by J. K. Coi
Right into yet another hard body.
“Oh, not again. I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz today.” Instinctively, she smacked her hand over the lid of her coffee cup.
“Just what is this guy telling you?”
Ben.
As she turned and saw that Meredith Stone was standing right there beside him, she fumbled. Her heel caught in the fiber of the carpeting, and she lost her balance.
He quickly reached out to steady her. Such a simple and innocent thing, but from him it totally wasn’t. She glanced around to see who might have been watching. Were the undercurrents running between them as obvious to everyone else? Something so strong couldn’t go completely unnoticed, right?
His arm fell away almost immediately, and she felt both relief and an odd shimmer of excitement. The hint of secrecy and touch of the forbidden sent adrenaline rushing through her system.
When she glanced up, he looked calm and easy, but there was a twinkle in his eyes that was all too knowing and threatened to make her blush.
Liz brushed invisible wrinkles from her jacket and struggled to find something casual to say, afraid that anything that came out of her mouth would expose her feelings, reveal the sad fact that she was becoming more vulnerable every time she saw him.
So she looked away to try and catch her breath, only to find Meredith Stone watching her with a hard look in her eyes. “Ms. Stone,” she said, shaky. “I’ve seen you in the magazines, haven’t I? Mr. Nolan here was just telling me how very…close…the three of you are.”
Ben gave Steve a dark look. “He was, was he?”
“I think I might have given Ms. Carlson the wrong impression about our friendship,” Steve said with a chuckle. “Like maybe there’s some kind of decadent threesome going on between all of us.”
Liz choked and looked back and forth between the two men, even as her heart plummeted. “It’s none of my business.”
Meredith planted her perfectly manicured hands on her hips and glared at Nolan. “You really can’t be trusted in polite company, can you?” she said.
Steve glanced over their shoulders and suddenly tensed. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll leave it in your capable hands to clear up this misunderstanding.” He turned to Liz. “I look forward to pitting Optimus Inc. against Sharkston Co.”
From anyone else, she might have thought he was being insolent, but the respect and warmth in his tone made it obvious he considered her a serious rival. At the same time, he seemed to be able to take the whole thing the way it was meant to be taken—as good-natured competition.
Steve turned and made a beeline for the other end of the registration room. She lost sight of him just as a tall blond woman stopped in front of her and Ben. “Excuse me, the man you were just speaking with, Stephen Nolan, did he say where he was going?”
Meredith frowned. “Why? Who are you?” she said bluntly. “Was he expecting you? Do you have business with him?”
The woman focused her attention on Ben with a practiced smile and flipped her hair before snapping her hand out for his. “I’m Veronica Ash with the Times,” she said. “I’d just like to get a quote for our article. You’re his partner, aren’t you? Benjamin Harrison?”
The woman ignored Meredith and hadn’t even registered Liz’s presence. Ben shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, but perhaps we can arrange something later?” he said. “I have a few meetings this morning, and I still have to pick up my registration package.”
The woman twined her fingers together in front of her, but her voice was high and bright as she responded, “Oh of course, I’ll catch you later. Thanks for your time.”
Liz chuckled. “More interviews of the playboy genius?”
Ben threw a glance back over his shoulder and grinned. “I have a feeling she was more interested in the free trip to Antigua than the idea of covering a boring tech convention.”
“Your partner didn’t strike me as the shy type, but he seemed pretty eager to avoid her.”
Ben nodded. “Given his history, Nolan has limited patience with the press. He’ll probably go hide out at the poker game downstairs whenever he can.”
Liz froze in her tracks, dread hitting her like a Mack truck. “There’s a poker game going on at the resort?”
Ben turned and stopped in front of her. “It’s a private, invitation-only, high stakes game that goes on in the lounge pretty much twenty-four hours a day. They keep it quiet for the most part, but I’ve heard that a few people have been playing.”
“Have you played?” she asked. If so, had he seen Daniel there? Is that why her brother had been scarce lately?
“No, of course not. You know gambling isn’t my thing. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” She prayed he would let it go.
“All right then, let’s go find our conference room.”
It would have been too much to hope that Meredith and Ben weren’t planning to sit in on her pitch session, but she could handle it. Ben Harrison would not make her nervous.
She nodded and marched ahead, refusing to let him lead the way.
Was that him chuckling behind her? She glanced over her shoulder. His eyes sparkled with devilment. Yep, either that, or he’d been staring at her ass.
Maybe both.
When they arrived, she was actually glad Ben stood with her. The place was already packed with people, all of whom turned to look as the two of them entered. Their appearance together gave the impression—not exactly false—that this rivalry was all in good fun.
She took a deep breath.
“You’re going to knock ’em dead,” Ben said in her ear.
“I think I’m a little nervous,” she admitted with a shaky laugh.
“Well, you’ve got two options,” he said. “One, you just don’t think about the audience, and instead you get up there and talk about your work like you’re explaining it to your best friend.”
She turned back to him. “Why would I do that?”
