The New Guy

by Kathryn Freeman

  ‘Are you okay?’ she whispered as they drifted off, ready to mix with the guests.

  His eyes finally met hers, bottomless dark eyes that tugged and tugged until she was drowning in their depths. ‘Don’t you worry about me, Sunshine Sam.’ He gave her the smallest of smiles, his eyes skimming her face, as if trying to imprint it to his memory. Then he nodded over to the crowd in front of them, clearly waiting to talk to her. ‘You were incredible up there. You should hear what they’re saying about the app. About you. This is your moment. Enjoy. You deserve every frigging plaudit.’

  As she accepted congratulations after congratulations though, the worry niggled. As glass after glass of champagne was thrust into her hand, it still niggled.

  Then she spotted Damien walking towards her, smiling at those who greeted him with the proprietary air of someone who thought he still belonged. Maybe now she knew what was getting to Ryan.

  ‘Damien.’ He leant towards her, as if to kiss her, and she deliberately stepped back, stretching out her hand instead. ‘Thank you for coming.’

  Irritation flashed across his face before he smothered it with a smile and shook her hand. ‘Thank you for the invitation. It’s quite some app you’ve got there, better than the one I launched. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you. I wanted to acknowledge the part you played in the development.’

  ‘No problem.’ He gave her a smooth smile. ‘Fixing the screen freeze was my pleasure.’

  She bet it was. Getting one over the guy who’d replaced him – he’d probably dined off the story ever since. ‘Actually, I meant the work you put into the mark 1 app. But I also wanted to discuss how I see things moving forward.’

  Chapter 38

  The party had moved to a swanky hotel. Sam might have scrimped on the launch for the VIPs, but when it came to the employee celebration, she’d pulled out all the stops. As Ryan gazed round the room she’d hired, complete with a private bar and enough balloons to sail an airship, he saw not just his colleagues knocking back the fizz, but their partners, too. They’ve given just as much to this company, Sam had argued when she’d mentioned the idea at the last team meeting. They’re the ones who were keeping the home together while we were working late. They should be part of the celebrations.

  That was Sunshine Sam for you. Always going the extra mile for those she cared for. He glanced around the room again, at the happy faces, and his respect for her, his awe at what she’d achieved, grew. This party wasn’t just proof of her vision, her commitment to the company. It was proof of her humanity.

  ‘What if the launch is a flop?’ he remembered saying to her. ‘Your party will be more like a wake.’

  She’d shaken her head, those eyes dancing with amusement as she’d asked. ‘Where’s your optimism, Black?’

  Now, leaning against the bar, surrounded by joy, by laughter, he wished he could find a sliver of that optimism. Instead he felt so paralysed by fear, all he wanted to do was slink away and lick his wounds.

  Angry with himself, he swigged back the rest of his pint. If he couldn’t shrug this defeatist attitude off, he might as well throw in the towel right now. And no way was he giving in that easily. Sam was worth every drop of fight he had left in him.

  First, he needed to clear his head. Pushing away from the bar, he made towards the exit.

  Once outside he bent over, hands on his knees, heaving in a breath. Second time he’d done this today. He was turning into a basket case.

  ‘There you are.’

  He jolted upright at the sound of Sam’s voice. ‘Hi,’ he managed weakly.

  ‘Hi?’ She stepped towards him, pushing into his personal space. ‘You run out before our launch party has even properly started, and that’s all you can say?’

  Christ, our launch party. She was priceless. ‘Your launch party. Your company, your success, your party.’ Wait, that wasn’t how he meant it to sound. Frustrated with himself he added. ‘I’m not having a dig. I mean it. The presentation you gave today. The way you cajoled, directed, steered the company to this point. You’re frigging awesome. You’ve earnt this.’

  ‘We’ve earnt this.’ Her expression softened as she touched a hand to his face. ‘It wouldn’t have happened without you.’

  He so desperately needed to believe it, but honesty was his thing, and honestly? It was bullshit. ‘Any software developer could have done what I did.’ Maybe not in the same timeframe, he’d give himself a point for that.

  ‘I wasn’t talking about the development side of things.’

