The New Guy

by Kathryn Freeman

  ‘You think?’ Shaking his head, he cursed before aiming those eloquent dark eyes back in her direction. ‘I can’t scrub it from my databank. I want to, but I can’t.’

  The intensity of his gaze made her legs tremble and as heat pooled between them, she sank gratefully into the nearest chair. What the hell she could say to that?

  ‘Sorry we’re late.’ She’d never been more grateful to hear Lucas’s voice. ‘Becks insisted on grabbing me a mochaccino.’

  ‘As if.’ Becky’s eyes bounced between her and Ryan, widening as they landed back on hers.

  Lucas also paused for a moment before, thank God, expounding on where they could find the best mochaccino. As he continued to talk, Becky slipped onto the chair next to her. A few seconds later, she pushed a note pad towards her. Sam quickly glanced at the words.

  Sexual tension is bouncing off the walls. Should we leave??

  Horrified, Sam wrote back in big, shouty capitals: DON’T YOU BLOODY DARE.

  ‘Oh dear, am I late?’ Alice, the junior programmer, bounded in, blonde hair bouncing in her ponytail. She’d joined them straight out of university, nearly nine months ago now. Sam had liked her attitude at the interview: confident, not afraid to ask questions. Keen to learn. ‘Totally my fault. There was me, so focused on the code I was working on I forgot to check the time.’ She laughed, rolling her eyes and looking her age. Twenty-two. ‘I guess only Ryan would understand how much those sneaky codes can suck you in.’

  Ryan’s face, as Alice sat down beside him, was a picture; the tight smile, the small shake of the head. Yep, he was definitely wondering how on earth he was going to work with her. The man would be useless at poker.

  ‘No problem, Alice. We hadn’t started.’ Sam nodded over to Lucas. ‘Lucas suggested we have this meeting to give Ryan some background to the Privacy 2 app. What we’re trying to achieve, what we’ve agreed so far and where we’re at.’ She forced herself to look at Ryan. ‘Feel free to barrage us with questions as we go through.’

  He nodded once, which she guessed was all the thanks they were going to get.

  ‘I’ll start by talking through the aim of the Privacy app in general, and then Becky will go through the modifications the market is looking for, and Lucas will share where we’ve got to on the design for the mark 2. Finally, Alice will discuss some of the technical issues she and your predecessor have come up against.’

  Silence. She was used to chat, to animated meetings, but Ryan’s quiet, sullen presence had clearly rubbed off on everyone. As her eyes skimmed over him, she wondered if he was looking at her as the CEO. Or the woman he’d had sex with multiple times last night.

  Don’t think about it, don’t think about it. Hastily she reached for her water and took a few sips. ‘Okey-dokey, so, the Privacy app.’

  Ryan watched Sam, but he didn’t listen. Not because he didn’t care, but because he’d already read up on the mark 2 app this morning. He might have slept with his boss, but he wasn’t totally unprofessional.

  Reluctantly – she was far too easy to look at – he dragged his eyes away.

  ‘Anything you need clarification on so far?’

  At her cool tone, he snapped his head up. ‘You and some bloke came up with the whole Privacy app idea. He developed it, you marketed it. Purpose was to show punters which firms held data on them. Now you want to take it to the next level, but you and he had a bust-up and the guy you employed after him was a dud, so that’s where I come in.’

  Surprise shot across her face and he inwardly high-fived himself. If she was trying to catch him out, she’d have to do better than that. He’d researched not just the app, but the company. He might not know why her business partner – Damien Lynch – had left, but he sure as hell knew it hadn’t been as simple as she’d painted it, a disagreement on the future direction of the company. Yeah, right. He disagreed with their cheesy company motto: one team, one … something, one frigging heart. Didn’t mean he was going to waltz out and set up a rival company just to piss her off.

  ‘Thank you for the … interesting summary.’ The way she said it, so controlled, so collected, both annoyed and impressed him. With one final assessing look in his direction, she swung those big eyes towards her blue-haired mate. ‘Becky, please can you remind us, and enlighten Ryan, about what the market is hoping for with the mark 2 version?’

  ‘Sure, boss.’

