No Time for Surprises (The No Brides Club Book 6)

by Karen McCullough

  In truth she didn’t have anything particular scheduled for the afternoon, but she needed time to pull herself together and decide what she should say. Right then a tide of thoughts and emotions swirled in her head. Seeing Dan again, touching him, roused so many feelings. Anger, regret, fury, longing, misery, and more anger flooded her brain and made rational thought impossible. Working with him was going to be hard.

  She felt as though she’d just stepped out onto a high wire.

  DAN WATCHED her leave and shut his eyes. He’d made a mistake with the pastry. Why did he think reminding her of the past could help move them into a different future? He should’ve known better. He’d underestimated the depth of her anger. Not that she wasn’t entitled to it but moving past it would be hard for both of them.

  Doubt and regret rubbed a raw spot in his gut. Was it really possible she hadn’t been guilty? There had been so much evidence to indicate she’d done it. That code had lived only on the company server in her personal directory and was backed up on an encrypted flash drive she kept in her purse. Who else could have gotten it? The logs had shown the file info hadn’t been copied anywhere else that day but onto the flash drive.

  And yet. Why would she do it? When she pointed out she had no reason, his gut agreed. And maybe he’d known that all along but had let himself be convinced by Charles Quigley and Kris Thomas. Or by his own ambition, which needed to agree with them. Maybe. If so, he’d been one huge fool. Had he let himself be convinced because they dangled the promotion in front of him that they knew he wanted?

  On the other hand, was he letting himself be snowed once again by a woman he couldn’t resist? A woman he’d adored. None of the others he’d dated before her or since had made inroads into his mind and soul the way she had.

  This might be a really stupid thing to do. If she did it again, it would rebound onto him, wrecking his reputation and his career. Not to mention tearing apart his heart and his self-confidence.

  But if they could prove she hadn’t done it? Would she ever forgive him for doubting her? For breaking her heart?

  Even if she couldn’t, at least he’d know the truth.

  CHAPTER 3

  J ulie armored herself with the deep blue Boss suit she’d bought at Saks almost two years ago when she’d gotten her first five-figure payment for an app. It was still the most expensive thing in her wardrobe, but well worth it. The skirt and jacket draped beautifully, flattering her slender figure and making her look taller than her five feet and four inches. Paired with her best three-inch-heeled killer pumps, she could conquer anything. Even Charles Quigley.

  After two cups of coffee and an hour spent practicing her resolve and steeling her will against all the warnings, insinuations, and outright threats he’d likely throw at her, she ventured forth as well prepared as possible for an encounter she still dreaded. She would not show any weakness.

  Her stomach twisted as she walked into the building housing Spieler’s offices. A receptionist she didn’t recognize told her to go right back to the president’s office when she arrived. Kris Thomas and Dan Foster were there when she tapped at the doorframe and entered, but they both sat off to the side, leaving the chair facing the desk for her. A fourth person perched nearby. It took her a moment to recognize him as Jake Carrollton, Spieler’s IT director. He’d joined the company just a few weeks before she’d left.

  She stood for a moment, waiting to see if Quigley would offer a hand to shake, then sat down when he didn’t. “You wanted to talk about the transaction-logger app I’m developing? I’ve already said that I respect the contract my company signed and will continue working on it. I told Dan Foster yesterday what I needed to make this happen.”

  “He relayed your list of demands.” Quigley was in his late forties or early fifties, tall, humorless, and building a layer of fat around the middle. His hairline had receded almost to the top of his head. He picked up and set down a piece of paper on his desk. “I believe we can manage to meet them as long as you can meet the deadlines specified in the contract.”

  She refused to rise to his jibe about “demands.” “I’ll meet the deadlines as long as you have the resources I need in place.”

  “Given your history, I believe we also need to discuss security for this project.”

  Julie struggled to keep her calm demeanor in place. “Security is important, of course. Please tell me what you in mind.”

