What Maxi Needs (Leave Your Shoes On 3)

The woman was striking from head to toe. Her beautifully sculpted face had held him spellbound for a few seconds when he’d first come through the conference room door. Then he’d gotten a good look at her legs in that short skirt and, well, it was a wonder he’d made it through his presentation.

In fact, it was a damn good thing he knew the data and stats backward and forward, because he’d basically been on autopilot as he’d mentally tripped over his instant and shockingly strong physical reaction to Maxi Shayne.

His new boss.

The hint of forbidden made his groin tighten.

Rather unexpected. Ryan had never considered himself a danger magnet.

Don’t get distracted by gorgeous thighs and sapphire eyes.

The company was in crisis, for God’s sake. The last thing that should be on his mind was a feisty, dark-haired dynamo wearing sassy shoes.

Trying to maintain some semblanc

e of professionalism—never a problem for him until today—he told Avril, “I appreciate your time. I’m sure everything online is self-explanatory.”

“Well, yes,” she said, sounding reticent to be so hastily dismissed. Still hovering close to him. “It is. But, you know, sometimes there are glitches in the system or something just doesn’t compute. So that’s when you can ring me. Line three.” She pointed to the button. “Right there.”

Ryan bit back a chuckle. The executive assistant was certainly attractive, with her honey-blonde hair and golden irises, the likes of which he’d never seen. He pegged her for about twenty-two, which he considered too young for him now that he was on the verge of thirty.

Aside from that, Ryan wasn’t in the market for a date and definitely not a girlfriend. His passion for equations and anything that kept him preoccupied all spawned from a horrific breakup that would easily rate a 10.0 on the Richter scale.

He was the type to learn his lesson the first time around—no repeat performances needed.

“I’ll make sure your calendar is up to date,” Avril told him with another beguiling smile and batted lashes. “While I have access to it, before Anne returns.”

“Very kind of you.”

“All right, then,” she said.

“All right, then.” He grinned.

“Yes, well. This is me leaving.” She pushed away from the desk, whirled around on low heels, and made a graceful exit.

Ryan’s brow crooked. So that was what office crushes were all about? He’d never operated in this sort of environment and didn’t have experience with workplace flirtations. He’d mostly been hired to work independently or on an all-male team. But Staci had literally been stalking him for months, convinced there was going to be an upward pitch in sales that her company wouldn’t be able to handle, and had claimed she desperately needed his help.

Very Princess Leia appealing to Obi-Wan in the hidden message Luke found embedded in R2-D2’s circuitry.

Ryan hadn’t considered working for a burgeoning shoe empire to be the height of his professional career—he’d consulted for NASA and the Climate Prediction Center, among other agencies. But once he’d delved into preliminary research because Staci was one incredibly tenacious force of nature that couldn’t be sidestepped, he’d realized there was a world of opportunity to solve problems within her organization and keep himself so busy that he didn’t think about Dr. Elizabeth Sherman, DC’s premier gynecologist.

Aka the ex.

He fired up the computer that wasn’t old, but was nowhere near his own state-of-the-art equipment, or what he was accustomed to having access to when on the job.

He waited for the machine to boot up. Avril had pointed out the break room on their way to his office, and he wondered if he should head off for a cup of coffee while he waited for the system to engage.

A couple of minutes passed, and the Staci Kay Shoes logo dissolved into a Windows desktop. Not an operating system he was expertly versed in, but it wasn’t difficult to move through the initial screens that launched, which Avril had indicated he’d see.

He breezed through all of the applications and modules before noon, even though they were quite extensive. With nothing more to do at the moment, he left his office and ventured around the open area of cubicles occupied by Operations staff, introducing himself to those at their workstations. Across the way was Maxi’s office. He stepped into the private corridor, but didn’t find Avril at her desk to inquire if Maxi was available. The assistant was likely out to lunch.

Ryan moved to the opened doorway and rapped his knuckles on the frame. “Anyone home?”

The tall, plush white chair behind a massive glass-topped desk spun around. Maxi stared in horror at him, her big blue eyes popping wide. One hand flew to her apparently very full mouth, if the chipmunk cheeks were any indication. The other held a mammoth sandwich, with hot pastrami and Swiss cheese oozing out the sides and dripping onto the paper in which it was nestled.

“Ah,” Ryan mused with a grin. “Caught you mid-bite.”

“I was just—” She shook her head, chewed voraciously, then swallowed hard. “Trying to squeeze in lunch with some work.”