Opposites Attract (Nerds of Paradise Book 1)

by Merry Farmer

“There,” Rita said, leaning closer. She pointed over to a group of four guys and two girls looking particularly out of their element near a table stacked with chips and dips of all descriptions. One of the guys was Asian and had his arm around one of the girls, but the other three men definitely didn’t look as though they were involved with the remaining woman. “Let’s start there.”

  As a group, they headed across the carpeted planetarium. One of the guys in the group they’d targeted noticed that they’d been singled out and alerted the rest. Casey’s heart beat faster at the sight of him. He was tall with sandy hair and a strong jaw. True, he wore glasses, but damn, they looked good on him. He looked like he worked out and would be more comfortable in a t-shirt…or nothing at all. Best of all, he smiled directly at Casey as their group approached. Not Melody and Calliope, not the Templesmith sisters, he smiled at her.

  Casey glanced up at the starry ceiling, irrationally picking a star and making a wish. It was about time she met a guy she could wrap herself around. Maybe this was the night she would remember for the rest of her life. Maybe that guy was—

  “Hey, ladies.”

  Casey’s thoughts and their group’s progress across the room was stopped by the oily, smarmy voice of Ronny Bonneville.

  “Hi, Ronny,” Melody answered for them. She always had been the nicest. “Hi, Mark, Tony.” She smiled at the two guys flanking Ronny.

  Casey managed a half-hearted smile for Mark and Tony, which they returned with far more interest than she was comfortable with. In fact, Ronny’s two friends—or rather, minions—looked like they’d won the lottery with Casey, Melody, Calliope, Sandy, and Rita standing in front of them.

  “What a stupid party, am I right?” Ronny asked in his most smarmy voice.

  “Way overdone,” Mark agreed.

  “Totally too much,” Tony added quickly.

  “Actually, I think it’s fabulous,” Sandy said, crossing her arms.

  It was a little too dark to tell in the vast room, but Casey was pretty sure Ronny turned an unflattering shade of red. “Oh, well, yeah, if you say so, Sandy.” He sidled closer to her, his grin downright gross. “You have the best taste of anyone in town.”

  Casey pressed her lips together to keep herself from bursting into laughter. She shot a sideways look to Melody, who was trying hard to keep it together as well.

  “Of course, Dad could out-do this shindig in his sleep,” Ronny went on. “As mayor, he could draw in the best caterers, the finest decorations, and top-tier entertainment.”

  “Like Beyoncé,” Mark seconded.

  “Or Denzel Washington,” Tony said. “You know, your kind of people.”

  Casey cringed, caught between disgust in Mark and Tony and dread-filled excitement over how Sandy and Rita would react. She’d pay good money to see the two sisters school Ronny and his buddies on manners, among other things.

  Rita looked ready to explode, but Sandy leveled Ronny with a flat stare. “Excuse us,” she said, stepping around Ronny as if squashing him under her three-inch Louboutins.

  “Ugh, they’re the worst,” Calliope hissed as the five of them walked on.

  “They’re in their thirties,” Melody agreed. “You think they’d’ve learned how to act like humans by now.”

  Sandy just humphed and arched one perfect brow.

  “Well, I for one am not going to let it ruin my evening,” Casey said, sending one final, dismissive glance over her shoulder to Ronny and his offensive friends, who looked like they had no clue what had just happened to them.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Sandy said. When Casey turned to her, she found her friend smiling sympathetically. Sandy caught Casey’s arm and hugged it. “It’s about time you shook off that funk of yours and embraced life again.”

  Casey didn’t know whether to be encouraged or taken aback. “I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

  “Oh, we know,” Melody said with her usual cheeriness.

  But Casey was sure the looks her friends were exchanging in the dim planetarium were overly concerned and mothering. Which was wonderful of them, of course, but at the same time….

  “Excuse me.”