  Ryan saw the look that passed between the pair of them. He’d bet his first pay packet that Sam had told her friend all about last night. Prickles of discomfort travelled down his back at the thought of them having a laugh at his expense. His chat-up line was awful, something about wanting to know if my bedroom was as much of a dive as his was. Oh, and did I tell you, he struggled to find a condom?

  The prickles turned into an angry flush. Damn it, he needed to focus on the meeting. Last night hadn’t happened. That’s how she was playing it, and he needed to learn the same game.

  ‘Basically, what the research is saying is that users love what the app can do, and they’re excited about the possibility of it being able to do more. Like show them not only which companies hold personal data on them but what information is being held. They also want a simpler registration process with fewer inputs.’ Becky shifted her gaze to him. ‘That’s why Lucas has been working on a much more streamlined design for the mark 2. But I’ll leave him to talk about that.’

  Ryan shifted on his chair, belatedly realising he’d missed something vital in what Becky had been saying. ‘Wait. What do you mean, fewer inputs?’

  Becky heaved out a sigh. ‘If you’d been listening, you’d know. Users don’t want the hassle of putting all the information in about the various social media sites they use. They just want to put in the basics; name, address, date of birth, email.’

  He sat up bolt upright. ‘You’re seriously going to tell me you guys are trying to get this mark 2 app to do what it did before, and more, but with less input?’

  Becky looked at Lucas, and then at Sam, who both nodded. ‘Yes. That’s what the market wants.’

  He started to laugh. ‘Yeah, right. I bet they want spray that makes them invisible and chocolate with no calories. Doesn’t mean they’re going to get it.’

  Becky’s eyes flashed at him. ‘We need to respond to market needs, or they’ll go elsewhere.’

  ‘You mean to this rival you’re all so worried about.’

  ‘You should be worried about it too,’ Sam cut in. ‘Unless you’ve got another job lined up already?’ She gave him one of those cutting looks she was so good at. All calm and in charge, blue eyes as cool as an Icelandic lake.

  ‘Okay, point taken.’ He took a moment to breathe. To remind himself this was just a business meeting. So what if they were taking the piss out of him behind his back. Wasn’t like he hadn’t experienced that before. ‘My point still stands. No way can all this be done. Not by me, not by another software developer. Not by your rival.’

  ‘Sebastian said it could.’ Sam arched an eyebrow. ‘He was the man you replaced.’

  ‘Sebastian clearly enjoyed blowing smoke up your arse.’

  ‘Sebastian was a friend.’ Seems it was Lucas’s turn to give Ryan the evil eye. ‘And he was a very fine software developer who saw what was needed and was keen to help. A real team player.’

  Ryan tried to ignore the dig. Since being a teenager, he’d become used to being the outsider. The one people didn’t like. He’d learnt to develop a tough skin. ‘So keen he left?’

  Yep, they were all looking daggers at him now. Even smiley-face Alice.

  Sam cleared her throat. ‘Sebastian didn’t choose to go. I asked him if he was able to complete the upgrade within the next few months. He said he wasn’t and agreed to leave so we could find someone who could.’ She raised her eyes to his. ‘I understood you were that person.’

  He might not be great with words, or manners and niceties, but Ryan knew software, particularly app development. He knew what was possible and what was no
t. And he knew he was bloody good at his job. ‘I can make your app for you in three months. What I can’t do is the impossible. Doesn’t matter how brilliant you are, you can’t programme an app to find data, if you don’t give it enough information to tell it where to look. At least not accurately, which I assume is the most important consideration. The simplified input idea will have to go.’ He jerked his head towards Becky-blue-hair and Lucas-citrus-shirt. ‘These guys are living in cloud cuckoo land.’

  ‘Now wait a—’

  ‘How dare you—’

  ‘Ryan,’ Sam’s voice cut through whatever crap they were about to throw at him. ‘A word in private. Please.’

  She stood up smoothly and walked towards the door, not once looking in his direction. Like a kid being summoned to see the headmaster, he followed her.

  Once in her office, she indicated for him to sit down. Then flashed her blue eyes at him. ‘We work as a team here. We’re polite to each other and treat everyone with respect.’

