Chapter 3
Chapter Three
I ’d rather talk to the devil himself than talk to my mother.
Hours later, Nyla was still thinking about Harrison’s words. The admission didn’t fit the man she knew. Not that she knew him well, but despite his grumpiness, he was a really nice guy.
That wasn’t just her opinion, but it was also the opinion of the people who worked for and with him. Harrison wasn’t the most social supervisor, but he cared about his staff, and it showed in the things he did for them—like spring for lunch once a week. Or like when Melody’s husband had gotten sick at work, and she’d needed a ride to get to him. Harrison didn’t think twice about taking her to him.
The list of his kind deeds went on and on. So, hearing him speak of his mother that way had caught Nyla off guard. She couldn’t imagine feeling that way about her mother, who she talked to regularly. No, they got along great, as did everyone in their family. They were a lively bunch, and though they didn’t always agree with one another, family always came first with them.
But what had the woman done to Harrison to make him despise her? There had to be a story there, and Nyla was nosy enough to want to know.
“It’s none of my business,” she mumbled as she locked the desk drawer and started for the storage room. None of my business at all.
“Nyla!”
She had barely taken a few steps when she saw Wendy, one of the software developers, rushing toward her. Nyla leaned against her desk.
“I’m glad I caught you. I have something for you,” said the woman, who was at least ten years older than Nyla.
“For me?”
“Yes, for you.” Wendy brushed long, dark hair from her face as she dug through her messenger bag. “I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday, and I know how much you love these sweet treats. Which is why I picked one up for you. Hopefully, it’s not too squished.”
Nyla recognized the bag and grinned. If it was what she thought it was, she didn’t care if it was a crumbly mess. “Tell me this is a white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie.”
“It is!” Wendy said on a laugh. “That’s just my way of saying thanks for testing out that app yesterday.”
“Are you kidding? That was fun,” Nyla said, pinching off a piece of the cookie and deciding that she’d save the rest for later. “It amazes me the type of work you guys do around here. I can’t wait until that game hits the App Store. I don’t play many games on my phone, but that’s one I’m looking forward to.”
“Thanks. We’ve been working on it for awhile, and it’s getting closer to being done, but there are still a few bugs to work out.”
They talked a few minutes about a couple of other projects, and Nyla was in awe at how software developers came up with some of their ideas. Wendy was highly educated and talked with such passion when discussing her work.
Nyla wondered if that’s how she sounded when she talked about her music and Moody Days. She played a few instruments, but the one she loved most was the piano, and she’d even written some music. Though they might never be heard out in the world, she could talk about them, and some of her musical adaptations of popular songs, all day.
As for Moody Days, that place was her heart, even though she didn’t own it yet. The way she could go on and on about what they were doing there, and the plans she had for the future, people were probably sick of hearing about the place. The club felt like home whenever she stepped through the doors, which was why she had to do whatever she could to purchase the business.
Those were her thoughts after she finished talking to Wendy and entered the storage room. She was going to spend a few minutes unpacking boxes of supplies that had been dropped off earlier. Thankfully, she had caught the delivery guy before he left everything in the receptionist area. He’d been kind enough to put the large boxes just inside the storage room.
Digging into her pants pocket, Nyla pulled out her earbuds. Instead of putting both into her ears, she only used one of them so she could hear the phone if it rang. A few minutes later, she was humming along to Jill Scott’s “Getting in the Way.”
Nyla made quick work of unpacking most of the boxes as she grooved to the music. Once she realized she was going to run out of room on the lower shelves, she started doing some rearranging. Hopefully, no one would mind, but even if they did, she wouldn’t be there much longer.
The administrative assistant she was filling in for was due back in a few days, and Nyla was going to miss everyone at Telecom Solutions. Normally, her job assignments were rarely more than a week or two, which she preferred. But being at Telecom longer than usual had been great. Everyone had been so welcoming from day one, and there were some who she felt like she’d known all her life.
It was going to be hard to leave, and if she’d been looking for a full-time position, she would see if they were hiring, but she wasn’t. She had only decided to do temp work as a side hustle to help build her savings a bit quicker.
Nyla glanced at the last two boxes, one full of various computer hardware and the other containing a few routers.
