Offensive Behavior (Sidelined #1) (38 page)

He’d
always been a man to whom the word no was an opening salvo. That hadn’t changed.
“I’m afraid of living a half-life without you. What are you afraid of?”

She speared
him with an agonized look, got up from the booth and disappeared behind the
bar, seconds later the stage lit up and she walked out on it. He followed, took
a stool at the snub-nose bar where men who tipped her to dance had sat.

She put
a hand to the pole and looked up at it. She’d wiped her face, she wasn’t crying
anymore. “Silver, not gold, but the only metal I get to keep hold of. I wanted
that gold, Reid. Wanted my chance at it and I screwed up because I fell in
love.” She put her other hand on the pole and climbed it, crossed her legs
around it and sat. “You can’t know what it’s like to burn with ambition but not
know what you want to do with all that energy.” She opened her arms wide. “And
to be in love and have that love threaten to be the thing that makes you fail
again.”

She altered
her position, curled up into a ball with her face tucked into her knees. He’d
never seen her do that before. She looked tiny and constricted by the skirt, and
the pose was so childlike and sorrowful it welded him to the stool. She went
back to her seated pose and he let out a stalled breath.

“That’s
what I’m afraid of, loving you at the expense of me when there are things I
want to do.” She let herself down the pole. “I’m afraid of living a half-life
with you, because you make it too easy for me to be happy. I’m afraid I’ll wake
up one day and realize I’ve achieved nothing for myself, nothing I can love me
for.” She leaned on the pole and lowered her eyes.

Reid slapped
the stage floor like punters who’d tried to get her attention had, and her chin
lifted. He’d had three things to tell her. “Three. I will wait for you to do
whatever you need to do, to be ready to be with me. I will wait for you for
however long that takes.”

“That’s
not fair to you.”

“You
think I care about fair? You ruined me for any other women. Does that seem fair
to you?” He put his hands to the edge of the bar and vaulted on to the stage. She
stepped behind the pole, putting it between them. “Besides, I won’t have to
wait long.”

“You’re
on my stage.”

All
over her life if she wanted that. God, let her want it. “Yeah, and you’re on
mine.” Even without her, his life would be different because of her.

“I’m
not trying to compete with you. I’m trying to succeed for me.”

“A
decent venue has more than one spotlight. When you turn this place into the new
Lucky’s maybe you can factor that in.”

She
stepped back from the pole. “You’re angry I didn’t tell you.”

He
stayed at the edge of the light. “Not angry, sad. It’s amazing. But I get why
you wanted to keep it to yourself.”

Her
head dropped forward. “I’m not even sure I get that.”

It’d
been the easiest part of all this to understand. “It’s not finished. Whatever
you’re dreaming isn’t straight in your head.”

She
walked around the pole and into the spotlight. She was close enough now he
could see surprise in her eyes. He pressed his advantage. “You’re in your
corner working it out and I can’t help you until you know what you need to do.”

She
shook her head but took another step closer.

“That’s
what Costin taught you. That’s what you’re doing now, taking your time alone,
working things out. So that’s what I’m doing, waiting for you to know what you
need, so you can need it from me.”

Another
headshake and another step toward him. “You’re too much.” Her voice shook.

“I
know.”

She put
her hand to her head and pulled the pencil out of her hair. It fell around her
shoulders and down her back. “I’m your love hack, you don’t need me.”

“You’re
my life hack, Zarley, the best, the last I’ll ever need.”

She
reached behind her for the pole. “I can’t marry you.”

“Yet,
you can’t marry me yet, and if you say ever,” he put his hand to the middle of
his chest. “You remember that enlarged heart I told you about, you’ll have to
scrape it off the ceiling before you reopen.”

“What
if I fail?” Her back hit the pole.

“You’re
already golden.”

Her
breath was coming in fast, swelling her ribs. “I knew you were trouble when I
first saw you.”

“Do you
want me to go?” He’d be down on the carpet, face in the packet soup of fibers
and alcohol all the way to the door.

“I
might.”

I
might
kept him standing.
I might
was an open
door, a sunbeam. “You call this shot, Flygirl. I’m good at waiting. I waited
for you a long time. I can do it again.”

“But I’m
not good at waiting. Never was.”

