Stronger With Her (9 page)

“Look, man, I was just giving you shit. I didn’t realize it was like that,” Jason says softly. I don’t want his pity, but I’ll take the pseudo-apology. Of course, this is when Joe decides to come back.

“She’s amazing, huh?” he asks nodding his head. “If I didn’t have my eyes on someone else I’d be going after her,” he says. I shoot him the look of death and I may have growled a little bit.

“Who pissed in your Cheerios? You need to calm that shit down, bro.”

“I think Runt likes little Stephanie,” Jason says in a sing-song voice.

“You guys are acting like Jacob. Grow the fuck up,” I say as I get out of my chair and prepare to go back to my office.

“Oh, now it’s really on, asshole,” Joe says. “You like her, don’tcha?”

I glare at him and start to leave the room.

“Keep it in your pants, bro. You know there’s a policy against fraternizing with co-workers,” Joe says using my own words against me. I shake my head and keep on walking. I’m going to spend the weekend relaxing at home. Seeing Vixen will just have to wait until I can sort out my shit.

2 days ago

I’
ve been dealing with this god-forsaken system for three weeks now and I think I’ve finally got it the way it needs to be. Jason swears that it was set up before he came to work here and he keeps it running. Whoever designed it is a fucking sadist that I hope I never meet. I’ve had to replace almost all the routers, update and install new software, and I even had to write some custom code to get the security air tight. Thankfully it’s all come together fairly well, and I should be able to meet the deadline to have it completely online by next Thursday.

The first week I was here things were a mess. I thought I’d never get through the maze of cords, wires, routers, and servers. It didn’t help that James came down to “check on me” daily.

“Hey, how’s it going? Need anything?”

“I’m fine, thanks, though I’m sure you have more important things to do than to come check on me all the time. Do you not trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. I wouldn’t have hired you if I didn’t. I just like to know what’s going on in my company.” He has the decency to look a little embarrassed.

“All right, well, I need to get back to work and right now that’s going to involve me crawling around in the back of all this equipment. I highly doubt that you’ll be able to fit so if there’s nothing else…”

James opens his mouth and looks at me like he wants to say something. I wait for a few seconds but grow impatient quickly. I’ve got work to do. I pull my hair back into a messy bun on my head and I hear him inhale sharply. When I look up he’s moving toward the door.

“See ya later, Steph,” he mumbles as he makes a hasty exit.

After that James came down twice a week to ask for updates. It seemed appropriate for that to happen, but last week things changed.

It’s been a long night and an early morning. I was here until almost nine and now I’m back before seven. This system is seriously fucked up, but I will make it my bitch. At least that’s what I’m saying to pump myself up. Nobody else is here yet this morning so hopefully that means I can take things offline for an hour to install the patch that will move this shit along. I’ve got my large Diet Mt. Dew, a new bag of mints, and a little sleep-deprived delirium pushing me along.

I open the door to the server room and jump back on a squeal.

“Good morning, Stephanie. I didn’t mean to startle you,” James says from the chair at the desk I’ve been using.

“Holy shit, I think I just lost five years of my life. What are you doing here this early?” I hesitantly make my way into the room, unsure of what exactly is going on.

“I couldn’t sleep. When that happens I come to work. For some reason I came to the third floor instead of the fourth and my feet brought me in here.” He looks as confused as I feel.

“Well, unless you know how to install the latest patch and reconfigure the servers, I’m going to have to ask you to vacate my chair,” I say in a joking tone. I don’t want to piss this man off, but his presence is making me feel all sorts of things that shouldn’t happen in a place of business.

“I know how to do a lot of things, but none of those,” he whispers as he stands, towering over me. I can smell his aftershave and it’s heavenly. Why does this man tie me in knots? I stand still avoiding eye contact but enjoying the heat coming off his body.
What would it feel like to be skin on skin? I bet he’s big all over.
I shake my head to clear my inappropriate thoughts.

“Well, if there’s nothing else,” I start to say to break the tension that’s rapidly building. I look up and see several emotions pass through his beautiful blue eyes, none of which stays there long.

“Yes, sorry. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything,” he says abruptly as he walks around me and out of the room. My head is spinning and I feel like I’ve just run a marathon. That man is going to be the death of me.

Today I need to give a progress report to all three of them. Since the beginning, I’ve tried to take most of my questions to Jason or Joe because James can be so intimidating and intense. I’d really rather do this in an email, but James insisted that it be a face to face meeting so I gather my notes and make my way to the elevator.

I arrive at Simone’s desk and she greets me with a smile.

“How’s it going down there, Stephanie? Are the boys behaving themselves and leaving you alone?”

