A Man Worth Shaving For: A Sweet Romantic Comedy

by Michelle Pennington

  Why?

  I didn’t dare to wonder. I simply nodded and left to go find Angela so I could fling the stick-on bra in her face.

  Chapter Seven

  Since I loved my work, I’d never had trouble concentrating during the day. If anything, it always seemed like I didn’t have enough time in any one day to do everything I wanted to get done. But with Logan directly in my line of sight all day long, I found myself continually dragging my eyes away from him.

  By three o’clock, I had moved my computer to the other side of my L-shaped desk so that I could work facing a different direction than usual. It felt uncomfortable, but at least I was able to focus on setting up the testing our two new hires needed to complete by the end of the week.

  With just over two hours to go until the end of my business day, I desperately wanted to go home on time. Surely my meeting with Logan wouldn’t take too long. I could handle ten or fifteen minutes in his office, right?

  Bree sure seemed to enjoy being in there.

  Tendrils of annoyance curled through me as I thought of all the times I’d seen her walk from her desk in the center of the executive hallway into his office. Angela had been blatant, but at least she’d been classy. Bree had spent an hour in his office this morning, most likely setting up his schedule with him, then she’d hovered in front of his desk between each of his appointments and walked out with him when he’d gone to lunch. I refused to wonder what had happened after that.

  A knock on my door came as a welcome reprieve from my thoughts. “Come in,” I called.

  I’d had so many of the women from the office drop by my office for a “quick” chat throughout the day that I’d lost track of who all I’d seen, but as soon as Dawn came in, I realized I should have been preparing myself for her visit. Not only was she a blunt, bulldog sort of woman, she’d decided we were best friends whether I liked it or not. I’d never figured out why she’d latched onto me, since she was in her fifties, had nothing in common with me, and I’d never spent any time with her outside of the office.

  “Hey, Dawn,” I said, trying to sound welcoming as she sat down in front of my desk. “How are you doing?”

  “As good as can be expected with our company collapsing around us.”

  When I’d first met Dawn, I’d been continually shocked by everything she said. Now, I just rolled with it. “I wouldn’t say it’s collapsing. We’re just going through growing pains.”

  Instead of facing me, Dawn had turned her chair to the side and sat twisted to the side so that she could watch Logan. Looking up, I also watched silently as Bree once again made her way into his office. He glanced up when she came again, but his eyes turned immediately back to his laptop screen.

  He was too far away for me to see him clearly, but the set of his shoulders and back looked tense. The childish part of me celebrated.

  “Why did Melinda have to bring a man in?”

  “You say that like he’s some kind of virus or rodent.”

  But Dawn didn’t bother responding to me. “The last thing I need is some manicured ladies’ man deciding whether or not I get to keep my job,” she grumbled. “There’s no way I can compete with short skirts and perky young bodies.”

  I rolled my eyes and emailed the schedule I’d just created to everyone who needed it. “You can’t judge Logan by how Bree is acting.”

  “It’s Angela and Rian too. And no doubt Skylar will be hot on his tail in no time as well. Just because the man is the embodiment of male perfection, every woman in this place is all hot and bothered.”

  My cheeks burned since I was just as guilty as the rest of them, even if I had more reason to be agitated by his presence. And even if I was doing a better job of hiding it. I hoped anyway.

  “Dawn, he can’t help the way everyone is acting. I don’t think he likes it, and he certainly isn’t encouraging it. Trust me—I’ve had a front row seat to everything.”

  Dawn’s thin eyebrows drew together over her thin nose. “You really think he won’t take any of the invitations being dropped at his feet? Mark my words…some poor woman here is going to get involved with him, and she’ll either save her job or lose it, depending on how their relationship goes.”

  I turned and faced Dawn, waiting to speak until I had her attention. “Look, I’ve already heard him telling Melinda that he keeps things strictly formal and professional because that’s the only way he can do his job. He’ll be here for a few weeks, throw everything into chaos, fire a few people and hopefully spare most of us, then disappear from all our lives. Things will settle down quickly after that, and we’ll all be able to get back to normal.

  She nodded and raked her fingers through her gray hair, a gesture which barely disturbed her pixie-cut style. “I guess you’re right. And at least I don’t have to worry about you falling under his spell.”

  “Nope,” I said, hoping that she didn’t notice that my voice sounded tight. “Are you sure you haven’t? Just a little?”

  “Me? That’s ridiculous.”

  “You did say he was a manicured ladies’ man.”

  Dawn’s explosive, gravelly laugh was well known around the office. As she laughed at my gentle teasing, it was so loud that Logan looked across at us, his eyebrows arching in curiosity. Great, she was drawing his attention.

  “Sorry. But I like my men a little rough around the edges and not quite so…pretty.”

  I smiled as I wondered what Logan would think about hearing himself described as pretty. “Well, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about you acting silly over him either. Look, try to relax about everything. And don’t worry about your job. Everyone knows you’re the best at what you do. Mr. Jennings will see that too.”

