Page 16 of A Hard Fit

Rory looked up, then back at the screen. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Finn leaned against the frame, then realized he probably looked like he wastryingto lean, and quickly stood again. “How are you?”

“I’m good. What can I help you with?”

“Did you want to meet about the Thrill Island campaign today?”

Rory frowned and glanced over to another screen to pull up their calendar. “I got a little swamped—Ilona wants a bunch of metrics pulled for Sartini, and I have software training this afternoon and tomorrow. But I could maybe fit you in Monday?”

“Oh, okay.”

“I’ll send you an invite.” They went back to their big screen, fingers a blur.

Finn nodded. His stomach dropped as he turned away. Clearly he had been imagining things yesterday. Rory was all business.

Of course they were. Finn shook his head and he picked up speed striding down the hallway.What were you expecting?he growled at himself.

A few hours later, the calendar invite came for Monday afternoon. Finn made himself pause before clicking accept, as if there was dignity in those extra six seconds.

* * * *

Finn booked one of the meeting rooms close to his office in case he needed to dash back to grab any other materials. He was a few minutes early, and spread out some of the sketches he had done for Rory to look at.

He had barely seen Rory since they had spoken on Thursday, which was fine. Both of them were busy, and he was there to work, obviously. He didn’t need whatever weird electrical thing was going on with him when Rory was near. Like how when he saw Rory arriving on Friday and the humming through his veins was so distracting he nearly walked into a door. Rory’s bangs were brushed back, maybe a bit of product in them, so they fell with a curve over one side of their forehead instead of a straight line down the middle. The day was overcast and rainy, and they were wearing a sleek black coat with a high collar that made them look like they belonged inThe Matrix.

Finn had spent a few free hours that weekend sketching ideas for Thrill Island, and Monday morning had stretched on endlessly before their meeting.

When Rory walked in, laptop under one arm, they froze in their tracks at the sight of Finn’s work laid out across the table.

“Finn,” Rory breathed, edging forward and reaching out to touch the paper. “These are beautiful.”

“Oh…” Goosebumps swept over him at the praise. “You like them?”

Rory leaned over, soaking up the details. “Ilovethem.”

Finn’s cheeks flushed. “Nothing is set in stone, of course. It was just an idea I had.”

Finn had turned Thrill Island into a heist movie. Cut-outs at the entrance featured genre archetypes—the stakeout trench coat with a fedora and a newspaper, the tuxedo, the slinky evening gown, the hacker, the muscle, the getaway driver. The Thrillcoaster would be a car chase. The Disco Thrill became the diamond heist, laser beams and glittering jewels lighting up the dark. The Haunted Lagoon was called the Undercover Romantic Boat Ride.

When Rory read those words, eyes sparkling, Finn had to explain. “That’s a placeholder title, of course. I couldn't think of a better name yet.”

“It’s brilliant.” Rory shook their head. “All of it. So fun. Ilona is going to adore it.”

“Do you think it could be translated into an app?”

“Oh, yes…” Rory slid some papers to the side so they could set down their laptop. Finn reached to help and their fingers bumped. Finn nearly jumped from the spark.

Rory flipped open their laptop and logged in. “I had a few thoughts about the app,” they said, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Like a fun user profile, and look, this is perfect.” They turned the screen so Finn could see. “Users can upload a picture of their face and it’ll generate a most-wanted poster. Or even a fake passport.”

“That’s awesome.” Finn leaned over to watch Rory work, so thrilled that Rory liked his ideas, and even more thrilled about how good Rory smelled and how close they were sitting.

They brainstormed a while longer until there was a pause in the conversation as Finn sketched and Rory typed.

“So…how was your date with Henry?” Rory asked, voice light as they stared at their screen.

“Henry?” Finn blinked, confused. That date seemed like ages and ages ago. “Henry’s not—we aren’t… I’m not seeing him again.”

Rory’s fingers paused. “You’re not? That’s too bad.”

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