  He shrugged, trying to act indifferent. As if she wasn’t making him feel two foot small. ‘You’re paying me to develop your app. Not make friends.’

  ‘Seems to me you’re not prepared to do either.’

  Ouch. He was really cocking this up. Then again, that respect thing went both ways. ‘Don’t think you respected my privacy much when you told Becky about last night.’

  Sam froze, a satisfying flush creeping over her cheeks. ‘Okay, you’re right.’ She rubbed at her forehead, as if she had a headache. He guessed gallons of champagne could do that. ‘I was so shocked to see you this morning, I just blurted it out. Becky isn’t only my marketing director, you see, she’s my best friend. We tell each other things.’ Her eyes met his and for the first time that day he saw the woman, not the company CEO. ‘But I apologise if it’s made you feel awkward. If it helps, she’ll keep it to herself. And the awkwardness goes both ways.’

  He could see she was genuinely sorry. Still, she wasn’t the one having the piss taken out of her behind her back. Saying that would be admitting he cared though, and he’d far rather people believed he didn’t give a rat’s arse what was being said about him. ‘Apology accepted. But back to your issue. You don’t need a genius app developer. You need someone not afraid to tell you what can and can’t be done. Either your Sebastian guy was too terrified of you to say no, or he wanted in your pants.’ She blinked, and he wondered if she was just realising something about dear Sebastian. ‘Yeah, exactly. As you seem about as scary as a toothless wombat, I’m going with the second idea.’

  She blinked several times before leaping to her feet, and this time she didn’t seem quite so collected. ‘We should rejoin the others to discuss next steps. And what can be done.’

  ‘Happy to. Luckily you don’t scare me.’ He smirked. ‘And I’ve already been in your pants.’

  She paused and then surprised him by smiling, even if it did look forced. ‘Considering your earlier point about me not respecting your privacy, I’ll let that slide, but now we’re even.’ The smile slipped. ‘Take another cheap shot, and you’re out.’

  With a toss of that glorious red hair, she marched out ahead of him. He almost remembered to keep his eyes on the back of her head. Almost.

  Chapter 7

  ‘The guy’s a jerk.’

  Two weeks into Ryan Black’s employment, and he was still creating waves. Unsurprisingly, Lucas was the one moaning about him today. He was also the one who needed to work the closest with Ryan at the moment.

  ‘I know he is.’ And boy, did she. Sure, there were moments when those eyes watched her, and Sam felt the rush of arousal. Moments when his dour expression lifted, bringing a small curve to his annoyingly sensuous lips. On those occasions, she felt the powerful attraction that had led her to invite a stranger back to her apartment. Thankfully for her equilibrium, the moments were few and far between.

  ‘This isn’t what we’ve been working towards for all these months.’

  Sam sighed as Lucas pouted at her. Yep, the guy could put on one heck of a pout. ‘I know. But if Ryan’s to be believed, some of what we’ve been working towards has been the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Shiny and gorgeous but totally unattainable.’

  ‘You trust his judgement over Sebastian’s?’

  Sam felt a ripple of unease as snippets of conversation with Ryan’s predecessor wormed their way into her consciousness. The flirting she’d thought was just part of Sebastian’s character. The looks she’d chosen to ignore, thinking she’d just been imagining things. Had Ryan been right? Sebastian certainly hadn’t been scared of her, so had he tried to do the impossible just to impress her? And if so, how had she not seen that? Was her judgement now totally flawed? ‘I know Ryan isn’t likeable, but we have it on good authority that he’s one of the top developers in his field.’ Thankfully not her assessment this time, but that of Becky’s brother. ‘I can’t see why a person like that, who’s clearly well aware how good he is, would say streamlining the input to the app can’t be done, if it can.’

  Lucas let out a dramatic sigh and crossed one pink-chino-clad leg over the other. ‘I guess you’re right. Cocky sod like him wouldn’t like to admit he’s beaten.’

  ‘So will you work with him, please?’ She gave Lucas her most endearing smile. ‘You know how important the next few months are. For better or for worse, we’re stuck with relying on Ryan Black to develop Privacy 2. If the company is to succeed, we need him working with us.’