  Dawn scrunched up her lips as if trying to contain some deep emotion, and her eyes watered just a bit. “That means a lot. Thanks. I guess you’ve got a lot to do, and so do I, so I’ll get out of your hair. But I’ve got some big sheets of brown shipping paper in the warehouse. If you want me to bring it up and paper up your windows so you don’t have to watch the exhibition across the hall, just tell me, and I’ll be over here in two shakes.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like a plan, but I’m managing okay right now.”

  Dawn threw one more disgusted look over at Logan’s office. Janice, our sales manager, had just stepped into his office, and Bree had left. Since Janice was a serious, driven woman who’d been married for twenty years, I wasn’t sure what Dawn found so revolting now, but didn’t worry about it further as she left.

  I sighed in relief as soon as the door clicked shut behind her and turned back to my computer. We’d gotten several new résumés from people applying for the marketing specialist positions that had come open, so I intended to spend the rest of the afternoon sorting through them for any that stood out from the rest. However, as I worked, bits of my conversation with Dawn floated through my mind. At least I don’t have to worry about you falling under his spell, she’d said.

  If only.

  I glanced across at him one more time and knew immediately that I couldn’t keep my meeting with him. Not today. Not when we’d be the only ones left in the office. Somehow, I needed to get my head on straight.

  And that made sense, right? Of course I was struggling. I was still in shock over seeing him here. After a whole night of firm self-lecturing, I’d be able to walk in here tomorrow, ready to face the next few weeks with confidence and strength.

  Determined on this totally logical and fail-proof course, I decided the best way to clear this up was to send him an email. I wasn’t sure if he’d even told Bree about our meeting, and there was no way I wanted to communicate with her about anything if I didn’t have to.

  It took me much longer than it should have to write the concise, two-sentence-long email, but at last it was done.

  Mr. Jennings,

  I am unable to stay to meet with you today after all. Let me know when you’d like to reschedule.

  Tessa Young

  There
. No excuses. No room for argument. Totally professional.

  I clicked send and, for some stupid reason, waited to see if he saw the email notification. Through the two walls of glass between us, I couldn’t hear anything, but I saw the way his attention shifted away from Janice. Then he picked up his phone, flicked his thumb across the screen, and looked across at me.

  His expression was unreadable, but the feeling of his displeasure still washed over me.

  Well, what did that matter? There was nothing we couldn’t talk about tomorrow. I was going home for the day, and that was final.

  It took me a few minutes to shut down my computer and gather my stuff. By the time I left, it was almost five o’clock. Fortunately, the elevator was right down the hall. Unfortunately, I had to pass in front of Logan’s office to get there.

  As I walked out, I tried—I really did—to keep my eyes on the floor, but I still found myself glancing sideways at him as I passed. Our eyes locked and held until I turned the corner and hit the button to call the elevator.

  When the doors slid shut, I leaned back against the stainless-steel wall and gripped the handrail like it was my only support. For a second while our gazes held, I’d had the impression that he was on the point of following me.

  My relief was short lived, however, as one more complication to this whole mess occurred to me. Madi would probably be home when I got there.

  She’d spent all weekend trying to find Logan, and now I knew where he was.

  Chapter Eight

  As a morning news anchor, Madi got up at three in the morning and worked until after noon. She went to bed earlier than I did because of her schedule, but she got a lot more time at home during the day than I did. And she took full advantage of that. I wasn’t at all surprised to walk in the door and find her going through one of her exercise routines while watching a Korean romance on television.

  I had no idea how she could exercise and follow the subtitles, but she was crying every bit as much as the woman on-screen being held by an admittedly hot man. At least it was a healthier pastime than reading through the comment section on the news station website and obsessing over things people said about her. She’d been doing that way too much lately.

  She didn’t even turn around to look at me as she called, “Tessa, you’ve got to see this. I’ve rewound it at least eight times.”

  I set my bag down on the entry table and took off my shoes. “You’ve got a problem.”

  This time she looked at me over her shoulder and grinned. “I know, but I don’t even care. Come here.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m going to grab a drink and head to my room.”

  As I went over to the fridge, Madi called over to me. “But look. I added a name to your Worth It list.”

  I paused and looked at the paper on the fridge door, the list that we’d started as a joke. Because of my sensitive skin, I only shaved my legs for really important things—like swimming or the few occasions I wore a skirt. Those things made it onto my list because they were worth shaving for. The only guys that had made the list so far were fantasy guys, guys I’d never be able to date, like Chris Hemsworth. When I looked at the bottom of the list, the name was obviously someone from one of Madi’s Korean shows. “Who is this?”

  “Oh, I’m gonna show you, girl. Hurry.”

  Since I wanted to forget about my day anyway, I gave into my curiosity and sat down to watch the K-drama.

  Like an excited child opening a surprise present, Madi plopped down on the couch beside me. She crossed her legs under her and rewound the show. “Okay, let me catch you up so you can enjoy this better.”