“So we’re
at an impasse. I’m good at waiting and you’re not. I don’t want a half-life without
you and you don’t want one with me.”

All the
ironed-in starch of Zarley’s body chose that moment to soften. She slumped
against the pole and as if the stage was in sympathy with her, the spotlight
flickered.

He took
two steps toward her. “If that was an algorithm, those things would cancel each
other out.”

“They would?”

“Ah-hah.”

“That’s
interesting.”

“Interesting
would be kissing you again, having that kiss tell me how far away I am from
being right about all this.”

“You’re
always right.”

That
was a good goddamn invitation. He went to her, but she moved behind her pole. “I
want this to work,” she said.

He put
his hand to the pole above their heads. She could mean anything and he could
still be sucking on carpet.

“Make
the new Lucky’s into Madame Amour with my own twist. Do it properly with great
staff, a classy look, training and benefits and the best food, entertainment
and atmosphere in town.”

“Then
you will.” Easy words to say, hard on his heart if it was the only thing she
wanted.

“I
don’t exactly know what I’m doing.” She slipped under his arm and settled
between him and the pole with her back to it. His poor strained giraffe heart
rolled over with a thud to have her so close.

“Then
work at it till you do.”

“And if
I don’t want your help?”

He
winced. “Then you don’t get it.”

She put
her hand to his chest and the spotlight flickered and hissed. “You’re sure
about that algorithm?”

She had
to be able to feel his heart drumming his panic, trumpeting his hope. “Dead certain.”

“I want
us to work.”

“So set
a rule.”

She
shook her head. “Love me.”

“That’s
an absolute.”

“Love
me when I’m afraid what that means.”

He
moved in because he ached to touch her, read that offer on her lips. He’d
worked for every success he’d had. He couldn’t work for Zarley, couldn’t make
her, bend her, break her.

She had
to give herself to them.

She
lifted her head and he cupped her face. Her weight was on the pole so when he
leaned in, he had the sensation of falling, until his lips met hers and he felt
it, her melting fear, her startling ambition, the hot, strong burn of her love,
showing him the right way up, giving him balance.

“I’m
sorry, so sorry.” Zarley’s whisper on his lips. “I was afraid of losing me to
us.”

“That’s
never going to happen.” Because keeping her safe from that was his new
obsession.

“I love
you and I need you.”

His
ambition and hers. Two spotlights one stage.

She
wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’re never doing breakup sex again. Make up
sex all the way.”

The
only living creature with a heart bigger than a giraffe was a blue whale. “Need
to get you home.”

“I
can’t ride in this skirt. Can’t wait to get home.” She undid the top button on
her shirt.

The
blue whale’s heart was as big as a car. “Here?”

Her
shirt floated to the floor, her bra, followed. “Oh God, yes. I suddenly have
this fantasy, and it’s you and me, a pole, an empty stage and seriously filthy
sex.” Her skirt came off, her panties.

So many
things a man in love could do with a willing naked woman and a pole, especially
a man who’d had excellent training and whose heart was the size of a car.

Zarley
stood on her toes, stretched her arms above her head, hands gripping the pole,
back arched. She would flip and curl and open herself fearlessly to him. She was
extraordinary and she was his. He pulled his shirt off. It was a lifetime away
from brooding in the back booth to the love of this girl who could fly, and the
brightest happiness he’d known.

“Get
over here and begin us, Reid.”

He put
his mouth on hers in a hot rush, a kiss to reset time, to promise here and now
and always. He felt her tremble and knew it wasn’t from the pose she held or
the scene or the promise of explosively good kinky make up sex, but all the
ways they could spin and climb and unfold the future.

And
make it theirs, better together, to keep.

If you enjoyed
Sidelined
1—
Offensive Behavior
, read on for:

information on Plus,
including bios for Reid, Owen, Dev and Sarina,

and for the first
chapter of

Sidelined 2

Damaged Goods

Cara and Owen’s
story

If you really liked
Offensive
Behavior
, you can find out more about the series at:

www.ainsliepaton.com.au

The final book in the
series,
Sold Short

is Dev and Sarina’s
story

And if you really,
really enjoyed
Offensive Behavior
, or you have a comment that might help
another reader, leave a review at your favorite ebook retailer or Goodreads.

