Page 95 of Wicked Little Thief

She could tell he was the type who liked being sucked up to by his broad grin when he told her, “Call me Roger.”

She nodded and pointedly looked around her barren office. “I really appreciate it, Roger.”

The only furniture in the room was an old metal desk and a black, rickety chair with peeling pleather that someone had probably traded out when the last occupant left.

At least the computer was new.

He gestured to the shiny chrome laptop on her desk and the piece of paper taped to the top of it. “You have your logins and passwords, but if you have any questions, I’m just down the hall.”

“Sounds great,” she said with a polite smile as she took a seat in the creaky chair and opened up her computer. “I’ll go ahead and get started.” Utah cast him one last smile. “Thanks again.”

“You too,” he blurted out.

You too?

She pretended not to notice how flustered she’d obviously made him and kept quiet while he slunk out of her office.

As her computer started up, she looked around the bare walls and made a mental note.

Liam’s credit card is going to get some use.

****

Liam

All morning, he had to keep his phone locked in his desk to keep from texting her to see how she was doing.

Finally at twelve-thirty, he opened his desk drawer and pulled his phone out to send her a message.

Liam: Have you had lunch?

Honeybee: No. I didn’t even realize it was already lunchtime!

Liam: Do you want to go somewhere and grab a bite?

Honeybee: Is that a euphemism for something?

That made him laugh out loud.

Liam: Nope, just food.

Her reply of “Darn,” made him smile. She was so fucking perfect.

Liam: I’ll be down in five to pick you up.

He took the stairs to the second floor and walked in the IT department three minutes later.

Liam hadn’t yet met the guy whose desk was closest to the door. He barely looked up when Liam walked in, and proceeded to keep working, not even acknowledging Liam as he stood there.

It’s always easy to spot the new guy, he thought with an internal laugh. It’s okay, dude. I’ll wait. Then I’m going to have a discussion with Roger about how his department can improve on their customer service.

Finally, someone else noticed him and came rushing to the front.

“Mr. McDonnell! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there!”

“Hey, Kyle. Good to see you.”

The look on New Guy’s face suggested he was quickly realizing he probably shouldn’t have kept Liam waiting without even a greeting.

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