Page 71 of Work with Me

A black Nissan pulled into the lot. My ride.

“I’ll think about it.” I stared into her blue eyes, so kind. I didn’t even want to kiss her. Okay, I did. But the gratitude I felt outweighed the low level of lust simmering in my veins. She believed in me.

Maybe I could believe in myself, too.

26

ALICIA

At almost five on Friday,the Synergy ladies’ room had that empty, end-of-the-day feeling. The primpers were gone, already settling in at happy hour. Those who had families had slipped out with the rest, eager to get back to their loved ones. I should’ve been among them.

I propped my foot on the arm of the sofa to tie my sneaker. How had I let him talk me into this?

I knew exactly how. I was falling for Jackson Jones. Between his coding-smarts, the kindness he tried to hide with his outrageous bluster, and the moral support he’d provided in the conference with Mrs. O’Reilly, he’d broken through every defense I’d put up, and now I couldn’t help but hope he’d really stay in Austin like he said he would, and we’d take our friendship to the next level. The one that involved not only more helpful advice about Noah and more envisioned possibilities for Jackson beyond coding, but also more kissing. Because although Jackson Jones might be the greatest programmer I’d ever met, he was an even better kisser.

My cheeks flamed. I pulled a baseball cap out of my bag and tugged it over my hair, which I’d taken out of its bun and braided. The bill hid some of the blush. But it was getting late, and I couldn’t wait for it to fully fade.

I pushed out the bathroom door and came up against a hard chest wearing a Pantera T-shirt. Jackson hadn’t had to change clothes for this.

“Ready?” he asked, bouncing on his toes.

“Yeah. Let me stow this at my desk.” I held up the tote.

He took it from me. “I don’t want you to get distracted by your laptop. They might go early tonight.” He pounded across the wood floor to our workspace and jogged back. “Let’s go.”

I couldn’t repress my smile. “You’re just as bad as Noah.”

He started toward the stairs, and I fell into step beside him. “Have you taken him to see them?”

“Not specifically. We’ve been on the trail once or twice when it happened. Going to see them on purpose is kind of a tourist thing.” I bit my lip. I hadn’t meant it to come out so condescending.

“No one will believe I was in Austin if I say I never saw the bats. Are we going to make it in time? What about traffic?”

“We’re walking. We’re ten minutes from a prime viewing spot.”

“Ten?” He glanced at his phone. “The sun sets in twenty-five minutes.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like me.” In sneakers, our footsteps were silent in the empty lobby. “If only you’d be this concerned about project deadlines.”

“I am concerned about project deadlines.” He held the door for me, and I stepped out into the late-afternoon sunshine. “I’m concerned that they take our focus off what’s really important, which is the quality of the code. My name is on the company website. Every line is my reputation.”

I nudged him toward the crosswalk. “I guess I never thought of it that way. Still, without deadlines, we’d never release anything. We’d spend the rest of our careers perfecting it.”

He grinned. “You get it!”

Shaking my head, I zipped up my jacket.

“You cold?” He wasn’t wearing a jacket.

“It’s a little nippy, don’t you think?”

He gripped my hand and veered out into the street, weaving among the traffic-stopped cars. “This is the most comfortable I’ve felt since I stepped off the plane from San Francisco. It’s perfect.”

The lakeside trail was easy to find, and we followed it until it broke out from behind the trees to give us an unobstructed view of the water and the Congress Avenue bridge. It wasn’t tourist season, and it was getting too cold for locals, but clumps of people were silhouetted on the bridge against the setting sun. We stepped off the trail toward the water until the ground started to soften under my sneakers.

“That’s where they come out?” Jackson pointed at the bridge.

“Yeah, but they’re less reliable this time of year. They’ve already started to migrate. Don’t be too disappointed if they don’t emerge at all, okay?” Though I’d hate it if my hometown disappointed him.Don’t let us down, bats.

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