  Quigley glanced at Kris and Dan in turn then looked to her. “There will be only one copy of the code for this app and it will reside on our server in a special partition, where it can be accessed only by authorized persons. No copies of it will be allowed and the code will never leave these premises.”

  Julie glanced at Dan, who closed his eyes and drew a breath. She let a corner of her mouth quirk. “I’ll leave it to Dan and Jake to explain why having a single copy of the code of a critical application is a terrible idea. I should also point out that J Varner Software is a contractor. I’m not an employee of yours, and as such only the code that was deliverable in stage one currently belongs to you. I don’t officially turn over the second stage of the app until we reach the sign-off point where you pay for it, and it is legally transferred to your company. It will remain solely in my possession until then.” She tightened her fingers around the slim Levengers laptop bag resting in her lap. “Since the contract specifies the code is released exclusively to you and release of it elsewhere is grounds for cancellation, I’d be very foolish to share it with anyone outside the company prior to that time. And I assure you I’m very careful about the security of my computer and backup drives. I’ve learned caution the hard way, and it was a lesson I’m not likely to forget.”

  She drew a long breath and expelled it before continuing, “I will, however, discuss security precautions with Dan Foster and Jake Carrollton. I’ll take their advice on it, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my ability to do the work. You’ve heard the other things I’ve said I would need to continue. I assume we can discuss those arrangements as well?”

  Spots of red showed on Quigley’s cheekbones and his lips pressed tightly together. Before he could say anything, Kris Thomas exploded, her voice raw with anger. “You dare to dictate terms of this arrangement to us, Miss? You cost this company a great deal of money several years ago. You’re fortunate we’re even willing to allow you to work on this project any further. If it were up to me, we would eat that contract and forge on ourselves.”

  With glossy dark hair, large dark eyes emphasized by heavy makeup, and a long, narrow face, Kris was handsome rather than pretty, but her perpetually dissatisfied expression didn’t improve her attractiveness. Julie took a deep breath. “I’ll say this just once and will not argue about it. I was not responsible for the leak of code a few years ago, but I paid a very significant price for it as well. I am not thrilled about working with this company again either. In fact, if there were any way out of it, I’d take it. But a contract is a contract. And that cuts both ways. From here on, except for legal items, I will deal only with Dan Foster.” She looked around the room. “Is there anything else we need to discuss? If not, I’m going back to work. I’ll talk with Dan later about technical arrangements.”

  She gave Quigley points for self-control. Despite his obvious anger, he managed to say, evenly if coldly, “I believe we understand each other.”

  Julie stood. Determined to remain polite in the face of their anger, she said, “Thank you for your time.”

  DAN WATCHED her exit and pride swelled. Dang, but she was amazing. Kept her cool in the face of hostility and showed them up with polite firmness. It wouldn’t be wise to cheer, but he wanted to.

  Something must’ve shown on his face anyway. Kris gave him a sour look. “Getting all soppy over her again? Didn’t think you were such a slow learner.”

  He stared at her for a moment without answering. When he’d first met Kris, he’d found her attractive and interesting. They’d dated a couple of times despite her superior positio
n in the company, but he soon grew impatient with her selfish narcissism and petty cruelties to others.

  “Taking things at face value isn’t always the wisest policy. Nor is jumping to conclusions.” He stood up. “I have work to do.” He nodded for Jake to accompany him.

  Assuming she’d gone back to the Cummings & Worth office, the two of them took a cab to it. Julie wasn’t at her cubicle. The office wasn’t large, which meant a brief search located her in an impromptu meeting with another man and woman. She introduced him and Jake to Stan Krusjwik, C&W’s chief network engineer and IT director, and Maureen Harris, tester and coder. She stumbled a little when she got to his own title.

  “Vice president for operations now,” he said. “Do you have some place where we can have a quick meeting?”

  Julie led the way to a smaller office that had once housed Frank Worth’s assistant, who’d decided to retire at the same time Frank did. Stan went and got another chair and dragged it into the room, then they sat around the desk, with Dan taking the seat immediately behind it.

