by Karen Baney
The drive from Elite’s office only took ten minutes. Unfortunately, going through security took nearly fifteen minutes. They examined her phone, her laptop, her lip gloss—everything. She forgot what a daily ordeal working for DoD clients presented. But it was worth it.
Finally, with two minutes to spare, Brian and Niki were led back to the conference room. Russell handled the introductions since he knew everyone from both Elite and Helitronics.
“Todd Graham,” Russell said, “allow me to introduce Niki Turner. She’s our technical lead. I believe you know Brian Forbes.”
Turning to Niki, Russell added, “Todd is the Project Manager.”
She extended her hand towards the tall thin man who looked as if a slight breeze might knock him over. Todd shook her hand, but not before scrutinizing her with his dark brown eyes. Something about the look put her on edge.
“So, Niki, is it?” he said with a touch of suspicion. “How old are you?”
If this was her first client, she might have retreated into a corner—at least mentally. But it wasn’t. By now she was used to being asked her age, no matter how inappropriate. It still irked her. No one ever asked Russell’s age, and he was only two years older than her.
“Todd, a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure you will find my skills are ready for any challenge you throw my way.”
Brian’s quick nod told her she performed perfectly.
Russell cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “And this is Alan Mitchel. He’s the business analyst who has worked on the specs for this project from the beginning. I think you’ll find his experience on the project helpful.”
Niki shook Alan’s hand, noting his light touch. He seemed a bit nervous, or maybe it was his wire framed glasses that gave her that impression. He was the same height as her. She placed his age somewhere in his mid-thirties.
“Alan,” she said repeating his name softly. That little trick helped her more times than she cared to admit. She could be good at remembering names when she wanted to.
When they all took their seats, she thought there was one introduction missing—the helicopter pilot. She looked around the room again. Nope. Todd and Alan were the only people from Helitronics. Perhaps, they would meet him later.
As the meeting neared the twenty minute mark, the door opened behind Niki.
“Sorry, I’m late,” a male voice said. “I guess security still hasn’t figured out how to deal with my shrapnel. I keep hoping one of these days they’ll figure it out.”
Niki, back still towards the door, tensed at the sound of his light laughter. She knew that laugh—heard it far too many times for her own taste. And it brought back some pretty bad memories.
Turning slowly like the end of a merry-go-round ride, her stomach knotted into a rock hard ball. Kyle Jacobs was the pilot.
Kyle glanced at the woman seated at the table. He saw enough of her face to know it was her. He wasn’t ready to see her yet. And he never expected to see her here—not at his job.
No, he planned a much more subtle greeting. Perhaps one that included flowers. At the very least, he could have disguised a visit to his sister, making sure it was a time when Niki would be home. In fact, he could think of a thousand better ways to get reacquainted and not one of them had to do with working on the same project.
His palms grew sweaty and swallowing became more difficult. He wiped his hand on his pants before shaking the hand of the next person Russell introduced. Gaze flirting with the back of Niki’s head, he barely registered the names of the consultants. All he could do was think about her.
He waited so long for this moment. Even if it was less than he hoped, the time finally came. Would she be as glad to see him as he was to see her?
Chapter 6
Niki swallowed hard and turned away from the man in the doorway before he could recognize her. She needed a minute—maybe an hour or a lifetime—before she faced him again. Her heart pounded in her ears. She reached for the pitcher of water and cup in front of her. With shaky hands she managed to fill the cup without spilling water all over the table. She took a few sips. When she glanced up, Doug, sitting on the opposite side of the table, quirked an eyebrow Spock style.
Russell stood to make the introductions as Niki set her cup down. She turned toward him, hoping to catch Kyle off guard. She needed to have the advantage. As Russell started to speak, Niki looked Kyle in the eye.
“Kyle Jacobs.” His name forced its way through her unwilling lips. She crossed her arms, refusing to shake his hand. Eight years had done little to dim her memory of being humiliated over and over again.
She heard Brian take in a sharp breath while Doug coughed. Russell stood there looking from Niki to Kyle to Niki again. Slowly, Kyle’s face went from shock to confusion to—delight? That can’t be right. He actually looked pleased to see her. What, was he all out of people to torture?
When he spoke, his voice was incredulous. “Niki? Niki Turner?”
He smiled a warm, charming smile that probably melted many a woman’s heart. Not hers. No way. Not a chance she was going to fall prey to his charm.
She kept her arms crossed even when he extended his hand for a greeting. She made a point of looking down at it, then back to his now fading smile, making sure her features remained as stoic as possible.
Russell stammered, “Ah, guess you already know the flight consultant.” Turning towards Brian, Russell made the formal introduction. Brian heartily shook Kyle’s hand making a show of it, probably to counteract her standoffish behavior.
As Kyle walked around the table shaking hands, Brian whispered in her ear, “You owe me an explanation.”
She gave a slight nod and took her seat. She never wished for a projector and presentation more than now.
