Good game.”
“You need a cup, Lace?” Logan asked. See, he even had a pet name for her. Lace. Man, he was the real deal no matter what Beth thought. Beth just couldn’t imagine it because she hadn’t seen them together. Maybe she should have Beth come and visit and introduce her to Logan to get a general read on the situation.
“Thanks,” Lacy smiled and made eye contact with Logan, but not in a creepy way. That’s what the flirting articles on Sunday all said to do. At least the ones she read before she’d given up and put onThe Kissing Booth. Time to incorporate the new interactions with Logan.
He handed her the cup and smiled. “Know you need coffee to keep that huge brain of yours running on all cylinders.”
See, he liked her. He thought of her. Beth was insane. He wasn’t like all those other guys who had been out of her league and didn’t even know her name. Okay, maybe he was a touch out of her league.
And he had no problem going after what he wanted. But maybe when it was real for him, he just took things slow, which she appreciated. He just needed to get some things out of his system first.
Who needed hot and fast?
A flash of Candy and Jonah in the kitchen hit her mind. Definitely hot. And that look this morning from Jonah. She poured her coffee and ignored whatever the hell that was because she wouldn’t think of Jonah while at work. And definitely didn’t need to think of what she’d witnessed or the way his eyes had burned into hers this morning, stirring up that hurricane to devastate her insides again.
He hadn’t made her nervous, per se, but had made her feel warm all over and achy.
“Did you see the new guy?” Claire asked Logan, pulling Lacy out of her thoughts.
“Nah, is he in with Drew and Morgan?” Logan leaned against the refrigerator like a GQ model. Lacy was proud of herself. She didn’t drool or sigh happily; instead she just drank her coffee like a normal person. Beth would be so proud.
“He’s some hot shot from L.A.” Claire sank into one of the chairs around the break table. “Apparently he used to travel a lot for work, he decided to come here so he could stay in one place. From what I saw, he’s a hottie.”
“You’re saying I have competition for sexiest male in the office.” Logan’s eyes lit up and he grinned.
Claire laughed. “Calm the fuck down. Nobody thinks you’re hot. Besides, what about Drew? Just because he and Morgan are basically hitched doesn’t mean he’s not smoking. Guess you didn’t get laid this weekend after all?”
Lacy almost choked on her coffee and made it a point to not look at either of them. She usually was at her desk by this time, but she’d gotten caught up thinking about Jonah and they’d clearly forgotten about her.
“That chick was too much work.” Logan sank into the chair across from Claire. “She was hot, but definitely looking for more than I was willing to give.”
