After landing in his front yard, he shifted and headed inside. He’d been so busy of late that his home looked as messy as his office. Dishes were piled in the sink, and many of his clothes were carelessly tossed on the sofa. Tomorrow, for sure, he’d clean up. Right now, all he wanted was a shower and a good night’s sleep.
When his alarm clock sounded—what seemed like minutes after he retired—Tanner slapped it for another ten minutes of shut eye. Too bad, it went off again seconds later. That sure was a fast ten minutes. After dragging himself out of bed, he tossed on a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeve green shirt with the company logo on it, along with his work boots. After he shaved and washed up, he put on some coffee while he threw two pieces of bread in the toaster. The coffee finished at the same time the bread did. As he slathered jelly on the toast, he checked the time. Damn. It was quarter to nine. He needed to beat Ella to the office. Unless Clint went in early, she’d have no way of getting in, and it wouldn’t be fair to have her stand outside in the chilly morning air because he was late.
With no time to clean up the kitchen, he tossed his cup and plate in the sink and rushed out. The trip only took a few minutes. He landed on top of the hotel, shifted, and exited through the lobby. Needing to hurry, he jogged the one block to the office where he saw Ella leaning against the locked front door. Damn.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.”
“What time did you go to bed?” she asked as her gaze scanned his face.
“Seven hours ago.”
“Hmm.”
“Okay, maybe five.” He didn’t need this interrogation. After he let her into the office, he motioned for her to sit at the reception desk. “I need to make a few calls,” he said. “Then I’ll fly to Thedia to find out about your car.”
“Thank you.”
He walked down the hallway and entered his office. His first phone call was to Gerard Danton to explain about the avalanche and the heavy snow in the area. “I’m hoping the truck will arrive here later today.”
“It better. Delays cost me money,” he grumbled.
Actually, delays cost Tanner money. He’d already quoted the project. As soon as he hung up, a knock sounded on his door, and Ella came in. She’d been wearing a down jacket before, but now that she’d removed it, he could see all of her curves. Damn. He needed to get her an oversized company shirt to wear that would cover her perfect body. She was too much of a distraction looking like she did in her own clothes.
“No one’s called, and I was wondering if you’re going to be here for a bit if I could go to that office supply store and pick up a few things.”
“Sure.” The front door opened. “That might be Clint. Maybe he can take you in case you have too many purchases to carry.”
“That would be awesome. Thank you.”
Her smile once more jacked up his libido. Clint barreled in and abruptly stopped. “Sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Clint, this is Ella Snow. Ella, Clint Singletary, my second-in-command.”
They shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Ella.” Clint looked back at Tanner and tossed him a rather puzzled look.
“Ella is our new office assistant.”
“You actually hired someone?” Clint grinned and turned to her. “Please don’t quit. If Tanner becomes unreasonable, promise you’ll come talk to me first?”
She laughed. “I promise, but I think I can handle him.”
Clint’s eyes widened. “Maybe we can ask her to take some clients out to dinner.”
“What?” she asked.
Tanner waved a hand. “Nothing. The last person we hired insulted all of our clients. We’re thrilled you aren’t the type to do that.”
“Never. My parents raised me better than that.”
Tanner couldn’t believe his luck. “I’m about to head out to look into retrieving Ella’s buried car.” He explained about the avalanche.
“That’s tough. I’m glad Tanner found you in time,” he said.
“You and me both.”
“Since Ella is determined to tame the mess that is my office, would you mind driving her to Stanfield’s.”
“Sure. You know I love office supply stores.” Clint leaned closer to Ella. “If you need any tips on how to organize things, just check out my office.”
There was a time when Tanner was the neat one. “I’m organized. I just haven’t had any time to put things where they belong.”
Clint huffed out a laugh. “Keep telling yourself that.” He turned to Ella. “Ready to check out what Plux has to offer?”
“Totally.”
When Ella walked into the office supply store, she salivated at all of the organizational tools. She had no doubt that if she just scanned and shredded the documents on Tanner’s desk that he’d be able to find things for a while, but she wanted to help him for the future too. There had to be something that would enable him to keep organized on his own—if she chose to leave.
The first thing she bought was a desk organizer that had a drawer to hold things like pencils, pens, and a stapler. It also had three shelves and a place for hanging folders. It would be perfect for him. She bought labels to indicate incoming, outgoing, and things that needed to be filed. Next, she purchased a desk calendar, a three-shelf bookcase, and a file cabinet. She couldn’t believe he and his partners were so ill prepared. At the last minute, she bought a dry erase board, mostly so that she could write reminder messages to him.
“That’s all?” he asked.
Clearly, he thought she was going overboard. “Oh, you’re right. I