“Because there’s no pressure talking to a friend, and all the excitement and enthusiasm for what you love to do will come out and be obvious to everyone here. That’s really what they all want to see, anyway.”
She was surprised he was giving her such honest advice in this moment when they were supposed to be at their most competitive, but she smiled and nodded, because he was absolutely right.
“What’s the other option?”
He grinned. “You imagine everyone in the audience naked.”
She groaned and shook her head. “I should have known you were going to come up with that.”
Since he would be up next right after her, she held out her hand. “Good luck to you,” she said. His big, warm hand closed over hers with a shocking zap, and suddenly it was all she could do to shake it casually and turn away.
She locked down her nerves and looked for Daniel. Thank God, he was already at the front of the room, and—Oh. My. God.—he was talking with Diego Vargas who was sitting front and center, with an arm thrown comfortably across the back of the empty chair beside him.
Ben followed her down the aisle to the front of the room. It would probably be rude if she told him to leave, but he could have at least stayed in the back where she wouldn’t be able to see him, couldn’t he? She decided to just ignore him.
She said hello to Vargas and shook his hand, even though her palm still bore the heat of Ben’s touch. “I didn’t think I would see you here this morning, Mr. Vargas.”
“It’s just Diego, remember?” He straightened when he saw Ben. “I know I’ve already gotten the early intro to both Optimus Inc. and Sharkston Co., and what you’re all about, but I couldn’t resist seeing what you both can do in front of a group of people.”
She and Ben both laughed. “So the pressure’s on, is it?” she said.
He grinned. “If you want to look at it that way.”
“All right then, we had better get started. Excuse me.”
She and Daniel quickly finished setting up the vi
suals for their presentation. A moment later, Laura took the podium. She smiled broadly at Daniel and gave Liz a friendly wink before turning to the audience.
“Before I introduce our guests this morning, I want to remind you of the competition we have going on this year, and the ballot box sitting on the table outside the large conference room,” she said. “Don’t forget to cast your votes for one of these dynamic companies before the closing luncheon. The winner of Tyson Wallace’s endorsement will be named at that time.”
Liz breathed deeply as she waited for the crowd to quiet down. Ben had taken the extra seat beside Diego and smiled up at her, but if he intended his presence to throw her off, he would be disappointed. Having him there was surprisingly reassuring. He was a familiar face, and as she got started, that made it easier to take his advice and speak as if she were talking to a friend—because she did have a friend in the audience.
Daniel spoke about matters of Sharkston’s corporate structure, and she fielded everything related to their product design and technology. Their thirty minutes was over before she knew it, and Laura gave the audience another fifteen minutes to ask questions, which Liz and her brother fielded easily enough. She was feeling really good about everything, but part of her expected Ben to pipe up with questions designed to undermine her company.
He didn’t say anything at all.
There were still hands in the air, and although Laura hadn’t stepped forward yet to put a stop to the discussion, Liz wanted to be fair to Ben. “Thank you for your rapt attention this morning,” she said. “So that we don’t intrude on Mr. Harrison and Mr. Nolan’s time now, I’m more than happy to answer any more questions after Optimus Inc.’s presentation.”
The audience clapped politely as she and Daniel stepped down. She followed him to the back of the room, but when he went to open the door and leave, she grabbed his arm. “Aren’t you going to stay and see how Ben and his partner do?”
He glanced back and shook his head. “Naw, it doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say that?” she whispered.
He raised a brow. “You’re going to stay, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes but…”
“Then you can fill me in later, right?”
“I suppose. You have somewhere else you need to be?”
“It’s no big deal. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay.” Resentment clouded his voice. She shook her head.
“No, you’re right. I guess there’s no reason why we both have to stay. You go. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He left without another word, and Liz leaned against the back wall to watch Ben and Nolan, but she couldn’t shake the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. As the discussion got started, though, her attention was diverted.
She realized Ben was staring over everyone’s heads, right at her. Was he taking his own advice? Talking about Optimus Inc. as if it was just the two of them? Two friends?
She caught the gleam in his eyes. No, he was using that other common strategy for speaking to large groups…imagining the crowd naked.
Imagining her naked.
A hot blush spread across her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut to escape that potent gaze…but then it was just her and his voice. His equally potent, confident, deep voice burrowing into her head until she was picturing them both naked…and sweaty…and—
She was suddenly very glad that she’d already finished her presentation. She opened her eyes. Nobody was looking at her anymore anyway, so who cared if she was blushing?
Before long, she was completely drawn into the discussion. Ben’s easy demeanor and conversational style made it easy. She was even able to forget that in his head she was probably still moonlighting without her clothes.
He was a natural in front of the audience. She was pretty sure she’d been able to mask most of her nerves, but there was no way he even had any.
When the presentation was finished, it was impossible to tell which way the audience was leaning. She stood back and tried to compartmentalize what she’d learned about Optimus Inc. this morning with what she’d already surmised from her research. There were many similarities in the technologies the two companies were developing, but what would really set them apart were the business platforms each of them had developed. She was eager to sit down later with Daniel and adjust their strategy based on this morning’s presentations.
