Page 14 of Christmas Criminal

By the timewe're done updating the computers, we're only about halfway through our day, so I take some time to run a defrag while we're there. If I had to take a guess, these old computers haven't had a bit of optimization since they were installed years ago, and I show Nick quickly how to do the same so we can do two at a time.

"And she's a computer whiz, too," he comments, as I show him the last button he needs to click and the computer goes through its process. "This won't hurt the computers, will it? You're not setting me up to take the fall when all of the computers are wiped and the kids turn them on to find only a video of you cackling maniacally, are you?"

I snort. "No. If I wanted to do that, I'd at least start in the rooms where there aren't cameras."

He raises his eyebrows. "That answer came to you entirely too quickly, and it's starting to make me wonder whether I should be alone with you."

"Always be on your toes, Mr. Monroe." I shoot him a quick grin. "No, this won't hurt the computers. All it does is move pieces of the hard drive closer together so things run a little faster. You might not even notice it, but my hunch is that these computers will be here until they don't work anymore. This might preserve their life a little bit."

He grins. "Look at you helping the kids."

I glare at him. "I'm helping thecomputers."

He snorts, rolling his eyes. "Okay, computer genius. How'd you learn to defrag a hard drive?"

"Google?"

"Oh." He's quiet for a second. "Well, I guess that makes sense. You had a slow computer, I take it?"

I shrug. "One of my employees did, actually."

He cocks his head to the side. "Your employees?"

I swallow. "I run a little web design business. It's a small thing. But one of my people was having a lot of trouble with an old machine–I started out with a group of freelancers who originally worked off their own equipment–and that was one of many things I tried to help her with before I ended up buying her a computer."

He nods, digesting this. "So you're the kind of smart that gets bullied in high school and ends up being everybody's boss later in life?"

I shake my head. "No. I never intended for this to happen. I just… I guess after college, I realized I had a talent that I really enjoyed. So I figured out how to talk to people and sold, sold, sold, until I realized I had too much business to conceivably do myself. So, I had to hire people. And now, I guess I own my own little boutique web design business."

He stands, moving to the next computer down to start another defrag. He clicks through the prompts quickly as I take the next computer after his, doing the same.

"That's really cool," he says, turning to face me. "You could probably teach me a thing or two, huh?"

"I don't know about that."

He cocks his head to the side. "Why aren't you more proud of yourself?"

I let out a breath. "It feels a little bit like too little, too late. Like I struggled and failed in high school, did moderately okay in college, and afterward it was like everything clicked into place, and sometimes I don't really believe it's real."

He nods. "So you know not to take it for granted. You can still be proud of all the work you've done."

"I guess. I just… it's not something I talk about much and it's not something I bring back to this town with me. My life in the city is my life. And I don't let anyone screw with that. Especially considering the person I shrink into when I'm in this town, I just… need to keep things separate."

His brow furrows as he nods.

The word vomit comes too easily. "I've done a whole lot of making myself smaller so other people can feel big, and that started here. And I'm not really interested in boosting lackluster egos anymore."

"Ah," he says, as if every piece is clicking into place. "The dudes can't handle it."

I shrug. "A lot of people can't really handle a young woman doing her own thing. But I'm good at this. And it's taken me a long time to trust myself in spite of everyone else."

He raises his eyebrows. "How bigisthis company of yours?"

"How bigisthis dick of yours?"

He nods. "Touche. You leave it in the city." He's quiet for a few moments. "But for what it's worth, anyone whose first inclination isn't to respect the hell out of what you did and what you continue to do is a complete and utter jerk." He shakes his head. "And I really hope you never shrink yourself again. You're too cool for that."

I raise my eyebrows. "The math teacher thinks I'm cool?"

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