Stronger With Her (8 page)

T
GIF-thank god it’s finally fucking Friday. This week has been nothing but hassles and roadblocks, and I am so ready for the weekend. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I might get to see Vixen again. I’ve tried not to examine this enthusiasm too closely, mostly because my dick also gets excited. I do hope that I get to talk to her this time.

My office phone buzzes with a call from Joe.

“I’ve got us set up to meet with the new computer person this afternoon. Simone said that your calendar was open at two. Are you still available?”

I pull up my schedule and see that it is, in fact, clear all afternoon. What a welcome surprise. “Yeah, all good. I’ll put it in the computer. Where do you want to meet?”

“Let’s go to the conference room. I’ll have Jason be there too, just to have another opinion about her abilities. See you then,” he says as he hangs up without letting me respond. Typical. Joe is always moving on to the next thing which is what makes him such a good operations manager.

I work through lunch to get everything as caught up as possible so I can enjoy the weekend. The contract stuff is ready to go as soon as we get our system upgraded. At one-thirty Jason strolls into my office with a stack of files. He stops suddenly, looks at me and starts laughing.

“You got a problem, fucker?” I ask with a smile.

“No, I just couldn’t figure out who was sitting at your desk. You finally got rid of the wooly mammoth on your face. Looks good, little bro. You might actually be able to get some pussy now that you don’t look homeless.” He laughs as he sets the folders on my desk.

“What the fuck is this?” I ask with disgust. He knows better than to try and dump his shit on me on a Friday afternoon.

“These are the different spec files that we need for this meeting, asshole. I thought you’d want to look over them before we go in there,” he scoffs as he pats the pile on my desk.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. Sorry for being a dick. I just want to get out of here and relax, you know?”

“I do know and I feel ya. Hopefully, after we meet with this chick, we can bail.”

“Don’t call her a chick, that’s so offensive. Ma would beat your ass for that. Plus I don’t want you to slip up in front of her with that shit. Be professional for once, will you?” I’m pushing too hard, but I can’t help it. Sometimes Jason can be such a child.

“Fuck off. Get your attitude straight before we meet in thirty. I’d hate to have to kick your ass in front of this woman and Joe,” he spits as he walks out of my office. This better go well or it’s going to be tequila shots all weekend.

I
make my way into the office building across from my lawyer’s firm. I didn’t even know there was an ammunition company in here. Once I get past the security guard and up to the fourth floor, I’m met by a cute receptionist.

“Hello, how may I help you?” she asks politely.

“I’m Stephanie Edwards with Erin’s Peace of Mind. I have a meeting scheduled with Joseph Owens at two o’clock.” I hand her a business card that I printed myself, hoping it looks professional enough. Hopefully, the ones I ordered will be in by Monday.

“I’ll let Mr. Owens know that you’re here. Would you like something to drink while you wait?”

“No, thank you. That’s very kind of you to offer.” I smile as I take a seat to wait.

It doesn’t take long before a large man enters the lobby. He’s tall, probably six feet or so, and it’s obvious that he works out. He’s attractive in a rugged way, with light brown wavy hair and some stubble on his face, but he seems to have eyes for the receptionist. He says something to her that I can’t hear and then turns to me.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Edwards. I’m Joe Owens. Thank you for meeting with me today,” he says as he puts his hand out. I take it to return the handshake and notice that my hand disappears in his.

“Thank you for the opportunity. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the project.”

“Why don’t you follow me back to the conference room. My brother, James, who is the CEO and my other brother, Jason, our Technical Supervisor, will also be joining us. Did Simone offer you something to drink?”

“She did, thank you. I’m good for now,” I say as we enter a room with a long table. Two men at the end of it stand up and they are bigger than Joe. What did their mother feed them when they were growing up? The smaller of the two approaches me first.

“Welcome, Ms. Edwards, I’m Jason Owens, Technical Supervisor. It’s very nice to meet you.” He shakes my hand gently and I smile up at him. Jason is slightly taller than Joe and has dark hair that he’s grown out to his shoulders. His eyes are also blue, but they have a kindness behind them that makes me feel comfortable.

“This is my brother, James,” he says and the other man comes over. He’s so tall I have to practically bend backward to see his face. When I do, I’m struck with a sense of familiarity. He’s much taller than his brothers and broader. I bet he buys his shirts at a specialty store because there’s no way something from Macy’s would fit him. His eyes are blue like his brothers, but they are a deeper color. He has dark hair that’s cut close to his scalp but is long enough to be styled in a way that looks like he just got out of bed. I notice a small dimple in his left cheek, but it goes away quickly.

