The Geek Tycoon (3 page)

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “We don’t have a broom closet. We have a cleaning service.”

“Okay, imagine they’re on that little couch in his office. You walk in to ask him a question and there they are in total violation of your recently instituted policy. Are you going to fire them? Make them take a pay cut?”

“No, of course not.” His voice was strained. “But Rylan wouldn’t –”

“Don’t be so sure. I think he likes her.”

His color was still high but he soldiered on. “I think so, too, but she dated Frazer in college.”

“She did? I didn’t know that. Was it serious?”

“Semi. I don’t know the particulars of the breakup and Frazer insisted he’d be fine hiring her as a consultant. But he might not be fine if his brother started dating her.”

“Then maybe there’s no current office romance to worry about, but how global are you going to make this policy? What about two people going out for coffee? Or pizza, for that matter? Will that be against the rules?”

“Of course not!”

With deliberate intent, she reached across the table and covered his clenched fist with her hand. “Exactly. You can’t legislate your employees’ social life and people who socialize touch each other. It’s going to happen.” His hand felt warm and strong beneath hers. As she looked into his eyes, her pulse kicked into high gear. She’d seen that intensity before but only when he was excited about a new tech gadget. “See what I mean?”

“Yeah.” His voice had a gravelly texture that was very unlike him.

“Take this dinner we’re having, for example.” She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand and his eyes darkened. Unless she was mistaken, her touch excited him. “When we leave, you’d probably help me with my coat.”

His breathing had changed, too. “Probably.”

“Surely that wouldn’t be a violation of the policy.”

Holding her gaze, he drew a deep breath. “Depends on how I do it.”

“And how I feel about how you do it.”

“Obviously.” He sighed. “Charlotte, I –”

“Pizza’s here!” A waiter arrived.

She pulled her hand away and silently cursed the interruption. She didn’t know what Tony had been about to say, but it might have been really important.

“Sorry it took so long, you guys, but we’re slammed tonight.” The waiter was all smiles and congeniality as he set down a metal trivet to hold the pan. “We put on extra olives and mushrooms to make up for it.”

The moment was gone, so Charlotte decided to leave the subject alone for now. She had some ideas about how Tony could solve this HR dilemma, but she decided now wasn’t the time to discuss them. “Great.” She pulled a paper napkin out of the holder and spread it on her lap. “I’m starving.”

The waiter set the pan on the trivet. “Enjoy!”

She stared at the pizza. Then she blinked and looked again. No mistake. The pizza was definitely in the shape of a heart.

A
heart-shaped pizza
.
Tony gulped. Although it had saved him from foolishly blurting out his feelings for Charlotte, it had created a new problem. She might think he’d ordered it.

Although he hadn’t, he vaguely remembered seeing a sign in the window advertising heart-shaped pizzas for couples. The restaurant had some new employees. Someone who didn’t know him or Charlotte had thought they were dating.

He looked over at her. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“No?” She was studying him much too closely for comfort. “Sure looks like our favorite blend of toppings.”

“I mean the shape. I didn’t tell them to make a heart. They assumed something based on us being the only two people at the table. And maybe because of the specialty beer I requested.”

“Which brings up another question. Why did you ask Bert for the specialty beer?”

He panicked. Thanks to the beer and the topic of conversation she’d nearly coaxed the truth from him a moment ago. If she kept digging she was liable to unearth his secret – that she was his sun, moon and stars. He’d unwisely invited her for pizza tonight because he was an idiot who craved more time with her even though it would lead to absolutely nothing.

He gave her the simplest answer he could think of. “I thought you’d like it.”

“I do, but why did you want to please me?”

Normally he wasn’t good at bullshitting, but he’d give it a shot. “Isn’t that obvious? You have the contacts to get our app in front of the right people. We can create the most amazing product the world has ever seen, but without the right exposure it’ll go nowhere. You’re our ticket to somewhere.”

“Oh.”

He’d thought that was a pretty good speech, but it seemed to have disappointed her. “Besides, we’ve been friends for a long time. That’s something to celebrate.”

Her jaw firmed. “Yes, it is.” She raised her mug. “To friendship.”

“To friendship.” He touched his mug to hers and drank. He’d dodged a bullet. Even a dim bulb like Blake Pearson could recognize that Charlotte didn’t belong with a nerd like him. If she ever figured out that he craved her more than the air he breathed, she’d likely pity him. And once that happened, his entire existence would become a living hell.

After their toast he decided to drop the loaded subject of touching coworkers and fortunately Charlotte didn’t bring it up again, either. He divided the pizza into the right ventricle and the left ventricle and they munched and drank while they compared notes on the latest superhero movies. He had the passing thought that they could go to the next big release together but that might not be a great idea. The more time she spent with him outside the office, the more likely she’d tweak to his emotional investment.

