Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 2

"And here's our HR girl!" Todd, the store manager, said as he opened the door to Jennifer's office without knocking. She didn't think there was anything more unprofessional than HR lady but as it turns out, HR girl was just that. Todd let out a boisterous laugh and ushered his buddy into her office. "Jenny, this is Austin, our new menswear manager."

"Hello, I'm Jennifer, the HR assistant," she said, swallowing her anger at Todd as she stood up. The store manager was a good old boy from the word go but currently the company golden boy at Peterson's as well. He and his wife had moved to St. Louis from Tennessee in the latest corporate takeover, and he was the St. Louis metro area expert on the Peterson way. Jennifer turned to the man standing beside him. "I'll be doing your new hire paperwork."

One look at Austin had her wishing she had bothered to put make-up on that morning. She had gotten into the habit of skipping it when her commute had doubled with her promotion to this store. After a few days of everyone asking her if she was tired, they'd gotten used to it. She told herself her morning run was important for her health, but make-up was not. It was also easier to not be surprised when a cute guy didn't notice you if you weren't trying.

But standing in front of Austin, Jennifer felt bare-faced and exposed. He was one of those gorgeous guys that she knew, as a funny girl, she was only meant to be friends with. He was tall but not gangly and had dark eyes with lashes a Kardashian would envy. He wore a navy suit but looked so comfortable in it, she would have sworn he just had a massage, not started a new job. She made the mistake of thinking she belonged with one of those beautiful guys once in her life and was still paying for it. No make-up was probably saving her from herself; he wouldn't want to even be just friends with the mousy, HR girl.

"A pleasure to meet you, Jennifer," Austin said, holding his hand out and shaking hers firmly. She went weak at the knees for his professionalism. As much as she appreciated the friendliness of her workplace, she cringed at the lack of respect not only given her but anyone who tried to do things by the book. Common courtesy and politeness would have been a huge step up at this place. His hand was soft but strong and she realized she had been shaking it too long.

"Did you bring your ID and social security card?" she asked releasing his hand and wishing she had worn makeup again, so it would cover the blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Y'all can get to that later." Todd's voice startled Jennifer. The arrogant jerk would be surprised that a woman could have forgotten he was there. "I'm just giving Austin the tour now. He'll be back for all that form crap later."

"I have two other new hires this afternoon." She pointed to her schedule on the door. "I don't want Austin to get stuck staying late."

"If we have to do it tomorrow, we can." Todd waived her off, put his arm around Austin, and ushered him out the door.

"Todd-" she started but gave up. Austin's paperwork had to be signed that day if he was going to get paid for it. Todd knew this but didn't care. He would ask her to simply change the date in the system. He had done it before, and she had told him no. Cynthia had said she did the right thing. But if Austin couldn't get paid on time, Cynthia would turn into the Dragon Lady in an instant.

Seething, Jennifer sat back down. This meant she would have to stay late. She called the vet to move Zack Morris's appointment. Their next opening was that weekend. Her cat needed his inhaler regularly and if she ended up in the vet's emergency room, she was sending the bill to Todd. She finished putting in the timesheet corrections and was still angry when her phone rang.

"Yes?" she asked, seeing it was an internal call on the phone's display.

"Is that how we answer the phone in the HR office when I'm not there, Jennifer?" Cynthia's voice harped over the line.