Nickels

by Karen Baney

He paused as she narrowed her eyes. She knew what CSAR was.

  “In Iraq and Afghanistan. With my combat experience, I have a good idea of what will work for pilots in the middle of chaos.”

  “So why did you leave then?”

  His smile dimmed and he shifted in his chair before replying. “I got tired of the late night rendezvous with IED’s.”

  She looked down at her plate of food, certain there was more to his answer than he let on. She would play twenty questions with Marcy about it later—right after she gave her an earful for failing to mention he moved here.

  Kyle’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Anyway, I’m here now and I look forward to breaking your software. It’ll be fun.” He grinned and got a round of laughs from everyone except her.

  “Try your best, Jacobs.” She despised arrogant men, especially when they thought they could break her code. She was good and she would make sure he did not find a single thing wrong with it.

  Doug butted in. “Good luck with that. Niki codes circles around most of us. If you break anyone’s code, it’ll be Jake’s.”

  Laughter filled the table. She even cracked a smile on that one. It wasn’t true, but it was fun to watch Jake squirm.

  “More like yours, Doug,” Jake retorted.

  Brian seemed nervous with the joshing. This is how the gang rolled, but maybe it was a bit much for a meet-and-greet.

  Regardless, her tension melted. Niki sighed in relief. Maybe this project would turn out okay. Maybe.

  Kyle studied Niki as she ate. She looked and acted every bit the professional. Even her laugh seemed controlled. When she smiled, her face softened in the most feminine and attractive ways. Too bad she masked it when she looked at him.

  The pale pink blouse she wore, didn’t seem to fit her personality. Underneath the professional veneer, he picked up on her humorous side. She seemed much more vibrant than the pink implied.

  He did think the color brought out the blue of her eyes nicely.

  She sent the flash of a frown his direction. He had been caught in the act of staring at her. Yet, he didn’t want to tear his eyes away.

  He dropped his gaze to the sandwich on his plate and shifted in his chair. Big mistake. A sharp pain shot from his hip like lightening down through his leg to his toes. He shifted ever so slightly, hoping to ease the awful feeling. He would have to take some ibuprofen once he got back to the office.

  As the conversation floated around the table, he only paid partial attention. When someone asked Niki a question, he took the opportunity to study her more. Her long lashes flirted with her cheeks when one of the other programmers teased her. She was quick with a comeback. Her lips looked soft and plump. Her curves were quite appealing.

  Kyle kicked himself for the thought. He was going to have to work with her. Somehow he needed to get his attraction under control. And fast.

  He admitted being very impressed with her credentials. She couldn’t have been working in her career field for more than four years. Yet, she had several DoD stints under her belt. If Brian’s praise could be believed—he never fully trusted the words of a salesperson—she was top notch.

  As the lunch wound down, he thought about the irony of asking God for a second chance with her. He never expected the answer would mean he would have to work with her—not just in the same company, but on the same project. He would be interacting with her daily. Any time he saw her outside of work when he was hanging out with his sister—well, that would be a bonus.

  Tonight he would think about the best way to win her over. It would be an uphill battle, judging by the searing expressions she sent his way. But, he would not waste this second chance. He needed to think this through.

  Chapter 8

  After two days of practically non-stop meetings, Niki finally was going to get to do some real work. She entered her cube, still annoyed by the very tall walls. It made her feel like she was working in a closet. She set her laptop on the desk and powered it on. Then she looked around for a drawer to stow her purse. Nothing. Just the flat desk surface and the five and a half foot tall cube walls. Talk about minimalist.

  She flexed her fingers as the code loaded on her screen. She scanned through the folder structure to get familiar with the layout. After a quick review, she had an idea where to start on her assigned section of the program.

  Popping in ear buds, she checked her playlists for the loudest most obnoxious music she could find and hit play. Her fingers blazed across the keyboard pacing the beat of the music. Logic and syntax danced in harmony, flowing from her as if a natural outpouring of her mind. Keystrokes were occasionally interrupted by the click or scroll of the mouse. She was in the zone.

  Nik. The IM window popped up. Doug.

  Stop calling me that.

  Never. Need help. Come over.

  Only if you stop calling me Nik.

  Nice try. U owe me. Doug answered.

  She sighed. Just when she got good and deep into the zone. Well, as technical lead, she would get interruptions often. She better get used to it.

  When she stood, her back and legs were stiff. How long had she been sitting there? Glancing at the clock on her computer, it was three hours later than the last time she checked. Crazy how she could completely lose track of time when she was deep in thought.

  She stepped from the tall cube and ran straight into Kyle. Coffee flew from his hand and down the front of her shirt. She looked down. Drat. Her new lilac colored shirt turned purple-brown as the coffee soaked in. Of course it was her new shirt. She’d only worn it once before.

  “Sorry,” Kyle said. “Wait here. Let me get some paper towels or something.”

  He set what little was left of his coffee on her desk before he hobbled off to the break room. She grabbed it and tossed it in the trash and followed behind him, pausing briefly at Doug’s desk.

  “Run into a coffee cart?” Doug teased.