  ‘No.’ He scratched at his head. ‘Well, I didn’t do anything else. Unless you count sleeping with the boss.’ And yeah, if she thought having a healthy sex life had helped her launch the app, he’d take it.

  She growled. Actually growled at him. ‘Will you stop calling me your boss? It’s not how I see you, and it’s not how I want you to see me.’ Abruptly she stepped away from him, then whirled round to face him. ‘The whole idea for the app updates came from that night in Cornwall, remember?’ He did, vividly, but before he could say so she was talking again. ‘You dragged me up to the cliffs.’

  ‘Led, not dragged,’ he pointed out for the sake of accuracy.

  ‘Fine. You led me to the cliffs, held me, talked to me.’ Her voice softened. ‘You told me—’

  ‘About my boring Saturday, I know. I mentioned the spam emails.’

  Her hands grabbed his. ‘That was when the idea formed. I don’t think you have any clue how much that moment meant to me personally. Not to the company, but me. How much it lifted my confidence. Two days of brainstorming brought nothing, yet you taking the time to talk to me, to listen to me, and bam. We had it.’ He opened his mouth to speak, but she pressed her finger against it. ‘We had it, Ryan. Not me. Us.’

  Us. The word bounced through his brain, and the crushing feeling returned to his chest.

  Wide blue eyes searched his, clearly waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she sighed and stepped back. ‘Are you going to tell me why you’re out here? And if it has anything to do with Damien I’m going to box your ears, because you know he means nothing to me.’

  ‘Not now, maybe.’ Looks like he’d found his voice. ‘But in a year, two years, when you’ve worked together like you did before?’ The crushing pain was back again. He almost couldn’t breathe, never mind talk.

  ‘Why would we be working together?’ Slowly her frown lifted, the confusion clearing from her eyes. ‘Oh my God, Lucas told you about Damien wanting to work for me, didn’t he? That’s why you’ve been acting all weird.’

  ‘Sure, he told me.’

  ‘You think I’m going to hire Damien?’ She raised her eyes skywards. ‘Oh, man, it’s worse than that, isn’t it? You think I’m going to hire him and, what, ask you to go? Then jump back into bed with him?’

  He forced himself to shrug. ‘Why wouldn’t you?’

  ‘Why wouldn’t I? Of all the stupid, ridiculous statements.’ She gave him a shove. ‘I told him no, Ryan. I told him I only worked with people I trusted. And as for why—’ With a huff of exasperation, she grabbed at the collar of his jacket. ‘Because you’re better than him. More decent, more honourable. Because your blunt honesty keeps things real. Because, despite all your gruff, you look out for people.’ She stared him straight in the eye. ‘Because I’ve fallen in love with you.’

  He staggered back, banging his head against the wall, his heart clamouring in his chest. ‘You what?’

  ‘You heard me.’

  He was going to have a heart attack. Right before he blacked out. She loved him? Had he heard her right, or was this just some dumb dream, and any minute now he was going to wake up in his crappy bed? Yet when he opened his eyes, she was there, right in front of him, her soft curves pressing against him, her sweet fragrance drifting up his nostrils. Her beautiful face staring at him with such open love, he had to press a hand to his chest to ease the ache. ‘I’m not good with people, I told you,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll drive yo
u crazy.’

  ‘You already do. Yet here I am.’

  ‘Yes.’ Slowly the ache disappeared, flooded by warmth, by joy. ‘Here you are.’

  Sam watched as a sense of wonder settled over Ryan’s features. She hadn’t planned on blurting out her feelings like that, but she’d been so angry with him for thinking she was stupid enough to hire a guy who hadn’t thought twice about betraying her.

  Yet now she’d told him she loved him, removed her heart from safety and handed it to him, open and vulnerable, she was terrified. Was he ready to take it from her? Did he want to take it? Or would she find him carefully, embarrassedly, giving it her back?

  ‘Christ, Sam.’ She froze as he shook his head, her heart plummeting. ‘I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.’

  She tried to laugh, but it sounded brittle even to her own ears. ‘You think I do? My track record in relationships is hardly stellar, either. One previous guy, who was so into me he went and shagged someone else.’

