Page 7 of Georgia Guy
“Which makes him irreplaceable,” Joe guesses.
“Exactly,” I agree, liking it that he gets it.
Shifting topics, Joe says, “Before I get to work on saving your family’s deep, dark secrets, I’d like to know just how big of a payday this is going to be.”
Of course, everything always comes down to money.
Deciding to make his day, I say, “If you’re able to pull this off, I’ll make sure you never again have to worry about your bike repair shop going under.”
Giving me a wide smile, he says, “In that case, I’m all yours.”
The response intrudes unwanted in my mind, but thankfully I’m able to stop myself from voicing it aloud. If only…
6
JOE
While I appreciate it that Alex seems to have cleared her busy schedule to stay in this conference room with me while I work, her presence seems to suck all of the available oxygen from the room. It’s hard to fully concentrate on my oversized computer monitor with her sitting here looking so gorgeous.
“Don’t let me keep you from making any multi-million-dollar deals,” I say, hoping that she’ll take the hint.
As much as I don’t want her to leave, I’m sure to be more productive without her in such close proximity. Besides, since there’s no way she would ever date a normie, like me, I might as well finish this project. The quicker I wrap up this job, the sooner I’ll get out of here and receive my giant payday.
“Am I bothering you?” she asks with wide eyes.
“No,” I answer too quickly. Hoping she won’t get a sense of exactly how hot and bothered I am by her, I add, “I’m just sure you have more important things to be doing.”
“Not at all. This is my top priority, and I’ll do anything I can to help you,” she offers.
I’ve been keeping her occupied with busywork, which I thought she would tire of within minutes, but she’s proving herself to be quite hardworking and resourceful.
“You type faster than anyone I’ve ever met. Don’t you make mistakes when you go that quickly?” Her voice is filled with something that sounds dangerously close to awe.
“Lots of practice,” I answer, still typing rapidly.
Without me giving my express permission for the flirtatious gesture, my left eye winks in her direction.
Her breath hitches, and my fingers pause on the keyboard for the first time in hours.
Every cell in my body wants to lunge in the beautiful woman’s direction. An innate sense tells me that she wouldn’t stop me, but that same instinct says that one hot tryst with her wouldn’t be nearly enough.
It’s all I can do to force myself to refocus on my computer. We are from two different worlds, and that fact will never change. It’s better for me to keep things professional between us and be able to move on with my heart still in one piece after this job is done.
I get into the groove with my work, and time seems to slip by in the blink of an eye. What feels like only minutes to me has likely been several hours, since the daylight slanting in through the large window is starting to fade.
Brinkley appears and offers to order us food for dinner.
I barely pay attention as they discuss delivery options, since I’ve found an interesting rabbit hole to dive into online. When I follow it to its source, I blink at the screen as I try to make sense of the information before me.
My voice sounds scratchy when I say, “I think I’ve found something.”
Brinkley and Alex both freeze before moving to hover over my shoulder, as if the gibberish mixture of data points is going to make any sense to them.
Proving that it doesn’t, Brinkley says, “Cripes, looking at this is giving me a headache.”
He dramatically holds his pointer finger and thumb over the bridge of his nose.
“Headache or not… I’m pretty sure this is what we’ve been looking for,” I tell them.
