The New Guy

by Kathryn Freeman

  ‘So Ryan, what’s it like working for our daughter?’

  While Sam cringed at her mum’s question, Ryan smirked, his eyes drifting over her face, then deliberately down to her lips. ‘It has its moments.’ His eyes snared hers and she felt the connection pulse through her. A beat of uncomfortable silence followed before Ryan turned back to her parents. ‘Good to meet you. I’ll leave you to your meal.’ He’d started to leave when her mum’s voice halted him in his tracks. And made Sam’s heart leap into her throat.

  ‘Have you eaten?’

  Oh no, she couldn’t be about to suggest …

  ‘If not, why don’t you join us?’

  Sam groaned, only just managing to stop from banging her head against the table. As she watched the surprise settle across Ryan’s rugged face, she thanked God the guy was about as social as a grizzly bear.

  But then his eyes met hers, and the devilish gleam she saw made her heart pound.

  ‘Actually, that would be great. Thanks.’

  She was left to watch in horror as he slid into the place next to her.

  ‘Are you a regular here, Ryan?’

  Sam swallowed her gasp and sank a little lower on the bench. Her mum was really coming out with the questions today.

  ‘It’s not my local but I come here now and again.’ He glanced sideways at Sam. ‘It’s always worth the trek out.’

  Heat crept across her face, something she knew her mum hadn’t missed. Why was he, the anti-social one, looking so in control and she was the one left squirming around like a worm on a hook?

  For the next few minutes they studied the menu and made their order, Ryan surprising her by going for the fish pie.

  ‘Don’t tell me,’ he said when he caught her expression. ‘You expected me to order steak and chips?’ He shook his head, tutting. ‘Just when you thought you’d got me sussed, eh?’

  She was a long way from sussing him, she realised, but did she want to inch closer? Did she want to invest the time and energy, even though it might explode in her face again?

  She was horribly afraid she did.

  After their orders had been taken, Ryan surprised her again by turning to her parents. ‘So, you live in Cornwall?’

  ‘We do.’ Her mum smiled at Ryan. ‘Have you been?’

  ‘No. Maybe one day.’

  ‘Oh, yes, you must. It’s stunning. Get Sam to bring you.’

  Sam stared wide-eyed at her mum, who simply smiled serenely back.

  Ryan, the bastard, started to chuckle. ‘I might just do that.’

  ‘Do you sail? Or surf? Sam’s a good surfer, she could teach you.’ God, she loved her mother, but right now she wanted to bop her one. Anything to shut her up. ‘Cornwall’s got some excellent surfing beaches.’

  ‘Afraid I don’t do either, but I’m up for learning.’ Ryan glanced at Sam and gave her his trademark little smirk. ‘With the right teacher.’

  She tried not to blush again. Flipping heck, this was unbelievable. Her mum and Ryan were actually having a conversation. She caught her dad’s eye and he gave her a curious look. One she read as do I have to grill this man? Is there something going on between you?

  Sam raised her eyes to the ceiling and gave him a small shake of her head. No.

  Not quite the truth, but clearly there was no need for him to grill Ryan because her mum was doing a fine job all by herself.

  ‘Do you play any other sports?’ Her mum continued the interrogation, after the briefest of pauses to sip at her wine.

  Ryan shook his head. ‘I’m a geek, remember.’

  ‘Poppycock.’ Heaven help her, was her mum now fluttering her eyes? ‘You look like a man who keeps fit.’

  Ryan laughed softly. ‘Well, I go to the gym, and I run and swim. Just no good at anything that requires skill.’

  Her mother smiled. ‘From what I hear, you save your skill for the computer keyboard.’ She leant forward and tapped his hand lightly. ‘And I hope you’re going to use it to help my daughter defeat the man who’s trying his best to destroy her company.’

  Ryan’s face sobered and he looked her mother straight in the eye. ‘You can count on it.’

  There was a beat of silence, during which Sam scrambled her brain for something to say but found she couldn’t get past the determination in Ryan’s face. The sincerity of his words.

  In the end it was her dad who spoke first. ‘Lynch is a temporary blip. We’re incredibly proud of what Sam’s achieved at Privacy Solutions.’

