Page 37 of The Fix Up

What part of geeky movies, thumb wrestling, and oral sex did you find professional?

Okay, fine. He might have crossed the line with Holly the other night. A few lines, really. His brain flooded with the memory of her spread open on his living room floor, warm and willing and gasping with pleasure. Pleasurehe’dbeen the one to deliver. The memory of it made him feel a lot more accomplished than any deal with Kleinberger could.

Focus.

He reached for the phone and dialed Holly’s number. He knew from her bio that she had extensive experience in public speaking. She did media training for corporate executives, and even created podcasts on how to give effective public presentations. She was the right woman for the job, period.

Never mind that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, or that he desperately, urgently wanted to see her again and?—

“Hello?”

“Hey, Holly, it’s Ben. Langley? Of Langley Ent?—”

“Hi, Ben. Of course, it’s good to hear from you again.”

Christ, why were they talking to each other like strangers? He knew what kind of panties she wore and how she made this soft little mewling sound right before she came.

Don’t think about that, don’t think about that, don’t think about?—

“Listen, Holly. You know that Kleinberger presentation I told you about?”

“Of course.”

“The timeline just changed, and so did my role in it.”

“How do you mean?”

Dread filled his gut. “Instead of just preparing the presentation, I now have to give it. As in public speaking. Not my favorite thing.”

“Ah,” she said, her voice warm and soothing. “Did you know that for most people, a fear of public speaking ranks above fear of death, spiders, heights, and confined spaces?”

“So you’re saying most people would rather be trapped in a casket full of spiders and hoisted onto a rooftop than give this presentation I just got asked to deliver?”

Holly laughed, and Ben pictured the soft dimple in her right cheek, the one that only appeared when she smiled really wide. He loved that damn dimple.

“So tell me about this presentation,” she said, clearing her throat. “What’s the topic?”

“Razzle-dazzle, apparently. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to throw glitter or juggle sparklers.”

“Let’s save those for the end of the presentation. Is there a topic?”

“The main focus is on some new products we manufacture that would be perfect for this client.”

“You have data to back that up?”

“Of course. It’s not the material I’m hung up on. It’s the pizazz. The schmooze. The passionate delivery. None of that is my forte.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think you’ve got passionate delivery nailed.”

Ben blinked, surprised by her boldness. Apparently, Holly was surprised, too, since the next words out of her mouth were a stammered jumble of syllables.

“I, uh—I didn’t—I mean, that came out wrong. I meant the other night.”

“Right,” Ben said as he felt a slow smile creep across his face.

“At the event,” she said, rushing her words together. “I heard you talking with the VP of human resources about your proposal to donate a portion of the company’s proceeds to the American Cancer Society, and you sounded very passionate about that. And about Langley’s bioengineering division. And about bad sci-fi movies. You were very passionate about all that.”

Ben pictured her sitting at her desk with her dark hair pinned on top of her head and her odd lavender-gray eyes darting around as she tried to regain her professional composure. He should probably throw her a rope, but listening to her fumble was almost as endearing as knowing damn well she’d been thinking about the other night as much as he had.

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