Level Up: A Geek Romance Rom Com, Book 1 (Fandom Hearts)

by Yardley, Cathy

  He'd been considering proposing. She'd said she had a big announcement that night. She'd said that she hadn't wanted to get serious about a relationship until her job was more settled. So he thought she'd been finally getting promoted, and she'd be open to marrying him. But instead, she'd said that she'd gotten a job in New York----and then, to make matters worse, had said that they should break up so she could focus on her career.

  He wasn't hung up on her. He was gun shy. There was a difference.

  "I just haven't met the right girl," he said.

  "I don't care one way or another, but I gotta call bullshit on this," Fezza said. "Where were you planning on finding a new girlfriend, dude? You either hang out with us, or you go to work. Not exactly target rich environments."

  Adam frowned. That was true, actually.

  "Are you going to clubs or meet ups? Got a dating profile? Anything like that?"

  "No." Adam hadn't considered going the online dating route. The thought made him wither a bit inside. "I mean, I met Casey by chance. If the right person comes along, I'll know."

  "We're forgetting he lives with a girl," José said.

  "No, he lives with Tessa," Fezza said. "There's a difference."

  "Hey, not one word. She's a great roommate," Adam said quickly. "She pays her half of the rent on time, totally helps out with her part of the chores--" which was more than he could say about Casey, in the year they'd lived together, "--and she's quiet."

  "That's how most serial killers are described," Fezza muttered.

  "She's awesome."

  "Then why don't you date her?"

  Adam burst into surprised laughter. "Me? Date Tessa?" He shook his head. "No way."

  "Dude, face it: unless you ask out a pizza delivery girl who comes by Fezza's house, there's no way in hell you're going to start dating any time in the near future," José said.

  Adam felt anger and self-righteousness--okay, maybe just the booze--burn in his stomach. "Trust me. I can get a girlfriend."

  The guys looked at him, grinning. "Bet on it?" José said.

  "You're on," Adam said. "I'll bet that I can get a girlfriend before we replace Mac on the engineering team."

  "Deal," Fezza said as they shook on it. "You sure it's not going to be Tessa? Because that might be cheating."

  "Not in a million years," Adam said. "Never going to..."

  He stopped abruptly when he heard her clear her throat. He glanced over, only to see Tessa standing in the doorway.

  He felt a blush flood his cheeks. Oh, God.

  "Tessa," he said, feeling like a total asshole. "Sorry. Um...didn't know you were going to...uh..."

  "Can I get you a drink, milady?" José said, swooping to her side. She quickly took a step back. She'd known José for years, after all. Give the guy an inch, and he'd take your underwear.

  "I just wanted to stop by and, um, hang out." She seemed to be blushing a bit, too.

  "We've got some food in the kitchen," Adam said, bounding up. "I can get you a drink that isn't going to melt your face off, too."

  He ushered her into the kitchen. Her expression was pensive. He wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I didn't...I mean, we were just talking..."

  "I know," she said. "I had no idea."

  He wished the ground would just swallow him up. "It didn't mean anything," he said. "I just...well, I didn't think that you were interested. You're not interested, are you?"

  "Are you kidding?" Her eyes went round. "I'm completely interested."

  Now it was his turn. He felt his eyes pop wide as he stared at her, speechless for a second. "You...are?"

  "I've wanted this for a long time now," she said.

  "Why didn't you say anything?" Oh, God, what was he supposed to do with this?

  She shrugged, and her amber skin heated with a dusky blush. "I guess we just don't talk that much," she murmured. "Why would you know?"

  "So, since..." He did the math. "February? When you moved in? You were interested then?"

  "Even before then."

  He ran his fingers through his hair, utterly distracted. This could be really, really bad.

  "What?" Her chin went up, and her brown eyes sparkled with anger. "Do you not think I'm good enough?"

  "No! Absolutely not," he said. "I think you're amazing."

  She smiled, a little smile. Kinda a cute smile, he thought, before shoving the thought aside.

  "But I didn't...I mean, I just..." He was slaughtering this. "I didn't know you were interested in me that way."

