P.J. jumped.
“You looked like you were miles away. I called your name twice.”
The speaker was P.J.’s best friend at work—Anna Garcia. Actually, for the past six years, Anna had been P.J.’s best friend, period. P.J. smiled at the pretty brunette. “What’s up?”
“We having lunch together today?”
“Sure.”
“Great. Want to eat in the cafeteria or outside?”
“It’s a nice day. Let’s eat outside.” When the distribution center had been built, HuntCom had made sure the area surrounding was beautifully landscaped and that there were pockets of trees and flower beds interspersed with walkways and areas with picnic tables. Employees were urged to use the grounds on their breaks, although the smokers grumbled that there were too few places for them to indulge in their habit. Although P.J. didn’t admire many corporate titans—she’d grown up around too many of them—Harrison Hunt actually seemed to care about his employees.
Be fair. So does Dad.
Well, yes, her own father also treated his employees fairly and sometimes even generously. But he and Harrison Hunt seemed to be the exceptions.
After Anna had headed back to the mailing center, which she supervised, P.J. printed out the newest batch of orders that had come through in the past hour. After sorting them, she handed the orders for Quads A, C, and D to Chick Fogarty, her assistant, to distribute, then walked toward aisle 24, where they stocked some of the peripherals in their inventory. She knew this was where Rick would have started Alex’s training.
Sure enough, the two men were standing in front of the section where the eighteen different mouses they sold were stored, and although P.J. stood well back as she watched, she could hear Rick naming them as he pointed out how they were arranged by model number.
“I can’t believe there are so many different kinds,” Alex was saying. “Do we really sell all of them?”
“Yeah, we do,” Rick answered. “Hey, I personally have three at home. A wireless, a basic USB plug-in, and a mini for when I travel. You got a computer?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah. I bought myself a laptop last year.”
“One of ours?”
“Uh, no. I guess I shouldn’t say that too loud.”
“Not if you don’t want the boss lady to hear.” Rick glanced over at P.J. and grinned. “’Course, it’s too late. She already did.”
Alex whipped around.
P.J. almost laughed at the guilty expression on his face. Walking over to them, she said, “It’s okay, Alex. Buying a Hunt computer is not a prerequisite for working here. However, we do give a hefty discount to our employees, so if you decide to upgrade or buy something else in our product line, you’ll save quite a bit of money.”
Deciding Rick had everything under control, P.J. handed him half the stack of new orders. “You can get started on these whenever you feel Alex is ready.”
Rick gave her a salute. “Okay, boss.”
Alex’s eyes met hers briefly before he looked away. And once again, P.J. felt that unwelcome spark of awareness and attraction.
She frowned. Damn. She had to get control of herself and quit acting like a silly teenager.
Quickly striding away, she decided the best thing for her would be to give Alex Noble a wide berth. A really wide berth. On the other hand, that wouldn’t be the best thing for HuntCom.
In fact, she should probably keep a close eye on him these first few weeks. Make sure he was actually doing the job he’d been hired to do.
But for the rest of the morning, she kept her distance. She would quiz Rick later, see what he thought. Maybe she was just paranoid about Alex because he was so attractive. Face it, she chided herself, you’ve been exposed to too many good-looking, self-centered, arrogant men in your lifetime and now you think they’re all like that.
Maybe Alex Noble would prove to be the exception.
Yeah, right.
But P.J. wasn’t going to hold her breath.
Chapter Two
“I thought there was a hiring freeze.”
P.J. made a face. “Yeah. That’s what I thought, too.” She and Anna were just finishing up lunch.
Anna popped the last bite of her tuna-fish sandwich into her mouth, then wiped her mouth with her napkin. “But Jimmy said you’ve got a new picker.”
P.J. nodded.
“So what’s the deal?”
“You tell me.”
“Me?” Anna laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Well, you usually hear all the gossip, so I thought if anyone would know what’s going on, you would,” P.J. pointed out. That was the other thing about Alex Noble—maybe even the most important thing—the fact he’d been foisted on her without any warning.
“I haven’t heard a word,” Anna said. “Not a peep.” She reached for a plastic bag filled with cut-up apple.
P.J. polished off her turkey sandwich, accompanied by a handful of potato chips—she was a junk-food addict, much to her mother’s chagrin. “Not even from Ben?” Ben Garza was the HR Director and he’d had a thing for Anna for a while.
Anna made a face. “I’ve been avoiding Ben.”
P.J. refrained from saying something trite like you could do worse. She knew how sick she was of people trying to pair her off with guys who didn’t interest her in the slightest. Still, she almost felt sorry for Ben. He wasn’t the best-looking guy in the world, but he had a good job and he seemed really decent. But Anna simply wasn’t interested. She’d gone out with him twice and told P.J. that the thought of going to bed with him actually turned her stomach.
“So what’s he like?”
“The new guy?”
Anna laughed. “Yes, P.J., the new guy.”
P.J. frowned and finished chewing and swallowing before answering. “I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to belong here.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s too good-looking. Too…sophisticated or something.”
Anna chewed thoughtfully on a piece of apple. “Tina said he’s a hunk.”
“Tina? When did she see him?”
“She snuck down to your area earlier this morning. Said she wanted to check him out.” Anna grinned. “We don’t get that many eligible guys here. Handsome eligible guys. Every woman in the place is going to be checking him out. Maybe they already have.” Anna’s grin turned sly. “So if you want him, P.J., you’d better stake your claim early.”
“Want him? I have absolutely no interest in Alex Noble. Believe me, he’s not my type.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I told you. He’s too good-looking.” The truth was, Alex looked like he belonged in her sisters’ crowd. The country club, golf and tennis crowd. The Armani crowd. The kind of men P.J. had wanted to get away from.
“Tina says he looks like Colin Firth.”
“Who the hell is Colin Firth?” Irritation made P.J.’s voice increase in volume.
Anna looked at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. “You mean there’s a female alive on this earth who doesn’t know Colin Firth?” Her voice was laced with astonishment.