Kyle took a seat, directly across from her, next to Doug. Then he flashed another smile her direction. Did he just wink at me? She thought she was going to be sick.
Todd called the meeting back to order outlining the schedule and details of the project. Niki tried to pay attention, especially since this was such an important meeting, but when she glanced at Kyle her focus evaporated.
He looked different than he had in high school. His chest and arms had filled out nicely since she’d last seen him in her sophomore year. His cockiness seemed to have matured into self-confidence—less overt and overbearing than in high school. At least that’s how it appeared so far. She would know for sure once he opened his mouth.
Funny how Marcy forgot to mention her brother was in town. And at her dream client of all places!
She tamped down her irritation and studied him some more. His light blue eyes sparkled with an iridescent light. She never remembered them shining so much. His light brown hair was cut close to his head—not quite a military cut, but almost. She looked back at his eyes, mesmerized until he looked directly into hers. She glanced down at the keyboard on her laptop, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.
Of all the people in the entire universe, why did the pilot have to be Kyle? She could have sworn that he was on active duty, deployed to Iraq. Why was he here?
And why now? This was her dream project, the big boost to the next level of her career. She did not need any complications.
An instant message window popped up on her screen. Doug.
What’s wrong with u? He IM’d.
Nuthin. She shot back.
Not buyin it. He sent back.
The cursor blinked its steady rhythm.
Who is this guy, anyway? You’ve been staring at him for the last 10 min.
Long story.
Old boyfriend?
Niki frowned. Absolutely not.
Brian looks ticked…
She right-clicked on the IM window and logged out, since she needed her laptop to take notes.
Notes. Right. She was supposed to be paying attention to Todd and the project. Her first big project.
“What do you think, Niki?” Kyle asked with a half-smile playing on his handsome l
ips.
Shoot. Not only had she not been paying attention, but Kyle was the one to call her out. And for some strange reason she had to notice just how incredibly good he looked. Too bad she logged out of IM. At least then she could have asked Doug what they were talking about.
“I’m sure,” Doug piped up, “Niki would say the Cardinals. Me, I’m partial to the Chargers.”
Football? When had the discussion digressed to football? They should be talking about the project. Or, if they were shooting the breeze about sports, basketball would make more sense, especially since it was March Madness. Oh, well. She preferred football over basketball, and more importantly, over her embarrassment.
“Of course you’d say the Chargers.” She rolled her eyes for affect, tremendously relieved to be out of the spotlight.
The rest of the meeting flew by capturing her undivided attention. When they announced the lunch break, she stood and walked to the door, eager to get out of the building without incident.
As she made her way down the hall towards the entrance, she remembered that she rode with Brian and was at his mercy. When she turned to see if he was coming, Kyle stepped into her view. She tried to pretend she didn’t see him, looking with great interest at the metal detector in the lobby, but he called her name as he approached.
“Niki, how are you? It’s been ages,” he said stopping a foot from her, looking down from his taller vantage point.
“Fine.”
“How is Jack?”
Niki’s head snapped up as every sense in her body propelled her to slap the man. How dare he joke about that? Barely restraining her arm, she glared at him. “Dead. Jack is dead.”
All the light fell from Kyle’s face, just as Brian motioned he was ready. She called Kyle a jerk under her breath, wanting to use much stronger language, but remembering she was at a client’s office. Turning on her heel, she started toward the entrance, thinking evil thoughts in his direction.
Kyle grabbed her arm, stopping her cold. His voice was soft, nearly a whisper, when he spoke. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Take your hand off me.” She forced the words through clenched teeth still avoiding his eyes. If she looked into them, she thought she might lose her composure all together.
“Niki, look at me.”
When she did he released his grip.
“I’m truly sorry. I had no idea.”
“No. Idea.” Her voice rose with each word. “No idea! For goodness sake your sister is my roommate!”
By now, the entire group of meeting attendees was in the lobby witnessing the entire exchange.
“How could you NOT know that Jack was killed eight years ago? Eight, Kyle. Eight years.”
She poked him in the chest with her finger. She was losing it. At work. In front of her boss. In front of her dream client.
She took a shaky breath, lowering her voice, but kept the anger firmly rooted in place. “Why do you think I lived with your family for all that time? Why do you think your dad came here to get me settled? How could you not know?”
The tears were threatening. Great. Now she was going to cry, adding humiliation to her tab of emotional behavior.
“I really didn’t know.”
His words bounced off her retreating back as she burst out the entrance.
Niki walked with determination towards Brian’s car. Unbelievable! She knew Kyle was a jerk, but this was pretty low even for him. Her conscience tried to remind her that his apology seemed sincere. That was impossible. There was not an ounce of kindness in Kyle Jacobs. He’d almost killed her in the pool when she was a high school sophomore with a stupid prank.