  She blinked at him. "What?"

  "I mean, I didn't even think you wanted to be my girlfriend."

  Her mouth dropped open. Oh, God. Red alert! Red alert! Danger!

  Then, suddenly, she started laughing.

  "I don't want to be your girlfriend, you idiot," she said, around a chuckle.

  "You don't?"

  "No." She rolled her eyes. "I want Mac's job. I want to be on the engineering team."

  CHAPTER 2

  Tessa slowly walked over to Adam's beat up Subaru Outback, sipping at her to-go-cup of coffee thoughtfully. They hadn't really talked since she'd found out about Mac leaving and the engineering position opening up. He'd had a wicked, if unsurprising, hangover the next day, and had spent most of it in bed with an ice pack, groaning. Once he was ambulatory, he hung out in his room with the door shut. She suspected he hadn't grabbed food unless she was in the bathroom and he'd been "sleeping" most of the day.

  If she didn't know better, she would've thought he was deliberately avoiding her.

  But this was Monday morning and they had a good twenty-minute ride into work together. He was a captive audience. If it meant persuading, pleading, or threatening him with a lug wrench, she was going to get an inside track on this job.

  She'd been waiting for them to notice her work. Adam was a producer, a project manager, but he'd started as a coder and shifted over. He knew that she had the skills, and she'd hoped he would put in a good word for her, since he was tight with the engineers. She hadn't gotten the room with Adam for that, naturally; that had just been a convenient and lucky coincidence. She'd never asked him explicitly for help, hadn't pressured, had honestly barely talked to him about anything besides work.

  It was going to be a new year. A new birthday. It looked like new tactics were in order.

  He grunted a good morning and started the car, letting it warm up. She decided a little conversational warming up was necessary, as well.

  "Um. Looks like snow, huh?"

  He glanced at her, then shrugged, and she wondered if he was really awake enough for this conversation--as she recalled, he wasn't really a morning person. The problem was, if she waited until he was up and running, or God forbid until they drove home that night, then everybody else would have had a crack at him all day long. This was her window.

  "Probably no snow for another few days, maybe a week," he finally said, as they pulled out of the driveway.

  Success! Conversation! She took heart. Then, without preamble, she said, "I want that engineering position once Mac's gone."

  Unfortunately, at that very moment he was also sipping from a to-go-cup and did a spit-take on the steering wheel. "Whoops. Sorry. Really hot," he apologized, wiping at it with the sleeve of his jacket.

  "I think I'm ready," she said. "You know how hard I work. And I think that I could use a promotion. I've been with MPG for four years, since I graduated from U-Dub."

  "I know."

  "So why not?"

  He took a deep breath. "Listen, I'm not firing on all cylinders. Can't this wait till tonight?"

  "No," she said, surprising herself. She put her cup in the holder and turned a little. "This isn't because I'm a woman, is it?"

  "God, no," he said.

  "Because I know it's a boys' club," she said doggedly. "It's hard to be respected as a female coder. I don't expect it to be handed to me, but if I'm being passed over or ignored just because......"

  "I swea
r, it isn't because you're a woman," Adam interrupted quickly. "Hell, most of us don't even think of you as a woman."

  That took her aback. He glanced at her, looking aghast.

  "And I totally didn't mean it that way," he said. "I think of you as a woman, trust me."

  Now a little, wayward hormonal burst erupted, surprising her. This is Ani's fault, she thought, scowling.

  "And I mean that in as non-sexually-harassing a way as possible," he quickly added. "I just mean I think of you as a programmer. Who happens to be a woman. Whom I totally respect. Who is probably more than capable of handling the job." He groaned. "Who I also wish would just shoot me and put me out of my misery because eight o'damned clock in the morning is too early to be having this conversation which I seem to be totally butchering."

  She couldn't help it. She let out a chuckle. "All right. But I'm serious. I really, really want this."

  There were a few minutes of silence, the only noise the rolling of the tires on the freeway. Finally, Adam spoke.