  Proud? Sam felt the emotion catch at her throat. It was hard for her to see what her dad could be so proud of, considering the way she’d misjudged Damien so badly. And then dropped the ball for eighteen months.

  Ryan’s voice broke the silence. ‘From what I’ve seen, you’re right to be proud of her.’ He leant across the table and added in an exaggerated whisper, ‘But don’t tell her I said that.’

  As the laughter died down and the conversation moved on, Sam was forced to wonder who, exactly, was Ryan Black? The curt loner who’d so annoyed them all when he’d first started at Privacy Solutions, or the man who’d sweetly laid his jacket out for her when his car had broken down. And who was right now, against all the odds, charming the socks off her parents. Well, her mum, anyway. Her dad was quietly listening and assessing. Because she knew how angry he’d been at Damien’s treatment of her, and how badly he’d blamed himself for misjudging the man he’d welcomed into their family, she couldn’t blame him.

  ‘It was lovely to meet you,’ her mum said to Ryan after the bill had been taken care of, Ryan insisting on paying his share.

  ‘And you.’ He shook her dad’s hand and then reached out to shake her mum’s. When she ignored it and reached up to kiss him on the cheek, a faint blush crept up his neck.

  ‘You go on ahead,’ Sam told her parents, still trying to make sense of the evening. ‘I’ll catch you up. I just want a quick word with Ryan.’

  When they were out of earshot, she faced him head on. ‘What was all that?’

  ‘All what?’ he countered, his expression all innocence.

  ‘You being all smiley and nice?’

  He looked put out. ‘I am nice.’

  ‘When it suits you.’

  ‘Hey, your parents are fun. Well your mum is, anyway. Your dad looked like he wanted to have a poke around inside my head. See what made me tick.’

  ‘He’d have to be either very brave or very stupid,’ she muttered.

  ‘True.’ He paused, his eyes searching hers, a small smile on his face. ‘Well then. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  ‘I guess so.’ She hesitated. ‘Why did you agree to join us?’

  He shrugged. ‘I was hungry.’

  ‘It wasn’t because you wanted to wind me up?’

  Amusement flickered in the depths of his eyes. ‘I was hungry, Sam.’ He started to walk back to the bar before halting and looking back at her, that half-smile curling his mouth. ‘And I thought it would wind you up.’

  Chapter 14

  Ryan scowled as Alice knocked on the door to the meeting room he’d claimed as his office. He hated interruptions. His brain was wired in a way that meant he needed space and quiet so he could analyse a problem rationally and logically before determining the solution. He didn’t want to talk to people about it; he did his thinking in private. One mumbo jumbo course he’d been on told him he was an introverted thinker. Whatever. All he knew was that the woman now entering his ‘space’ was about to put him further behind schedule.

  ‘What?’

  He must have snapped because she flinched. ‘I just wanted your help on the coding you asked me to do.’

  ‘Does it have to be now?’

  She bit into her bottom lip. ‘Well, I can’t progress unless you help me. I’m stuck.’

  ‘I thought people with degrees were meant to be smart?’ When she flinched again, Ryan cursed inwardly. He was being a git. It wasn’t her fault he had a chip on his shoulder about not going to university. Nor was i
t her fault he wasn’t going to finish this flaming app within the ridiculous deadline he’d been given. Heaving out a sigh, he climbed to his feet. ‘Fine. Show me the issue.’

  They walked back to her workstation in an uncomfortable silence. ‘Look, sorry I barked at you.’

  ‘It’s okay.’

  She stared straight ahead and Ryan knew it definitely wasn’t okay. Distractedly, he shoved his hands in his pockets. He was tetchy – okay, even more tetchy than usual. He should have worked over the weekend. He’d known he was behind, yet going to see his mum had scuppered any chance of catching up. It had also reminded him she was a hell of a lot sicker than she was letting on. And that Erin was never going to forgive him for what he’d done. The only high spot of the weekend had been bumping into Sam in the pub on Sunday evening, and seeing her all twitchy because he’d accepted the offer to eat with her parents.

  Even now it brought a smile to his face. Worth every penny of the astronomical sixteen pounds fifty for a bit of fish pie he could have bought from the supermarket for a few quid.

