He shook his head. “Yes to the crisis. No to the rest. Thank you, though.” He furrowed his brow, then waved to the chair across from him. “Will you come in and have a seat?”
“What’s up?” The one contract she had before Grant’s retainer that didn’t go well was enough to instill a dread for those words. And it had accompanied pissing off the wrong person in management.
Antonio pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s no delicate way to put this. I’m praying it doesn’t backfire.”
“Okay...?”
“I don’t care what happened between you and Justin. The details aren’t my business, and I’m glad he didn’t share any. I’m not passing judgment. It doesn’t change my opinion of either of you. You’re consenting adults.”
Not where she expected the discussion to go, but that didn’t make it any less awkward.
“However, as the guy whose ass you’re here to save, I need to know the events of Saturday night won’t impact your work.”
She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. If she’d built out a conversation like this in her head, her best-case scenario couldn’t have gone much smoother. She looked him in the eye. “I promise it won’t interfere.”
“Dinner was a fluke, then? You’re going to have to interact with him on a regular basis. And to ensure you don’t think I’m picking on you, I asked him the same thing. He promised to behave.”
She bit back thehe started it, that wanted to force its way out. “I should have kept myself in check last night. Everything I told you about wanting to see you succeed is true. No one wins—not me or Grant or anyone—if this project falls apart.”
“Thank you.” Some of the lines vanished from around his eyes. “When my lead developer for this project gets in, I’ll introduce you. You can start on the bug list and pull up anything that’s a Priority Three that you’re comfortable tackling. For the next couple of days, until you’re both comfortable with your work, he’ll review your fixes before they go to quality assurance.”
“Are you sure you trust me to poke around in your code?” she teased. It felt odd being comfortable enough with him already to make a joke like that.
He didn’t seem to mind. “If you plan on selling us out despite your repeated assurances to the contrary, tell me now, and I can make sure you only see the not-top-secret work.” It was an oddly specific request, but she didn’t know his sense of humor. He was being friendly and she was grateful for that.
“I’ll do that.”
She settled in to work, the conversation with Antonio flitting in the back of her mind like a happy hum. Her question from earlier drifted back. What if was him in the bar instead?
Would it have been better or worse if he was the man she went home with? Antoniowasgorgeous, and that accent sent delicious tingles dancing over her skin. Justin had been right on both counts. Then again, the sex was amazing with Justin, and he wasn’t the guy she had to look in the eye every day. If it was that good or better with Antonio, it might not be possible to stow the memories.
She shook it all aside. She shouldn’t be lusting after either of them. There were countless other men out there, and she didn’t know these two well enough to justify fixating on them. It was bad enough she’d—even unintentionally—slept with someone she had to report to but in a case like this, where she was supposed to be an objective outside opinion... If news of her hookup with Justin made it any further, she could kiss the retainer deal with Grant goodbye. Which meant not having a pleasant nest egg for her plans to see the world. Worse, it’d screw up Emily’s reputation. Possibly irreparably.
As the morning wore on, her surroundings grew louder. Snippets of conversation drifted in from everywhere, but most of it came from Antonio’s office. She felt like there was a train platform behind her desk. How did he get any work done?
Wednesday morning, she remembered her earbuds. As with yesterday, Antonio’s office light was on and his door open when she arrived. He wasn’t at his desk, though. She reached her cubicle, and a giddy thread wove through her when she saw a cup of coffee on her desk.
There was a Post-It next to the cup, with a scrawling, handwritten note.What can I say? I’m old fashioned.
She wasn’t certain of the note’s meaning, but she had her assumptions. Most of them had to do with him feeling awkward a woman bought him a drink. She should be offended by the implication, right? She was progressive and independent. Instead, her smile grew when she took a sip, and sweet white chocolate mixed with espresso hit her tongue.
“I hope I guessed right.” His seductive accent floated from behind her.
She used the blink it took her to face him as time to assemble a professional mask. “It’s sweeter than I’m used to, but a little decadence and sin are nice once in a while.” Did she really say that?
The twitch of the corners of his mouth implied he caught the hint of flirting and didn’t mind. “Couldn’t agree more. Holler if you need anything.”
The rest of the day passed without incident, and she whispered a smallthank youat another shift gone by without having to face Justin. Thursday morning there was no coffee, and the lights in Antonio’s office were out. She couldn’t ignore her disappointment, but reason barged in and pointed out it was for the best. She needed to concentrate more on the job and less on the scenery.
*
ANTONIO FELT AS THOUGHhe’d been pulled in a million different directions at once, with no end on the horizon. The morning began with a breakfast meeting with a client that went long. Since then, he’d been ten minutes late to everything. He settled at his desk for the first time today, grateful for the chance to breathe. He had almost an hour to work through emails. That was nice.
His phone rang before he could get through the first message.Figures.The screen said it was his user-interface developer. Antonio grabbed the receiver. “Yes?”
“This focus group is running over. I’m going to be here today and tomorrow. Which means I won’t meet my development deadline.”
“Wait. What focus group?” Antonio didn’t authorize that.