  ‘Don’t.’ His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking gently across it, his dark eyes intent on hers. ‘Don’t let what that git did make you feel less about yourself. You’re incredible. He forgot that for a short while and he paid the price. He lost you. Now he wants you back.’

  ‘I don’t want him.’ Her voice trembled but she couldn’t stop it. ‘I want you. I love you.’

  He shook his head, a slow smile creeping across his face. ‘I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve that, to deserve you, but if you can be the woman crazy enough to fall for the bad-tempered computer nerd, I can be the guy stupid enough to fall for the totally-out-of-his-league CEO.’ He drew in a shaky breath, his eyes searching hers. ‘I love you, too.’

  She stared back, her heart bouncing around like a crazy thing, almost too scared to believe him. ‘You don’t have to say it back if you aren’t sure. I’d rather you didn’t, in fact, because false hope is the cruellest hope—’

  ‘Since when did I ever say anything I didn’t mean?’ he interrupted as his mouth found hers. ‘I love you.’ He repeated the words again and again, interrupting them only to ply her with searing hot kisses.

  Yet beneath the pleasure, Damien’s words wouldn’t stop haunting her. ‘But will you still,’ she breathed, ‘when the shine wears off? Will you still love me when you start to feel like my underling?’

  The breath from his laughter fluttered across her face. ‘I am your underling. And it’s not stopped me so far.’ His gaze snagged hers, eyes dark and intense. ‘My ego isn’t huge. I’m happy to live in your shadow. What I hated was thinking you were ashamed of being with me.’

  ‘Ashamed? God, no.’ She felt sick, just thinking about it, thinking how he must have tortured himself. ‘The desire for secrecy was never about that. You have to believe me.’

  His smile touched his eyes. ‘You’re out here, snogging me in public. I believe you.’ And as if to prove his point, he bent to kiss her again.

  It wasn’t long before her skin felt too hot, her clothes too tight. With a final rough curse, he eased away, his breathing ragged. ‘Any chance you’ve reserved a room here?’

  She barked out a laugh. ‘As it happens, yes.’

  His eyes lit up. ‘Remind me to tell you later how in awe I am of your long-term planning.’ As her hormones struggled to settle he tugged on her arm. ‘Make that a lot later. After I’ve shown you how much I love you at least half a dozen times.’

  Dimly she became aware of him pulling her back inside. To the hotel. Where … she ground to a halt. ‘We can’t. Not yet. The party. Oh shit.’ The man was making her lose her mind. ‘We have to go back to it.’

  He smiled, a full-on sensual smile clearly designed to leave her in a puddle of lust. ‘You sure about that?’ His lips teased, his hips pressing seductively against her.

  Through the fog of arousal she remembered the text she’d received just before she came out. ‘Ah, Ryan, we need to stop.’ Breathing heavily, she took a step back. ‘Remember where we left off, please God remember, but for now we have a party to get back to.’

  He sighed, giving her a rueful smile as he adjusted his trousers. ‘It had better be worth it.’

  They walked back inside, his hand holding hers, and Sam felt a flutter of nerves. Would it be worth it? Would he be pleased? She thought yes, hoped yes, but his prickly pride made it hard to predict.

  Taking a deep breath, she strode through the door he held open for her.

  The moment he stepped inside, Ryan lurched to a stop. ‘Bloody hell.’

  Maggie, looking wonderful in a simple pink dress that added colour to her cheeks, grinned at her son before planting a smacker of a kiss on his cheek. ‘Is that any way to greet your mother?’

  ‘And your sister?’

  Erin, stunning in a long black dress that highlighted her slender figure, hugged Ryan, winking at Sam over his shoulder.

  Ryan’s gaze bounced from his mum to his sister to Sam. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘It’s quite simple,’ Sam replied, her stomach still squirming. ‘This party is a celebration for employees and their families.’

  ‘We caught the train down.’ Maggie smiled gently at her son. ‘A posh black car was waiting to bring us here.’

  ‘You should see our room,’ Erin interjected. ‘It’s sick. Two enormous beds, a shower you can walk right into, with so many shower heads it was like having a stand-up massage.’

