Chapter 11
Suzy leaned back, holding his biceps. “Still as handsome as ever, I see.” She brushed one hand along his cheek.
Theodore waggled his eyebrows. “Still can’t keep your hands off me, I see.” Suzy O’Flannery never changed, not even in her mid-forties. She was an unconscionable flirt—the opposite of her dead serious brother.
“That’s what you get for being so adorable.”
One thing for sure, no one’s ego was in danger around her. “When are you going to quit the tech world and run off with me so we can make genius babies?”
She dropped her hands and laughed. “If we do, call the Vatican because a medical miracle has occurred.”
Samuel lifted his chin. “Okay, you two. Run off to the supply closet and make good on these threats, or let’s get rolling to the conference room.” He clasped Theo on the shoulder. “We’ve got business to discuss.”
Theodore huffed. “Such a drill sergeant. And here I thought you were coming to drag me off to another sake bar.”
“You’ll never forgive me for that night, will you?”
“Never.” Theodore smiled over at his mate. “It wasn’t even Sake Day. October 1, before you ask.”
Samuel’s low laughter warmed something in him. He’d missed having friends around. Always on the road, and all that.
Theodore had been friends with Suzy and Samuel for over a decade. They were responsible for his entire career. He’d worked for one of their tech start-ups, and it was Samuel who suggested he go into management consulting—more like browbeat him into it. Theodore agreed one night over an unwise quantity of sake, and the next morning, hungover as hell, he was on a plane to another one of their companies to “assess the situation honestly.” A career was born.
Samuel looked around. “Where’s Roger?”
“Haven’t seen him all day, though I’m sure he’s here somewhere.” Theodore couldn’t care less where Roger was. One thing he’d learned during the five or six interviews that morning, Roger wasn’t popular at Edison Tech, and for good reason.
“Oh, he is. We just had a meeting.” Alice had sidled up to them. She offered Suzy a huge smile. “Hi, I’m Alice Crawford. I wanted to introduce myself before you get mobbed by everyone else who wants to say hello.” She held out her hand.
Suzy cocked her head and returned the handshake. “Alice. Nice to meet you. Our new CFO, right?”
Alice blinked. “Um, not yet.”
Suzy’s forehead furrowed. “Hmm. I see we do have a lot to catch up on here.” She glanced at her brother, who was quite frankly studying Alice a little too hard. Theo recognized the look in his eyes. Suspicion.
He knew Samuel enough to know it wasn’t interest. While Alice was a beautiful woman, Samuel would never act on any romantic inclination toward anyone at one of his companies. His one personal rule was never shag anyone at the office, which Theodore had spectacularly broken himself. Office romance wasn’t legally forbidden, but Samuel certainly frowned upon it. Yet another reason to finally make good on his and Alice’s deal to avoid one another for a bit. At least until he could sort through whatever the hell happened yesterday. One minute, they were enjoying each other. The next? He was a mistake. Hadn’t Beatrice used almost the same word around being involved with him?
Samuel finally spoke up. “Well, if you see Roger, ask him to join us?”
Alice nodded once, then peered over at Theodore. Her smile dropped like a stone. Yeah, he was still in the faux pas column.
In the conference room, Samuel shed his jacket and threw it over a chair. “So, how’s Edison so far?”
Suzy waved her hand as they all took seats at the long table. “He’s been here for one weekend, Sam.”
“And knowing Theo, he’s already done a dozen interviews. Am I right, Theo?”
“Six. Actually seven.” He’d count Alice and their time together as an interview.
Samuel’s brow furrowed. “And?”
“And there’s more to uncover. Something is off.”
Samuel tipped his chin. “No kidding. Marketing costs are through the roof. Barely keeping people on payroll despite a sound product. Any idea what’s happening?”
Finances wasn’t what he was alluding to. More like a veil of unhappiness covering almost every employee.
Suzy reached over and smacked his arm as only a brother and sister could do and still be considered professionals. “Sam. One weekend. Give Theodore a break.”
“There they are.” Roger’s voice boomed into the room, a little too loud, a little too high-pitched.
It was strange Samuel didn’t stand. He wasn’t usually rude. Direct, but always polite. Theodore glanced between the two men, trying to catch what past scenario caused the obvious rift—other than the fact the Wonder Kid CEO Roger wasn’t being so wonderful these days.
Plus, he was reeked of some god-awful cologne.
Suzy shook Roger’s hand, a tight smile on her face. “Roger. I trust you were expecting us.”
“Of course, of course. Just had an emergency to attend to.” Roger quickly raised both hands. “Nothing that couldn’t be handled.”
A rap on the door frame broke the sudden tension in the room. Alice held out a folder to Roger and gulped a little. “I ran those numbers for you. You may want to take a look first.”
