The Nerds and the CEO (The Nerd Love Equation, #5) Read online

  In his fantasy, Antonio sucked and licked. The taste of precum ghosted on his tongue. In real life, with the heat of the shower pounding into his back, he stroked his erection in time with the visions in his head. He lost track of time, as the daydream overlapped the real world. Justin tightened his grip on Antonio’s hair, thrusting hard and desperate. He growled when he climaxed, spurting hot, salty fluid against the back of Antonio’s throat.

  Antonio came hard, shudders wracking his body as he squirted against the tile. Sticky white covered his hand. He kept jerking until he was raw and spent. His pulse hammered in his ears, and his heart scraped his ribs. He stood still for several minutes, using one hand to keep himself upright, while his shaky legs struggled to steady themselves. Once he was put together enough—mentally to think, and physically enough to stand—he finished his shower. With the pleasant traces of dream and fantasy hovering at the back of his thoughts but no longer clouding them, maybe he could get some work done.

  It would be even better if the subjects of both decided they could get along, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

  EMILY GRABBED A TOASTER pastry out of the box in the cupboard and made a note, using the pad on the fridge, that they needed more. “How did you get the dataset to scale for that many users and still return real-time results?”

  “Industry secret. You’re not the only genius in the house.” Cynthia sat at the kitchen table, tablet to one side and coffee in front of her. She and Emily were discussing a breakthrough Cynthia had with her development and where to go next. “Seriously, though. If you have time this weekend, I’ll show you. It’s kind of a hack, but it works amazingly well. And don’t think I didn’t notice you changing the subject.”

  “Who? Me?” Emily laughed. “We were done with the previous conversation.”

  Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Right. Let’s gloss over the fact that your new contract is the guy you went home with, Saturday night. The sexy geeky guy with the bad pickup lines.”

  “Who hates what my job stands for and understands professional boundaries as well as anyone.” Emily stuck out her tongue. “Yes. Let’s please not dwell on that.” She took another bite of her food, just as her phone rang.

  “Let the poor woman finish breakfast before you hound her,” Cynthia yelled playfully at the chiming device.

  Emily wished it was that easy to get a phone to shut up. Grant’s name was on the screen, and she hurried to answer. “This is Emily.” She tried to keep the hesitation from her voice, but some leaked in. Yesterday’s potential conflict of interest, successfully suppressed after a night of sleep, rushed back to meet her full force. Not that Grant needed to know there’d been any hiccups. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m calling to check in and make sure everything went okay yesterday.” Grant sounded cheerful. The request made sense. He did that with each new contract.

  “It was fantastic.” She winced at the overinflated enthusiasm in her voice. “I mean fine. Everything went fine.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. No friction at all?”

  Not the kind he meant, but still enough to ignite a large pile of kindling. “Nothing more than normal. I handled it. Honestly, I’m not sure why they’re struggling.” Now she was overcompensating. Saying too much. “They even had issues with their beta last night, and Justin and Antonio personally oversaw cleanup.” Shut up, shut up, shut up.

  “They don’t have any beta builds on the schedule.” Concern leaked into Grant’s voice. “That’s why you’re there—to make sure they meet that deadline.”

  She knew that. Wait. Then what were they up to last night? “I must have misunderstood. Maybe it was an alpha. They were friendly with whomever they talked to. It might have been an informal test.” She bit her lip, to keep from saying anymore. Part of the reason she was onsite was because Grant was worried they were doing other things informally as well. As in keeping some of their development off the books.

  “You know, I haven’t been here long enough to know their terminology. I’m sure I misunderstood. Whatever happened, I can tell they’re on top of things.”

  “I suspect you’re right. It’s nothing. Have a wonderful day.” Grant disconnected.

  Emily set her phone on the kitchen counter and glared at it. She didn’t throw Justin and Antonio under the bus, did she? Selling them out to Grant—even unintentionally—after one day seemed like the least likely way to earn their trust and convince them she was there for their benefit. She learned early in her first contract that everyone was happier as long as nothing went back to Grant unless it was going to impact meeting the deadline.

  Chapter Eight

  THE CONVERSATION WITH Grant still played in Emily’s head, as she crossed the office floor to her desk. Thinking about that was better than thinking about how things would go next time she talked to Justin. His name was enough to send flutters dancing across her skin. Each time he popped in her head, she called questions about the phone conversation to the forefront.

  Had she given too much away, and sold APPropriate Designs out? If there’s nothing to give away, it doesn’t matter what I said. Her logic wasn’t as reassuring as she wanted.

  As she approached her desk, she saw the lights in Antonio’s office were on. She smiled before she realized she was doing so. Sure enough, when she rounded the corner, she saw him. She set her stuff on her desk, except for one of the two cups of coffee she carried, and knocked on his open door.

  “Hey.” He looked up. Even with circles under his eyes and exhaustion lining his face, he was gorgeous.

  What would have happened if she met him at the bar instead of Justin? She shook the thought aside and handed him the drink. “You didn’t get to finish the coffee you ordered last night, so I brought you this.” She had no idea why she ordered a second drink this morning, but it sounded like as good a reason as any.