  "Not to dig myself deeper, but...why now?" He didn't look at her, stayed fixated on the road, but she could practically feel his curiosity filling the car. "You're young. There will be other opportunities."

  "Why not now?" She felt her heart sink, and she gritted her teeth. "It's easy to say there will be other opportunities, but you're a project manager who came from coding. You know what the engineers are like. What Abraham is like. So do you really think I've got another shot at it at MPG?"

  They sat silently for a long few minutes as he pulled onto the freeway.

  "I'll see what I can do about talking to Abraham and the higher ups," he said. "But I can't promise anything. The engineers can be...tough to break into."

  She nodded. That was something, at least.

  "Sooooooo..." He drawled, taking a deep breath. "Other than binge watching Sherlock, do anything fun this weekend?"

  He was obviously interested in changing the subject. She sighed. "I Skyped Ani--which you know--and we traded presents. She likes to make a big deal because..." She paused.

  "What?" he prompted.

  "Um, because I've got a birthday coming up. It's so close to Christmas, she knows that it tends to get lumped in, and I don't celebrate it."

  "You've got a birthday? When?"

  "Wednesday." She felt her cheeks heat. "Really, it's no big deal."

  "Of course it's a big deal!" He shot her a quick glance. "How old?"

  "Huh? Oh. Twenty-five."

  "Two years younger than me," he said. "I'm a summer kid, though, so I was always young for my grade."

  "I was always old for mine," she said ruefully. "It always made me feel...behind, somehow. Which is my point. I kind of thought I'd be further ahead than I am, you know?"

  He nodded. "Quarter-life crisis," he said. "Totally common. Well, not among our crew, but I've read about it."

  "I know I'm ready for a change," she nudged, unable to help herself.

  He sighed. "The thing is, it's not just about programming. It's about personalities."

  She frowned. "You mean because the guys wouldn't accept me?"

  "Because you don't socialize. You eat lunch by yourself, in your cubicle. When you get soda at the machine in the Pit, you don't talk to anyone."

  "I'm busy. You know. Working."

  "Yeah, but I've seen you when you're home...and, well, no offense, but I don't really see you with anybody."

  Now she goggled. "You think I can't do the job because I'm single? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

  "Slow your roll there, Turbo," he said, sounding exasperated. "This isn't about you being single. I'm just saying, other than Skype, I don't see you socializing with anybody. Not at work. Not in your private time. Hell, you barely talk to me, and we live together."

  She bit her lip, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

  He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry," He said again. "In my defense, I really suck at mornings."

  She took a deep breath. "So...if I showed you how much better I was with people, and maybe..." she heard Ani's voice echoing in her head, "erm, had a social life...it might help me convince the guys to give me a chance?"

  "It'd definitely be a step in the right direction," he conceded.

  "All right," she said. "I'll do...that, I guess."

  He paused, then laughed. "You make it sound painful."

  She tried to smile, but couldn't.

  That's because it is going to be painful.

  Adam wandered into "the Pit," the break-room-slash-dining-area at Mysterious Pickles. There was a small kitchen with a fridge, a coffee maker, and a few square tables with chairs. The area bled into a living room-styled area with a large TV and a few couches. There were already people there, playing, hooting at the screen.

  Adam grabbed some coffee...or at least tried to. They were out of his favorite coffee pods, probably because the gang here went through caffeinated beverages like they were about to be outlawed. He sighed, grabbing a sparkling water instead. Those, they always had on hand, probably because only Tessa and Felix in accounting seemed to be fans.

  "You know that bet's still on, right?" he heard a voice behind him say, in a smug tone.

  Adam sighed. "Terms were never set," he pointed out. "Also, I was sort of hammered."

  José grinned at him, nudging Fezza. "Knew he was going to punk out."

  "I'm not punking out," Adam said.

  "So--you're going to get a girlfriend before Mac's job is filled?"

  "That's actually plenty of time," Fezza said. "Remember how long it took to fill the last position on the engineer squad?"

