Page 71 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve
The short, curvy woman with fiery hair and lipstick nodded. “I’m a stubborn redhead, obviously, but you should know that makes me the perfect candidate for the job because I am tenacious and determined.”
Surprised, I grinned. “That’s a great closing argument.”
“So I’ve been told.”
I chuckled and offered my hand into her warm, solid grip as I said, “Thank you, Laney.”
“No, thank you! It was so nice meeting you.”
Jeff shook her hand. “We’ll be in touch next week, probably around December 5thso we can get you onboarded before Christmas.”
As she left our newly designated conference room, I plopped back down in the new comfy swivel chairs we’d purchased recently. Jeff glanced at me and sat down as well, crossing one leg over another.
“I like her.”
“She’s perfect.”
We spoke at the same time and then laughed together.
And I was struck by how much a simple laugh and lingering smiletransformedhis face, lending levity to his features and showing his perfect white teeth. I might have stared a bit too long though because his smile faded.
Jeff’s dark eyebrows rose. “What?”
“I just … I’m happy we found our marketing and events coordinator.” Right,that’sthe reason. Not that I was checking him out.
“Did we? I don’t remember agreeing to that,” he said, but his tone was light.
I hesitated before saying, “It’s important to me to find the right person so I don’t feel compelled to take on all of that work myself. Laney’s right for us. I just know it.”
“Great,” he said with a shrug. “Let’s hire her.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. Who was this guy being agreeable?
“Thanks.”
“Save your thanks for the new hire,” he said. “I do think she’ll do great things here.”
“I feel like we should get some champagne or something.” When his eyebrows rose, I added, “We are hiring the first employee! That’s big.”
He rubbed his jaw. “True. Sadly, I have no alcohol in the office.”
“That’s probably for the best,” I said with a laugh.
He didn’t smile but rather just looked at me intently and nodded slowly. After a long moment, he said, “You have the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I struggled with producing any words. “I … why are you telling me this, Jeff?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know.”
Before I could even think of how to respond or what to feel, Hazel strode into the room through the open door, followed by Peter.
Reflexively, Jeff and I took a step back from one another and turned our gazes to them. “Hazel, hi,” I said, my voice higher than usual.
She looked at me in amusement. “Did you go for a run? You sound out of breath.”
I’m sure my cheeks turned deep pink then because I felt the heat all over my face. “No,I … well—”
“We’re just excited because we found our first employee to hire,” Jeff cut in, glancing at me briefly before turning back to Hazel.
