I Heart Geeks (13 page)

As Kendra gazed into his deep blue eyes, the sincerity was clear and never before had she wanted something so much as to get closer to Jordan. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to open herself up and trust him. Slowly she stepped forward, slipped her hand in his and leaned in to give him a soft, quick kiss on his lips. His eyes widened in surprise.

“What was that for?”

“For being such a good guy and for caring enough to say that. I really appreciate it. And I’m sorry for not giving you a chance at first.”

“Well,” he squeezed her hand and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “At least now, as we get to know each other, we can be protective of each other.” He took her hand up to his chest over his heart.

Kendra looked out into the night. Before, she was afraid of taking a step into the future and taking matters into her own hands. Now, she felt like she was floating on air for the possibilities of what can happen between them. She wanted to know everything there was to know about Jordan and she wanted him to know about her.

“Why wait?” She smiled at him. “Let’s go have that dinner now.”

“I thought you’d never ask. Did you drive here?”

“Yep.”

“I can drive us over to dinner and then take you back.”

It had been a long time since a guy drove her somewhere to take her out. “If you’re not careful, Mr. Jordan, I can get used to this.”

“That’s good. I can get used to it, too. Come on. Let’s get some food.”

Jordan took her hand and led her to his car where he opened the passenger door before helping her in. No matter what they faced in the future or what the outcome would be as they grew closer, at least they would be facing it together. And Kendra wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Oh for crying out loud.” Mira dropped the bags cutting into her fingers so she could smack the door. Her key protruded from the lock at a broken angle. She flicked the dangling
Doctor Horrible
goggles then smacked the door again. Because that would definitely help.

“You all right there?”

“Oh! Uh.” Mira glanced at the guy who’d spoken then surveyed the mass of shopping bags that were now blocking the entire hallway. “Sorry!” Her fingers found the dratted key, tugging and twisting futilely. “It gets stuck sometimes. Just two minutes. Or, you know, here.” She stopped messing with the key to try and corral her mess so he could pass. “Sorry.”

A quizzical smile met her babbling. His gaze stilled on her head, reminding Mira of the Jayne hat she still wore. She must look like such a spaz! Which was a shame, since this guy was kind of cute, with his tousled hair and rectangular, black-rimmed glasses. “Sorry,” she repeated idiotically, tugging the hat off. At least her unruly mess of curly hair was contained today in a ponytail.

His gaze fell to the mound of plastic bags. “Are you having a party?”

“A Whedon night, at the store I manage. Sorry.” She tried gathering the bags again. “Are you visiting someone?” she asked casually, hoping to mask the flush of red burning up her cheeks. She definitely hadn’t seen him here before, though to be fair, she didn’t know most of the people in her building.

He leaned down, helping her stuff spilled items back into the plastic then picking up a couple of bags. “I’m subletting, actually, from one of your neighbors.”

“Oh.” Mira nodded when they both straightened. “Uh, well. Welcome to the building.”

“Thanks.” Her new neighbor cleared his throat, flooding Mira with a fresh wave of embarrassment.

“Sorry.” She reached for the bags in his hands, but his chin tilted toward her door.

“Your key.”

“Right! Oh. Sorry.” Mira’s fingers found the traitorous bit of metal, biting back some expletives as she jiggled it free of the lock and reinserted it properly. Finally, the tumbler clicked, releasing the handle. She dumped the bags she held inside, murmuring a quick thanks when he held out the rest.

Silence stretched between them. Was it too late to ask his name? He’d probably prefer she just got out of his way. “So, um.”

“Yeah.” His shoulders lifted as his hands found his pockets. “Hey, uh. What’s a Whedon?”

“One of three overly talented brothers.” Her quip was met with lowered eyebrows. “Sorry. Joss Whedon, he’s a writer. Well, and a director, and producer. He created
Buffy
,
Angel
,
Dollhouse
, and directed that Avengers movie that came out recently, which then spawned
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
. He’s kind of brilliant. I mean, his characters are just so whole, and complex, and richly layered. And he has these plot lines that entirely subvert expectations, but without any ridiculous leaps or plot holes. Plus layered in everything are these insightful, and occasionally terrifying, social commentaries…” She trailed off. “Sorry.” She really had to stop babbling. Most people would have made some excuse to get away from her by now, but he was somewhat trapped by the small hallway.

