Free Falling for the Boss by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

move in any way the whole time he watched her. 
     
    Jim continued on as if Thomas were paying complete attention.  Thomas on the other hand, leaned more to the right to see if he could get a glimpse of the body attached to those legs.  But nothing worked.  Thomas took a sip of his iced tea and hoped Jim didn’t notice his eyes straying or his mind’s lack of concentration.  Hopefully, his sunglasses hid his eye movement s .
     
    Realizing that he was straining his n eck to get a glimpse of the sun- bathing beauty, Thomas leaned forward, using Jim to block his view of the legs.  He was embarrassed that he was so undisciplined.  Usually, when he was at work, his whole mind was there as well and he demanded the same of his team members .  Well, that was before Victoria came onto the team, he corrected.  He seemed to be noting what she wore each day, if she wore perfume, when she left the conference room and, until she came back with whatever data or file she had been pulling, his eyes strayed to the conference room doors, waiting to see her walk back in . 
     
    He admitted to himself that he loved the way she walked.  She moved with the grace of a ballet dancer.  Her whole body was perfectly still except for her hips and her legs.  And she wore high heels that made her legs look shapely.  He suspected she wore them to make up for some of her height.  He wasn’ t sure, but he assumed she was about five feet four or five inches tall and wanted to hide that fact.  The shoes she wore raised her height to about five feet, seven inches tall, which only brought her to the top of his shoulder.  In any case, he loved watching her walk, admitting, if only to himself, that it was almost a n obsession . 
     
    Thomas realized he was imagining Victoria walking down the pool side instead of listening to Jim and refocused.  Jim was still talking numbers. 
     
    Then two things happened at once.  The woman rolled onto her stomach and another hotel guest moved a chair that had been blocking his view of the woman .  And his heartbeat accelerated.  Now that she was lying on her stomach, he saw that the sexy legs were topped by the cutest derriere. 
     
    Thomas turned away, forcing his eyes back to Jim.  He took a nother long swallow of his iced tea and called to the waitress for anther , wishing he could down a glass of scotch instead . 
     
    “One more question,” Jim asked.
     
    Thomas nodded his head in inquiry but knew that he was holding his breath in anticipation of the woman moving again so he could see her face . 
     
    “What’s so fascinating behind me that you’ve just agreed to spend a billion dollars impleme nting something you have no understanding of?”
     
    Thomas flushed.  He’d been caught and had no recollection of the conversation.  “I’m sorry,” he said to Jim.  “I’m a little distracted,” he said, hoping the older man wouldn’t turn around and see the sunbathing woman. 
     
    “Can I look?”
     
    Thomas shook his head.  “It’s just some kids playing,” he lied.  “How about if we get out of this heat and continue our discussion?”
     
    Jim nodded.  “Sure, sure.” He said and stood up to follow.  But he couldn’t cont ain his curio sity since he hadn’t heard any kids playing in the pool. 
     
    “Wow!” Jim said , catching a glimpse of the woman’s legs stretched out on the lounger , then picked up his iced tea and followed Thomas into the coolness of the hotel. 
     
    “Okay, I saw what had you so captivated . I won’t be offended now that I have to explain my idea again.”
     
    Thomas smiled as he sat down in a hotel lobby chair and forced himself to listen to Jim.  In the back of his mind, he determined that he was going to find the woman immediately after this conversation and get to know the woman.  M aybe the mystery lady could push Victoria out of his mind and help him get focused. 
     
    Jim went through his idea again and Thomas was able to