  Casey’s thoughts and her steps stopped abruptly. She came within inches of slamming squarely into someone. Not just anyone, him. The hot guy with glasses who she’d made eye contact with across the room. He’d stepped away from his group and was on his way across the room—possibly to meet her, if she could believe it—and she’d been too busy being grumpy about her friends’ concern for her that she’d almost walked into him.

  And the only thing she could manage to get past her lips was, “Huh?”

  He smiled—like warm caramel dribbling over smooth, vanilla ice cream.

  “We’ll just leave the two of you to get acquainted,” Calliope whispered. Her friends rushed off to where the rest of hot nerd guy’s group was standing, watching.

  And just like that, Casey was face to face with the tastiest guy she’d ever seen.

  Chapter Two

  There was a world of difference between Los Angeles and Haskell, Wyoming. The landscape was different, the mindset was different, and the parties were definitely different.

  “Not what you were used to in L.A., I bet,” Hero Yamaguchi, one of Scott’s new co-workers, commented.

  Scott laughed. “Not at all.”

  “Better, right?” Hero grinned.

  “Much.”

  “You’re just saying that because your bride is a local,” Denise, Hero’s new wife, said. She and Hero each had an arm around the other, and Denise glanced up at him in adoration.

  “I’m saying that because it’s true,” Hero protested, then stole a kiss.

  Scott’s heart did a weird flip into his stomach. It wasn’t like he was a romantic or anything, but in the few weeks since he’d known them, Hero and Denise had renewed his sense of what true love was. It was no surprise to him that true love was miles away from his relationship with Brenda—mercifully over now after six years. What did surprise him was the bubbling restlessness of being single and the unexpected ache that made him look at every woman coming through the planetarium doors as if she might be The One.

  “Well, I’m already a fan of Wyoming,” Laura, another one of Scott’s team members said. “The number of dinosaur fossil sites within a day’s drive of here alone makes this place heaven, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Scott grinned. Laura was an enigma. Pretty, in a plump sort of way, brilliant, and as obsessed with dinosaurs as she was with rocket propulsion. She’d been one of the first people he’d hired for his Paradise Space Flight team. She was the kind of woman they made those ugly duckling-to-swan movies about, and yet he wasn’t attracted to her romantically.

  “Have you had a chance to check out any of the sites?” Dennis, another of Scott’s team members, asked her.

  Laura shook her head. “Not yet. There hasn’t exactly been a lot of time after work, what with setting everything up.”

  Dennis nodded, and Scott’s other team member standing with them, Will, grunted. “I’ve barely had time to unpack my things,” he said.

  “There will be plenty of time for that later.” Laura shrugged. “Even if the project stays on schedule, we’ll be here for years.”

  Will merely nodded, which made Scott grin. He wasn’t sure he’d heard his serious, analytical new friend say more than five words together outside of work meetings.

  “At least there’s time to socialize,” Hero said, upbeat as always.

  “Yeah, because Mr. Haskell ordered it,” Dennis laughed.

  “Don’t call him ‘Mr. Haskell,’” Denise warned, holding up her free hand. “Everyone in Sweetwater County knows that the Haskell men traditionally demand that people call them by their first name only.”

  “Yeah, but it just feels wrong to call a man with that much capital and vision ‘Howie,’” Dennis protested.

  “Howie Four,” Laura corrected, giggling.

  “It sounds lik
e some sort of superhero movie sequel,” Scott said. He searched the room to see if their enigmatic boss had arrived at the party yet.

  “I think that’s the point,” Laura said.

  She went on to say something else, but Scott didn’t hear what it was. His full attention had suddenly been snapped to the planetarium doors as a group of five dazzlingly beautiful women walked in. Well, two of them were as striking as models—tall, slender, dark-skinned, and probably sisters, judging by their similar, exotic features. Two of them were more hippie chic, with masses of curly hair and flowy dresses.

  But it was the fifth one, the brunette with long, straight hair and killer curves, that sucked in all his attention. Even across the vast planetarium packed with people, he could sense something different about her energy. She radiated spirit and spark. Her dress wasn’t as fancy as her friends, but it fit her perfectly. She wore boots instead of heels and no jewelry as far as he could see. She was as different from Brenda as a rose was from motor oil, and yet Scott just had to meet her.

