“In other words, not much of anything.” Christ, he was being an asshole. They stepped into the waiting car, and he hit the button for the third floor, where his programmers sat.
Her scowl said she agreed with his assessment. “I’d like to hear the details from you. Someone in your position is more familiar with everything I need to know.”
Justin would give her most of those details. He excelled at selling people on the dream that built this company. He had a vision and a compelling way of sharing it. Besides, they agreed Antonio’s job was to give her enough to keep her busy and cut her out of everything else.
“I’m pressed for time this morning as well. I hope you understand. Things like company vision and real orientation will have to wait.” At least until he could still his racing pulse enough to deal with her professionally. The doors slid open, and they stepped onto the office floor, rows of cubicles spanning in front of them.
“That’s fine.” Her voice was low but firm. She stepped in his path, forcing him to look her in the eye. “I’m not here to take work from you or take away this vast thing the two of you have built. My job is to make yours easier. To do whatever grunt work is related to the project.”
He raised his brows at what sounded like a well-rehearsed speech. “That’s good. How long did it take you to refine it?”
She looked away for a brief moment, before looking at him again. “This is my fourth attempt.” Some of the formality vanished from her voice. “I close with offering to treat you and Mr. Conroy to dinner—on Grant’s dime—so you see I’m like any other developer you’d hire.”
“With the exception that we don’t typically give our programmers that kind of expense account.”
Her shoulders slumped, and her expression softened. “I don’t want to argue with you, but I will. I’d prefer you give me a task, and I’ll do it.”
That was the opening he needed to put her to work, and out of his distraction range. “How familiar are you with Source Secure?”
“Intimately.”
The single word triggered the last kind of thing he should be thinking. Whispers of how he’d approach her differently if she weren’t working for him. If he’d met her at a bar, like Justin met his redhead Saturday night. The stunning woman with the light walk and the tempting hips that begged to be grasped, while he pushed her back and kissed away her shy smile and turned it into something mischievous.
That needs to stop now.“That’s where we do source control. I flagged a series of files in there. Some are documentation. Others, the code that goes with it. Read through them, to familiarize yourself with the system.”
The creases in her brow deepened.
“Do you have any questions or concerns?” he asked. A voice in the back of his mind screamed that he was being unreasonably harsh, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen.
“I don’t have a problem learning, but I may absorb more if you sit me with someone, rather than give me a series of notes without a point of reference.”
“Did my accent make me difficult to understand? You’re here to do whatever we need, are you not?” Antonio asked.
“I am.”
“That’s what we need. Your desk is right there.” He led her to a cubicle set up with its screen facing his door, that allowed zero privacy, and she followed his gaze. “Your Active Directory login and temporary password are on a sticky note, and there’s a number to call if you need helpdesk support.”
She looked back at him, face pinched. “And if I have questions about what I’m reading?”
“Make a list. I’ll see if I can find a resource for you later. Anything else?”
“No. I’m on it.” She walked the short distance to her new work home.
He wouldn’t watch her ass in that skirt. He had his own work to do. He headed to his office and settled in front of his computer. Sitting in a spreadsheet in front of him was his actual backlog of work. It started with bug fixes—things that could introduce her to the code much more effectively. Tasks that needed to be done but kept getting put off. This was what he and Justin agreed on, though.
Jackass. The word echoed in Antonio’s head, taunting him. Not only did he shove real help aside, he also ogled her in the process. She was knowingly a contractor for a man who took some sort of perverse joy in making his investments jump through hoops. Antonio was surprised she didn’t call him on the menial labor. Was she really that amicable, or was she keeping track of every slight and misstep she could report back to Grant?
It didn’t matter how many directions Antonio tried to drive his thoughts in, he kept coming back to the fact he hadn’t given Emily a chance. He really was being an asshole. A horny, spiteful—
A knock drew his attention, and he looked up, to see Emily standing in the doorway. She didn’t look any happier than when he shooed her away, nearly an hour ago.
He forced a blanket over his mind, to at least be civil. “Yes?”
“Is this what you have all your developers do when they start working for you?” The quaver in her words vanished by the end of her question.
“No.”
“Do you think I’m not qualified for the job?” She crossed her arms.