by Bru Baker
Dedication Thanks to everyone who cheered me on along the way, especially Shannon and my husband Ross for their eternal patience as I tried out my computer geek pick-up lines on them.
Chapter One
SOME days Parker thought the interoffice instant messenger system was a godsend—like when he was battling a deadline and could close out the outside world, not leaving his office for practically days on end. He was certain his assistant, Luke, didn’t agree, since Parker mainly used the technology to harass him from afar, safe in the inner sanctum of his office while Luke sat outside and was forced to act as a gatekeeper.
He had been in the office all night, catching a few sparse hours of sleep on his—admittedly comfortable—sofa before rousing himself at 5:00 a.m. to start anew on Anderson Industries’ proposal to buy out Johnson & Co., Ltd. His father expected it on his desk in twenty-five minutes, and Parker was going to be cutting it close to make the deadline, so it was with great annoyance that he realized Luke was instant messaging him, despite his orders not to be bothered.
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:29 AM): Mr. Anderson wants you in his office in five. ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:30 AM): I have a mirror in the bathroom. I don’t need to make an appointment to see myself, thanks.
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:35 AM): Very funny, Parker. Get your ass out here, your father wants to see you NOW.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:35 AM): Is it wise to use that tone to your boss via IM, Luke? Hard evidence for your future firing and all that.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:36 AM): And also: ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:36 AM): N
Parker Anderson (08/14/2012 8:36 AM): O
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:37 AM): I have a key, you know. I could come in there and *make* you come out.
ParkerAnderson(08/14/2012 8:39 AM): I’d like to see you try.
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:41 AM): Parker
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:44 AM): Parker! ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:45 AM): Settle, Luke. I’m e-mailing it to you now. Just two copies at the moment, collated and stapled. I’m sure His Highness will have changes.
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:45 AM): And you call ME insubordinate. He’d fire you if he saw that. ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:46 AM): Then it’s a good thing I know you’re unfailingly loyal, isn’t it?
LukeJacobs (08/14/2012 8:47 AM): Many refreshes have shown no document. Hurry up. ParkerAnderson has signed out of chat. Parker’s stomach dropped as he watched his computer freeze, flicker, and then reboot. He held his breath, counting out the seconds the way his friend Greg’s girlfriend, Jill, had taught him. She was a yoga devotee, and even though he still thought any activity that required that much quiet and contemplation was not a sport, he did have to grudgingly agree that her meditation techniques had helped him get a handle on his infamous temper. He’d gone through six assistants in eighteen months before Luke had come to him, and that had been four years earlier. He credited it both to Jill’s anger management coaching and Luke’s absolute refusal to take him seriously. It helped that Luke had known him since college. It meant he knew when to joke around and when to take Parker seriously. So when Parker threw the door to his office open, panicking as he bellowed for Luke to call the tech department to get someone up there immediately before disappearing back inside without another word, Luke calmly picked up the phone and did just that.
Parker paced his office, casting a glance at his blank computer screen every thirty seconds or so. That was the amount of time it took to pace two figure eights around his office, skirting the couch and the worktable he’d had installed a few years earlier, since his desk was far too expensive and impractical for him to bother actually working on it.
All he had to do was send it to Luke to be printed and collated. Fifty pages of research and strategy that were currently lost in the ether, since he hadn’t backed up the data anywhere else, and he hadn’t had a chance to send it to Luke before the computer crashed.
Crashed. Parker snorted, looking from the computer to the door again, his anger growing as minutes slipped by without the arrival of a computer tech. Anderson Industries had an enormous technical department, larger than most of the others at comparable companies, because Richard Anderson had been a programmer himself before amassing his conglomerate. As a result, he was willing to sink a fair amount of Anderson Industries’ operating budget into technology and the staff to maintain it. They had a stable of top-notch programmers as well, not that Parker had the faintest idea what they did. The tech department fell under Parker’s purview as vice president of operations. It handled maintenance and installation on all the things like computers and phones, and that was all he needed to know. His father oversaw the programming division, since it was part of the corporation’s research and development section. A section Parker desperately wanted to handle. That was the reason he’d thrown himself into the Johnson & Co. buyout; he needed to be able to prove to his father that he hadn’t studied business at Harvard just to be in charge of departments that did things like buy office supplies, pay the electric bills, and fix computers.
Parker growled when he looked at his watch. He had nine minutes to retrieve the report, print it, and be at his father’s office. He spent the first two of them contemplating firing everyone in the tech department, a threat he would to follow through on cheerfully if someone didn’t come through the door in the next thirty seconds to fix his goddamn computer.
Forty seconds later, the door burst open without so much as a knock. A tall dark-haired man practically fell through it, tripping over the threshold and nearly dropping the laptop he carried. Luke’s head popped in the doorway a second later.
“Mason Pike here to see to your computer,” he said, meeting Parker’s eye with a half smile. “Sir.”
Parker clenched his jaw, rounding on the man with the laptop and ignoring Luke’s teasing honorific. “Pike, is it? Do you realize who I am? I could have your job for your tardiness. When the vice president of operations sends for you, you drop everything and come.”
