“No problem, when you’re finished you can take the rest of the day off. Joseph told me the position is in effect immediately and he’s already sent in for a temp,” he said before leaving.
Jennifer hadn’t brought too many personal items to work and it didn’t take long to put her belongings in boxes. She was excited to pick up her niece early. With the beautiful weather, she’d be able to surprise Molly with an afternoon at the park.
Jennifer sat on a bench, watching Molly play on the slide with a couple other kids. Molly had only just started sleeping through the night. Her poor niece had nightmares for months and Jennifer knew it was because she had abandonment issues, as any child would when their parents suddenly disappeared. Molly still had circles under her eyes, but not nearly as bad as they’d been a few months ago.
“Heads up,” someone yelled. Just as Jennifer turned in the direction of the voice, she felt a pain in her neck and looked down in amazement at the frisbee lying next to her.
She brought her hand up and was surprised to feel a bit of blood. Whoever had thrown the thing, must have really chucked it.
“I’m sorry about that. Are you okay?” a man asked. She looked up and lost her breath. Holy cow, the guy was stunning. She somehow couldn’t get any words past her closed throat. She never had trouble talking with attractive men, and she hadn’t had that gut wrenching, stop-you-in-your-tracks response to a man since she was a teenager.
His dark, short hair, was messy around his flushed cheeks. He had beads of sweat dripping off of his forehead and the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever looked into. Her gaze followed a bead of sweat to his naked chest and her heart started beating far too fast. The man had to be a model, with his defined chest, and washboard abs. His arm muscles looked as if he was flexing, though they were completely relaxed. She followed his abs to his low-riding, athletic pants before noticing her eyes had moved to an area she shouldn’t be looking at.
She jerked her head back up to look at his face again and watched as a cocky grin spread across his features in a knowing way. He stood by silently as she ogled him. She stiffened her shoulders, irritated she’d been so immediately mesmerized by him. She hated to be another typical female, who thought only looks mattered. He was most likely some really stupid jock, who thought with a different head than the one on top of his shoulders. She realized she’d never answered him.
“I’m fine - I’m just glad you didn’t hit any of the children,” she stated and turned away acting as if he wasn’t there.
Trenton stared at the back of the striking, dark-haired stranger in a bit of shock. He was certainly used to the appraising look she’d given him, but not the suddenly dismissive attitude that followed. He was also not used to the immediate attraction he felt toward her. She was not his typical type.
She couldn’t have been much over five feet in height, and her dark brown hair and stunning green eyes were the opposite of the long-legged blondes with bigger chests than brains he normally went for. He could play with them and then walk away without anyone getting hurt over it.
He never picked up a woman in the park, as they were the commitment, till-death-do-us-part type and he would never take a trip down the aisle. He should count his blessings she was clearly not interested in him, but he’d hurt her, and couldn’t leave until he knew she’d be okay.
“Let me see your neck, okay?” he asked, as he bent next to her and moved her hair out of his way. He was relieved to only see a small cut, nothing needing stitches. He was shocked the feel of her hair was like silk and he suddenly had images of it spread out on his pillow.
Jennifer sucked in another breath as his hand touched her skin. She about jumped out of the seat at the small movement of his fingers brushing against her neck. She passed it off as being overly tired.
“I’m fine, really,” she said, needing him to remove his hands, since it was doing funny things to her stomach. She didn’t have time for a man in her life, but if she did it wouldn’t be with a man like the guy before her. It would be with a regular king of guy who didn’t stop women in their tracks.
“Wow, Trenton, you’re only in town for a day and you’re already attacking unsuspecting women,” another guy said as he jogged up to them. Jennifer glanced at him and then her head whipped back around as she realized it was Lucas Anderson. She’d never seen him wearing anything but an expensive, tailored suit, and she could see why his wife was head-over-heels for him. Lucas was stunning, but while the man, Trenton, she guessed, made her stomach stir, Lucas did nothing physical for her. She figured it was because she knew he was married - plus she’d met his wife, who was a really sweet woman.
“Well, you know how it is, any excuse to meet a sexy lady,” Trenton answered and Jennifer felt her mouth drop open. No one ever referred to her as sexy, and she hated to admit his words made her glow a bit.
“You look familiar, and before you think that’s some cheesy line, it’s not. You really do look familiar,” Lucas said. She had to clear her throat before she was able to speak clearly.
“I work for you, Mr. Anderson, or well I did until my promotion today. My name is Jennifer,” she finally responded.
“That’s right, I’m sorry. I’m so used to seeing everyone in the offices that out in a park setting throws me off,” he told her with a heart-stopping grin.
“No problem, it took me a moment to recognize you, as well,” she said with a genuine smile. He was an easy man to talk to, making her feel comfortable, unlike his companion.
“Hey, quit flirting - you’re a married man,” Trenton growled at Lucas. Jennifer felt her face flame in embarrassment.
“I…I wasn’t flirting. I think your wife is wonderful,” she stammered and sent a glare toward Trenton.
“Ignore him, Jennifer. He’s just jealous because you obviously have better taste than to talk to an ogre like him,” Lucas said with the same friendly smile. She was thankful for his words, because her embarrassment eased.
“Whatever, Lucas. You’re lucky you’re a married man, or I’d prove to you later all the ladies wouldn’t even know you existed when we walked into a room together,” Trenton said.
Jennifer watched the two of them rib each other and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt all the women in any room would be tripping over themselves to get to either of them. She was grateful she was too busy for relationships or she may have stood in line with them.