  They spent the first twenty minutes reviewing each company’s equipment, software, and network setups before Dan assigned Stan and Jake the task of developing a plan to combine the systems. They also went over all the levels of security in place for the network and devices connected to it. Dan was impressed with C&W’s system. It was tight, probably tighter than their own, but with fewer employees connecting to it, they could be more strict about access.

  By the time they’d finished reviewing everything, including the status of all applications in development, it was near lunch time. The two IT guys went off to check out servers, and Maureen left to meet her husband at a nearby sandwich place.

  Julie picked up her notepad and laptop case. As she stood, he cleared his throat, and asked, “Want to get some lunch?”

  She thought about it for too long, and he said, “Never mind. I’m sure you have things to do."

  She sighed and looked at him. “Is there something else we need to talk about?”

  “You asked me to help you figure out who leaked the code three years ago. I need more information on the circumstances back then, so I know where to start looking. And…we have to work together.”

  “True.” Her gaze bored a hole into him, but he had no idea what she saw. “All right.”

  He kept his smile in response subdued. “There’s a super Chinese restaurant a few blocks from here.”

  “Sounds good.”

  CHAPTER 4

  J ulie climbed into the cab ahead of Dan for the quick ride to the restaurant. Her brain raced, trying to sort out what he was doing and why. There had to be more to this than just discussing who might’ve been behind the leaked code three years. They’d already settled everything necessary for her to get back to work on the app. What did he want from her?

  Surely he didn’t think they could resume any kind of relationship. Dan was neither stupid nor foolish. Whatever had been between them was dead now, killed by his lack of trust and refusal to listen. It had to stay that way. She wouldn’t risk that kind of heartbreak again. And she’d made a promise to her friends in the No Brides Club to avoid romantic entanglements. Of course, several of them had recently gotten swept into relationships unexpectedly, but that didn’t mean she should, too. Certainly not with the man who’d already betrayed her.

  Once at the restaurant and seated, he asked gentle questions about her work, until the server appeared. Flashbacks to times when they’d eaten together in their dating days popped up in her brain. Some of the happiest times of her life. He’d ruined those memories.

  When they’d given their orders, she studied him for a moment before asking, “What is this really all about?”

  A trace of color appeared in his cheeks and he looked down at the table, unwrapping the napkin from the silverware with more concentration than the action warranted. When he looked up, his expression showed nothing but bland interest. “We’re going to be working together. We need to have some understanding of each other and the situation.”

  “What do we need to hash out? I thought the bases were covered pretty thoroughly this morning.”

  “That was them. This is us.”

  Her fist tightened around a fork. “There is no us.”

  He winced at her emphasis on the last word. “There is in the sense that we have to be able to work together on this project. Just as you did with Frank Worth.”

  Her breath caught. She fought to keep her voice under control as she answered. “Frank Worth believed in me and gave me a chance when no one else was willing. He has never regretted it.”

  “I understand that. I realize the contrast with the way I treated you. Up until yesterday I never doubted you were guilty of releasing that code. But even so, I realized I’d betrayed you by not giving you a chance to explain. And now, to learn…you might not have done it at all… It’s hard to tell you how it’s turned things upside down. I’m just beginning to understand what it means. What I might have done.” He set down his water glass and waited while the server delivered their meals.

  Her stomach churned. She wanted to yell at him that he was three years too late in all those realizations. Decorum won out and she stayed quiet.

  “It wasn’t easy for me either at the time,” he continued once the waiter had departed. “But that’s the past and it can’t be changed. We have to figure out how we work together now. I want you to succeed with this project and some future ones. We all win if it goes well. I want to be sure that happens.”

  “And be sure I don’t mess everything up again.”

  “No.” He forked up a bunch of noodles but set it down instead of lifting it to his mouth. “This might make me a total fool, but I don’t believe anything like that will happen again. I’m staking my career and my reputation on it, so heaven help me if I’m wrong. I still don’t know what happened last time, but I’m betting it won’t happen again.”