  ‘If you look here, maybe you can see where I’ve gone wrong …’

  Ryan snapped his attention back to Alice.

  Ten minutes later, he’d fixed the issue.

  ‘Thank you.’

  She kept her eyes on the screen. When he’d first met her, she’d smiled at him so much it had made him antsy. Now she couldn’t look at him. It was one thing not being a team player. Another being a total arse. He hesitated, then forced the next words out. ‘If you need my help again, just knock on the door.’ Her eyes flicked over to him and he gave her what had to be the most awkward smile in the history of man. ‘I’ll try not to bite your head off next time.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Her answering smile was about as hesitant as his. The uncomfortable moment was broken by the appearance of a tall, lean figure walking past Alice’s desk, and heading towards Sam’s office.

  ‘Who’s that?’

  Ryan frowned as he stared at the guy’s back. ‘The bloke Sam started the company with.’

  Alice hissed in a breath. ‘That’s Damien Lynch?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he answered distractedly. ‘Haven’t you seen him before?’

  ‘Once,’ she answered quietly. ‘At a conference. I didn’t realise who he was.’

  Ryan was only listening with half an ear. His main focus was on Lynch as he knocked on Sam’s door. What did the man want with Sam? Unconsciously, Ryan straightened. He’d taken two steps towards her office when he remembered how she’d reacted to his last attempt to protect her, that time from the journo at the conference … if you think I can’t handle a prick like him …

  Frustrated with himself, he turned away. Why did he feel this burning need to muscle in on any other guy he felt was getting too close? She was a one-night stand who, in her own words, would never be anything more. Oh, and a boss who, for all he knew, was planning to ditch him at the end of this week when his probation period was up.

  Still, his hands twitched with the desire to storm into her office, grab Lynch by the scruff of the neck and haul him out.

  Carefully he forced himself to relax.

  ‘I’m going to … umm, get myself a drink. Do you want one?’

  Alice’s voice drifted over to him and he forced his attention back to her. ‘I’m good, thanks.’ He watched as she jumped quickly to her feet. ‘Thirsty?’

  Clearly still wary of him, she gave him a strained smile. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘You seem to be in a hurry for that drink.’

  ‘Oh, right, yes.’ Another forced smile and she scampered off.

  Great. Now he could add pissing off Alice to the long list of reasons Sam could use to release him from his contract. That’s if being behind target with the modifications that weren’t even those they’d originally asked for wasn’t reason enough.

  ‘Upsetting the staff again?’

  Lucas grinned as he walked towards him. ‘No more than usual.’ Ryan eyed the guy’s outfit of pink trousers, topped with a shirt covered in black-and-white swirls. ‘I want to make a comment about liquorice allsorts.’

  Lucas rocked back with laughter. ‘Keep them coming, geek boy.’ Ryan worked hard to keep his expression neutral, but he must have done a crap job because Lucas immediately sobered. ‘Seemed like that touched a nerve.’

  ‘No more of a nerve than my fruit comment to you.’

  Lucas eyed him speculatively. ‘True, but I’m a sensitive soul. I didn’t think you would be.’

  ‘I’m not.’ God knows, he’d learnt not to be. Learnt to ignore the regular barrage of insults thrown at him as a kid. He even used geek to describe himself, before others did. But it seems he wasn’t quite as indifferent to the term as he wanted to be.

  ‘Sure.’ Lucas started to smile. ‘I’m beginning to realise you and I aren’t as different as I first thought.’

  Ryan deliberately ran his eyes up and down Lucas’s colourful ensemble, and then down his own plain black T-shirt and grey jeans. ‘You think?’

  Lucas patted him on the back. ‘I’m talking about what goes on inside, you hunk of beefcake.’

  Ryan was almost afraid to ask. ‘Go on, I’ll bite. What do we have in common?’

  Lucas gave him a look that seemed to see right through to Ryan’s soul. ‘I think we’ve both been treated as outcasts for being different.’

  It touched too close to home for comfort, so Ryan forced a laugh. ‘Right, sure. Whatever you say.’

  Lucas just smiled. ‘Deny it all you want, but I’ve sussed you, Ryan Black. You’re not half as much of a grouchy loner as you claim to be.’