  “More like run over by a Kyle-sized coffee cart. I’ll be back in a minute. Try not to add too many bugs to the code while I’m gone, ‘kay?”

  As she hurried down the hall, Doug fired back, “Ha! I’m the bug masher!”

  She smiled as she opened the door to the break room only to run into Kyle a second time. Her smile was instantly swallowed by a frown.

  “Really, we have to stop meeting like this,” he said stepping back. He offered her a wad of paper towels. “People are gonna talk.”

  The humor in his voice was evident, but Niki was not in the mood. She snatched the towels from his hand and turned her back so she faced the wall, trying to modestly wipe down her front. She felt his eyes on her and glanced over her shoulder.

  “Don’t you have someplace to be?”

  “Nope.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She finished mopping up her shirt and tossed the towels in the trash. When she turned around to face him, he smiled that blasted charming smile. She wanted to smack it off his face.

  “I was actually on my way to see you.”

  “Oh, so the coffee attack was intentional then.”

  He laughed in deep tones that reverberated in the small room. “Yup. I always scout out the most beautiful women in the office then plot my attack on how to destroy their appearance.”

  First an apology for throwing his coffee on her. Then running to grab paper towels to help her clean up. Now a roundabout compliment. The Kyle she knew would have been laughing at her. Who was this masked man?

  “And, why are you prejudiced against beautiful women?”

  “They present too much competition for my mother—the most beautiful woman of all.”

  Oh brother. A second ago she thought he was flirting with her. Now… She had no idea.

  “Hey, I was about to grab some lunch. You wanna come?”

  “No.” She didn’t hesitate. There was no way she was going to lunch—or anywhere—with him. Most people would have couched that statement with a “maybe next time,” but not Niki and not with him. She wanted that do
or closed, locked up tight, and key thrown away.

  “Well, maybe some other time then.”

  Really? Could he not take a hint?

  “Anyway,” Kyle continued, “I was coming to see you about something I found in the spec, before heading out for lunch. I think it needs adjusted and wanted to get your take on it.”

  “I was on my way to help Doug, who by now has grown worried thinking I’ve been kidnapped by aliens or something. Can you stop by later? Or just email me?”

  Kyle muttered something under his breath. Sounded something like: any man would be glad to wait for her. She really hoped she heard him wrong. If this sort of thing kept happening, she might have to deck him.

  She didn’t wait for his answer before leaving the break room.

  When she stepped into Doug’s cube, he commented again on her appearance. “Oh, look, lilac and coffee brown go so good together. You might just have hit on a new fashion trend.”

  “Shut it.”

  “I agree.” Kyle’s voice sounded from behind her. “You could make a fortune with that.”

  Was he stalking her now? Had she not made it clear she would talk to him later?

  “Have you seen my coffee?”

  She pointed to her shirt with a furious look and raised eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I am well acquainted with your coffee. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some work to do.”

  “I meant my coffee cup. I thought I set it down somewhere around here.”

  “Go look in my cube then.” She shooed him away.

  Turning her attention back to Doug, she asked, “What’s up?”

  “Take a look at this algorithm here.” He pointed at his screen. “Just want to see if I’m reading this right.”

  Niki stared at the code on the screen and asked a few questions to make sure she understood what part of the program she was looking at. As the light dawned, she widened her eyes and looked at Doug.

  “That’s what I thought. You see this part here.” He highlighted it with the click of his mouse. “It almost looks like it is right, but…”

  “Is the circus in town again?” she asked.

  “Why?”

  “Cause it looks like someone’s drunk monkey wrote that!”

  Doug snorted.

  “That’s bad. Real bad.”

  “I know,” he replied. “Especially if you look up here. If these two circumstances happen, then this helicopter would take a big nose dive.”

  Niki tapped a finger on her lips, still looking at the screen. “Scroll up.”

  He did as she asked.

  “Did you see this,” she said pointing at the screen. “This would always be true. That is not right.”

  “Yeah, that’s why I wanted you to see it. This is the second little gem I’ve found in this section of the program. Lots of really bad coding. Didn’t Brian say they were scheduled to load this to the simulations at the end of this month?”

  Niki’s throat constricted at the implications of what she saw before her. “Yes. And judging by this code, they were rigging the simulation for certain scenarios. If this would have made it out…”

  Doug nodded at her unfinished thought. One thing the Elite team knew—mistakes like what he just found in the code could cost lives if they ever made it into the helicopters. The worst part was that this particular bug may have never been caught in simulated tests. It was a pretty rare case.

  “Guess you earned the title, oh fearless Bug Masher.” The seriousness of the situation killed the humor in her tone.

  Her stomach growled as she walked back to her cube. She couldn’t believe she spent nearly an hour looking over the code with Doug. She didn’t feel right leaving for lunch—not with so much work left unfinished. Hopefully she still had an extra granola bar in her purse.

  As she turned into her cube she stopped short. A salad with three different kinds of dressing sat on her desk with a bright yellow sticky note.

  Sorry I threw my coffee on you. Here’s lunch on me. K.

  She spun around. Sticking her head out of the cube she looked one way then the next. She half-expected to see Kyle standing nearby. No one.

