December 7th
“Chicken, avocado and cranberry sauce, right?”
Mira beamed as she handed a sandwich to a heavily pregnant young woman currently bulging out of a business suit.
The young woman snatched it up and held it up to her nose, inhaling deeply. “Mmmm, you’re a lifesaver. Junior’s been reminding me for the last hour that it’s almost lunchtime.” She patted her stomach lovingly. “If it’s a girl, I’m naming her Mira!”
Mira snickered. “I think that’s just the hunger talking. Here,” she handed her a lemon and pistachio cupcake, “on the house.”
“Oh, you angel!”
Mira winked and sauntered away. When she first applied for the job of delivering sandwiches, she didn’t imagine she’d enjoy it. She applied because it was something she could do. Never being academically inclined, and given her limited means, she never went to college, and instead went straight to work at a bakery. It meant she was a little limited for career options, particularly as most bakeries wanted someone with a culinary degree. So she just had to apply for any job she could get. But hell, it was fun. She got to bake her cupcakes and then go all over town delivering them, meeting new people and getting to soak up praise for her baked treats.
She’d always been good with names, and remembering people’s favorite sandwiches was just as easy as names for her. People seemed to like that in their sandwich delivery girl. Plus, she was certainly loving getting to deliver to Deer Co. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen such a collection of large, sexy men all at one time – and she always bought a ‘Hunks of the Firehouse’ charity calendar each year. All of them were over six feet tall and muscled up the ying yang. Did all the hot men congregate here or something? What was so special about this place?
She passed three congregating near a water cooler. All of them gave her dazzling smiles, and all of them looked her over with admiring glances making her blush right to her toes. They also all had buzzcuts and were decked out in black. They looked like a bunch of commandos. That seemed a little strange for an office building. What was it they did here? She thought they owned luxury hotels or something. Would a luxury hotel need a SWAT team on standby? Well, maybe for people who refused to pay their bills…
“Hey, sandwich girl!”
Mira stopped and smiled at possibly the sexiest man in the building – and that was saying something. Tall, sexy, dark, dreamy and with just a hint of danger – oh, he was everything a man should be.
“Hey, Harlan.”
He gave her a devastating grin that really should have had her quivering like a bowl of pudding. But in spite of his charm and looks, she just couldn’t work herself up to turn into a nervous wreck and do something completely embarrassing in front of him. Honest, those were her go-to moves in high school whenever she got within ten feet of the dreamboat quarterback.
“How are you, Mira?” he asked in velvet tones.
“I’m very well, how are you?”
“Lonely, but I’d be better if I knew I was going to have some company at dinner tonight.”
Yeah, he was a huge flirt, and she got the feeling he flirted with anything female. Maybe that was why she wasn’t interested – because she knew his interest in her was merely due to her sex and whatever deep-seated issues he had that turned him into a complete hound-dog. Seriously, he didn’t ring her bell in the slightest.
“I’m sure you won’t be lonely for long,” she said trying her best to channel her sister, Temp. She could only imagine her reaction to a guy like this.
He gave her a devilish look, and she flashed a devil’s food cake cupcake in his face. Seemed fitting.
“Cupcake?”
“Tease,” he purred, plucking it out of her fingers. “Nice sweater.”
“Thanks.”
It was her snowman sweater with the slogan ‘stay frosty.’ Her dad used to have a matching one; they had always been favorites of theirs.
“What’s that?”
He gestured at the pin on her breast with a half-interested leer. Yes, his attention was more about the breast than the pin, but that wouldn’t stop her.
“It’s a pin for my sister’s charity – Snow Bunnies.”
The name may be a little odd, but the charity was named by one of the children the charity supported. There was a competition, and she won and they would be called Snow Bunnies forever.
“Huh.”
“My sister started the charity for children. She’s… well, she’s a marvel.”
It was hard to describe how wonderful Temp really was succinctly.
Harlan nodded, and for a moment Mira thought he had lost interest. But, he dug out his wallet and handed her the bills he had inside.
“Here.”
Mira gaped. “This is nearly a thousand dollars.”
Harlan shrugged a little self-consciously. “Yeah.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, completely taken aback.
He smiled, but not his usual dazzling smile. No, this was more natural, more normal – and a lot more awkward. “It’s all I have on me, but I’m ashamed to say I spent more on my shoes than that.”
“Well, my sister accepts checks,” chirped Mira. Huh, maybe she was more like Temp than she thought.
“You’re merciless,” he chuckled.
Mira blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”
“No apology necessary.” He placed his hand on his heart. “I’d be happy to send a check.”
“That’s great. Here, take a pamphlet. Our website and address are right here on the back.”
Mira grinned as she handed it to him. Temp would be pleased.
“Just one thing,” he said, “I’ll take a chicken salad and the cupcake, and also can you put a sandwich and cupcake in my brother’s office – he’s a workaholic, he won’t stop to eat.”
“Sure.”
“Third door on the left.” He winked, and Mira went on her way
She would also leave a pamphlet for the brother too, just in case he wanted to send any checks their way, too.