  One of the elegant black women gestured in Scott’s direction, and all of the ladies looked to see what she was pointing at.

  “Hey guys,” Scott said, alerting the others that they were under scrutiny. He didn’t pull his eyes away from the brunette, though, and he was rewarded for it. She glanced up, met his eyes, and as far as Scott was concerned, it was game over.

  “Well, well,” Dennis said as the ladies started to make their way across the planetarium to them. He adjusted his bow-tie as he spoke. “Looks like we’re about to do what Howie Four wants us to do and mix.”

  “Good luck with that,” Laura laughed.

  “Hey now, one of these handsome hunks is already taken,” Denise said, squeezing Hero tighter.

  Hero chuckled. “Girls? What girls? I only see my beautiful wife.”

  Scott glanced away from the approaching beauties long enough to wink at Hero. The man was smart, and not just when it came to rocket propulsion.

  When Scott looked back at the ladies, his brunette in particular, they’d been waylaid by three other party guests. Ronny Bonneville—who Scott had been introduced to when he first arrived in town, much to his regret—was clearly hitting on the taller of the black women. She wasn’t having any of it, by the look of her, which made Scott smirk. His own interaction with Ronny Bonny had involved the man bragging about being the mayor’s son and sitting on the town council, which put him in a position to get Scott whatever he wanted, including building permits for the off-grid house Scott planned to construct on the land he’d just bought. The interaction had reeked of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Watching Ronny get shut down by a woman was more entertaining than it probably should have been.

  At the same time, he hated the thought of the brunette having what could be a good time ruined by the likes of Ronny and his cronies.

  “Excuse me for a second, guys,” he told his friends, then started across the room toward the ladies without looking back at his buddies.

  He thought he heard, “Go, Scott. Knock ’em dead,” from Laura behind him.

  It turned out that the ladies had what it took to shake Ronny and his friends off after all, and before Scott reached the group, they were already moving on. Although the brunette looked a little distracted by something one of her friends had said to her. Her brow was slightly creased, and Scott got the impression she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going. In fact, she nearly bumped right into him as they came close to crossing in the center of the dim room.

  “Excuse me,” Scott said, half to prevent her from walking into him and half to make sure she didn’t walk right past him without stopping.

  She blinked up at him. It was hard to tell in the low light of the room, but he thought she blushed as she said, “Huh?”

  Scott grinned from ear-to-ear. It wasn’t so much the satisfaction of knowing he had an immediate effect on her so much as the sweetness and unpolished openness of her reaction. Brenda would never have let herself show such honesty.

  And that was the last time he was going to think about his ex.

  One of the brunette’s friends whispered something, and seconds later, the four other ladies walked on. Scott wasn’t tempted to see where they went. He had everything he wanted right in front of him.

  “Nice party,” he said. It sucked as far as opening lines went, but it got the job done.

  “Yeah.” The brunette stood a little straighter and put on a more focused smile. “This building is amazing. I’ve only ever seen it from the outside, and frankly, it sticks out like an eyesore compared to the rest of the buildings in town.”

  Scott chuckled. “Yeah, I did notice that a modern glass structure doesn’t exactly belong in the middle of a bunch of beautiful nineteenth-century homes and businesses.”

  The brunette relaxed a little, rolling her eyes. “Well, that’s Howie for you. But I gotta say, I forgive him entirely now that I’ve seen the inside of this place.”

  They both looked up at the impressive canopy of stars projected on the planetarium’s dome for a moment. Scott racked his brain to come up with the best way to make an awesome first impression with the charming brunette.

  “So you work here?” she asked, beating him to it.

  “Yeah. I’m project manager for the H1 rocket propulsion system.”

  The brunette blinked. “Wow. That sounds really…specific.”