  I caught bits and pieces of her summary, but it all sounded like complete nonsense to me. There were few things I despised more than an alpha male character, so the chances of me enjoying this were about nil. But after a minute, a crazy thing happened. Madi’s voice just kind of went away, the subtitles ceased to draw my eye, and I focused on the emotional moment playing out between the two characters on the screen. The way he looked at her…

  My eyes widened, and my pulse picked up just a hair. Then he tilted his head and slowly—like he had eons of time—brought his lush lips to her delicate pink mouth. The camera moved in closer, catching every glorious movement of his perfect jawline and the passionate conquering of her lips.

  All at once, I was back where I didn’t want to be, remembering my kiss with Logan, wondering how he had looked when his head bent to mine. My imagination took over from there, and all at once, the image on the screen became something entirely different and entirely mine. As the kiss came to an end and the handsome executive stared down at his blushing companion with a burning satisfaction in his eyes, I grabbed the remote away from Madi.

  “You liked that, huh?”

  Her knowing voice annoyed me, but that didn’t stop me from rewinding.

  Madi sighed. “See, this makes me think of Logan. He’s got this same hot-businessman vibe going on.”

  I turned to stare at her. How? How were we both watching this with Logan in mind? I mean, it was totally understandable for me. What was her deal?

  She didn’t even notice me gawking at her as she kept talking. “How tacky would it be for me to call Taylor and ask for Logan’s number? Because he doesn’t seem to be on social media anywhere.”

  “Very tacky.” I pulled a throw pillow onto my lap and pressed my lips together. I was in no way obligated to tell her that I knew where Logan was, even if our relationship as longtime friends made me feel guilty about keeping silent. Logan had made it clear that he wasn’t impressed by her anyway. If I helped Madi get in touch with him, he’d be annoyed, she’d have false hope, and the whole thing would be an uncomfortable mess.

  And, yes, maybe there was a big part of me that wanted Logan to be my thing and not hers. Even if that only meant that I would be tortured every day for weeks because nothing would ever or could ever happen between us, it was my torture, not hers. She’d dated more good-looking, successful men than I could keep track of and had her heart broken a dozen times. It was my turn to feel something. Anything.

  And that realization took my mind in a whole other direction—far away from the K-drama kiss, from Madi, and even from Logan. Into the past—to the night when I broke up with Donavan. His kind, earnest face, his carefully styled hair and Star Wars necktie. Crushing his heart had been the single most horrible moment of my life.

  He had been my first attempt to have a serious relationship. After seeing the way my mother had suffered in life because of the men she’d chosen, I’d sworn that I would find a good man and not care about anything else. Donovan had been good-looking in a pleasant sort of way. He’d been taller than me, with slightly sloping shoulders and pale-blue eyes that openly expressed how he felt about me. He was a good man who wanted nothing more than to settle down and have a family. The woman he married would never have to worry that he was lying to her, cheating on her, or wanted anything else in his life but her.

  Donovan had been the first man that had truly made me feel beautiful. My curves and full figure had not just been okay with him—he’d genuinely found me attractive. Breaking up had been completely illogical. But despite his goodness and admiration for me, in the end, there had been no denying that I simply wasn’t attracted to him.

  Even now, years later, the memory of it hollowed me out. I’d made the choice between being loved more than I could love and being single. I’d made the right decision for me, but the guilt I felt for hurting Donovan would never go away.

  Maybe it was time for me to hurt. The idea of it appealed to me in a twisted way I didn’t care to examine.

  No, I wasn’t going to tell Madi about Logan. And maybe that was disloyal to her, but I felt like being selfish.

  “Tessa, your phone is ringing.”

  My brain snapped back into focus. “I’ll call them back later.”

  But then it pinged with a text notification. Tessa got up. “I’ll get it for you. I needed to get up anyway.�
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  She grabbed it from the entry table and carried it over to me. “It’s an unknown number, but it looks like someone who knows you.”

  I glanced at the text preview on my lockscreen.

  Checking if you’re okay since you cancelled on me.

  Shoot. It had to be Logan, and Madi had seen his number. If he’d put his name in the text…

  “Thanks. It’s a work thing. I’d better text him back.”

  Madi nodded. “I didn’t think you had cancelled a date—you wouldn’t even make one in the first place unless I set it up.” She laughed and picked up the remote. “I need to go shower. Do you want to keep watching this?”

  I stared down at my phone. “No. I’m good.”

  She turned it off, rolled up her yoga mat, and headed for her room. As soon as she was gone, I opened the text and replied.

  How’d you get my number?

  I have access to all employee records. Can I call?

  My heart thumped violently. Seriously, it needed to chill. This was work stuff.

  Not right now. If you’re wanting to reschedule, I can meet with you in the morning.

  There was a long pause before Logan’s reply came in. So you’re okay?

  His concern sent a fluttery, hopeful feeling through me. Did he really care? I’m fine. I just needed to get home.

  Good. Come in early tomorrow. Seven o’clock.

  How bossy of him. And how utterly stupid that my first impulse was to agree.

  I’ll get to the office at eight o’clock.

  Again, there was a long pause. You have a talent for leaving me frustrated.

  There were so many ways I could have replied to that. Maybe he was even trying to bait me into it. But despite my currently masochistic frame of mind, this conversation needed to remain professional. Prepare for continued frustration. Digging into B & N’s staff is not for the faint of heart.