Now, where to put this stuff? she thought as she glanced around the small room that was bigger than an average supply closet. She moved a box that was labeled cords, planning to put it on a higher shelf, but stopped when dust flew into her face.
“Ugh,” she groaned and coughed a few times while waving her hand back and forth to clear the air. Maybe she should be dusting while reorganizing.
After moving another box to the floor, she continued unpacking her last two boxes. Then she grabbed the folding ladder that was in the corner and opened it near where she was going to store the cords.
“I’m not your superwoman ,” Nyla sang along with Karyn White, whose song “Superwoman” was blaring in her ear.
She made two trips up the ladder, and on the way back down the second time, she realized the desk phone was ringing. She’d been so caught up in singing and moving items around on the top shelf, Nyla wasn’t sure how long it had been ringing.
She hurried down the steps, but the tail of her sweater got caught on the edge of one of the rungs, causing her to stumble and the ladder to sway.
Her heart lodged in her throat. “Oh, crap!”
“What the hell are you doing?” Harrison barked.
Nyla shrieked in surprise at his outburst and tried to grip the top of the ladder just as it started tilting. She lost her grip, and the floor rushed up to meet her, but her momentum suddenly stopped. Strong hands slid around her waist and beneath her knees. Next thing she knew, she was holding on tightly around Harrison’s neck as he cradled her against his hard, powerful body. And dammit if she didn’t like this position.
Chest heaving and breaths coming in short spurts, Nyla stared wide-eyed into his handsome face that was only inches from hers. He was so damn close. Too damn close. Her mouth was only inches from his, and it was taking all her self-control not to lean forward and cover his juicy lips with hers.
But she couldn’t move. It was as if they were both frozen in place, neither speaking a word as their eyes searched each other’s.
The man was even more beautiful up close, and if that weren’t enough, he smelled magnificent. His clean, fresh, alluring scent reached her nostrils, and Nyla breathed in deeply and tried not to moan.
Goodness.
Would it be too weird to bury her nose against his neck and sniff him? Probably. Or maybe she could just lay her head on his shoulder and bask in his scent and his strength. Yeah, she could stay in this position forever.
While her thoughts went wild, she realized Harrison still hadn’t spoken, not that she was surprised. He was a man of few words, but what did surprise her was that he was still holding her against his incredible body. He acted as if she weighed nothing.
No way was she going to break the spell that he was clearly under. Not when she was given the opportunity to feel his hard, muscular chest against hers. Nah, they could stay like this until the…
“Oh, there you are. I…” someone’s voice sounded from the open door, then trailed off. “Um…never mind. This can wait. Carry on,” the person said in a rush, and Nyla heard their footsteps take them away.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Harrison quickly set her on her feet, then took a giant step away from her. Nyla immediately felt the loss, but what had she expected? That he was going to stand there for the rest of the day with her in his arms?
“Thanks for the assist,” she said, unsure of what else to say to make this moment less awkward.
Harrison only grunted and headed for the door while rubbing his hand over his low haircut. “Stay off the damn ladder,” were his parting words as he practically ran from the room.
Nyla released a long breath. Someone really needed to snap that man out of his grumpy funk. Too bad it wouldn’t be her since she’d only be there a few more days.
Then again, it would probably take an act of God to straighten the guy out.
What the actual hell? Harrison thought when he entered his office and slammed the door behind him. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stormed to his desk.
Nyla was getting to him.
The eccentric woman had done in two months what most women hadn’t been able to do in years. She’d gotten around his defenses. Harrison couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted to kiss a woman as bad as he’d wanted to kiss Nyla. Which was saying a lot. His ex-fiancée had done such a number on him, he’d barely looked at another woman, and he’d wanted to keep it that way.
Then Nyla, with her quick wit, perky everything, and a soft curvy body that felt perfect in his arms. Every nerve within him had come alive, and he hadn’t wanted to put her down. Had they not been interrupted, Harrison was sure he would’ve kissed her, and that would’ve been a huge mistake.
Damn the woman for making him want her.
Two more days. In two days, his administrative assistant would be back, and everything could go back to normal.
Just two more days .