Impatient to flee the embarrassing situation, she looked towards the entrance to find Brian. He stood just outside the building deep in conversation with Kyle, probably apologizing for her outburst—the one that probably just cost her this project. She paced back and forth in front of Brian’s car, one arm across her waist, the other flailing at her side.
She could have dealt with anything on this project—suspicious Todd, nervous Alan, high-strung Scott. She could have dealt with long hours and male chauvinists. Maybe she could even have dealt with Kyle Jacobs. The one thing she could not deal with was his extreme insensitivity regarding the most painful subject of her life. She turned her back towards the entrance as a tear slid down her cheek.
Kyle stood stunned. He had no idea Jack died. Marcy never mentioned it—at least not that he could remember. A distant memory of a letter from his mom came to mind. She said something about Niki living with them for awhile. He didn’t remember it saying that it was because Jack died.
This was not how he pictured their first meeting. It couldn’t be further from it.
Her rigid stance in the conference room earlier told him he had been very wrong to hope that she would be happy to see him. She wasn’t.
And now he made this huge blunder by mentioning her dead brother. It was obviously still very painful for her, despite that it happened eight years ago.
He had to do something to make this right.
Brian walked passed him, headed towards the entrance. Kyle quickly caught up to him outside.
“Brian!”
As Brian turned to face him, he explained, “Look, I didn’t know Niki’s brother passed. Please don’t ream her out for her reaction. I know they were really close. I don’t blame her for being angry.”
“How do you know her, anyway?”
“From high school. Her brother and my dad were stationed at the same base in Germany. I knew her the last two years of school. She’s best friends with my sister.”
Brian snorted. “I can see why she thought you should know.”
Heat pushed to the flesh of his cheeks. “I should have,” Kyle admitted, despite his embarrassment.
“See you at the restaurant.” Brian cut off any further conversation as he walked away.
Hopefully, he could repair the damage he just caused. If not, it was going to be a long, very unpleasant six months.
Chapter 7
The beep-beep of Brian’s car disarming sounded behind her. For the tenth time in the last minute, Niki wished she had driven separately so she could put off facing her boss. A soft thud announced the car door closing. Facing the car, she yanked the car door open. She slid into the passenger seat, hugging her purse close. The tightness in her throat restricted further as Brian remained silent. The engine roared to life and settled into a pleasant hum, the only sound dulling the strained quiet for the entire ride to the restaurant.
When he pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car, he angled towards Niki. She kept her eyes straight ahead.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
Niki took a deep breath. She explained how she knew Kyle from high school, leaving out the part about her being the brunt of his pranks. She told him that Kyle just asked her about her late brother, something very painful for her. Then she explained why she thought Kyle should have known about that.
“He told me that he was extremely sorry. That he didn’t know about your brother.”
She nodded hesitantly, unwilling to believe him.
“He said it was his fault. That he had been a complete jerk. He doesn’t want me to act rashly and do anything like take you off the project.”
Niki stiffened in the car seat.
Both were silent for several moments before he spoke. “So, are you going to be able to work with this guy?”
She looked at him like he just grew a third arm. “You mean you would let me keep this project, despite all that?”
“The way I see it anyone faced with a similar situation would have reacted as strongly. You don’t normally fly off the handle or get all emotional. I’m not worried about it.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t going to lose her dream client. All she had to do was get through the next six months of working with Kyle Jacobs. Then e
verything would be perfect again.
“I’ll make it work. I don’t have to like the guy to work with him.”
“Good. Now put on that pretty smile of yours and let’s show this motley crew what you’ve got.”
Her face twisted into an exaggerated goofy grin, bringing a chuckle from Brian.
She opened the car door and headed into the restaurant with him following a few steps behind. The hostess led them to the rest of the group. The only two seats remaining were across from Kyle. She took the one next to Doug and Brian sat next to Todd.
As the server brought their drinks, the conversation started. Niki mentally rehearsed answers to the questions she expected the client would ask. Each client meet-and-greet repeated a similar pattern.
Todd leaped at the chance to grill her first. “So, Niki, tell us about your background.”
She smiled. Not too much of a surprise there. She gave him the run down on her education before highlighting the key points of her career at Elite. “I’ve worked for several DoD clients. I’d tell you which ones, but then I’d have to kill ya,” she said with a wink and a smile.
Everyone laughed at her lame joke—except Todd. Brian piped up listing what several of her most recent clients said about her work, probably hoping to reassure Todd that he was in good hands. She looked at Kyle as she reached for her diet soda. He seemed impressed with her credentials. As he should be. She worked hard to get where she was.
Setting her soda back on the table, the urge to question Kyle intensified. It bugged her that he was here. Something did not add up and she was going to figure it out.
“So, Kyle,” she said when there was a lull. “Tell us about your background and how you fit into the scheme of this project.”
He flashed that same charming smile again. “I’m glad you asked,” he said with a touch of amusement. “For the last four years I’ve been flying helicopters for CSAR—Combat Search And Rescue.”