“No, it’s cool. I take it you’re a fan.”

“In a world of the streamlined, superficial, over-processed mindlessness that passes for entertainment nowadays, he kind of stands out. Which, tends to congregate other incredibly talented people around him, and that in turn means the creation of some pretty unique and thought-provoking, yet deeply emotive stories.”

His eyes widened behind his glasses. “Gotcha. Sounds interesting.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to talk your ear off.”

“No, no. It’s nice, actually. I don’t know too many people here yet.” His lips lengthened into a gently curving smile, melting something in her insides.

“Oh, well, you should come! To the store’s Whedon Night, I mean. On the twenty-third.”

“Okay. Thanks. Guess I’ll—” A ringtone cut him off. He slipped out his phone, quieting the tone, then looked back to Mira, shrugging slightly.

“I’ll let you grab that,” Mira said, a little disappointed.

“Yeah, I should. Guess I’ll see you around.”

She waved at him lamely, and he made his way down the hall to the end unit. Mira stepped inside her apartment and kicked the bags out of the way so she could shut the door. She leaned against it and sighed.
Such a spaz
.

Jordan opened the refrigerator for the fourth time, as if something suitable for dinner would have magically appeared in the last ten minutes. A bag of bagels, a tub of cream cheese, and a carton of orange juice from a nearby Bruegger’s stared back at him. He really needed to find a grocery store at some point. So far, he’d mostly been living on takeout from the Chinese place on the corner, and the bagels.

He let the door drift shut yet again. There had to be a better option for dinner. He wouldn’t have minded going out, but he didn’t really know anybody here other than his coworkers, and to be honest, he saw enough of them during the day.

There was that girl he’d bumped into—one of his new neighbors. She was a little weird, and way too into those TV shows she’d talked about, but maybe she’d be up for dinner. It’d beat eating alone at any rate. And some of the things she’d said sounded smart, not just blindly fanatic, so there was that.

Besides, it was one meal. The worst thing that could happen was it’d be boring, and then they’d see each other every so often in the halls. Awkward, but manageable, unless she was that obsessive about everything in her life.

He plopped back onto the couch, reaching for his computer. Maybe he should just find a new delivery place to try.

Or he could give this a shot, getting to know her. She was a full head shorter than him, so he could probably handle it if she did go full-blown crazy.

Jordan glanced again at the bare room, then shut his laptop and headed for the door. How bad could one dinner be?

He didn’t hesitate again until right after knocking. Trying the adult equivalent of ding-dong-ditch crossed his mind, but the door opened to reveal his neighbor. Jordan’s gaze fell to the purple stripe in her dark, curly hair before finding her almond eyes. She was actually sort of pretty, in a quirky way. “Uh, hey,” he got out before seeing the two other women in the apartment behind her.

“Hi.”

“I’m Jordan, by the way, I don’t think we actually introduced ourselves the other day.”

“Mira,” she said with a blank smile. This was going well.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company.” Idiotically, the possibility hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“Oh!” She glanced over her shoulder as if she’d forgotten her friends were there. “Uh, yeah. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” Though inviting her to dinner wasn’t an option now, which left him standing in her doorway for no reason.

Mira’s eyebrows crooked as she waited for him to say something.

“Ah, you know…” Now would be a good time for his brain to kick in. “I was just wondering if you knew any good restaurants around, for takeout or delivery.”

“Oh sure, sorry. Yeah. What kind of food do you like?”

One of the other women—a blonde with glasses—cleared her throat.

“Uh, right.” Mira’s cheeks grew pink. “Or, you could join us? We were planning on ordering in.”

“No, no. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“No, please,” her other friend said.

“You wouldn’t be,” Mira assured. “If you’re up for our company, that is.”

Well, it did solve the problem of eating alone. “If you’re sure,” Jordan said, giving them another chance to get rid of him.

“We’re sure!” the blonde called.

Mira chuckled, then stepped back, gesturing silently for him to come in.