She put the last slice of pizza on her plate. “You used to be all about seeing a movie in the theater on opening day. Are you still?”

“If it’s one I’m excited about, you bet.” He topped off their beer. “How about you?”

“Definitely. There’s no comparison between seeing an action movie at home and seeing it on the big screen.”

“I’m with you. I’ve installed a top-of-the-line system and it’s not the same. But at least I can re-watch the older stuff.”

“Which is great, too. When I really love something, I buy it because I know I’ll want to see it again.”

“And again and again?” When they were kids he’d been astounded at how many times she’d been willing to sit through the same movie. He was good for twice through and by then he’d have the whole thing memorized so there was no point in seeing it again. He could run it in his head.

She laughed. “Yeah, I’m still a devoted re-watcher. In fact, that’s why I recently invested in a whole new system.”

“Oh, yeah? What did you get?” He listened as she described components almost identical to his. “Sweet.”

“I’m sure it will be.”

“What do you mean by
will be
? You don’t have it yet?”

“I do. I just haven’t finished setting everything up.” She popped the last bite of pizza into her mouth.

“Hm.” He had trouble imagining such a thing. He’d had his system up and running within an hour. “When did you get it?”

“Two weeks ago.”

“
Two weeks
?”

“I know, I know.” She took a long swallow of beer and set down her mug. “I was determined to hook everything up myself but the directions weren’t written by an English speaker so the process was slow. After I finally finished and turned it on . . . it didn’t work.”

“Didn’t work how?”

“No sound, no picture, just some blinking lights.”

“When was that?”

“Last weekend.”

Tony stared at her in disbelief. He’d bought his share of balky electronics and he hadn’t been able to sleep until he’d made them work. He couldn’t comprehend how she could just leave her components sitting for days.

“Don’t look at me like that. I feel stupid enough already.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“I am, too! Thousands of dollars of non-working equipment sits in my living room because I thought I could put it together. I told the delivery guys that I didn’t need their help, even though the service came included, so I suppose the adult thing would be to call them, but my pride won’t let me. See? Stupid!” She downed the last of her beer.

“Would it hurt your pride if I put it together?”

She gazed at him. “Yes.”

“Look, Charlotte, it won’t –”

“But not as much as if I called the guys from the store.”

“All righty, then.” He pushed away his beer mug. “Let’s go.”

“Now?”

“Of course now. You need that system up and running ASAP.” He grabbed his jacket and started to slide out of the booth.

“Wouldn’t you rather come by this weekend?”

“That’s three days away!”

“So?”

“So it would drive me nuts between now and then, that’s what.”

“Now that you mention it, you do have a sort of manic gleam in your eye.”

She picked up her coat and purse. “But it’s past eight already. This could take hours.”

“I doubt it.”

“Ouch.” She slid out of the booth and laid her purse down while she put on her coat.

“Sorry.” He managed to get there in time to help her with one sleeve. “Didn’t mean to insult your efforts.”

“That’s okay.” As she turned to smile at him, her silky hair tickled the back of his hand.

His pulse rate shot into the red zone and he fought the urge to run his fingers through that glorious hair.

Fortunately she stepped away immediately and began buttoning her coat. “If my pride’s going to be wounded, I’d rather you do the wounding than those other guys. I could tell from their attitude that they doubted I could manage the job. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of being right.”

“For all you know, it’s one toggle switch away from running perfectly, which means you almost did the whole thing yourself.” He reached in his back pocket for his wallet.

“Put that away. This is on me.” She laid money on the table.

“Nope.” He picked up the bills and tried to give them back to her.

She waved off his efforts. “You’re going to get my home theater up and running so let me treat.”

“If that’s your reasoning, I should pay for dinner. Tackling your electronics is my kind of fun.”

“I believe you.” She folded her arms so he couldn’t hand her the money. “But you let your other friends pay sometimes, so why not me?”

She had him there. He had no choice but to accept unless he wanted to admit that in his mind it was a date, and the best one he’d had in a while. The only one he’d had in a while, come to think of it. Over the years he’d tried and failed to find a substitute for Charlotte. Now that he saw her five days a week, he wasn’t even motivated to try.

“All right.” He put the cash back on the table. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned and led the way toward the front door. Once they were outside, she glanced at him. “In case we get separated on the way over, do you know where I live?”

“I have a vague idea.” He knew exactly where she lived, in a townhouse complex about ten minutes away. When she was married it hadn’t mattered where she was located, but after her divorce he’d made it his business to find out her new address.

She gave him specific directions and he nodded as if memorizing them. “Got it.”

“I have a two-car garage, so just pull into the empty space.”

“Will do.”

“See you shortly.” She hurried toward her Prius and he walked to his Maserati.