Luke stifled a laugh and closed the door behind him, leaving Parker staring after the tech, who paid him no attention, making a beeline for the laptop Parker had left on the table.
“You do know that I am your boss’s boss, do you not, Pike?”
Mason ignored him, long, deft fingers poking and prodding at slots Parker hadn’t even known his laptop had. Within seconds, he’d turned it over, taken a screwdriver out of his pocket, and removed what Parker assumed was the hard drive. Before he could protest, the drive was dropped into a strange device plugged into the laptop Mason had brought with him.
“I don’t have time for this. You were supposed to fix my laptop, you imbecile, not break it further. I’m supposed to be in the CEO’s office in—” He checked his watch, his heart plummeting. “—four minutes with that presentation. My future at Anderson Industries might not depend on it, but yours definitely does!”
“File name?” Mason sounded completely unbothered, which only made Parker sputter more. Was he too stupid to realize that Parker had just threatened to fire him? That didn’t bode well.
When Mason glanced up, an impatient look creasing his features, Parker’s fists clenched. Mason rolled his eyes, repeating the words slowly, as if he was talking to a not particularly gifted four-year-old, Parker answered out of sheer shock that anyone would address him like that.
“Johnsonbuyout, no spaces.”
“Doc file, yeah?”
“I—of course. Listen, you—”
Parker trailed off as Mason began to type furiously, his face lighting with a triumphant grin a second later. It took Parker’s breath away. With only a smile, Mason had gone from pale and gawky to outright beautiful. Parker’s mind processed the change sluggishly as Mason continued to type, then
finally closed the lid on the laptop he’d been working on. He scooped both it and Parker’s laptop into his arms.
“Where are you going? Didn’t I just tell you how important that presentation is?” “You did. Although rumor has it you’ll never head up R and D without acing this presentation, so I guess my job is safe in the event you bomb.”
Parker’s mouth hung open. There were rumors about him wanting the research and development slot? He couldn’t believe anyone would dare gossip about the CEO’s son. Of course, by the same token, he wasthe CEO’s son. Of course people would gossip. He’d fought against the belief that he’d only been named vice president of operations because he was Richard’s son. He should have expected the rumor mill would be working in full force over his bid at a promotion to company president. Not that it would matter—without successfully wooing his father with his prowess at the Johnson & Co. buyout, Parker didn’t have a chance. Geoffries, the current president, had made no secret of the fact that he was planning to retire at the end of the year. Parker just hadn’t realized everyone knew how badly he wanted to be named in his place.
“Word on the street is that Stephen has a proposal for Johnson & Co. too,” Mason said smugly, tucking the laptops tighter under his arm as he walked past Parker, who was still standing in the middle of his office, gaping.
“And you now have—” Mason checked his watch, or what Parker assumed was his watch. It was a band of steel with dozens of holes in it, and some of them were lit with different colors. Mason looked up and grinned, noticing Parker’s fixation on it. “It’s a Tokyoflash Fire. Brilliant, eh? Anyway, you have three minutes. And Richard’s office is at least two minutes from here, if the elevator’s cooperating, so you’d better dash.”
“I—” Parker stammered, too confused by Mason and his odd watch and his completely inappropriate manner, not to mention his gorgeous ass—and where did that thought come from? Parker wondered—to respond.
“He’s on the twentieth floor. Big office. Can’t miss it. Get off the elevator and turn left,” Mason prompted, speaking slowly again. “Future of your job, remember?”
Parker snapped out of his fugue, glaring at Mason. “I can’t very well march in there without my presentation now, can I?” he snapped, his stomach churning. He’d heard rumors that Stephen was working up a proposal about Johnson & Co. too, which Mason had just confirmed. Parker’s brow furrowed as the rest of what Mason said sank in. “Wait, you work in R and D? I called for a tech.”
“Your man Luke wanted the best. That’s me,” Mason said with a huge grin. He waved the laptops at Parker. “I’ll drop these by the tech department on my way back. I’m sure they’ll send someone with a replacement for you soon. After all, you actually canfire them. Your presentation’s ready. I sent it to Richard’s secretary’s printer. You should have just enough time to grab it before you barrel in there.”
Mason snickered at what Parker assumed was the look of outright loathing on his face.
“You’re welcome.” Parker waited a beat after Mason disappeared through the doorway, feeling disoriented and off balance. Then he glanced at his own watch, a perfectly sensible Baume & Mercier that had set him back nearly $2,220, and bit back a curse when he realized Mason had been right. If he wanted to get to his father’s office on time, he’d have to run.
MasonPike (08/14/2012 7:34 PM): I have the card to fill your empty slot.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 7:44 PM): Is that some sort of computer geek pickup line? MasonPike (08/14/2012 7:45 PM): ROTFL. No. Would I dare antagonize the prince of Anderson Industries?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 7:47 PM): I have an external hard drive for you. So you can back up your files.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 7:50 PM): Do they really call me the prince of Anderson Industries?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 7:55 PM): Aren’t you? You’re Richard’s son, and he’s the king…. ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:01 PM): Here’s a little bit of free advice. If my father ever hears you calling him the king, he’ll have your head. You’ll be lucky to get a job shining shoes in the lobby.