Jordan didn’t look entirely uncomfortable, even if they had basically shanghaied him into joining them for dinner. Mira considered the piles of supplies covering her couch and coffee table. The plan had been to spend the night making various gift packs and prizes for the party. That definitely wasn’t going to help her make a more normal second impression.

“So.” She shut the door, scrambling for a topic. Jordan watched her intently. “Sorry, uh, that’s Lisa and Kelsey.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jordan said, nodding at no one in particular.

“So we were thinking Thai for dinner,” Lisa jumped in. Mira exhaled. Lisa was way better with the whole socializing thing. “Or Italian. Or technically, we could do both.”

“Weird palate mix,” Kelsey said, scrunching her nose. “But you know,” she backtracked, looking at Jordan, “whatever you want.”

“No, hey. I’m interrupting your evening. I’m up for anything.”

“Ooh la la,” Lisa teased with a flirty smile.

Jordan froze for a second, then laughed, instantly put at ease.

Mira stuffed down the pang of jealousy. Her own faltering attempts at flirting usually involved stammering, blushing, and scaring people off. Not that she wanted to flirt with Jordan, it would just be nice to have that kind of effortlessness. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” she murmured as the dutiful host.

He glanced her way with a “thanks” before joining Lisa on a newly cleared spot on the couch.

“So, Italian?” Kelsey asked, bringing over the menu from La Gondola. “Personally, I’m craving some cheesy goodness.”

“So where do you rank on the Whedonite scale?” the blonde—
Lisa
—asked with a smile after they’d ordered the food.

Jordan took in the miscellany of items in the living room, from a wooden box, to a pile of button-making supplies on a stack of pictures of a hammer, to three of those orange-and-yellow, knit hats like the one Mira had worn when they’d met. “Well, Mira just told me about it the other day,” he admitted.

“Oh. We’re kind of obsessed,” Lisa confided glancing at the other women. “But I promise, other than that, we’re pretty normal. Kelsey’s even a mom.”

Jordan looked to the slightly older brunette as she came out of the kitchen. “Oh yeah?”

“To two wonderful boys, who are spending tonight bonding with their daddy.” She brought over a pitcher of iced tea, followed by Mira with some glasses. “What do you do, Jordan?”

“I’m a mechanical engineer. Thanks.” He took the proffered glass she’d poured. “I just moved here from Denver, for work.”

“Oh, very nice.” Kelsey nodded with approval. “Lisa’s working on her Ph. D. in engineering, over at Carnegie Mellon.”

“Electrical, but yeah,” the blonde confirmed.

“Cool, that’s a great program.” He turned back to Mira, who hadn’t said much since he’d come in. “And you own a store?”

“Manage—a bookstore. That’s what all this stuff is for. We run a different fan night a few times a year. Though this one is actually my favorite.”

The other women murmured their agreement. Jordan searched his surroundings for something useful to say. “So what’s up with the hammers?”

That set off a round of giggles.

“It’s a superhero thing,” Kelsey explained. “Captain Hammer.”

“Have you seen any Whedon shows?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, uh,
The Avengers
. You said that was one of his, right?”

“It is, yeah,” Mira confirmed. “But there he was working with Marvel characters. Captain Hammer is one of his originals. It’s actually a pretty cool story, if you remember the writer’s strike from a few years back?”

“Sure, yeah.” He didn’t watch much TV anyway, but it had upset a bunch of people that new episodes of their shows were delayed.

Mira hesitated then shook her head, sending her curls flying a bit. “Sorry, I’m geeking out again.”

“Basically,” Lisa jumped in, “a bunch of talented people got together, decided they didn’t need a major studio, and put out this mini movie-musical for free online. Plenty of satire, fun lyrics, good jokes. Most people don’t even catch everything the first time around. Or really, the fifth time around, for some.”

The women laughed again.

“You know, I haven’t seen it in ages,” Kelsey said.

“Oh, well, we could watch it tonight. I mean, if you’re interested,” Mira offered, looking at him.

Jordan smiled reflexively. “Sure.” Their food hadn’t arrived yet, and he was clearly outnumbered. Besides, the show might be good.

“He seems nice,” Kelsey said, helping Mira bring the dishes to the kitchen.

“Yes, he does.”

“Cute, too.”