Bidding on Her Boss

“Well, I’m at your service,” she said, untying the apron strings at her back. “Would you like to talk here, or perhaps at the café next door?”

“Actually, I’d like to talk to Faith if she has a few minutes.”

Faith’s hands stilled and her face grew pale. He was torn between wanting to reassure her and wanting to demand an explanation. Instead, he turned an expectant expression to Mary.

“Of course, Mr. Hawke. If that’s what you want.” But her face was sour. She really didn’t like Faith getting more attention than her.

“Excellent.” He smiled and rocked back on his heels. “You mentioned a café next door?”

Mary’s mouth opened and closed again. “Er, yes. Courtney can finish that order. Faith. Can you come and talk to Mr. Hawke, please?”

“Certainly,” Faith said, wiping her hands on her apron and removing it. The entire time, she kept her gaze down.

“Thank you,” he said to Mary, and then opened the door for Faith and followed her out onto the pavement.

“Have I just made things difficult for you in there?” he asked.

She lifted her chin. “Nothing I can’t deal with.”

He was beginning to see how true that was. Faith Crawford was most definitely her own woman. From bidding on the CEO of her company at a charity auction to get his attention for her work, to turning down a promotion most of his staff would jump at and not bowing to the head office... The more he got to know this woman, the more he liked her.

They found a secluded booth at the café and ordered coffees.

“I heard you were offered a promotion.” He leaned back and rested his arm along the top of the padded vinyl booth. “You turned it down.”

The corners of her mouth twitched. “You heard I was offered the job? Are you sure you don’t mean you arranged for me to be offered the job?”

He grinned. The fact that she spoke her mind was a very attractive feature. “Okay, I might have had a hand in it. After watching you in the store for a day, I realized your potential was being underutilized, and I implemented a plan to rectify that.”

“Is that all it was?” She arched an eyebrow and waited.

“You think it’s about more?” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and his pulse picked up speed. “You think you were being promoted because I’d kissed you?”