Page 60 of Owen North

“What’s it doing?”

“Everything it should not be doing. Like, for real, how old is this thing? It’s so slow I want to take a nap.”

I am absolutely having Tahlia conduct an audit on the age of our computers tomorrow.

“Would you like help?”

That slows her down and causes a breathtaking smile to fill her face. She stands and motions for me to take a look.

As she moves away from the desk and I move to sit at it, her body brushes against mine and our faces come closer than I know what to do with. Charlize continues giving me that smile I never want to see removed from her face.

I allow my hand to brush hers. Hell, I curl my fingers around hers for at least a moment as I say, “Why am I being blessed with this smile?” Not for the first time in my life, I wish that I could read women’s minds. Whatever I did to earn her smile, I need to repeat often.

“You didn’t just take over. You asked if you could help.”

Fuck, is that a thing women prefer when a man can help them?

I make a mental note to remember that.

“Good to know,” I murmur as I sit.

I place my takeout on the only spare spot I can find on her cluttered desk and eye the computer.

Charlize has a million tabs open.

“Do you need all these tabs?” I ask.

She rests her ass against the desk and looks at me like I’ve asked the dumbest question she’s ever heard. “That’s a question you never need to ask a woman. Of course, I need all those tabs.”

I click through them, my brows furrowing at most of them. Besides the tabs she needs for work, she’s searched some random things. The weather forecast, the best coffee in Manhattan this year, the best hiking places nearby, Jon Bon Jovi’s marriage, do mermaids exist, should you swim in winter, how bad is it to sunbake, why is my computer so fucking slow, and how hard is it really to birth a baby. There are a lot of question marks in her search term for that last question.

My lips curl up as I read them. “Are these the things you thought of to think about in the last hour?”

She gives me a strong look of warning. “I will hurt you if you close any of them.”

“You’re still in the research phase?”

“Yes, just like I’m still in the research phase with you.”

“How close are you to drawing conclusions?”

“It’s hard to say. I’m still collecting data.”

“Let me know when you’re ready to analyze it. I can help with that.”

She turns silent for a moment and then looks at the computer screen. “I feel like you should get to work or else we’re going to be breaking a rule you shouldn’t break.”

I eye the red ribbon I haven’t stopped thinking about all day. “I feel like you should help me eat all this food I had delivered.”

“I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“You’re an employee, Charlize. One who’s working late. I can’t have you starve.”

She considers that before finally saying, “Iamhungry. I mean, it’s been a good hour since I’ve had a snack.”

I lift my chin at the takeout. “Go and start without me. I’ll take a look at the computer and then join you.”

“I’m not eating without you.”

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