MasonPike (08/14/2012 8:05 PM): I doubt that. I called him “sire” when he called me in this afternoon to go over your proposal for Johnson & Co. and left with my head intact.
MasonPike (08/14/2012 8:06 PM): So, that hard drive. Do you want it? ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 8:10 PM): My father told YOU about my proposal?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 8:15 PM): I looked at yours and Stephen’s. And yes, I recommended yours. You have some pretty good insights into the future of software development for someone who doesn’t even back up his own data.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:02 PM): Thanks. MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:02 PM): NP
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:03 PM): What are you still doing here, by the way?
MasonPike(08/14/2012 9:04 PM): You’re not the only one who’s been known to sleep in your office, your highness.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:06 PM): What do you do in the R&D department, anyway?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:07 PM): I’m surprised you didn’t have Luke pull my file after I left. I’m the enterprise architect.
MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:07 PM): We have a big release coming up.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:08 PM): Was *that* a pickup line?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:10 PM): Trust me, if I was propositioning you, you’d know.
ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:11 PM): Good to know. MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:41 PM): Still here? ParkerAnderson (08/14/2012 9:44 PM): What do you think?
MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:45 PM): I think you
should take me up on this hard drive I’m offering you. I guarantee it’s the biggest you’ve ever seen. MasonPike (08/14/2012 9:45 PM): And, in case you were wondering, THAT was a pickup line. I’m heading home. My roommate might snore like a freight train, but it’s better than folding myself onto that lumpy couch again. Later, Prince Parker.
MasonPike has signed out.
Parker barked out a laugh when he came back from making coffee and saw what Mason had written. He actually had asked Luke to pull Mason’s employment file for him after he’d met with his father. Mason had a degree in cognitive science from Berkeley and a master’s in software engineering from MIT. He’d been with Anderson Industries since he was a graduate student, starting as an intern and then hired on as a software engineer after he’d graduated. His personnel file gave his official title as “Mason Pike, Chief Enterprise Architect,” but Parker had also found a business card of Mason’s tucked into the pocket in the file that proclaimed him “Mason Pike, Court Magician under the reign of King Richard Anderson.” Luke had told him it was common among the R & D higher-ups, especially programmers, to choose their own titles, with Richard’s blessing. Parker definitely would like to get to know the person who had the courage to not only call his father “king” but also proclaim it on his business cards.
He grinned at the computer, feeling oddly elated by the banter he and Mason had going. He stretched, looking longingly at his car keys. He really should stay to get ahead on things, since he was sure the Johnson & Co. buyout was going to take up a lot of his time, if his father and the board decided to go with his proposal. Mason’s backward compliment flitted through his mind, and Parker smiled, snapping the lid of his new laptop shut. Actually sleeping in his own bed for once would be nice, he decided, grabbing his bag to leave the office for the first time in more than seventytwo hours.
Chapter Two
LUKE was grinning from ear to ear when Parker passed his desk at eight the next morning. Part of the reason Parker worked so late and often slept over in his office was that he wasn’t a morning person. It had taken every ounce of his iron will—plus the excitement of probably seeing Mason again—to pry him out of his warm bed when the alarm had gone off two hours ago. After spending more than an hour in heavy morning traffic, Parker was in poor temper and remembering why he often opted for his comfortable sofa. His sizable corner office on the sixteenth floor was comple
te with an en suite bathroom and shower, so Parker figured he wasn’t the first Anderson executive to burn the midnight oil more often than not. His father certainly had when Parker had been a child; Parker had rarely seen him, even after his mother had died and Richard had been all Parker had had left.
“You went home.” Luke sounded pleased. “Don’t sound so surprised,” Parker grumbled, taking a stack of newspapers and his morning coffee from the corner of Luke’s desk. “I don’t stay here that often.”
Luke rolled his eyes but couldn’t contain the smile that made him look like a giddy schoolboy. His desk chair skidded across the floor as he hurried to stand when Parker opened the door to his office.
“He came by this morning. Said he was delivering something you’d asked for,” Luke said, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation.
“Who?” Parker knew exactly who, but he didn’t want to give Luke any additional fuel for his teasing. From the look on Luke’s face, he wasn’t fooled.
“So what is it?” Luke leaned over Parker’s shoulder as he peered at the small black box that sat on his worktable, right beside where he normally put his computer. Parker was irrationally pleased that Mason had noticed he didn’t work at his monstrosity of a desk.
“External hard drive,” Parker said, giving Luke a pointed look of exasperation. “Oh,” Luke said, his face falling. “After yesterday, when you had me pull his file—well. The last time you had me do that was for Scott, and before him it was for Clark and Charles. I just thought, you know. It seemed like there’d been a spark.”
Parker’s love life had been lackluster of late. He rarely went out, spending most of his time at work. When Luke and Greg did manage to drag him away, it was usually to the bar after a pickup football game. Not exactly the best place to meet people. His last three relationships had been with people from Anderson Industries, which he knew his father frowned on. Still, they’d been from the R & D side, not his side, so Parker had figured it wasn’t an abuse of power.
