I laughed as the door closed behind her. Surely she was joking, right?
A marriage auction.
The idea of that sounded terrifying.
What if you didn’t like who you ended up with?
What if they were the type to leave the toilet seat up?
Even worse, what if they liked anchovies on their pizza?
I snickered at that as I dove back into the Bear Creek Lodge account. The idea of having to split toppings on a pizza for the rest of my life almost made it worth staying single.
And no one would likemytopping choices. Banana peppers and pineapples were underrated in the world of pizza toppings.
I’d practically gone cross-eyed looking for the issue, but I was pretty certain I’d finally found it.
The purchase order number for the bathroom vanities was off. I’d call the manufacturer tomorrow to double-check it.
The relief I felt wasenormous.
Von Renpel Enterprises was known for being quick to push the fire button if someone messed up. And going nine thousand dollars over budget without prior authorization woulddefinitelycount as a big mess-up.
Now, all I needed to do was catch up on myactualworkload. I’d been distracted all week. Between trying to find this discrepancy and pondering who was giving me these random Christmas gifts, I’d hardly focused on my work.
I turned on some music, cranking it up loud. Then started singing along as the artist Melanie sangBrand New Key.
This song always put a smile on my face.
I got up and did a little two-step shimmy, dancing along as I sang my way to the inbox that held the paper invoices I hadn’t processed yet.
The sound of the front door creaking open pulled me out of my work, and I stopped in mid-shimmy as the maintenance man, Easton, walked in with his lips quirked up in a smile.
“Don’t stop on my account,” he rumbled. “Looks like you were having some fun there.”
“Oh, uh, I was just working late, and you caught me having a moment,” I said as my cheeks flushed hot. I could only imagine that I was probably blushing like a schoolgirl right now.
Of all the people to walk in and catch me dancing, it had to beEaston,the hot mountain man of my dreams.
Embarrassment turned me a rich shade of pink. And that only made me feelmoreself-conscious.
Can he tell I’m blushing?
I swallowed hard and returned to my desk, turning off the music coming out of my computer speakers.
“W-what are you doing here?” I asked as the office returned to its normal silent state.
“I’ve been working on replacing the handicap sign for the last few hours. I’m done now, and I need to clock out. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
His eyes were steady upon me, a warmth in his gaze that set me on fire. If the man only knew what one look from him did to me. I felt myself getting swept up in his magic. It happened whenever he got within a few feet of me.
I could hardly talk straight. My pulse was pounding. And I felt a little delirious.
Can a man make you swoon just from the look in his eyes?
It seemed so, because Easton was a swoon-machine.
Chapter 6