That made her wonder just where he had been going earlier. Was the lure of a poker game so compelling that he was no longer able to focus on his job?
She noticed Meredith Stone. The woman came forward. “I was impressed with your presentation, Ms. Carlson.”
“Thank you. Please, just call me Liz.”
The room had started to empty, and Ben approached.
Meredith smiled up at him, looking sweet and alluring, femininely confident and intriguingly mysterious, all at the same time. Liz had never been even half of those things in her entire life. “You did a fantastic job,” Meredith said, touching his shoulder. Liz swallowed and pretended not to notice.
Ben grinned and turned to Liz. “Would you like to hang back, and we can discuss our plans for the workshop?”
She wrung her hands together, worried. “Do you mind if we postpone that for a little while? I’ve just remembered there’s something I need to do now.”
He frowned. “Sure, but we’ll have to get our ducks in a row as soon as we can. The workshop is tomorrow morning.”
“I know, I just—”
“Beth, talk to me. What is it? What happened? Is this about the poker game? Is your brother still getting into that kind of trouble? Is there anything I can do to help?”
He looked concerned, and she hated that he knew her family history, worse that he’d mentioned it in front of someone like Meredith. It made her feel vulnerable, but she tried to tell herself he would never use it against her.
She worked on settling her nerves and finally shook her head. She had to trust her brother. If she didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, she’d end up undermining all the hard work he’d put in to overcome his gambling problems.
“No, Daniel’s fine. Never mind. It’s nothing, and you’re right, we should get this seminar planned out. Just let me stop by the registration desk first.” She looked at Meredith. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Let me join you,” said Ben. “Mer, are you hanging out poolside today?”
“That’s the plan, but we’ll have to see how the weather holds up. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find Mr. Perfect out there, but feel free to come get me for lunch, if you’re not too busy.”
She turned to Liz and gave her a surprisingly stern once-over. Finally, she leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “Be gentle with him, Ms. Carlson. He’s a good friend, and I’d hate to see him bruised a second time by the likes of you.”
Startled by the warning, Liz jerked her gaze to Ben, who looked on with a frown creasing his forehead. But Meredith was already sauntering away.
“Was that something I should know about?”
“No, I…” She shook her head, at a loss. Was it true? Had she actually hurt Ben? She’d never really thought about it that way. She supposed she’d just believed that his proposal had been more about their work, and by kissing her, Ben had kind of thrown that other thing out there as a “what if.” When she shot it down for obvious reasons, he’d just shrugged it off and continued on his way…at least that’s exactly what he’d seemed to do. “It was nothing.”
Twenty minutes later, she sat at a conference table and flipped open her notebook, trying very hard not to notice the way his body moved as he took off his suit jacket and placed it over the back of a chair.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, taking a chair right beside her instead of sitting across the table.
She nervously tapped her pen to the page. “What? Why?”
“I remember that look. It’s the coding look. You’re trying to figure something out, solve a puzzle.” He smiled and lifted
his finger to trace the furrow in her brow. “So, what is it?”
“What’s the real deal between you and Meredith?” She regretted asking as soon as the words passed her lips and shook her head. “Never mind. I wasn’t going to…it’s really none of my…”
“No, it’s fine.” He sat back in his chair. “I should have laid that out before now.”
“So, is she or isn’t she your girlfriend? Or Steve’s girlfriend?” She raised an eyebrow. “Or…both?”
“Neither,” he said. “Really.”
“Because it just looked…I mean, she’s really gorgeous, and all of you seem really close. She’s the one who dragged you to Antigua before, isn’t she? And I…we…I just don’t want to get in the middle of something.”
He leaned in toward her, bracing his elbows on his knees. “You’re really gorgeous, you know that?”
“Ben, be serious,” she said. “You do know how to do that, right?”
“Yes, I know how to do that.” He was so close to her now she could see the flecks of cobalt in his deep blue eyes. “Meredith is a friend. We tried the dating thing for a while—hence all the magazine photos—but it was apparent very quickly that I wasn’t really her type.”
“Why not?”
He chuckled. “You sound offended on my behalf. I’m flattered.”
She smacked him in the shoulder. “Just keep talking.”
With a cheeky grin, he grabbed his arm like she’d fatally wounded him, but then he sobered and said, “I was supremely uncomfortable with all the society events. It’s a whole other life that Meredith has a place in, but we couldn’t quite find a way for me to fit into it.”
“Were you not pretentious and boring enough?”
“How did you know? Wait, don’t tell Meredith I said that.” He laughed.
“From the day we met, you showed an interest in two things: coding and reckless escapades, and I have a feeling that neither of those goes well with tuxedos, golf, and orchestra music.”
“Truthfully, she’s a wonderful person. She was there for me when Olsen killed himself, and we’ve become really good friends.”
“I noticed that.” She tried not to sound jealous. It wasn’t jealousy she felt. She didn’t know what it was exactly. Hell, maybe it was jealousy. Not because she was worried that he had a thing for the woman…maybe she was jealous that he’d found friendships in New York that meant as much to him as their friendship had meant once.
