“I take my life in my hands because it’s exactly the type of place that’s full of snotty-nosed children. The bright colors attract them. And it’s so damn close to Valentine’s Day.” He leaned back in the chair, warming to his story, basking in her rapt attention. “Do you know they have these huge bins of candy?”
“I’ve never been in a Party City, Francis. Tell the story.”
“Amidst these horribly garish decorations, there’s this huge bin of Jolly Ranchers that you get by the piece or by the pound or whatever. I grab an empty bag and start picking my candy.”
Peals of laughter came from behind the monitor. “And you pick the green ones, right?”
“They said you could pick your own. They didn’t say which ones. I’m minding my business, choosing candy and these kids start asking me questions. ‘Why are you taking out just the green ones, Mister?’ I told them they were moldy and needed to be removed, which brought out the manager.”
“The manager?” She giggled some more. “How embarrassing.”
“Very much so. I was lucky to escape with my dignity intact. As it was, she charged me full price instead of the sale price.”
“Francis, you are truly a knight in Party City armor. I thank you.” She sounded grateful and despite what he had gone through at that stupid party store, he was glad he did it.
“Anything for you, Violet.”
“I guess this means you’re sorry for yesterday?”
He met her gaze, unflinching. “Very much so. Am I forgiven?”
She gave him that little smile. “The green apple fairy has forgiveness in her heart. You are a lucky son of a bitch. Now let’s get to work.”
****
Later on that night, takeout containers, bottles of Vitamin Water and flavored seltzer littered their conference table. Violet and he had been working most of the day and the timeframe for coherent work was ending. Fatigue and detailed code work didn’t go together and they’d agreed to call an end to the workday at midnight. They both were in the sitting area now, laptops glowing on the coffee table.
Francis’ yawn was so huge his jawbone cracked and he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. He pressed his back into the easy chair and took his glasses off.
In response to his yawn, Violet yawned and sat up. She pulled the afghan around her shoulders, a piece of her private life she had brought in a while ago to “liven up the place.”
“Another program, Francis?” She rubbed her eyes and extended her arms to her side, arching her back in a stretch. “Do you think this one’ll work?”
The T-shirt she wore stretched tight across her breasts. He stared at her for a moment, distracted.
“I’m at the bottom of my bag of tricks at this point.” He scrubbed a hand down his face and slipped his glasses back on. “All we can do is hope.”
She lay back down on the sofa and propped two pillows under her head. Her nose wrinkled in that cute way that he loved.
“You know,” he said. “You are a beautiful woman.”
Violet pulled the afghan over her face until he could only see her eyes. The eyeliner she wore had smudged a little, but otherwise she was as sparkly as she was when she came in that morning.
“I’m not beautiful, not by a long shot.” She blinked at him.
“But you are.”
“Francis, let me tell you something. Enlighten you a little. There are all types of people in this world. Swans, lions, mice, tigers, et cetera.” She pulled the afghan off her face and gave him a tired smile. “Swans are the beautiful ones. I am not a swan, believe me, I know. I’ve traveled with them.” As she spoke, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. “They’re graceful, wonderfully condescending, always with the right ‘look’ and witty. Very witty.”
Francis watched her expression grow wistful as she remembered. It was so rare that she let him into the personal facets of her life, preferring to stick to business or lighter anecdotes.
“You have witty things to say.” He sounded silly to his own ears, but he couldn’t let her put herself down.
“Your vision is clouded by my brilliance, Francis. I have witty things to say to you. Them,” she sighed. “I was out of my league. Awkward. Not graceful, not swanlike. So,” she shrugged. “Over time, I realized that I was a mouse. And that was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Though I don’t think you’re a mouse, I’d like you to elaborate.”
“I am a mouse. I’ve accepted my mousiness.” Her shoulders went up and down and she laced her fingers together in front of her. “There was no place for me among the swans. So I left. Rejoined the mouse brigades. Put a little green bow on my little mousie tail and took my place behind my keyboard. I’ve been happy ever since.”
He recalled rumors that she had dated an actor or a model or one of the Beautiful People for a time, then went underground.
“I’m glad you did,” he said, his voice quiet. “Or I would have never met you. But you’re nobody’s mouse.”
Violet waved her hand, dismissing his protests. “I’m not putting myself down. I know my limitations. Mice run with their own.” She shook her finger at him. “And before you ask, it’s different for guys with money, Francis, and soon you’ll know that for a fact.”
“Soon we’ll know it for a fact,” he corrected her. “Both of us.”
Ignoring his protests, she went on. “Not quite. You, my friend, will be a swan, by virtue of your maleness. I, on the other hand, will simply be a mouse with money.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.” Her brilliant smile made her eyes crinkle and his heart melt. “And it’s okay, you know why? Because I know where I fit in.”
He nodded, the explanation coming clear to him. “It’s always good to know where one fits in.” He moved over to where she sat on the sofa, put his arm around her. The tension hummed through her body like electricity. “I think you need to relax. You’re exhausted.”