Roger threw her a hard look, growing red in the face. Suzy and Samuel glanced at each other. Ah, the financial reports weren’t good.
Alice began to back away when Suzy rose from the table and strode forward. “Alice, why don’t you join us?” She gestured for her to take a seat. “You’re our numbers person.”
“I’m sure Alice has many things on her plate today …” Roger began but let his words die when Samuel drew out a chair for Alice.
“I’d love to. Thank you, Ms. O’Flannery. Mr. O’Flannery.” She nodded in Samuel’s direction.
“Samuel, please.” A rare smile formed on his face.
After they were all seated around the conference table, Samuel held out his hand for the folder. Roger pushed it slowly across the table.
Samuel and Suzy slowly went through the PL statement and balance sheet. A few well-placed hmms by Samuel and a few more pointed questions by Suzy had Roger visibly sweating. There was no explanation for the sudden downturn. Alice gave direct answers when asked, which Suzy did more and more, given Roger’s clear ineptitude at providing basic information. Theodore, however? Silence was golden during a legendary O’Flannery deep dive into anything related to numbers.
Roger stretched his neck. “New products take time to launch, to grab market share.” That was all Roger could come up with. The problem was Samuel and Suzy launched a dozen products a year—and none had failed as miserably as Edison Tech’s recent offering, a security software program that detected problems in AI, like copyright infringement.
The not-too-wonderkid-CEO cleared his throat. “You’re risk takers. Surely, you understand.” Roger couldn’t seem to stop digging his own grave. Telling the O’Flannerys who they were was an epic mistake.
“Risk? That’s your answer?” Suzy asked icily.
“Alice,” Roger sniffed. “As the acting CFO, I’d like to have learned of some of this earlier.” He raised his eyebrows.
The man had to be kidding. Blaming Alice? Plus, what was that acting CFO thing? The damned liar.
Alice stiffened, a sliver of anger lighting up her eyes. Good woman. Don’t let him cow you.
Suzy put both her hands on the table. “As CEO, I’d expect you to have kept a closer eye on things. Roger, we have much to discuss, don’t we? But first, we’d like to talk to Alice. Mind giving us the room?”
The man’s nostrils flared, but he rose, giving his jacket a dramatic tug. After he left, Suzy smiled over at Alice. “Does he do that often?”
Alice blinked as if she didn’t understand the question.
“Yes,” Theodore stated. “And not just on National Be a Dick Day.” He was over being silent. Blaming Alice for Roger’s incompetence had crossed a serious line.
Suzy raised one eyebrow. “Date?”
“October 19.”
“You still got it. I suppose it’s different from National Big Dick Day.”
Theodore scratched his chin. “I’ve not measured the man, but?—”
“Theodore.” Samuel grimaced and held up his hand. “Maintain some decorum, you two. Alice will believe we”re heathens.”
“Roger could definitely celebrate,” Alice blurted out. All eyes turned to her.
Suzy sat back in her chair, clearly amused. “Which one? Be a dick or big dick?”
She sat forward, her eyes clearing of whatever anger she’d felt. Ice had formed there. “Be a Dick Day. Sometimes. I wouldn’t know about the … other. Thank God. I mean, there is no way. Nope.”
Suzy’s eyes sharpened, and, in a rare show of humor, Samuel laughed, scratching his chin. “Alice, could you run some other numbers for us? Help us uncover what’s really happening here? Under double overtime, of course.”
She visibly brightened. “Sure. What do you need?”
“The last five years, year-over-year marketing costs, a QoE report. Quality of Earnings, you know how?”
Theodore glanced at her. “You’ll find Alice knows quite a bit—and about what happens here. And she’s quite popular.”
Oddly, her smile dropped at his compliment.
“I can see why,” Samuel said. “Not many people are willing to step up and tell the truth, especially when it’s not positive.”
“Tell the Truth Day. July 7,” Theodore said. “But you’ll find Alice does that every day. So, when she said she wouldn’t know about Big Dick Day, you can count on it.”
Alice threw him a shut-up already look. “Of course, I don’t,” she gritted out. “And yes, I can work on a QoE. Happy to.”
Why was she upset? He was only trying to help her. Suzy, in particular, could sniff out an unflattering past like a drug detection dog, and Alice had revealed to him she’d gotten together with Roger outside the office. Times he’d clearly thought were dates.
Suzy stood. “Alice, while the men continue to mansplain all manners of trivia, how about you and I go over things. Without Roger. I found his answers lacking.”
“That’s not all he’s lacking,” Theodore muttered under his breath. He’d never understand what Roger gained from treating Alice so poorly. Something was amiss there.
