At the moment, it looked like Simon believed her lie. Which meant that, for at least three months, she still had to keep up the biggest lie she had ever told.
Chapter 3
“I can’t wait to start working with you,” she’d said. Heather’s smile was so familiar to him that he found himself staring at her for a moment too long.
When she glanced at him and caught him staring, Simon quickly looked away and pushed the lobby button in the elevator. They were the only people in the elevator, and the scent of her perfume filled the air. There was something so arresting about the surprisingly seductive scent that clung to her. It wasn’t the perfume he would have expected for someone so primly dressed. Heather’s perfume was the scent of a seductress. Not a professional PA.
He groaned inwardly. His head was swimming with the most insane, inappropriate thoughts. It must have been the ebbing headache. And the fact that Heather Hall reminded him so much of his childhood friend.
“I look forward to us working together, too,” he finally said stiffly.
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into the gleaming lobby of Dover, Inc. headquarters.
“I figured we could start the tour from the bottom floor and make our way up,” he suggested. “I want to introduce you to the security personnel at the front.”
He led her across the lobby to the huge front desk. He introduced her to the receptionist and the security guards.
As Heather started to ask the receptionist questions about Dover, Simon found himself staring at her. She resembled his high school sweetheart so much that it was making his heart race. Why the distraction now? He hadn’t seen Heather Monroe since he was seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. More than ten years ago. Yes, he had fond memories of the time they had dated in high school, but that didn’t explain why he literally couldn’t breathe right now.
Just being around a woman who reminded him of his childhood sweetheart was affecting him. It put his mind in an unfamiliar daze. It was rare for him to react to a woman like this. Surely, it must have been the headache putting him in such a fog. Or the stress from having to fire Xander earlier in the morning.
“Will I be able to get my key card today?” Heather’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“What?”
Her hazel eyes were staring at him expectantly. “Simon?”
“Yes.” He nodded to the receptionist and security guards before leading Heather away from the front desk. “You’ll get your key card today. And your ID card, if you’re game for taking a photo.”
She walked beside him, quickly trying to keep up. “A photo? Today? I don’t know if I want to take a photo with my glasses on. I probably look way too nerdy to take a good photo.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” he said. “You look fine. Perfectly adequate.”
Adequate? He cringed the moment the word left his mouth. What woman alive wanted to be told she looked adequate?
Her eyebrows shot up as they stopped in front of the elevator. “Oh. I see.”
“No. I mean, you look more than adequate,” he rushed on. “Lovely, in fact. And you have the most remarkable eyes...” Damn it, he was staring at her again. Right into her eyes like a crazy person. He started pressing the elevator button, pressing it so hard he was surprised he hadn’t broken his fingers.
A blush turned her cheeks the most becoming shade of pink. “Thank you. I get that a lot.”
“I just meant that your eyes are like Heather’s eyes,” he said. “The other Heather. The one I went to school with.”
“Oh.” She bit her lower lip, drawing his attention away from her eyes to her full, pink lips. “She must have meant a lot to you.”
“She was a great... friend,” he said. “She’s the one who encouraged me to start all this. Before Heather, nobody really believed in me.”
Her eyes widened. “So, you’re hiring me based on someone you knew in the past?”
“No! Your resumé speaks for itself. I apologize for the comparison. Again, I sound unprofessional. Just ignore the comments today. It’s been one hell of a weekend.”
Mercifully, the elevator doors opened again, and they stepped inside. The tiny space was crammed with staff who greeted him, which meant his agonizing conversation with Heather was cut short.