Page 24 of Work with Me

That vein throbbed at Cooper’s temple. The one that told me he was about to lose it. “I’m here now. Today. You couldn’t have told me this on Friday?”

I paced along the wall.Fuck.He was building to one of his blow-ups.

Her lip trembled. “I’m sorry. We thought we’d be prepared, but at the last minute, unexpectedly, we—we weren’t.”

He splayed his hands on the table the way he did to keep from balling them into fists. “I’m sure you understand how disappointed I am. And you’ll all ensure nothing like this happens again.” He raked that icy blue stare over the team that encircled him. Tyler flinched. “But for today, this time will be best spent working on the code. Back to work, everyone. Alicia, a word.”

I stabbed my hands into my pockets and paced back toward the table. She shouldn’t have to take the brunt of Cooper’s wrath alone. She’d stood up for us although it hadn’t been her fault. She was being fuckingnoble.I’d never done a noble thing in my life.

“Cooper, I—” I started again.

But, not bothering to look at me, he said, “Jackson, you, too. We’ll talk later.”

I glanced at Alicia’s pale face. Would she be able to handle it? Of course she would. She could match Cooper, word for cold, calculating word. Still, guilt gnawed my insides. “Alicia—”

She held up a hand. “Go on, Jackson.”

I slunk out of the room, following the team.

When Alicia rejoined us half an hour later, she looked like her normal, not-a-hair-out-of-place self. Maybe he’d gone easy on her since she’d been on the job only two weeks. She set down her laptop and joined us where we’d all huddled around Tyler’s workstation. Leaning over as if to get a better view of the screen, she whispered in my ear, “He wants to see you in his office.”

My dread at her words battled the thrill of her breath on my skin. Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck and traveled down my arms. I brushed down the hairs that stuck up. What the fuck? My body had reacted like she’d told me she wanted to suck my dick, not that I was due for a very different kind of tongue-lashing.

No doubt Cooper had seen through Alicia’s admission of guilt and knew I’d been the one who’d acted like Batman, some kind of lone avenger. I was glad. Alicia shouldn’t take the blame for what was my fault.

I nodded at Alicia, holding her gaze for a second longer than I should’ve, trying to convey my gratitude for what she’d done. She’d been right, and I’d been wrong. It was time to let go of our petty rivalry. It was time formeto let it go and let her do what she’d come here to do: lead. Otherwise, we weren’t going to make it.

She straightened, and I rolled my chair a few feet away from her before I stood up, discreetly adjusted my jeans, and headed to the executive offices.

Holding his phone in one hand, Cooper beckoned me in with the other. He held up a finger to show me he was almost done. He barked out a few more commands, thanked his assistant, and hung up.

“Jackson.”

Uh-oh. He’d used my full name twice in a row. Not a good sign.

“Ms. Weber seemed to be under the impression that I didn’t have anything better to do than drag my old bones all the way from California to Texas to hear her mea culpa. I’d have expected you to disabuse her of that notion.”

“You’re not old.” I crossed my arms. “You’re the same age as me. Thirty-two.”

“That’s what you want to say? Not, ‘I’m sorry we wasted your time, Cooper’? Not, ‘We fucked up, and I will personally ensure we turn this project around’?”

Anger boiled inside me, but on the outside, I shrugged. “If you’re going to tell me what to say, why do I even need to be part of this conversation? You could’ve pulled up a picture of me on your phone, yelled at it, and left me alone to fix the fucking code.”

“But that’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re still acting like a lone programmer, and you haven’t integrated into the team.”

“Is that what Alicia said?” She didn’t seem the type to rat me out, especially after she’d publicly taken the fall for all of us.

“No, but I’ve known you for almost fifteen years. I can guess what happened.”

“We just fucking started. You can’t expect us to get it done in two weeks.”

“You’ve been here, working on this code, for three months. How much more time do you need to sort out the team and figure out what thefuckyou’re doing?” His voice had risen to a volume that must have carried outside the office.

The hot wave of anger broke through the dam I’d built. I slammed a hand on his desk. “More fucking time. You threw this curveball, a new project lead, at us, and we’re adjusting. I’m trying. We’re all trying. I’m going to try harder, okay?”

“Okay.” He lifted his hands, palms out. “That’s all I wanted to hear. But next time, I need to see results. Good ones. We can’t afford to fuck around any longer. Understand me?”

“Yeah, I get it.” My breathing slowed, and the heat in my chest slowly dissipated.

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