In the doorway, Suzy turned to Alice. “Give me twenty minutes? I want to take a look around.”
Suzy didn’t look. She assessed, gathered evidence. She would engage in small talk with other employees, which she’d turn in her favor as expertly as a prosecutor. In under five minutes, she could ferret out a person’s greatest secret, and they wouldn’t even have known they’d revealed anything. Theodore had seen her work that magic a dozen times.
Roger was in so much trouble. Theodore wasn’t sorry for him.
Samuel yawned. “I need coffee. Point me toward it?”
Alice pointed down the hallway. “Kitchen is that way, but our supply is pretty low. I was going to order more today. Have a favorite? I can be sure to have it delivered asap.”
“Kona. Hawaiian.”
“Consider it done.”
“Thanks, Alice.” Samuel was eyeing Alice too closely. Admiration for her people pleasing, perhaps? Or something else?
“I’ll take you to Coffee Monkey,” Theodore interjected. “Down the street.”
He sliced his gaze Theodore’s way. “I can get myself there. Wouldn’t want to rip you from your admirers.”
He glanced over his shoulder. Two women hovered nearby. Shit, he was late for an interview with … someone. He couldn’t recall her name. Come to think of it, there were a lot of women at Edison. He’d consider it progressive, except he was beginning to see a disturbing pattern around Roger’s hiring habits. Half of the people at Edison were new. Their staff turnover was abysmally high.
He turned back to Samuel. “No admirers. Work.”
“Speaking of which, why don’t I grab my laptop, so I have everything at my fingertips. Then, Suzy, join you in the conference room?”
Suzy smiled. “Perfect.”
Alice gave a little half wave and scooted away.
Suzy’s gaze followed Alice’s retreat. “You do have an admirer, don’t you?” She smirked up at him. “I haven’t seen someone try to act that normal around you that hard since Flanapp Tech.” Ah, her tech baby that went belly up. No fault of her own. It was thanks to one of the programmers who’d launched a ransomware attack on the company. Ransom he took the liberty to pay—to himself. The man was serving back-to-back sentences in some jail in Illinois, last he’d heard.
“No admirers I’m aware of. Besides, you two probably intimidated Alice.”
“She doesn’t seem easily intimidated. I like her,” Suzy said definitively. “If she isn’t CFO by the end of the day, we’d be fools.”
“She’s competent.” A sad word to replace the truth of the women’s obvious skills.
“And pretty,” Suzy said.
The interrogation had begun. Time to deflect. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed.”
Samuel chuffed. “No trysts at the office, right?” He pointed and headed to the elevator, ostensibly to get his chosen coffee. The man had a serious addiction—and very specific tastes.
While Suzy went sleuthing and Samuel got caffeinated, Theodore would find Alice. He strode through the nearly empty cubicle farm. The workers fled like a flock of starlings at lunchtime as if they couldn’t wait to get away.
He found her in the copy room. He stood in the doorway far too long, watched her shuffle papers back and forth on the table.
When he cleared his throat, she jumped backward. A little yip left her throat, and her hand flew to her chest. “Theodore.”
“Alice.” He closed the door behind him. Ah, a lock he’d never noticed before. He used it. When he turned to face her, she stood with arms crossed, eyes afire.
He stuffed his hands in his trousers and leaned back against the door. “What’s wrong?”
“What was that?” She jerked her hand toward the bullpen.
“Our meeting?” It was as good a guess as any. “Where Roger called you acting CFO?”
“No. I mean all that … flirting. In front of them.” She was shout-whispering, which was silly given they were alone. In a locked room.
He strode forward and she backed up. Afraid to get close? “Your eyes really sparkle when you’re annoyed.”
“I don’t sparkle at work.”
“Oh, yes, you do. Though, technically, National Sparkle Day is February 27.” One more step toward her. One big step backward from her. He sighed heavily.
“Enough of the days!” Her hands slapped her thighs, and her hazel eyes fired anew.
“It’s harmless fun.”
“Is that all this is to you? Fun?”
He knew where she was headed. “You have nothing to worry about.” He honestly couldn’t imagine anyone but her. “And about Samuel and Suzy?—”
“Could have thought I’m not serious.”
“Relax. They’re pros. And besides, you’re the one who brought up Roger’s … fit into it.”
“Hardly. You did.” She poked him in the chest. “And for the record, Roger threw me under the bus in that meeting.”
“I know. I was there, remember?” His chest tightened. Roger wasn’t only an unpopular person at Edison, he also was a weak one. CEOs didn’t throw shade on employees publicly—at least not the good ones.
She chewed on one side of her fingernail. “And here I thought he was finally considering me for that promotion. Turns out he just wants me for more work.”