  They all winced a little. "Abraham is a terror," José said, dropping his voice and looking over his shoulder, in case the red-headed, red-bearded head of engineering was nearby. "The guy made that last applicant cry, remember?"

  "Yeah," Fezza said. "That wasn't even one of Abraham's angry days, either."

  "Took months to fill that spot," José said. "Well, you wouldn't want to ask someone to be your girlfriend after only a week or two, anyway. You'd look like a total psycho."

  "Why does it need to be a girlfriend?" Adam pointed out. "Why can't I just go out on a date?"

  José was shaking his head before Adam even finished his sentence. "Hell, I go out on dates all the time. That's easy."

  "He's got a point," Fezza said. "Besides, we all know you're Mr. Relationship."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You were tight with Casey for, what, four years?"

  "Five," Adam said, frowning.

  "You're not the dating, hit-it-and-quit-it type," José said, with a shrug. "You're the one-girl-flowers-and-candy type."

  "Either that, or you're the still-hung-up-on-your-ex type," Fezza added.

  Adam set his jaw. "What do I get if I win?"

  José and Fezza looked exultant. José actually rubbed his hands together. "Ah, negotiating. What do you want?"

  "If I win," Adam said slowly, "you have to foil wrap Abraham's station. That means everything: computer, keyboard, all his knick-knacks. Even his chair."

  Fezza's eyes went wide. "He'll kill us, dude."

  "Scared?"

  José shook his head. "No way we're losing, so no problem. And if we win..." His smile was evil. "You have to toilet paper his truck."

  Adam thought about it. There was a good chance Abraham would squash him like a bug for touching his precious, totally custom truck. Still, the guys were right. He was still sort of hung up on his ex. Maybe this was just the impetus he needed to get back out there.

  "You're on," he said, shaking hands and ignoring their crowing.

  "How are you going to start?"

  "Like I'm going to talk strategy with you two," he said. They both shrugged and wandered off to claim the next game on the big TV. The problem was, he didn't have any idea, so there was no strategy to discuss. Where would he start?

  Stacy, he thought. She was the new receptionist. Actually, she was the temporary office manager wh
ile Margo was out on maternity leave, but she sat at the reception desk most of the time. She was pretty, in a shiny blonde sort of way--a bit like Casey, now that he thought about it. Just as pulled together and stylish, as well. She'd probably like the same things Casey did. Of course, that meant some expensive restaurants, but it wasn't like he'd been spending all that much money in the past year. Left to his own devices, he was much more a stay at home, play games and watch movies by his wood burning stove kind of guy.

  Time to ask out Stacy, he thought, but stalled when he saw Tessa walk in.

  She hadn't mentioned his absolutely churlish behavior, that night when all the guys were over. It had to sting, to hear his concrete refusal to date her. Honestly, he really hadn't thought of her that way. She kept to herself, and he figured she was painfully introverted. That didn't mean she wasn't friendly. She was a phenomenal cook, and sometimes she'd leave him a plate of chicken enchiladas with a "help yourself" note, or she'd make crock-pot carnitas that they shared. She also had a great sense of humor, the few times they'd spoken. Still, she'd made it clear that she was just in it for the room, and that was really all he was looking for at the time, as well.

  She usually ate at her cube, not in the Pit. Now, she was holding her lunch bag, scanning the room, her back stiff, her face resolute.

  He really ought to go, he thought. He wanted to try asking Stacy out to lunch, just to test the waters. Also, he was starving. But something about Tessa's bearing made him stop and watch.

  After taking a deep breath, she walked over to where Felicia, a coder over in character design, was sitting and eating. There was an empty chair at Felicia's table.

  "Mind if I sit here?" she asked.

  Felicia pulled an ear bud out, then glanced around at the two other empty tables in the room. "I guess."

  "Thanks." Tessa sat down, then pulled out her lunch. She pushed it around, rather than eating it. "Um...what are you listening to?"

  "Joy Division."

  "Oh. I haven't, uh, listened to them much." She made a face. "What are you having for lunch?"

  "Did you want something?" Felicia asked bluntly.