Never mind the fact that stealing was just wrong.
The items weren’t that expensive and could all be replaced. But Hawk never thought anyone on his staff would stoop that low, let alone at Christmas. Then again, that was just it, wasn’t it? Money was tight for a lot of people. Whoever it was had probably already sold the stolen items.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, sir,” Ethan, his head of security, had assured when he’d first apprised Hawk of the situation.
Trusting Ethan and his staff, Hawk had passed the reassurance on to others, encouraging them to take care by locking up their personal items.
“See that you don’t leave anything important where someone can get ahold of it,” Hawk’s last companywide email had said. “We’ll keep a close eye on the feed and ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Or so he hoped.
Hawk exhaled a puff of air. Ethan was thorough. They’d get to the bottom of this.
He’d already contacted the head of Malus Custodial Management, the company they hired out, in an attempt to cover their bases. Stina Malus’s personal correspondence was always cordial and helpful, but where this wasn’t so much an issue of cleaning quality, Hawk had sent her a direct message about it instead of deferring the matter to his assistant. Someone was stealing from him, someone within his own company. Someone with keys and access to areas other employees didn’t have.
He didn’t need to deal with this now, not when he was already worrying over expanding exponentially, and not when Marketing was fighting his order for Harmony Children’s. Hawk’s candy donation to the local hospital was one of the few things he got excited about this time of year, and Marketing was trying to make their agenda his.
A notification chimed on his phone. It was almost time for his breakfast date. He’d come in earlier, just to make sure he wouldn’t miss it.
Tossing his overcoat across his arm, Hawk ambled from his office out into the hall. He stopped by the third floor to address another associate’s concerns about scheduling and didn’t realize he was in the elevator again until a voice called, jolting him back to awareness.
In a swift motion, Hawk jutted out his hand to stop the door just in time for a timid, brunette woman to enter. Gripping the purse strung over her shoulder, she huddled in the elevator’s opposite corner and stared at the ceiling.
She was attractive, with wide brown eyes and a small rosebud mouth that had just the right amount of pout. Freckles dusted across her cheeks and nose, which was endearing for some reason. She peered at him through her periphery and then went rigid. Eyes wide, the slightest blush painting her cheeks, she stared at him as though she’d unexpectedly bumped into her favorite celebrity.
Hawk cleared his throat. He was used to women’s reactions to him, especially in his corporate offices. Usually, he kept to himself, directing them to Clary, his assistant, or allowing whoever else was in the room to take the lead.
But this was just the two of them. The elevator ride would last only a matter of seconds. Hawk rarely talked to people he was on the elevator with. Why, then, did he want to strike up a conversation with her?
From her professional red blouse and the dressy shoes with well-fitted jeans, he guessed she was in one of his departments out for coffee like he was. She held a shopping bag in one hand filled with what looked like clothes, and she gripped the strap of a burgundy purse as she stuffed her Ever After Sweet Shoppe employee badge into it. So she did work for him.
“Hey, there,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”
Her cheeks flushed. She kept peering at him from the corners of her eyes, as though uncertain he was actually there.
“Thanks, Mr. Danielson. Same to you.”
He inched in, just a shift, enough for her festive and fiery scent of pomegranates spiked with cinnamon to wash over him. His skin flushed, and something fluttered in his chest. He hadn’t had this reaction to a woman since he’d dated Amelia from Production, and the attraction for her had built over time. This was instant, and that was startling enough.
Or was it? Had he already met the woman? He would have remembered the flecks of gold in her eyes and the way her mouth curved at the corners.
“You know who I am?” he said. “I’m afraid I don’t remember meeting you.”
“Probably because we’ve never met.” She gave him a sweet smile.
All righty then. At least he wasn’t losing it.
“I’ve seen your picture once or twice,” she added. Soft traces of red bloomed in her cheeks. That, coupled with the freckles, made her all the more interesting. She cleared her throat and shuffled. Closer to him.
“I’m afraid you have the advantage over me…” He allowed his words to hang off in hopeful expectation of her name and maybe even her number before they reached the lobby. There wasn’t much time. According to the little lit-up circles indicating each floor, they were nearing it now.
She tossed her hair, sending tantalizing streaks of pomegranate in his direction, and opened her mouth when the elevator’s lights flickered. Once, twice, too soon, they blacked out completely.
The car shuddered. Then with a lurch, the elevator stopped altogether. Hawk staggered in her direction. She toppled toward him. He felt her hand on his chest as she gripped his lapel for support.
“Oh,” she squeaked, pressing into his side. Instinctively, Hawk’s arm went around her, encircling her tiny waist. She pushed against his chest as her scent drifted toward him. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, bracing himself with a hand on the wall.
“Totally cliché. I can’t believe I just did that. Please don’t think I just threw myself at you.”
Though he couldn’t see her in