“I’m okay. It’s just…I’ve never told anyone that before. It took me a long time to come to that realization…I don’t know.” She yawned. “I’m probably talking nonsense.”
“How have you been sleeping?”
“Fine.”
“Liar. I can feel the tension in your shoulders. You’ve been up at night?”
“No.” Her shoulders twitched under his hands.
He rubbed the space between her shoulder blades, doing his best to press the tension out of her stiff muscles. She was a mass of knots. “I know you get twitchy before software releases and these past couple of days have been rough.”
“You’re right,” she said in a soft voice. “I haven’t been sleeping. I’m nervous and upset. Aren’t you?”
The motion of his hands changed as he shrugged. “It upsets me that you’re upset.” His voice was thoughtful. “Your health is not worth this, Vee. We can get jobs somewhere else.”
“But that’s the point,” she exclaimed. “Failure is not an option.”
“Sometimes it is, Violet. Sometimes it’s the best option.”
Violet sighed. “I don’t know. The whole thing…” She trailed off. “I can’t. I’m done for the day.”
She hummed a little in response to his massage and he felt some of the tension leave her shoulder.
“Since there’s nothing we can do about it at this very second,” he slipped his hand around and palmed her breast, stroking her nipple through the flimsy fabric of her shirt. “How about you and me get a little friendly?”
“You sure know how to woo a girl,” she said, pressing his hand more firmly against her breast with her own. “You’re a delinquent is what you are.”
“Perhaps, but I’m your delinquent.” He traced the line of her neck with the barest touch of his tongue, distracting her as he unfastened her bra clasp and grasped the firm globes in his hands, rubbed slow circles around her nipples.
She shivered in his arms. “Francis,” she sighed.
“What?” He turned her arou
nd and eased her back on the sofa. Cupping her breasts in his hands, he bent over her body, his tongue tracing around the stiff peak in the center. If he wanted her to relax, to take her mind off what was going on outside the office door, this was the best way to do it.
Violet sighed and cradled his head in her hands, her body loose and pliant below his. “Nothing,” she said, her fingers tracing patterns in his hair. “Carry on.”
It was the sleepy sigh in her voice that ignited a primitive instinct, drove him to kiss her more roughly than before, pressing his body against hers.
She wriggled upward, her body nudging the erection that strained against his zipper. He fumbled at the button on her jeans, managing to unfasten them and slip them off her legs.
Though he usually took his time, arousing her with kisses, careful touches and well-placed caresses, all of his self-control shattered. He looked down at her, the warmth of her arms looped around his neck, her languorous eyes accepting.
He freed himself and hurriedly slipped on a condom and slid inside the tight heat of her body.
“Oh, Francis,” she sighed and wrapped one leg around his. “I wish…”
“What?”
She shook her head and urged him on with a sinuous movement of her hips. “Nothing. Let’s keep it friendly,” she said, pulled his head down and kissed him. For a moment, he imagined he was drowning, his lungs fighting for air. The kiss broken, he buried his nose in her hair, breathed in the sweet fragrance of her shampoo mixed with a green apple scent. He pushed into her again, holding her hips in his hands.
Violet sucked in her breath in a slow inhale and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her eyes were closed and her body pliant in his arms. He buried his face in her soft throat as he thrust, her inner muscles gripping him.
The union was fast and frantic. He pressed against her, seeking pleasure in her voluptuous body. Violet squeezed her eyes shut and gave a small cry, shuddering beneath him.
Increasing the pace of his thrusts, all rational thought fled and he let himself go, shuddering with the force of his orgasm.
He kissed her mouth, tasting the lush sweetness of her lips then bowed his head to press his lips between her breasts, experiencing the unique scent that was Violet.
“You’re not a mouse,” he said more to himself than to her.
“Francis…” She yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “I am a very satisfied mouse. Who must get dressed and go to her house.”
“You mean,” he sat up and helped her to do the same. “You don’t want to spend the night at the office?” he teased.
“As much as that would show dedication, this sofa is not the most comfortable.” She gave him a warm, wet kiss. “Although the company is.”
“Then come home with me.”
She chuckled and pulled on her clothes, shaking her head. “We both know that’s not the way to go. But you can walk me to my car.”
Chapter Ten
Late nights weren’t her friend and she felt every minute of the morning when she awoke. Grumpy and eyes gritty from lack of sleep, she raised a limp hand to Joe as she passed the entrance, not planning to chat this morning. She was beat. She’d bet dollars to donuts that the program still plaguing their servers was going to beat her today too.
“Morning, Vee.”
“Morning, Joe. How are you?”
“Doing well. You?”
“A little draggy this morning. Late night at the office.” She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“I see that. Lots of early mornings and late nights. Maybe you shouldn’t be working so hard.”
She gave a nervous laugh. How would he know about her late nights? “I like working hard.”
“But you do need some down time, right? Let me take you out.”
“What?” Take her out? Was he going to kill her? The breath whooshed out of her lungs. Her tired mind kicked into gear. Oh. Take her out on a date.
He continued like nothing had happened. “Take you out, you know, dinner. A movie.”
