“What’s wrong with the hotel we put you up in?” he asked. “Why don’t you just stay there for a while until you’re more comfortable in the city?”
Besides the expense, she silently questioned? The hotel he’d dropped her off at several days ago was one of the most exclusive in the city. And he hadn’t just put her in a room. Nope, she was living in a suite! It was huge and beautiful, with glorious views of the city in one direction and the mountains in another direction.
“My furniture arrives next week. The moving company your assistant arranged for me needs an address. I can’t really tell them to just keep it in the truck until I find a place to live. I need to get settled.”
“Agreed. I have a great idea, but let’s check out these places first.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his “great idea”, but she appreciated his help in getting her around town. Since she’d spent so much time at the office discussing the new marketing strategy with the various departments this week, she’d basically lived at the office, only coming back to the hotel to collapse into the ultra-soft bed at the end of each night.
Selena directed him with her phone’s GPS to the first apartment complex and she smiled as he pulled into a parking spot.
“I don’t like it,” he announced.
She did a double take, looking at him, then at the nicely manicured landscaping, the well-maintained buildings with balconies for each apartment and even a community room and an exercise facility. “What’s not to like?” she asked, looking around once again, trying to find flaws.
“It’s just…not right,” he said and put the Jeep into reverse, about to back up.
“Wait a minute,” she yelped, putting a hand over his on the gear shift. For a long moment, they froze, both of them looking at her hand covering his. The tension spiraled and she curled her fingers away.
He spoke first to Selena’s relief. She wasn’t sure she could have spoken anyway. “The apartments are probably tiny and the kitchens not renovated. You need more than that.”
She put her other hand on the door handle, trying to hide her reaction to that touch. It was hard, but she knew that she was silly to think about things like that. “There’s nothing wrong with this apartment complex. I’m going in and looking around.”
Selena stepped out of the Jeep, painfully aware of him watching her. She knew that he wasn’t really looking at her. Men like Reid Jones went for tall, leggy blonds or sultry brunette supermodels. Good grief, the man ran a multi-national cosmetics company! Gorgeous women surrounded the man. He was in charge of the marketing aspects of Rembrandt Cosmetics, which meant he supervised the selection of which models to use for their advertising campaigns.
So there was absolutely no reason he would be interested in a mousy woman like her. Yes, she worked hard to maintain her health by exercising and eating well. And yeah, she knew how to put on makeup. She was a trainer, after all. She knew all the tips and tricks, teaching the Rembrandt Cosmetics makeup artists on how to use a woman’s features, highlight the best and hide the problem areas.
But to think that he might be interested in someone like her was just fooling herself. Remember George, she said silently as she made her way to the management office.
Stepping inside, she smiled at the receptionist who greeted her. “Hi, I’m interested in a one bedroom apartment.” The receptionist smiled and opened her mouth to speak. But Reid stepped in behind her, warming her back with the heat radiating off of his chest.
“She needs a two bedroom at least. And nothing under fifteen hundred square feet.”
“I’m sorry,” the receptionist stammered. “But none of our apartments are that big.”
Selena waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t need anything that large. Just some place to…”
“Fifteen hundred,” Reid stated firmly behind her. “Two bedrooms. Three if you have one.”
Selena spun around, glaring up at him. “First of all, I can’t afford fifteen hundred square feet,” she told him firmly, poking him in the chest. “And secondly, you’re being rude!”