Pushing the Boundaries (Picking up the Pieces #3) (38 page)

But Benjamin was the type of man my parents always wanted me to bring home—well mannered, highly educated, and pedigreed. I wasn’t used to attracting attention from men like him. My mouth had a tendency to run them off before they got the chance to get to know my sparkling personality.

“Um…yeah. I think it’s safe to say there’s no bringing this one back,” I said as I waved my hand at the computer I’d just murdered. “I think it might be time for the firm to upgrade.”

I tried to smile back at him, but I was suddenly embarrassed that I’d been caught taking my anger out on my PC.

His face finally broke into a full-blown smile, showing his perfectly straight, brilliant white teeth. “Yeah, that has to be it. It couldn’t possibly be because you went Ali on it.”

Is he flirting with me
? He couldn’t be. There was no way a man like him looked at a woman like me. I might have grown up in a country club household, but I was so far from the typical white-collar persona that it wasn’t even funny.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Bennett. I know it wasn’t very professional—”

He held up his hand to cut me off. “Please, just call me Ben. Mr. Bennett makes me feel like my old man. And as far as the computer killing goes, I’m right there with you. I wanted to throw mine out the window earlier.”

I smiled up at him, feeling some of my embarrassment melt away. “Yeah, well, welcome to P&C where the people are fun to work with, but the electronics are one step up from DOS.”

He leaned against the doorjamb to my office and crossed his arms over his chest. I couldn’t help but think that he was wrinkling his expensive suit. But damn, if he didn’t look good while doing it. The stance made his sleeves pull tightly across his well defined biceps, and I felt the ridiculous need to reach out and squeeze them.

“Yeah, I’m quickly discovering that the people make this a wonderful place to work,” he replied with a mouthwatering grin.

Yep, he’s flirting.

I sat frozen in my swivel chair as Ben’s eyes roamed over my body. It wasn’t in that creepy, stalkerish way that made a woman feel violated, but it was still obvious that he was checking me out.

I started to feel that tingly, excited sensation that happens when a woman notices how attractive a man really is. I was normally known for my quick and cutting responses, but for some reason, Ben had me tongue-tied. I couldn’t find my footing when he looked at me like that.

“Um…thanks, I guess?”
Fucking brilliant, Savannah!

He let out a low, rumbling chuckle that I felt deep down in my belly.

“So, you have any big plans for the evening?” he asked casually.

We’d never had a conversation that lasted longer than it took us both to say good morning or good night. Feeling out of sorts from the change in our usual interaction, I turned back to my desk and started packing my stuff up for the evening. I needed to find something to do other than stare at him with my mouth hanging open. And there was a strong possibility that I might have drooled—just a little bit.

“I have to attend an engagement party for a couple of friends tonight. You?” I felt like a total dillhole sitting there, making small talk with one of the firm’s attorneys while picturing him naked. Man, I was really off my game.

“No big plans,” he responded.

He rubbed his palms on his pant legs, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was slightly uncomfortable. But it didn’t make sense for him to be uncomfortable around me. I was just a lowly old paralegal. He didn’t have any reason to be uncomfortable.

“I was thinking about checking out all that Cloverleaf has to offer. I haven’t really had time to do much more than work since I got here.”

I slung my purse over my arm and took a step toward him. “Well, I’d give you a tour, but this
is
Cloverleaf. Everything worth seeing is basically in a four block radius. You can stand in the middle of Main Street and turn in a circle to see it all.”

He gave me an awkward smile, and it finally dawned on me what he was doing. I felt like a complete moron for not catching on. Ben had only been in town for a few weeks. Having come from Austin, he didn’t have any family in Cloverleaf, and with the hours he had been putting in, I couldn’t imagine him really having much time to make any friends. The poor guy had to be lonely. I felt horrible for not noticing sooner.

“Hey, if you get a chance, you should stop by Colt’s for a drink or two.”

“Oh, I don’t want to crash your friends’ engagement party.”

I could tell by the way his eyes widened slightly that the idea of coming for a drink appealed to him, but he was still unsure.

“It’s not like that, Ben. We didn’t buy out the bar or anything. It’s just a group of friends having a drink at our local hangout to congratulate the couple on their engagement. It’ll be really laid back, I promise.”

He finally loosened up a little bit, and his smile became more genuine. “I might take you up on that,” he said. “Colt’s?”

I forgot that he wouldn’t know our bar as Colt’s since he wasn’t a local. “Sorry, Colt 45’s on Walker. You can’t miss it. It’s one of the only decent bars in town.”

“All right, I might just do that.”

His eyes scanned me up and down again. How he managed to do that without coming off as perverted was beyond me. The dude had mad skill.

“Well, I hope to see you there, Ben. Have a good evening.” He sidestepped, allowing me to pass by, before following me out of my office. I pulled the door closed and headed to the elevator.

I was nowhere near being over Jeremy, but he’d moved on, and it was time I did too. I didn’t plan on moving on with a coworker. That would be way too messy. But at least I was opening myself up to the idea.