nothing but business to me. It will never be anything other than business. I’m good at my job, and I’m sure if you put aside whatever this is, you’ll see that. Do you understand?”
I struggled to refrain from making some remark about how good she looked when she was angry. Really, I did. It wasn’t natural for me to not speak my mind.
However, I also got the sense that she was, in some way, expecting me to say something like that.
So I leaned against the door frame, thumbs hooked in my pockets, and nodded. “I know you’re good at your job. Why? What other reason could I possibly have for demanding that you be the one to handle my account?”
That put a damper on her righteous indignation. I watched her try and rally her anger again and fail. She frowned once, then again, unprepared for that remark.
“Well...” she started, “It’s because the last time you and I were together you said you wanted to kiss me...”
“Oh, that, right. I’m thinking more of how you handled yourself in that meeting. Answering all my questions, not being scared of me. Callaghan’s just a yes man. Trust me, I know them when I see them. You’re not one.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me, her defenses still up but not at full power. “I’m not a man, for one.”
At last, some humor! I thought. There was a tiny sparkle in her eyes. It was that fire inside I’d noticed earlier. That heat that wanted to escape if only it got the chance. A tingle of excitement ran down the front of my stomach.
“Definitely not,” I said, smiling at her. It was a good smile, I knew. It had been on magazine covers. I knew exactly what effect it had on women.
The heat came back to her cheeks and she dropped her eyes from mine.
Ah, there we go . I figured I had her. Beautiful brownstone, good coffee, the general warmth of the room, some charm and some flirting. The perfect recipe to loosen her up.
“Are you finished?” she asked, and I saw that the warmth in her cheeks wasn’t from my skillful flirting but rather another shot of anger directed at me.
I unhooked my thumbs from my pockets and held my hands up in surrender, “Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, wondering whether this was another joke or if I was serious. The thing was, I wasn’t certain of the matter myself.
It would certainly be easier to call it a day with her. I had another invite to some high profile movie junket tonight. Plenty of starlets would be there.
Except I found I liked the challenge. No woman had challenged me like this since college, and it got my blood pumping with the unexpected thrill of it.
So I brushed past her, inhaling her scent again as I went. It made me throb deep inside.
“So, about that computer?” Quinn said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a jump drive.
“You didn’t say the magic word,” I said.
Her face brightened again and I loved it. It also surprised me how she otherwise managed to maintain her cool.
“May I please use your computer?”
I touched a hidden button on the desk and the computer monitor folded up out of the top, right above the kneehole. It was one of those composite things with the USB jacks and all that built into it.
When the screen finished folding out, a minimalistic keyboard and a touchpad also came up. I pulled the overstuffed leather chair out and offered it to her.
She squinted at me again, once more questioning the purity of my motivations. I took my hands off the chair and stepped away. She sat down and went to work, plugging the jump drive in and browsing through the files.
“I spent the weekend thinking about the upcoming release of your latest app. The art’s just a mockup for now. But I think this is just the thing you need. This is a still that will run in all the major software publications: Wired, PCWorld, and the like.”
I leaned over, putting one hand on the top of the chair for support. I had to squint a little to read it, some of the text was small on the screen. It took me a
I struggled to refrain from making some remark about how good she looked when she was angry. Really, I did. It wasn’t natural for me to not speak my mind.
However, I also got the sense that she was, in some way, expecting me to say something like that.
So I leaned against the door frame, thumbs hooked in my pockets, and nodded. “I know you’re good at your job. Why? What other reason could I possibly have for demanding that you be the one to handle my account?”
That put a damper on her righteous indignation. I watched her try and rally her anger again and fail. She frowned once, then again, unprepared for that remark.
“Well...” she started, “It’s because the last time you and I were together you said you wanted to kiss me...”
“Oh, that, right. I’m thinking more of how you handled yourself in that meeting. Answering all my questions, not being scared of me. Callaghan’s just a yes man. Trust me, I know them when I see them. You’re not one.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me, her defenses still up but not at full power. “I’m not a man, for one.”
At last, some humor! I thought. There was a tiny sparkle in her eyes. It was that fire inside I’d noticed earlier. That heat that wanted to escape if only it got the chance. A tingle of excitement ran down the front of my stomach.
“Definitely not,” I said, smiling at her. It was a good smile, I knew. It had been on magazine covers. I knew exactly what effect it had on women.
The heat came back to her cheeks and she dropped her eyes from mine.
Ah, there we go . I figured I had her. Beautiful brownstone, good coffee, the general warmth of the room, some charm and some flirting. The perfect recipe to loosen her up.
“Are you finished?” she asked, and I saw that the warmth in her cheeks wasn’t from my skillful flirting but rather another shot of anger directed at me.
I unhooked my thumbs from my pockets and held my hands up in surrender, “Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, wondering whether this was another joke or if I was serious. The thing was, I wasn’t certain of the matter myself.
It would certainly be easier to call it a day with her. I had another invite to some high profile movie junket tonight. Plenty of starlets would be there.
Except I found I liked the challenge. No woman had challenged me like this since college, and it got my blood pumping with the unexpected thrill of it.
So I brushed past her, inhaling her scent again as I went. It made me throb deep inside.
“So, about that computer?” Quinn said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a jump drive.
“You didn’t say the magic word,” I said.
Her face brightened again and I loved it. It also surprised me how she otherwise managed to maintain her cool.
“May I please use your computer?”
I touched a hidden button on the desk and the computer monitor folded up out of the top, right above the kneehole. It was one of those composite things with the USB jacks and all that built into it.
When the screen finished folding out, a minimalistic keyboard and a touchpad also came up. I pulled the overstuffed leather chair out and offered it to her.
She squinted at me again, once more questioning the purity of my motivations. I took my hands off the chair and stepped away. She sat down and went to work, plugging the jump drive in and browsing through the files.
“I spent the weekend thinking about the upcoming release of your latest app. The art’s just a mockup for now. But I think this is just the thing you need. This is a still that will run in all the major software publications: Wired, PCWorld, and the like.”
I leaned over, putting one hand on the top of the chair for support. I had to squint a little to read it, some of the text was small on the screen. It took me a
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