Her car’s distinctive hatchback design made it easy to follow in traffic. Her parents had given her a Porsche for her sixteenth birthday, not a huge extravagance for people in their financial position. But thirteen years later she was driving a hybrid and she’d divorced the guy who’d seemed tailor-made for her.

For the first time he wondered if maybe his assumptions about Charlotte were inaccurate. A woman who’d traded a Porsche for a Prius might also have changed her ideas about what kind of man she wanted to date. Now there was a concept. And he was the genius who’d proposed instituting a hands-off policy at work.

Could that be why she’d questioned him about it? Nah, probably not. She’d simply wanted to point out the difficulties of enforcing a policy that would complicate her job as head of HR.

The policy was still a good idea, though, even if it did need tweaking. He’d talk it over with his three friends and get their input. Arranging that could be tricky with Blake hanging around, but he’d worry about that tomorrow.

Tonight he’d have the pleasure of diving into a project dear to his heart. He knew those components and they were primo. He’d make sure they were functional before he left Charlotte’s townhouse.

Pulling his car in beside hers felt cozy and more than a little intimate, especially after the garage door came down, sealing them in. But he was here to fix her electronics. She’d only agreed to let him do it because he was the lesser of two evils.

She climbed out of her car. “We have to go in through the laundry room. Ignore the undies on the drying rack.”

Fat chance. He’d been imagining her undies ever since hitting puberty. He wasn’t about to ignore them if they were hanging in plain sight.

Opening the door, she walked inside. “The heat will come on in a minute,” she called over her shoulder. “It’ll warm up soon.” She flipped on the lights in the kitchen.

He caught a glimpse of sexy black lace items draped over a folding rack in the laundry room. One glance at those and he didn’t need central heating to raise his personal thermostat. Naturally he wondered what color she was wearing right now.

Her kitchen was orderly with no dirty dishes in the sink and cheerful cupboards painted egg-yolk yellow with white knobs. Tony had never pictured how her kitchen would look, but this one suited her. His was more sterile, but then he didn’t spend much time in it.

He followed her into a dining area with a massive wooden table and six upholstered chairs. She didn’t pause there but continued on into the living room where a couple of table lamps cast a mellow glow. Cushy furniture slipcovered in denim faced a wall containing a large flat screen mounted above a fireplace.

“I let them put up the screen.” She gestured to it. “Obviously that took more than one person to hang it. But I planned to do the rest and I made a mess of it.”

“Maybe not.” Tony took off his jacket and draped it over the back of the sofa as he assessed the situation. He recognized the general layout but this was a newer model than his. “Do you have the instructions?”

“Yep.” She crossed to a small desk in a corner and came back with a sheaf of papers. “Good luck. I’ve studied them for hours. Didn’t help.”

He took the folded pages. At moments like this a trumpet in his head sounded the charge. God, he loved solving a technical problem, especially a challenging one.

She was right about the crappy instructions, but he’d only asked for them as potential backup. Configuring a system without written directions was more fun, like working a picture puzzle without the picture. Charlotte had given him a task that was in his wheelhouse. Chances were good he could have her up and running in less than an hour.

At first he’d planned to do that to impress her. But as he studied the instructions and considered his options, he realized that might not be the smartest move. For one thing, he’d show her up. She hadn’t managed to solve this problem and had admitted her pride was involved. How would she feel if he accomplished in minutes what she’d labored over for days?

Besides, once he was finished he had no excuse to stay and he liked being in Charlotte’s house. No big surprise, there. Glancing up from the papers she’d given him, he frowned. “I’d hoped this would be a quick fix, but these instructions are garbage.”

“If you’re saying that to soothe my battered ego, then thanks.”

“I’m saying it because it’s true. No wonder you had trouble. I’ll be better off winging it.”

“Sure you don’t want to put it off until this weekend?”

He scowled at her.

“Okay, okay. Just asking.”

“I could use a little more light, though.”

“Sure. I have recessed lights in the ceiling. I’ll turn those on.” In moments she’d increased the wattage considerably. “Anything else you need?”

He put down the directions and rolled back his sleeves. “I’ll let you know if I do.”

“Then I’ll just sit here and watch the master at work.” Kicking off her shoes, she curled up on the sofa.

“It won’t be very exciting. You might want to grab a book to read.”

“That seems rude.”

“Trust me, it isn’t. Once I get into this I’ll forget you’re even there.” He wasn’t sure that was true, but he hoped it would be. He wasn’t used to having someone watch his every move. When that someone was Charlotte, the experience could get intense.

“In that case, I know exactly what I’ll do. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Doing what?”

“You’ll find out eventually.” Leaving her shoes beside the sofa, she walked barefoot through the dining room and into the kitchen where she began opening cupboards and rattling pans.