From the company website

About Plus

Our software helps teams crush it

We build software and make apps to help people do critical and cool
stuff together.

We’re for dreamers and doers.

We’re for teams big and small, virtual and formal, creative,
collaborative and kickass.

We’re for start-ups and full scale enterprises, for co-ops, institutions
and non-profits.

If you do things in teams, then we’re for you.

Better Together

How we came to crush it

Plus happened
because Reid McGrath is a dreamer and doer, Owen Lange is a finance whiz, Dev
Patel is an ace bug catcher and Sarina Gallo is a turbo talent wrangler.

Plus happened
because the four of them met at Stanford and decided to do or die, together.

Now we’re 1500 people focused on making stuff to help other people
get things done.

Here’s what else we are:

-
                     
One hundred thousand customers. Plus new ones
every day

-
                     
Two hundred and fifty user groups

-
                     
Fifty-two BBQs a year and twenty-four pizza days

-
                     
Fifteen coffee machines

-
                     
Twelve products. So far

-
                     
Ten candles in the birthday cake

-
                     
Five offices in three countries

-
                     
One classic American muscle car. It’s Dev’s,
don’t touch it

-
                     
One percent of our profit to our favorite
charities

-
                     
Extra vacation time for volunteering

-
                    
One remaining original founder’s Better Together
t-shirt. It’s Owen’s and he’s keeping it safe

How we crush it everyday

We’re awesome and we want to stay that way so we have some rules to
guide us. Here they are:

1.
                 
No assholes

2.
                 
No bullshit

3.
                 
Play as a team

4.
                 
Don’t screw up with customers

5.
                 
Add value

Occasionally we mess up. You might’ve read about it. We’re only
human and if we’ve screwed up with your team, we’ll do everything we can to fix
whatever’s wrong as soon as possible. You can count on that.

About our Founders

Reid McGrath

Occasional CEO, and Chief Innovator

Tall, dark, broody and bossy. Also a genius, which can be painful. Reid
is a small-town boy who had big dreams and he’s busy making them come true. He
started Plus in his dorm room at Stanford, yes, we know it’s a cliché, and
recruited Owen, Dev and Sarina to play on his team and the rest is history.

Reid was our CEO for nine years and then he wasn’t and then he was
for a short time again. You might’ve read about that too. Now he serves as
Plus’ chief innovator and he’s just as bossy as ever, but slightly short on the
broody. It’s because of Reid most of us play on dream teams during the day and
dream about teams at night.

Owen Lange

CEO and Chief of Money

In another life, Owen Lange might’ve been a Vegas card shark. Instead
he chose to sharpen his reflexes on the kinds of zeroes and ones that belong in
a balance sheet. The lights stay on and we all get paid every week on time
because Owen is our chief of money. He’s also the guy who pays for pizza and
keeps stockholders happy, which of course includes every Plus employee. He’s
kind of like a dad. He’d let you borrow his car but he’ll send you to your room
without supper if you miss curfew. He’s the responsible, nice guy, but don’t
let that fool you, he’s also our resident daredevil. He’s jumped out of more
planes and scaled more rock faces than Plus has industry awards.

Dev Patel

Never wants to be CEO
, Chief
Engineer

Code cracker, hacker, UX visionary and muscle car junkie. Dev fixes
what Reid breaks and breaks what Reid fixes. It’s worked out well for us so
far. If you want to make an unfailingly polite, mild mannered, generous and
rational man smack his forehead repeatedly on a hard surface, be a Plus
customer with a problem that takes longer than two hours to fix. Dev doesn’t
have a superhero suit but as our chief engineer, he sure has a supernatural
sense for shipping unbeatably good product and a nose for sniffing out better
ways of doing things.

Sarina Gallo

One-time stand-in CEO,
please don’t make me do it again
,
Chief of People

Sarina went to Stanford to learn how to be a game developer and
discovered the best game of all was finding and motivating talent. She’s one of
the Valley’s best people people—and that’s not a typo. If you want a career in
the IT industry, you can’t do better than having Sarina help you plan your
start at Plus and your future world domination at whatever you want to do. Also
that would make her happy, because she lives for making stars. Sarina is our
chief of people and she fixes everything that Reid and Dev and Owen mess up,
and you’d never know it.