  Scott laughed, shifting his stance to be more casual. “Pretty much all jobs in engineering get that specific, although with the space flight industry, there’s a lot more at stake.”

  “Really? Like what?” She smiled, crossing her arms and looking interested in more than just what he had to say.

  The engineer in Scott could have launched into a deep, technical explanation of rocket systems, plasma engines, logistical considerations, and long-term aims of space flight companies in general and PSF in particular, but something told him that would send the brunette running.

  “Rockets are highly complex and specialized equipment,” he said, praying he could find the balance between not talking down to her and not burdening her with more info than she needed. “And Paradise Space Flight is a brand-new company. We’re aiming to design rockets capable of launching commercial satellites as well as running supply missions to the International Space Station, or any future space stations, from the ground up.”

  “So, you’re designing space supply trucks,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  Scott laughed. “Something like that. Though between you and me—” He leaned closer to her and caught a whiff of a delicate, flowery perfume. “—I’d love to design a transport vessel to take people much farther than the Earth’s orbit.”

  “Science fiction much?” she asked, though there wasn’t the usual sort of judgment in her eyes that his far-reaching dreams usually provoked in people.

  Scott shrugged playfully. “Fiction can become reality if you work hard enough at it.” And before she could tease him more about rockets and dreams, he went on with, “Can I get you something to drink?”

  Her smile widened, and the light of the projected stars above them danced in her eyes. “I’d love that. I’ll come with you.” She brushed her hand against his arm as the two of them swayed into motion, heading for one of the bar stations at the side of the room. “I’ve barely had a chance to look around, but it seems like Howie pulled out all the catering stops tonight.”

  “He did, although in all honesty, I would have been just as happy with homemade treats,” Scott said as they reached the bar.

  “Really?” Her smile widened even more. “Do you cook? I’ll just have white wine,” she told the bartender.

  “Make mine red,” Scott said, then answered her with, “I do, actually. Maybe it’s a California cliché, but I enjoy cooking all-natural, organic stuff.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re a vegetarian.” She made a teasing face at him as the bartender handed her a glass of white wine. “You
’re in beef country now, after all.”

  “I’m not a vegetarian,” he laughed, taking his own glass. “But would you hold it against me if I said I prefer to eat organic meat whenever possible?”

  She fixed him with an assessing look that actually made Scott nervous. It dawned on him that, in fact, they were in beef country, and there was a good chance she was associated with one of the local, commercial ranches.

  After a heart-stopping moment, her teasing grin returned. “Looks like I’m going to have to bring you out to our ranch and give you a lesson in why organic is not the be all and end all, and why commercially-produced beef is not a blight to civilization.”

  Scott’s mind raced. So she was a rancher. He hoped he hadn’t offended her. Then again, she was still standing there. She hadn’t thrown her drink at him and marched off.

  “Sounds like a fabulous idea,” he said. “I’d love to learn more. That is, if your boyfriend doesn’t mind.” It was lame, yes, but he had to know.

  “Ha.” She gave him a flirty smack on the arm with her free hand. “Real smooth. And no, I don’t have a boyfriend.” She took a sip of her wine, gazing up at him from under long lashes as she did. If that wasn’t an invitation to apply for the job of boyfriend, he didn’t know what was.

  “You don’t suppose you’d be available to start my education over dinner on Friday, would you?” he asked.

  Her expression warmed considerably, and not from the wine. “Maybe,” she said with sassy splendor. “As long as you promise to be a good pupil.”

  Scott’s pulse pounded. His hopes soared. He hadn’t had this instant of a connection with a woman in ages. His hormones were fist-pumping all over the place.

  “I promise to be a saint,” he replied in an admittedly over-the-top purr. She reacted well, though, laughing low in her throat and maintaining eye-contact with him. “I’m just missing one thing, though.”

  “Really?” she asked in an equally sexy purr. “What’s that?”

  “Your name.”

  Her purr turned into an outright laugh, and her flirty demeanor dropped to something simpler and equally attractive. She held out her hand. “Casey Flint.”