  Sam swallowed hard as Damien carefully closed the door behind him. Whatever he’d come here to say, it didn’t matter. This man had lost the ability to hurt her any more.

  ‘Kerry said you wanted to see me?’

  He smiled, and she noticed how practised it looked. ‘She seemed very nice.’

  ‘She is. She’s also smart and loyal. Unlike our previous office manager.’

  The barb found its mark, though only someone who knew him as well as she did would have noticed the flash of annoyance on his otherwise smooth features. ‘No need to be a bitch.’

  ‘Better than being a cheating bastard.’

  His stance stiffened, a sure sign that annoyance was turning to anger. Good. She’d spent too long wallowing in her own anger, in her hurt and betrayal. It was about time she came out fighting.

  ‘I came here in the spirit of friendship,’ he said tightly. ‘Not to rake over old coals.’

  She rose to her feet – she’d had enough of him looking down on her – and smiled sweetly. ‘You’ve decided not to launch an app you know very well is a poor imitation of the Privacy app?’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘I can assure you we won’t be launching a poor imitation. I came here out of courtesy to let you know that tomorrow we launch the Privacy Protect app. You’ll find it does everything the Privacy app does. And more.’ He withdrew a sheet of paper from his pocket. ‘Here’s the advance press release. I wouldn’t normally share this with a rival company, but I’m doing so now out of my regard for you, and what we built together.’

  Sam froze, her mind having trouble grasping what he was saying. Launch tomorrow were the only two words that stuck, and they were enough to send a wave of nausea rolling through her. ‘Get out.’ Her words sounded feeble. She swallowed down the nausea and tried again. ‘Get out.’ Better, but not as strong as she’d like. She sounded like a woman who’d taken an emotional hit. Not a woman unconcerned by his petty attempt to derail everything she’d worked so hard for.

  He nodded. ‘I’m sorry it had to come to this, Sam.’

  Sorry? He’d broken her heart, now he was breaking her company. He didn’t look sorry at all. He looked … superior. Arrogant. Keeping her eyes down, she sat back down on her chair and turned her attention to her computer. He wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Of seeing her beaten and bowed.


  Her hand trembled as she reached for the mouse, but she kept clicking. Kept pretending an interest in what was on the screen even after she’d heard him leave. Maybe if she stared at it long enough, she could pretend the last five minutes hadn’t happened.

  ‘What did he want?’

  She jerked her head up to see Ryan’s big bulk framing the doorway, Lucas behind him.

  ‘He came to tell me I’m screwed.’

  ‘What?’ Lucas muscled his way in, pushing past Ryan.

  ‘Oh, he said it politely, because apparently he really respects me, which is funny considering how he keeps shafting me at every turn, but anyway, that’s besides the point. The key message is I’m screwed.’ She looked at them both through a blur of tears. ‘We’re all screwed.’

  Just then Becky appeared, too, her face worried. ‘I’ve just seen Damien. What’s he doing here?’

  ‘Telling us we’re all screwed, apparently.’ Ryan frowned over at Sam. ‘Is that all we’re getting, or are you going to elaborate?’

  ‘Oh, I’ll happily elaborate. That app you’ve been working on, the one that was due to be finished at the end of this week but isn’t going to be?’

  Ryan’s jaw clenched. ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Well, we might as well not have bothered.’ All the anguish, the anger, the gut-wrenching despair she was feeling poured out of her. ‘Damien came to tell me that Privacy Protect will be launching their app tomorrow.’ She waved the press release in the air. ‘And guess what? It looks remarkably similar to the one we’ve spent the last year and half working on. It’s almost as if they knew exactly which updates we were incorporating.’

  She didn’t mean to, she really didn’t, but her eyes focused straight on Ryan. She saw the exact moment the implication of what she was saying hit home. ‘You think someone told him what we were doing?’ His dark eyes flashed with anger. ‘You think I told him?’

  ‘Did you?’

  She heard Lucas inhale sharply. ‘Now, now. Let’s not start throwing around accusations. Not while emotions are running so high.’

  Sam cringed inwardly. What was she doing? This wild woman wasn’t her. She was calm, considered. She trusted people.