  ‘I can’t believe you’re both here.’ Ryan looked dazed, but … not unhappy? His gaze rested on Sam. ‘That you arranged this.’

  Was there an unspoken follow up … That you paid for this. Or was she being ridiculously sensitive? ‘I can’t believe you got this app ready in less than two months, when originally I gave you an impossible deadline of three.’ She looked him dead in the eye and repeated words he’d said to her, earlier. ‘You deserve this, your mum and Erin deserve this. I’ll catch up with you later.’

  She was about to move away when his hands reached for her waist. ‘Mum, Erin, you might want to look away for a minute.’ As she heard his mum laugh, and Erin make gagging noises, Ryan’s mouth landed on hers for a long, seductive, bone-melting kiss. ‘Thanks,’ he said gruffly. ‘For thinking of them, bringing them here, for what you said to me outside … for everything.’

  Relief mixed with delight, threatening to bubble over. ‘Are you getting mushy on me, Black?’

  He let out a bark of laughter. ‘Bugger off, boss lady.’ But his smile told her he couldn’t wait for later. And his eyes, they told her he loved her.

  Ryan spent two hours catching up with his mum and sister. He watched with amusement as Erin stuffed her face with the fancy finger food, giggling over everything Lucas said. Turns out teenage girls found him legit hilarious. Go figure. And he watched with pride while his mum drank sparkling water and chatted to everyone who walked by. There was a long road ahead, but so far she’d kept to her hospital promise and stayed off the booze.

  Much as he loved having them both here though, he couldn’t wait for the party to end.

  As if she read his thoughts, Sam caught his eye from the other side of the room and smiled. Full of promise, of love, it settled over him like the softest of blankets. She knew him. He hoped she hadn’t seen the best of him yet, but she’d certainly seen the worst. Here she was though, willing to trust him with her heart.

  He wasn’t just going to see her tonight, he was going to see her for days and nights to come. His future was going to have her in it.

  How frigging unbelievable was that?

  THE END

  If you enjoyed The New Guy, you will adore The Lonely Fajita by Abigail Mann, an irresistible romantic comedy following the inimitable Elissa Evans and the unlikely mentor who teaches her the power of singlehood.

  Get your copy here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.

  You will also love Just As You Are by Kate Mathieson, a laugh-out-loud and life-affirming novel set in the bustling heart of Sydney about eve
ry woman who has ever wanted to find The One.

  Get your copy here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.

  Similarly irresistible, The First Date by Zara Stoneley is a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about what happens when the wrong guy turns up at the right time.

  Get your copy here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.

  And don’t miss the historical romance of 2020, Before the Crown by Edith Bell, which tells the story of the secret engagement between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the tempestuous wake of the Second World War.

  Get your copy here if you’re in the UK, and here if you’re in the US.

  Happy reading!

  Acknowledgements

  I love writing, but I have loved, loved, loved writing this book. Why? Because the idea was born not from me, sitting in isolation at my desk, but from a discussion with my fabulous editor, Charlotte Ledger. It’s the first time I’ve written a book with such inspiring, enthusiastic input right from the start and when it came down to writing it, I had such a clear vision of the journey Ryan and Sam would take. Thank you so much, Charlotte, and roll on the next book.

  I didn’t have such a clear vision of the actual app development process. At all. My background is pharmacy, my experience is related to the pharmaceutical industry. For what I knew about app development, even the back of a postage stamp held too much space.

  So a big thank you to my ‘app guru’ Jack Cookson for navigating through the choppy waters of technical fiction and making sure it wasn’t too crazy.

  As for the idea for the app itself, for that I have to thank the men in my life; my husband Andrew, and my sons, Harry and Ben. It was through discussions around the dinner table that the idea of the Privacy app was born. Eventually. After many wacky and utterly ridiculous ideas were shot down.

  I’d also like to thank members of the writing community, the authors and bloggers, who are always so supportive. In the case of this book, a very special thanks to a very special author. Jules Wake, this book would not have happened without you. When my head was down, you brought it back up. Thank you so, so much.