  She took a step back into her cube and sat down in the chair. Staring at the salad, she recalled one of his pranks from high school where he put a roach in her lunch. Lifting up the salad, she shook it and waited to see if there was anything moving. Nothing. She opened the lid and pushed the contents around with her fork just to be sure. Still nothing. She shook it again.

  “It’s safe,” Kyle said.

  She squealed. Her hand flew over her heart. He was like a ninja, sneaking up on her all stealth-like.

  He nodded toward the salad. “I wasn’t sure if you were a French, Italian, or Ranch gal.”

  She smiled at that. She picked up the ranch dressing and poured it on the salad as her stomach growled again. Lifting the fork, she stabbed some lettuce and turkey. Kyle still stood at the entranced of her cube. She chewed the bite of delicious rabbit food, glancing up at him. He leaned against one side of the cube opening, making her think he would not be going anywhere soon.

  Swallowing, she asked, “Can I help you with something?” Then she quickly shoved another forkful of salad in her mouth.

  “I’m glad you asked.”

  Did he always have to be coy?

  “I’ve come to talk about the spec.”

  She glanced at the clock. It was mid-afternoon. She spent more time with Doug than she thought. Mumbling through a bite of food, she said, “Grab. Chair.”

  He disappeared for just a minute, returning with a chair from an empty cube nearby. She picked up the salad and held it in her hand as he tossed the spec document on her desk. As he sat down, Niki noticed his stiff posture. He shifted in the chair for a minute before flipping to a flagged page in the document.

  As she munched on the salad, Kyle explained his recommendation on a few sections. “In a combat situation the responsiveness could mean the difference between life and death—not just for the pilot, but for his entire crew.”

  Niki nodded as she swallowed the last bite of her lunch.

  “I’ve already run these past Alan and he’s working on a change request for you. Todd wanted me to give you the low down and see if you could send him a quote on how much longer it will take to program this way.”

  As he turned to face her, she caught a whiff of his cologne. Smelled good. Blinking, she tried to clear her brain.

  “Sure. Once I have the formal change request, I’ll work up some numbers.”

  Her phone rang from somewhere deep in her purse. She reached down to grab it, nearly hitting her head on the desk. She wished her stupid cube had drawers so she didn’t have to toss her purse at her feet.

  It was Brian.

  “Hello,” she said, swallowing her trepidation.

  “Niki, I’m pulling you from the Helitronics project.”

  Chapter 9

  “What!” Niki shouted into the phone.

  “Well, at least I’m considering it,” Brian said.

  “Why would you pull me? If it’s because of the Kyle thing, don’t. We’re getting along just fine.”

  A throat clearing brought heat to her face. She forgot he was still sitting there. She looked at him, pointed to the phone, and mouthed “give me a minute.”

  “No, it’s not that. Remember Global Axis Systems?”

  “Yeah.” She snickered. Who named their company something that could be shortened to GAS? They had a lot of fun with that one.

  “Well, they are asking for you by name.”

  “So? I’m booked. You’ve never pulled someone for another client before. Why now?”

  Silence.

  “Brian?”

  “They are willing to pay additional for you.”

  She frowned. “I’m flattered and all that they’d pay extra for me, but I don’t think so.”

  “I’ll give you a bonus for it.”

  She threw one hand up in the air, as if he could see her, hitti
ng Kyle’s arm in the process. Why was he still here, eavesdropping on her whole conversation?

  “I don’t care how much money you offer me to bail. I just sat through three days of meetings, including a humiliating opening meeting. I’m just getting into the code and it’s a mess. Would you really wave a bonus in front of me and ask me to jump ship?”

  “It would mean you wouldn’t have to work with Kyle.”

  She rolled her eyes. She would put up with Kyle and no bonus just to stay at Helitronics. It was her dream client. She couldn’t leave now.

  “I told you, I’m fine working with Kyle. He’s not half bad.” She said that for his benefit seeing as he refused to leave. “He even was kind enough to throw his coffee on me this morning. Said something about me looking so tired, drinking it wouldn’t work. Wearing it would be better.”

  That got a chuckle from Brian and a smile from Kyle.

  “Seriously, I’m not leaving Helitronics. Don’t force me to. This is the project I’ve been waiting for.”

  “Niki—”

  “I’m serious. Do you want to keep me at Elite?” She never threatened him before. But, she still wanted this project more than anything.

  “Yes, I still want you at Elite. I just don’t get why this is so important to you.”

  “I’m woman. I never make sense. Only my code is logical.”

  “Ha! If it’s that important to you then stay there. Just don’t come crying to me if things go bad, cause I might remind you of this conversation.”

  “Thanks, Brian.” She hung up the phone. Turning towards Kyle, she asked, “Did you need something else?”

  He smiled and pointed to the floor. Her chair wheel had a few pages pinned beneath it. “I really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. When you went to grab your phone…”

  She scooted her chair back to let him retrieve the papers. He braced one hand on the desk and slowly bent down. Stopping part way, he sucked in air quickly and his face went pale.

  She reached down to get the papers instead. Handing them to him, she asked, “Are you okay?”

  He laughed nervously. “Almost. Thanks.”