Page 11 of Tech Prince Troubles
That only made it more interesting. Frustrating, too, considering it was off-limits. Puzzles were meant to be solved.
The door opened, and a slender young human walked in. His short sandy hair was a spiked mess, but his tight jeans and Renversé Hotel shirt were crisp and wrinkle-free. He moved as if he belonged as he rounded the desks, eyes fixed on the floor, and sat across from the desk Rick had designated as mine.
Rick snorted and shook his head. “Have a good shift, Jim. I’m taking the newbie to the first floor.”
Jim swiveled in his chair, stilling when he spotted me. His eyes widened for a second, then he blinked and turned to Rick. “‘Newbie’?” he repeated with a tremor in his voice.
“Yes. This is Adri. He’s from Niralen. Layla hired him for the renovation.”
“Hi-i.” He raised a hand in a loose greeting, but his eyes stayed on Rick.
His foot tapping the floor betrayed unrest, even from across the room. As if I made him nervous. “Hi,” I echoed, but he had already swiveled his chair back.
“Don’t mind him. He’s great with the guests, but otherwise keeps to himself.”
He’d looked at me as if I were a glitch he didn’t have time for, instead of a fellow staff member.
Rick opened a cupboard and grabbed two cases from it. He put one on the nearest desk and opened it. “This is our standard tool set. If you need anything that’s not in there, let me know.”
The contents of the set impressed me and resembled no human standard set I’d seen before. It contained an extensive variety of tools, including a tray of highly specialized ones and a built-in tablet case. “No. This is… more than I expected.”
“Thanks. That means a lot. Usually, I’d assign you a tablet, too, but… you probably don’t need one, do you?”
“All I need is full access to the server.”
“How do we contact you?”
That was easy. I added my info to the project overview.
Rick’s watch pinged. “Okay then. Let’s see what’s happening on the top floor.”
Chapter Six
SAM
gandalf the roasted
Lucy popped into the office just as I turned off the screen, her ponytail swishing against her flushed cheeks. She leaned against the doorframe.
“If I want to beat the traffic, I need to pick up my grandmother now. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Go. I’m done here anyway.”
“Thanks. See ya.”
Taking a deep breath, I pushed my chair back and went through my stretching exercises. Tammy had kept me up late talking about her new boyfriend, and I was paying for the short night with nagging aches and pains. Knowing her, she was just now rolling out of bed to fix the kids breakfast before she and Bethany went shopping.
Jasper leaned on the counter when I joined him, head resting on his hands. I tapped my foot against his. “You’re selling coffee, not naps. No wonder it’s so quiet in here.”
He snorted and straightened theatrically, pretending he could tower over me. Maybe on a good day, when he gelled his hair into spikes instead of the floppy bedhead he was sporting this morning.
“I’m marketing the damsel-behind-the-counter ambiance. You’re welcome,” he said with a grin. “Besides, you have a customer.”
He reached past me to snag a fresh pastry from Théo’s tray as our star baker slid it into the display, adding the sweet and savory scents of spices to the dark notes of coffee.
Théo tsk’d and whipped him with a cloth. “These are for paying customers.”
I blinked, tempted to grab one myself. “Ihave a customer?”