“Ms. Edwards, thank you for coming in and meeting with us today,” he says as he extends his hand. I snap out of my perusal of his body to take it. I feel a jolt of electricity when we touch.

“Thank you for the invitation,” I manage to spit out while trying to extract my hand from his grip.
Whoa, what was that?
I try to determine if he felt it too, but he’s not giving me any signs that he did.

“Please have a seat and we can discuss the details,” Joe says as he pulls a chair out for me. James sits to my right, Joe on my left and Jason is across the table.

“I assume you’ve had time to look over the system requirements we need to enhance our security,” Jason asks, getting right down to business.

“Based on what I was sent, you have some of the basic equipment you’ll need as far as servers, but you may need new routers. I’ll have to actually look at them to know. With your software, the first thing we have to do is protect you from industrial espionage. You’ll need to build better firewalls and anti-malware software. I did my own tests last night and it looks like you’ve got some holes you need to fill in addition to the contract requirements,” I answer. I did my homework before this meeting. I tested their system and was able to break into it in five different places. I guess they don’t know they’re that vulnerable.

“What kind of holes?” James asks, sitting back in the chair and crossing his big arms over that massive chest. If I look closely enough, I bet I could see the outlines of a nice six-pack under that shirt.

“Well, five that I’ve found so far. I was able to infiltrate your system in different places. You’ve got a serious security problem and then you need to add all these other things.” I mimic James’ pose in my chair and wait for the yelling to begin. It’s what always happens when a woman tells a big man that he’s got weaknesses he didn’t even know about.

“I’m sorry,” James says calmly. “Did you say five holes?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. You need to fill those first and then you can add to your security,” I say confidently. I know what I’m doing.

“Jason, were you aware of this?” Joe asks his brother, who is looking very nervous.

“I was not. As far as I could tell everything is fine.”

“Well, Ms. Edwards,” James says looking away from Jason and toward me, “looks like we’ll need a little more help than we thought we would. Are you interested in the job?”

I look at all three men before I answer. Can I work with these very intense, good-looking, successful men? Sure. The bigger question is can I work with James with the pull I feel toward him? Keeping things professional will have to be a top priority.

“Yes, I believe I am interested in the job. I’ve prepared a quote for my services which includes patching the holes that I found. However, it may change after I take a look at your setup.” I give Joe the sheet of paper that outlines the specific work that needs to be done and the cost of my services. He glances at it and nods at James. I know that the amount of money I’m quoting would make most people hesitate, but I’m prepared to justify it all. They need me if they want this contract and there are some big issues with their system that they obviously didn’t know about.

“How long is all this going to take? This contract is very important and we don’t have the luxury of time here,” James asks.

“Once I see your equipment, I can be more accurate, but at this point I think it will take approximately a month to have you contract compliant.” The men look at each other and nod.

“Welcome aboard, Ms. Edwards,” James says. “I hope you can start on Monday. We need to get things in place as soon as possible to start this contract.” He stands up and I follow suit.

“I’ll be here at eight a.m., Mr. Owens,” I say holding out my hand for him to shake. I start to wonder if I’ll feel the zip again when he returns the gesture and, sure enough, the jolt goes right up my arm.

“Joe will walk you out. Thank you for coming in today,” he says as he sits back down and begins to gather the files on the table.

I walk in front of Joe, back to the elevator lobby where we part ways with a promise that things will get started on Monday.

As I walk out of the building and to my car, I send up a silent prayer thanking Erin for watching over me and getting this business going.

I
slump down in the chair as soon as she walks out of the room, feeling like I’ve been hit by lightening.

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” Jason asks with one eyebrow cocked. He’s only eleven months older than me and always seems to read my mind.

“Nothing, why?” I try to go for aloof, but I think I miss the mark.

“Well, let’s see. You were rather abrupt, you couldn’t look her in the eye, you kept moving around in your chair, and right now you look like you’ve just run a mile. So, your turn, what’s wrong with you?”

Fuck.
Why does he always have to be right?

“Honestly, I don’t know. There’s something about her, like I’ve seen her before or met her before. It’s bugging the shit out of me. I haven’t felt like this since…” I can’t speak her name out loud.