Page 14 of Work with Me

“From Austin. I grew up just a few miles from here.” I wasn’t about to share that I lived in the same house where I’d grown up. With my mother.

“You’ve never left the state?”

“I didn’t say that.” My fingers stilled on the keyboard. “But no.”

“No Disney World? No middle-school trip to D.C.? Graduation weekend in Paris?”

“Nope. We were more of a camping family.”

“Camping’s okay.” He shrugged. “One summer, Cooper and I cycled through Europe.”

Europe.It’d been my dream all through high school and college. But with money scarce, I’d put it off. And by the time I’d paid off my college loans, I had Noah and his college savings to build. No Europe for me. Though if Weber Technology Consulting took off, maybe we could finally take that trip I’d always dreamed of.

“And you’ve been working in Austin since you graduated?” He stretched his long legs under the desk, and his boots creaked.

“A lot of software companies are based here. I worked for several before I left and started my own business.” It still gave me goosebumps to be able to say that.My own business.

“How about I drive for a while?”

“What?” Was all the small talk a distraction to lull me into a false sense of security?

“It’ll be faster if I type.”

“No, I’ve got this.” If I let him drive, he’d leave me in the dust. And for the next two months, I’d be running behind him, trying to wrest back control. I wasn’t about to let Jackson Jones and his noisy, flying fingers snatch this project away from me.

5

JACKSON

I wasglad to see the back of Alicia Weber. Not only because those red slingback heels and black pencil skirt did fantastic things to her ass. It meant I could get a minute of peace without the polished pink tips of those long fingers flying over the keyboard, without the wispy threads of her hair that escaped her bun at her nape teasing me, tempting me to touch them. Without the whisper of her ruby silk blouse setting my teeth on edge.

Without that judgmental set to her pink lips, showing she found me lacking, just like everyone else.

A babysitter.

Had Cooper told her I needed one? That she needed to watch me to ensure I didn’t fuck up the project? That, if left to my own devices, I’d destroy the company I’d built, like some two-year-old with a tower of blocks?

Had my best friend told her he didn’t trust me?

He didn’t need to tell her that. Her presence at Synergy communicated that, loud and clear.

My hands poised over the keyboard, I gazed at the code we’d written that day. She was pretty good. Not as practiced as me, but who was? I’d been coding since I could read. Since Dad had given me that old desktop computer and a book on the Linux programming language. Still, together we’d produced more code in one day—a short one—than I’d done all last week. Something about working elbow-to-elbow with someone else, that subtle sense of competition, kept my brain from wandering. Why hadn’t I thought to do it before?

Oh, right.Does not play well with others.I’d been getting that message since before I could read.

“Ah, Jackson?” It was the new guy looming over my desk. The one with glasses. Tyler. He still had to unlearn some of the crap they’d taught him in college, but he had potential. I hadn’t hated some of his code.

“Yeah?”

“Is Alicia still here? I had a question.”

“No, she left. She has to leave early on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” And what was up with that? As a consultant, she could set her own hours, but I was sure Cooper had given her the same message as me—this project can’t fail—so why not rearrange her schedule of manicures or girls’ nights out or volunteer work with underprivileged puppies or meetings of the future dictators’ club? Where the fuck did she go?

“Oh, okay,” Tyler said. “Could you—”

I stood. “She’ll be back tomorrow. You can ask her then. I’m getting a coffee.” I tucked my laptop under my arm and strode toward the stairs. I’d figure it out. And if I couldn’t, I knew someone who could shed light on the Alicia enigma.

In the small local coffee shop a few blocks away—not at the Starbucks across the street where anyone would think to look for me—I settled at a corner table painted in bold flowers.

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