  ‘I’m not the one with the issue, sweet cheeks.’ When she narrowed her eyes, he gave her a cheeky grin. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll go and play nice, though he’s the one who keeps telling me to piss off when I try and connect with him.’

  Suddenly she became aware of Ryan standing in the doorway. The unfortunately open doorway. ‘Having fun talking about me?’

  Though his expression was one of careful uninterest, his eyes flashed with a … resigned anger, if there was such a thing. It was as if being talked about was nothing new to him. Desperately she thought back to what he might have overheard. I know Ryan isn’t likeable. He hadn’t been there since then, had he? She felt herself starting to blush, which worsened when she saw Lucas give her a speculative look.

  Bollocks. She hated being shoved onto the back foot.

  Lucas, thank God, spoke into the awkward silence. ‘I’m having more fun talking about you than I’ve had talking to you, sweetie.’ He swung round in his chair to face Ryan. ‘Not that I don’t think we could have fun together,’ he added. ‘But every time I try and speak to you, you cut me dead.’

  Ryan let out a frustrated exhale. ‘It’s called concentrating, mate. You should try it some time.’

  ‘Enough.’ Sam threw up her hands. ‘Will the pair of you please sort your petty squabbles out privately? I’m rather busy here sorting out a presentation for our next investor meeting.’

  Lucas immediately looked contrite. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. We’ll leave you to your important CEO stuff.’ He eased to his feet and headed for the door, flashing Ryan an overly friendly smile. ‘I’m sure Mr Black and I can sort out our differences over a cup of mochaccino.’

  Ryan didn’t follow him out. Just watched cautiously as Lucas walked past him.

  Sam’s pulse skittered. She’d carefully avoided being alone with him since that first day, but now her body seemed very aware that it was just the two of them. ‘Was there anything you needed me for?’

  Ryan’s eyes were still on Lucas. ‘Anyone tell him he looks like a frigging watermelon?’

  The comment was so unexpected, Sam wondered if she’d heard correctly. Then she clocked the departing view of Lucas’ pink trousers and green shirt and had to stifle a giggle. ‘I’m not sure telling him that will help your working relationship.’

  ‘Maybe not, but I can tell you what will.’ He turned back to her. ‘Find me an office, with a door I can lock.’

  Sam sighed. Considering his closed personality, she could understand why he wanted it, but it
went against what she was trying to achieve. How could they be a team if they worked behind closed doors? ‘We work in open plan here. I’m the only one with an office, and even then I only use it for meetings or when I’m working on something sensitive. Like now,’ she added pointedly.

  He scowled. ‘I can’t work with fruit-features breathing down my neck every ten minutes.’

  Anger zipped through her, and she jumped to her feet. ‘Take that back this instant. I won’t tolerate name calling—’

  ‘Relax.’ He cut her off, raising his eyes to the ceiling. ‘Words aren’t my strong suit. Neither are jokes, from the sound of things. I only meant fruit as in watermelon. Not, you know.’ Sighing deeply, he ran a hand down his face. ‘Look, I get it, you’re all used to working as a big, happy, smiley team, but it doesn’t work for me. I need quiet and space to think.’ He shoved a hand into the pocket of his habitual jeans. ‘I’m guessing you do want me to think?’

  The anger drained from her and Sam slowly sank back into her chair. Homophobia was a big red flag for her, but a cussed nature she could handle. ‘Of course I want you to think. I also want you working as part of the team. It’s no good you building something that doesn’t fit into Lucas’s design.’

  ‘I can work with someone and not sit on his lap.’

  So, he was cussed and stubborn. It was hardly a surprise. But as it was her job to keep him sweet, at least until they’d worked out if he was as good as was claimed, she plastered a smile on her face. ‘I can’t give you an office, but you can move your computer to a meeting room temporarily if you need to.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  It wasn’t just the word that took her surprise, it was the relief on his face. Not I’ve won, but thank God. His request hadn’t been about one-upmanship, or arrogance, but about genuine need.

  The tiny breakthrough gave her the motivation to stop him as he turned to leave. ‘About what you might have overheard.’