  He took a sip, before setting the cup aside. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

  “I don’t know how you take it, but I figured after the long night you probably had, extra shot of espresso was a good start. I’m kind of surprised to see you here this early.” The same thought that nagged her since yesterday whispered back. Why was she needed here? Justin and Antonio were dedicated to their jobs. Though she hadn’t been here long, a day was usually enough to see some of the chinks in a company’s operations. APPropriate Designs had hiccups, but nothing glaring.

  “Sometimes I wonder why I bother going home at night.” Antonio laughed. “If I set up a cot in the gym, I could move in and stop paying my mortgage.”

  “Did you get your crisis solved? Or are there any outstanding bugs I can help with? Something to dig into and get my feet wet?”

  He shook his head. “Yes to the crisis. No to the rest. Thank you, though.” He furrowed his brow, then waved to the chair across from him. “Will you come in and have a seat?”

  “What’s up?” The one contract she had before Grant’s retainer that didn’t go well was enough to instill a dread for those words. And it had accompanied pissing off the wrong person in management.

  Antonio pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s no delicate way to put this. I’m praying it doesn’t backfire.”

  “Okay...?”

  “I don’t care what happened between you and Justin. The details aren’t my business, and I’m glad he didn’t share any. I’m not passing judgment. It doesn’t change my opinion of either of you. You’re consenting adults.”

  Not where she expected the discussion to go, but that didn’t make it any less awkward.

  “However, as the guy whose ass you’re here to save, I need to know the events of Saturday night won’t impact your work.”

  She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. If she’d built out a conversation like this in her head, her best-case scenario couldn’t have gone much smoother. She looked him in the eye. “I promise it won’t interfere.”

  “Dinner was a fluke, then? You’re going to have to interact with him
on a regular basis. And to ensure you don’t think I’m picking on you, I asked him the same thing. He promised to behave.”

  She bit back the he started it, that wanted to force its way out. “I should have kept myself in check last night. Everything I told you about wanting to see you succeed is true. No one wins—not me or Grant or anyone—if this project falls apart.”

  “Thank you.” Some of the lines vanished from around his eyes. “When my lead developer for this project gets in, I’ll introduce you. You can start on the bug list and pull up anything that’s a Priority Three that you’re comfortable tackling. For the next couple of days, until you’re both comfortable with your work, he’ll review your fixes before they go to quality assurance.”

  “Are you sure you trust me to poke around in your code?” she teased. It felt odd being comfortable enough with him already to make a joke like that.

  He didn’t seem to mind. “If you plan on selling us out despite your repeated assurances to the contrary, tell me now, and I can make sure you only see the not-top-secret work.” It was an oddly specific request, but she didn’t know his sense of humor. He was being friendly and she was grateful for that.

  “I’ll do that.”

  She settled in to work, the conversation with Antonio flitting in the back of her mind like a happy hum. Her question from earlier drifted back. What if was him in the bar instead?

  Would it have been better or worse if he was the man she went home with? Antonio was gorgeous, and that accent sent delicious tingles dancing over her skin. Justin had been right on both counts. Then again, the sex was amazing with Justin, and he wasn’t the guy she had to look in the eye every day. If it was that good or better with Antonio, it might not be possible to stow the memories.

  She shook it all aside. She shouldn’t be lusting after either of them. There were countless other men out there, and she didn’t know these two well enough to justify fixating on them. It was bad enough she’d—even unintentionally—slept with someone she had to report to but in a case like this, where she was supposed to be an objective outside opinion... If news of her hookup with Justin made it any further, she could kiss the retainer deal with Grant goodbye. Which meant not having a pleasant nest egg for her plans to see the world. Worse, it’d screw up Emily’s reputation. Possibly irreparably.

  As the morning wore on, her surroundings grew louder. Snippets of conversation drifted in from everywhere, but most of it came from Antonio’s office. She felt like there was a train platform behind her desk. How did he get any work done?

  Wednesday morning, she remembered her earbuds. As with yesterday, Antonio’s office light was on and his door open when she arrived. He wasn’t at his desk, though. She reached her cubicle, and a giddy thread wove through her when she saw a cup of coffee on her desk.

  There was a Post-It next to the cup, with a scrawling, handwritten note. What can I say? I’m old fashioned.

  She wasn’t certain of the note’s meaning, but she had her assumptions. Most of them had to do with him feeling awkward a woman bought him a drink. She should be offended by the implication, right? She was progressive and independent. Instead, her smile grew when she took a sip, and sweet white chocolate mixed with espresso hit her tongue.

  “I hope I guessed right.” His seductive accent floated from behind her.

  She used the blink it took her to face him as time to assemble a professional mask. “It’s sweeter than I’m used to, but a little decadence and sin are nice once in a while.” Did she really say that?

  The twitch of the corners of his mouth implied he caught the hint of flirting and didn’t mind. “Couldn’t agree more. Holler if you need anything.”

  The rest of the day passed without incident, and she whispered a small thank you at another shift gone by without having to face Justin. Thursday morning there was no coffee, and the lights in Antonio’s office were out. She couldn’t ignore her disappointment, but reason barged in and pointed out it was for the best. She needed to concentrate more on the job and less on the scenery.

