Page 1 of The Nerds and the CEO

Chapter One

“CAN WE PUSH OUT THEbeta on this subset of rewards?” Justin pointed to a line item on the production schedule displayed on Antonio’s monitor.

The men sat across from each other in Antonio’s office, hammering out scheduling details that didn’t want to be tamed. Antonio twisted the screen to face him, and frowned. “Not without drawing extra attention. And if I give any of my guys more work, I have to stop pretending these demands don’t require overtime.”

“Fuck.” Justin didn’t have a problem offering their salaried employees an incentive for working extra hours, but he and Antonio were already pushing their luck with their time demands. Trying to balance working on a project their board of directors explicitly turned down, with getting other work done, was taxing everyone as it was.

Justin stood and strolled to the other side of Antonio’s desk. Justin leaned in to get a better view of the split screen, resting one arm on the back of the chair and his hand on the desk next to Antonio’s. A flash of heat flowed between them, despite Justin not making contact, and he paused for a moment to let it pass. Years ago, when they started working together, Justin questioned the energy. Was it attraction? Lust?

It was common enough Justin wrote it off as nothing these days. Familiarity at the most. He focused on the development timeline. “There’s nothing else to move.”

“No. We’re tapped.” Antonio twisted in his seat. Muscle rippled along his back, stretching his shirt and hinting at a physique honed by a steady diet of gym-time. He faced Justin. “I need another person.” Antonio’sr’s rolled of his tongue. His accent wasn’t heavy, but it was enough to reveal Italian was his first language.

That, combined with a strong jaw and brown eyes so dark they were almost black, got Antonio a lot of tail. Male. Female. He had his pick. If Justin were anything other than straight, and not worried about destroying a brilliant friendship and business relationship, he’d be tempted to see if the reality matched the promise of the packaging.

Justin shook the thought aside. It was better than dwelling on the work issue, but it would dead end just as quickly as this search for more development hours.

Antonio’s phone rang, andRebeccaflashed on the screen. Justin reached past him to hit thespeakerbutton. “What’s up?”

“I had a feeling you were in there.” Rebecca was Justin’s assistant, and frequently knew better where Justin was supposed to be than he did. “Grant’s looking for you.”

Justin gritted his teeth as a dull throb started behind his right eye. He didn’t have to ask if she knew what Grant wanted. Justin had hoped to put off anothermoneyconversation until after the PrimeAssure contract was signed.

He grabbed the receiver. “Send him through.” The line clicked. “Grant. Sorry to keep you waiting. What can I do for you?” He moved back to the opposite side of the desk and dropped into a seat, sharing a scowl with Antonio.

“How’s the weather up there?” Grant’s tone was pleasant. It was also disconcerting. This was a man who loathed small talk.

“Sunny. Warm. Perfect golf weather, if you like that sort of thing.” Same as it was nine times out of ten in San Jose.

Antonio raised his brows.

Grant made atsk-tsksound. “Never cared for golf. Listen, about that conversation we had a few months back?”

“Which one?”

“You know which.” The one where Grant was concerned about annual profit loss projections, and asked if Phase 3 would be out of beta in his lifetime. “Don’t yank my chain on this. The solution to low numbers is not to put higher numbers on paper.”

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