“So far, so good. I’m sure it’s been killing them, especially Jason, but they’ve respected the boundaries.” I grin and we both start laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Joe walks around Simone’s desk, not taking his eyes off her.

“Nothing that you need to know about, you pain in the ass. Where’s Jason?” Simone is obviously the one who makes this place run the way it does. It amazes me how they do exactly what she says without an argument. I wish I had that level of confidence around people. I’m confident in my abilities and expertise, but interacting with others doesn’t come as easily for me.

“I’m going to go ahead on in,” I say. Neither of them responds so I open James’ door. He looks up from his laptop and quickly closes it.

“Stephanie, what a surprise. What can I do for you?” He seems thrown off balance for some reason.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you. I can come back if you want,” I say looking down at the floor and backing up slowly.

“No, that’s all right. It’s not a problem.” I hear Joe laughing at something and so does James.

“Joe, leave her alone,” he yells sharply. It startles me and makes me jump a little.

“What crawled up your ass? You’re the one holding up this meeting that you insisted on,” Joe retorts as he and Jason walk into the office. James gets up from his desk and we all move to the sitting area. Once we’re all settled, all three men look at me expectantly.

“I guess that’s my cue, huh?” I say nervously.
Get it together, Steph. You know your shit so just give them the update and get out.

I clear my throat and begin. “Things are finally going smoothly. I’ve installed the new equipment and tested it. Some of the software has been installed and the firewalls are going up.”

“When is it going to be operational?” James interrupts me. I know he’s anxious to get this going.

“Barring any other complications, which I don’t anticipate, your system will be compliant with all the specifics of the contract next week. Right now I’m aiming for final testing on Wednesday and having it all fully online Thursday morning.” I look into his eyes and I’m struck for the millionth time with a sense of familiarity. It’s been driving me crazy but I know I’ve seen him before I came to work here.

“I have to say, I’m impressed,” James says with a small grin. “What do you need from us to keep everything on schedule?”

“I can’t really think of anything right now. Next week I’ll need a day to take everyone offline so you might want to plan for that. No one will be able to access their computers for a few hours while the final installation happens. I’m hoping to have it run overnight, but just in case you may want to have your employees come in at noon instead of in the morning. It just saves on everyone’s frustration and prevents a mistake from happening.”

“I doubt anyone will be upset about coming in late,” Joe says with a huge smile. “Just let me know what day and I’ll make sure everyone knows.”

“Great. That’s really all then,” I start to stand and go back to work.

“There’s one more thing,” Jason says, surprising me. He hasn’t mentioned anything to me about a problem.

I sit back down and wait for whatever it is he’s going to say. I’m scared that I’ve messed something up or overstepped my position in some way. I start mentally going back through the past three weeks trying to come up with anything that could be going on.

“I’d like to discuss keeping Stephanie on as our consultant,” he says looking at his brothers. “This new stuff is far beyond what I’m trained in, and I’d feel much better knowing that I have the authority to contact her if anything goes wrong,” he glances at me as he finishes his sentence. I’m quite surprised and pleased that he wants to continue to work with me.

“I don’t see any reason why not,” James says in a clipped tone. “Stephanie, if you would prepare some sort of contract for long-term consultation, I’ll have Kate look at it and we can proceed accordingly.” I swallow the lump in my throat that’s suddenly appeared. James doesn’t seem very happy with this idea.

“Actually, Kate would be the one to prepare it so why don’t we just meet with her together and save us both some time and money,” I say pragmatically, looking him directly in the eye. I don’t have a clue what’s going on with him, but I’m not going to let him see me sweat.

“I’ll ask Simone to set it up on my way out,” Joe says quickly. He and Jason stand and leave but James stays where he is, not breaking eye contact with me. We continue this standoff for a few more seconds before I break.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Owens?”

“Are you sassing me, Ms. Edwards?” My heart rate spikes and my cheeks flush.
What’s going on here?

“I’m not sure what you mean. You’re the one who seems pissed off.”

“Well, then you’re reading this all wrong. I want to be very clear here. I’ve been fighting with myself since you started working here. I’m attracted to you in a way I’ve never felt before. Staying away from you has been a struggle, but I’ve done it because I want to keep things on a professional level, but it’s becoming more and more difficult. Now keeping you on the payroll for an indefinite length of time only means that I will never be able to explore what could happen between us.” His eyes never leave mine and I feel like I’m being swept away. It’s like he’s been reading my mind.

“Being a consultant doesn’t make me your employee, James. Besides, I’d like to see where this could go as well. From the moment I met you I’ve felt like I know you. I appreciate the need to be professional, but our initial contract will end next week. Perhaps…”