“What?”
“He came to me this morning with more projects and said I was still in the running for CFO.”
“I’d say you’re more than in the running. Suzy liked what you said about Roger.” He grinned down at her and leaned forward. “She likes you. And she doesn’t like most people.”
That got her attention. She straightened to her full height. “She does? How do you know?” Her eyes narrowed. God, she was a complicated woman.
“We’ve been friends for a while.”
“Which you never told me, by the way.” Her finger jabbed him in the chest again.
He grabbed it, and her breath hitched. His cock woke up. Their chemistry thing was damned inconvenient. One touch, one little suck of breath between her lips, and he was ready to push her over that monstrosity of a copier, yank down her panties, and …
“Let go. Please.” Her voice held a plea. She knew how dangerous they were together. Like two sticks of dynamite near a bonfire—a fire they started every time they got near one another.
He dropped his hold on her hand. But then she bit her bottom lip, and his rather problematic arousal blew up. His zipper began to strain. “Alice.”
“Theodore.”
They stood there, staring at one another. Inextricably, a laugh burst out of them both.
“Oh, ffyc me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have a meeting with Suzy. I have an interview I’m late for.”
“Yeah, I guess us getting it on against the copier isn’t a good idea.”
He stilled. “I thought I was a mistake.”
“No. Not a mistake. Getting caught was.”
Ridiculous relief coursed through his veins. “Well, I’m glad we cleared that up. So, let’s not get caught. Because we’re amazing together.”
She rolled her eyes as if he were the idiot of the century. Of course, she did. They were long past dismissing their attraction to one another. Resisting it, however, proved to be the challenge.
“We can talk about that later. I have to get back to work,” she said. “Besides, you have at least three women waiting for you.”
“Alice.” She needed to stop overthinking things. But what could he say? Defending himself wouldn’t make a difference. It certainly hadn’t with Beatrice, who always accused him of some romantic travel tryst. But cheating wasn’t part of his make-up. “Don’t be angry with me.”
“I’m not. Not really. More mad at myself.”
He lifted his hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, but she backed up.
“Tell me you weren’t withholding your friendship with the O’Flannerys from me?” she said with a lilt.
“I work for them. Of course, I know them. They own Edison, and you know that. Didn’t think I had to bring it up.”
“Weak, but I’ll give you a pass on it.” She drew closer to him and ran her hand down his tie. “Thanks for … defending me in there.”
He finally got to run his fingers through her hair. “Always. You deserve it.” She pressed her cheek into the palm of his hand.
No one could ever call Theodore hesitant in shying away from the obvious truth. Staying away from her would prove … difficult. His ability to stay focused weakened, his body hummed with her awareness whenever she was around. He couldn’t not touch her when they were this close. At least that was what he’d tell himself later as to why he bent his head down and captured her lips with his. It was as if he were a drug addict. He was addicted to her taste. He had to have a hit. Just one.
But then her lips parted, and his tongue found its way between them to that sweet, sweet taste of Alice.
One kiss, his ass. He deepened their mouth lock, and a loud thud of their bodies sounded as her back hit the copier. He had her up against the thing and was grinding his stone-hard erection between her legs within seconds because, God love the woman, she opened them to him immediately.
A small whimper left her throat. The urge to hoist her up on to the giant copier exploded—just as the machine let out a long hiss and bang.
He jumped backward as if his brain finally re-engaged. The thing was alive?
Alice panted. “Big Whale is?—”
“In love with you. I heard. Registering his protest?”
She laughed, then sobered, running her hands down the front of her jacket. “Or saving us from doing something foolish.” Her finger circled in the air. “Work, remember?”
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You busy tonight?”
“It’s going to be a late night. Suzy wants my help.”
“But later?”
“What did you have in mind?”
He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her. “Give me a call.”
“What?”
“I don’t have your number. Call yourself.”
She took it and called her own cell. “Okay. Connected. Now, what? Going to call me later and ask me on a date?”
He repocketed his mobile and slowly shook his head. “Something far better.”
“Hey, how long you going to be?” a voice shouted on the other side of the door. “I got a deadline here.”
He glanced at the door, then leaned toward her. “You ever had text sex, Miss Crawford?”
She swallowed. “Not any good sexting,” she whispered back.
“Challenge accepted.” He picked up her hand, kissed it, and unlocked the door. “Got to respect those deadlines.”
Peter, a junior marketing associate, burst in. “Please tell me it’s working.”
“It’s working all right.” He’d make sure of it.
Alice couldn’t dismiss them any longer. Their chemistry? It moved from mere attraction to something real. They couldn’t stay away from one another, and he’d prove to her they didn’t even need to be in the same room to combust in the best way possible.