  She sucked in a breath. “So now you’d take that chance?”

  “I could’ve told them I’d find someone else to finish the app you were working on, or at least to do the next one.”

  “You could have.” The words almost stuck at the lump in her throat.

  “But you’re the best person for the job and we both know it.” He sighed and finally downed the forkful of noodles before he spoke again. “Look, Julie, I know we killed what was between us three years ago. Mostly, I killed it. But I hope we can still be friends or at least friendly co-workers. We both want this app to succeed, and we’ll need to work together to make that happen.”

  She swallowed a hasty reply that she didn’t see how that was possible. Be professional, she reminded herself. Surely a professional could manage to work with someone they didn’t like. But a former fiancé?

  He paused to take another bite of food and she watched him for a few silent moments, wrestling with the memories of those happier times in the past when they’d eaten together. In the dim interior of the restaurant, the dappled light from the wall sconces cast shadows across his face that highlighted changes in him. Fine lines around his eyes and mouth weren’t there before. The muscles around his jaw and lips seemed tighter than she remembered, and he didn’t smile as readily as he used to.

  He looked up and caught her staring. “Gravy on my chin?”

  “No. Just thinking.”

  “Do you think we can manage to work together?”

  “Maybe. As long as we keep it professional.” She hoped.

  If he had any sense of the battle raging inside her, he gave no sign. “Good. Tell me about what’s happened since you left Spieler three years ago.”

  WATCHING her gave him so much pleasure. He’d never get enough of it. Heck, he’d probably never get anything more than this, so he’d better enjoy it. He’d made a terrible mistake letting her go three years ago, and he’d known it right away. There would never be another woman so right for him. Was there any possibility he could win her back now? It didn’t matter if she had lea
ked the code, maybe by accident, all those years ago. Her emphatic denial had him doubting all the evidence that said she’d done it. Which might be foolish and stupid. Or it might be the smartest thing. He’d have to go slow and work to rebuild her trust.

  “I was pretty bummed for a while after I left.” She swallowed a bit of food and wiped her mouth with the napkin. “I had enough money to survive for a few months and I took a job as a clerk in a store to fill the time. But I couldn’t stay away from the computer. One day I was doing something with the banking app on my phone, and I got frustrated with it. The options and buttons didn’t work the way they should’ve. It wasn’t intuitive or user-friendly. I had an idea for how to make it better, so I sat down and laid out the interface and the algorithm behind the data collection. It worked so well, I thought I could market it.”

  She lifted a fragrant spring roll to her mouth and took a bite. It hit him straight in the gut as a vivid memory of her doing the same thing a few years back flashed in his head. She’d smiled so much back in those days and her brown eyes frequently lit with laughter when she talked. The laughter was gone. Even the smile was rarer. He’d killed the smiles and the laughter in her. That recognition burned inside.

  Once she’d chewed and swallowed, she continued. “I went straight to a couple of banks, but they got their software from another company, so I thought, why not take it to the providers?” She lifted her hands, still holding the spring roll. “Of course the first few I talked to turned it down. A couple wouldn’t even let me in the door. But then this one woman said she wasn’t allowed to buy outside software, but she knew someone who could. She told me to talk to Frank Worth and even called him to introduce me.

  “Frank and I talked for a long time. I demonstrated my app for him and he was impressed. He knew exactly how he could integrate it into his product line. We got our lawyers together and worked out a contract. He knew I had a somewhat shaky past. I shared some of what happened with Spieler, though I didn’t tell him the actual name of the company or all of the details. I told him as much as I could, and he was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. That first contract wasn’t big, but we talked about some other ideas and I created more apps based on those. A couple of them proved very popular, and after a year or so, the contracts were getting bigger, and word was getting around about the apps that Cummings & Worth were developing. I’ve had a good working relationship with Frank and his company all along. On the advice of my lawyer, I incorporated a while back.”