“Oh…Joe…really, I couldn’t. I’m…too busy. It’s a project for work. We’re very busy.”
Stepping even closer, he glanced up and down the hallway. He lowered his voice. “Think about it. The offer is always open.”
She stared at him, her hand squeezing the strap of her messenger bag. He couldn’t be serious. Regaining her senses, she took a step backward, then another. “I…have to go.” She forced a smile, ignoring the invite in Joe’s eyes. “Don’t want to be late.” Turning on her heel, she left the shop, heart pounding and not knowing what to make of the exchange.
****
Rogers stuck his hands in his coat pockets and glanced around the back parking lot. The risk of being seen back here was much less, than it was in the main parking lot, but anyone could walk out here and see him talking with someone he shouldn’t even know.
“So what do you want now?”
“How are you making out? Running on the treadmill correcting the very mistakes you’re responsible for making?”
“Like I said before, I need to make sure it’s subtle. I can’t come right out and blow the whole thing up. They’re not stupid.”
“Stupid or not, you need to put them out of their misery. The poor girl drags herself in here every morning hoping that today will be the day. I feel sorry for her.”
Rogers snorted. “She deserves it.”
Joe sneered. “Aww, what did she do to you? She hurt your widdle feelings when you asked her out or you just don’t like working for women?” He spat on the blacktop. “You might want to get used to that if you want to be successful at Avarix.”
Rogers shrugged. “Never mind. Point is, I’m waiting until closer to the deadline. That way, they have no chance of coming back. They’re smart. They might be able to pull an all-nighter and still have something for the competition.”
“What about your friend?”
“Fuck him. He refused to let me buy in, so he can go right down with her.”
Joe turned his face up to the sun, watching a hawk glide above the trees in the distance. “You’re pretty ruthless. Glad I’m not your friend.”
Rogers scuffed his shoe against the blacktop of the parking lot. “Whatever. It’s better not to mix friends with business anyway.” He glanced at his watch. “Is that it? Tell your bosses that I’m waiting for the last minute so they have no chance to rebuild it.”
“You’ve already told them.” Joe patted his shirt pocket. “I’m not your message boy.” Whistling, he walked back into the building.
****
While what seemed like the fiftieth anti-whatever program ran on the server, trying to track down the malignant code, Francis bent over his iPad, dragging his finger across the screen to get the angle just right. The second before he lifted his finger, Violet poked him on the shoulder, causing him to lose aim. The bird projectile went flying over the top of the scaffolding. The pigs grunted and giggled in mockery.
He closed his eyes and sat back in his chair, the springs squeaking in protest. "Do you know,” he enunciated each word, “how difficult that level is? How much time I’ve been working on it? I had it all set up to go.” He opened his eyes.
Violet propped her bottom against the edge of his desk. "Do tell, Francis, how difficult?"
"I've been working on it for the past ten minutes.” He stared at her, amazed as always by what he saw. She looked delicious.
She raised her eyebrows and smirked at him. "Then you must not be very good at it. Because doesn’t take me ten minutes to set up a level."
He straightened in his chair, bringing himself closer to her. A whiff of green apple scent made his mouth water.
"I'm better at a lot of other things.” He smoothed his hand over her leg.
Violet flicked her gaze away, a tiny smile playing around her lips as she rolled the fragrant candy around in her mouth.
For a moment, he wondered if she thought about him, away from the office. Wha
t did she do during those long weekends, out of his sight? Did she have someone else? Or did she spend the time like he did, missing her so much that he counted the hours when he could be back at work?
“We’re not talking about that right now.” She giggled and pushed his hand off her leg. “Get away, you.”
Francis reached out and tugged at the hem of her T-shirt. “Then what do you want to talk about?”
“Stop it.” She brushed his hand away and turned toward the iPad on his desk. “Show me what you did. Maybe I can help you.”
Resisting the urge to give her behind a quick rub, like a genie lamp that would grant him one wish, he opened the game to the failed level and let her walk him through it. Her concentration was total, focusing on calculating the angle of bird–launching until the pigs’ structure toppled, much to the glee of the attack birds. She pointed at the screen.
“You have to use the smaller birds to break down the barriers in the front before you use the big birds to knock everything else down. Simple.”
“How much time did you spend on this?”
She blinked twice before she responded. “It was easy.”
Francis pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. The blinking was a sure indication she wasn’t telling the truth. “I smell a YouTube tutorial.”
She kept her face blank and didn’t meet his eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Get your iPad,” he said. “I’ll challenge you.”
She shook her head. “You have to coach me. You’re way ahead of me.”
He snorted. “You’re full of it.”
Violet widened her eyes in outrage. “I am not! You take that back!”
“How about a bet?”
“A bet? This isn’t fantasy football. I can beat you.”
“Let’s do it then,” he said. “Feeling intimidated?”
“Hell no. It’s simple geometry.”
He smiled as his pulse raced. Setup was complete. “As long as I choose the prize.”
Violet held up one hand, palm up. “I trust you. Choose.”
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