  ANTONIO FELT AS THOUGH he’d been pulled in a million different directions at once, with no end on the horizon. The morning began with a breakfast meeting with a client that went long. Since then, he’d been ten minutes late to everything. He settled at his desk for the first time today, grateful for the chance to breathe. He had almost an hour to work through emails. That was nice.

  His phone rang before he could get through the first message. Figures. The screen said it was his user-interface developer. Antonio grabbed the receiver. “Yes?”

  “This focus group is running over. I’m going to be here today and tomorrow. Which means I won’t meet my development deadline.”

  “Wait. What focus group?” Antonio didn’t authorize that.

  “The one for Promiscuous Perks. Justin set it up weeks ago.”

  Fuck. Leave it to Justin. Antonio gritted his teeth. “We’ll take care of it. Thanks for letting me know.” He hung up and dropped his head into his hands. He didn’t have anyone with an open schedule and that skillset. A flash of red hair caught his attention, and inspiration struck.

  “Emily, do you have a minute?” he called.

  She locked her computer, then crossed the short distance to his office. “What’s up?” Her relaxed posture and cheerful tone erased a layer of his stress. The view didn’t hurt, either. Her jacket and slacks hugged her curves in all the right places, and she had an extra button undone on her blouse. If she bent over, the view wouldn’t be as generous as in his dream, but the tease of what lay underneath might better.

  He mentally cleared his throat. “You said the other day you’ve got experience with Android user interfaces and Java optimization.”

  “It’s a hobby.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, looking pleased with herself.

  Christ, that was alluring. “I’d say odd hobby, but I’d be lying if I pretended wondering why didn’t fascinate me. I need you on something more critical than bug fixes.” He gestured for her to come around to his side of the desk and pointed at his screen. “My UI guy is tied up with a focus group. This is what you need to do.”

  When she stood this close, looking over his shoulder, the faint scent of jasmine drifted from her. It drilled into his thoughts and mingled with the dream he hadn’t managed to shake two days later. “What’s the picture of?” she asked.

  She meant the image on his computer desktop. “Milan. My sister and I, last time I visited.” The memory summoned traces of homesickness.

  “It’s gorgeous. You’re lucky.”

  “Because I’m from Italy?” He glanced at her.

  “Well, yes. That too. Though I suppose it’s as exciting to you as San Francisco is to me. Big deal, right?”

  It depended on whose eyes he saw the city through. Experiencing Milan with Justin for the first time had given Antonio an entirely new perspective. He didn’t need to share that information, though. “It’s got its beauties.”

  “I can only imagine. I meant lucky that you’ve traveled the world. The farthest I’ve been out of the country was when my best friend and I would take weekend trips to Mexico. I bet you have a million stories to tell.”

  Her awe reminded him of the wonder of setting out on his own, back then. His flight to Brazil. First time roaming a foreign country alone. “I’ve got a few. You talk like you’ll never go. There’s always the option.”

  “I guess. Work gets in the way. You know? The next job is waiting; the next paycheck is set aside for something.”

  He glanced at her again. The wistfulness on her face matched her voice. “I suppose you’re right,” he said.

  “Anyway.” She shook her head. “UI work?”

  “Right. That.”

  As he spoke, she made notes, asked questions, and seemed to absorb everything he told her.

  “Antonio.” One of the developers interrupted. “I need your time.” He was one of the people working on the other project. The team had been asked not to d
iscuss it openly.

  “I’ll be by in a minute,” Antonio said.

  “I just need a yes or no. I can’t move forward on Promiscuous Perks—”

  “I said, I’ll be there in a minute.” Antonio cringed at the edge in his voice.

  “Sure.” The guy left so quickly, he might as well have vanished.

  Emily looked between Antonio and the doorway. “What was that about?”

  None of your business. He bit back the sharp retort. “Nothing.” He spoke through clenched teeth. He gestured to his screen. “Back to UI requirements.”

  She frowned but let him dive back into his explanation of her new assignment.

  Fifteen minutes later, she was back at her desk, working. He was grateful she didn’t push the PP issue.

  The rest of the day passed without incident. His meetings flowed smoothly, and by the time five closed in, he was ready to call it a day. Not that he could. He’d shift his attention to their side project for the next several hours before that was an option. But tomorrow was Friday, and after they redeployed Mercy’s site on Saturday night, they could take Sunday off. Something to look forward to.

  In the main office, he heard the various voices wishing each other a good night, and the shuffle of people leaving for the day.

  “Promiscuous Perks.” Emily interrupted. She stood in his doorway, watching him. “Is that what PP stands for?”

  Fuck. She shouldn’t care what it was. If he’d kept his cool earlier, there wouldn’t be anything for her to question. He drummed his fingers on his desk and grasped the first answer that came to mind. One as close to the truth as possible without giving anything away. “We have a client who runs a string of porn websites. The developers think it’s funny, because we’re all a bunch of six year olds. They made up a nickname for his customization.” He was a horrible liar. Worse, something gnawed behind his ribs for being dishonest with her.