The New Guy

‘Noted.’ Lucas flicked something off his trousers. Probably a confused insect looking for pollen. ‘There are still things we need to discuss though, and don’t tell me I have to schedule an audience with you.’

‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ he muttered, taking a swig of his coffee.

‘How about we set aside half an hour every morning and every afternoon to … hook up.’ Lucas waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Ryan decided to play him at his own game. ‘You sure half an hour is enough?’

‘I’m easily satisfied.’

Lucas’s face kept impressively deadpan – for about two seconds. Then his lips twitched and Ryan couldn’t help himself. He started to laugh. ‘Half an hour it is then.’ He drank the last of his coffee and jumped to his feet. Time to make a run for it while they were still on reasonable terms. But as he reached the door, Lucas’s question stopped him in his tracks.

‘What do you think of our Sam, then?’

Was it a fishing expedition? Or did the guy know something? Ryan couldn’t tell from Lucas’s impressively blank expression. ‘Too early to tell.’

Lucas’s expression sharpened as he stood and walked towards him. ‘Have you two met before?’

Ryan willed himself not to flinch, not to blink. He rated honesty above all other traits, mainly because he’d been lied to for much of his childhood, but this was a question he wasn’t prepared to answer. Even if, by not answering, he raised suspicion. ‘Why?’

Sure enough, Lucas’s eyebrows rose another inch. ‘Just idle speculation. There seems to be an undercurrent between you. I can’t work it out.’

Ryan snorted. ‘Yeah. She doesn’t like me. You were there when she told you.’ Before the man could ask anything else, Ryan shot off back to his desk.

Undercurrent? Was that code for sex? And why the bloody hell couldn’t he stop thinking about that night? It had been two weeks, for pity’s sake.

Maybe his obsession had nothing to do with Sam Huxton, he thought as he logged back onto his computer. Maybe he just needed to get laid again. Then again, considering how much trouble the last hook-up had landed him, maybe celibacy was the way forward.

In fact, considering his to-do list, celibacy was the only viable option.

Chapter 8

‘I’m going to throttle Hank. How could he recommend that guy to us?’

It was now four weeks into Ryan’s employment with them, and things hadn’t got any easier. This time it was Becky chewing Sam’s ear off as they walked together to the weekly management meeting. A quick glance along the corridor and it was clear Ryan was already in the meeting room, as was becoming the norm. Obsessive punctuality seemed to be as much his thing as obsessive quietness when he was working.

As if he could sense her, he glanced up and immediately her pulse shot up a gear. Sam groaned inwardly. Here went another hour spent pretending he was just another employee.

Pretending she didn’t still find the man impossibly attractive.

‘Sam?’

She shook away her errant thoughts. ‘Sorry. Miles away.’

Becky gave her a sidelong look. ‘Oh boy, please don’t tell me you actually still like the guy?’

‘What guy?’ Becky huffed and Sam immediately caved. ‘If you’re talking about Ryan, I never said I liked him.’

‘But you can’t take your eyes off him, either.’

Sam lurched to a stop. ‘I can. See, my eyes are on you now.’ She gave Becky her best wholesome smile. ‘So, what’s our newest employee done now?’

Becky sighed. ‘He’s not easy to work with, you know? Locks himself away in the meeting room all day. It’s so frustrating when I have things I need to run by him. He’s been here a month now and it’s vital we start communicating more.’

‘Maybe you should gatecrash Lucas’s time slots.’ Aware that Ryan was still watching her, Sam started walking again. He probably thought they were gossiping about him. But when did being a responsible manager and listening to her staff’s gripes become gossip?

‘I said the same to Lucas. He told me he didn’t want to share him.’ Becky started to giggle. ‘I seriously think he’s got the hots for Ryan and he’s hoping to turn him.’

A memory of Ryan’s dark, hooded eyes flashed through her mind. The way they’d burned into hers as he’d moved over her. Then slipped inside her. ‘I doubt the man’s for turning,’ she murmured, feeling heat pool between her legs. Would there ever be a time when she didn’t remember every blasted moment of that night?

Thankfully Lucas arrived at the meeting room just behind them, allowing her to keep her interaction with Ryan to a brief, impersonal smile.

‘The elusive Mr Black.’ Lucas strode into the room and glided elegantly into the seat next to Ryan. Sam stifled a smile as she saw Ryan’s forehead crinkle in a frown. ‘What’s wrong? Don’t you want me to sit next to you?’ Lucas pouted.

‘Sure I do.’ He glanced at Lucas’s bold pink and white striped shirt, which he’d teamed today with rather conservative beige trousers. ‘As long as your wardrobe choice isn’t catching.’

Lucas burst out laughing and Sam immediately glanced at Becky, who looked as shocked as she was. Were those two actually starting to get on?

The meeting began with department updates. ‘Are we still on schedule to have Privacy 2 finalised in two months?’ Sam’s stomach knotted, as it always did, when she thought of the rapidly approaching deadline.

It was Lucas who replied. ‘Boy wonder here is working his fine butt off.’ Ryan briefly closed his eyes, but Sam thought she saw his lips twitch. ‘We’ve managed to streamline the input side of things by providing a consent button to access third party data, like Facebook and Instagram. We’ve also got the app to monitor the user’s junk email, which we didn’t have before. If we carry on at the same rate of progress then yes, we should be done in time.’

Ryan raised his hand. ‘What Lucas meant to say was, if we don’t come across any hitches, if we can persuade you and Becky to be happy with the compromises we’ve had to make, and if we can agree on the next steps, then maybe there’s a chance it will be done in two months.’

Automatically Sam’s hands reached into her trouser pocket for the antacids. The thought of not having it ready before Damien’s launch … No, she wasn’t thinking like that. They were going to do this. Taking a breath, she pushed a smile onto her face. ‘Sounds good.’

Next to be discussed was the upcoming investor meeting. They held one monthly to keep those who’d ploughed a considerable amount of money into the company abreast with how things were going.

‘Will your parents be attending?’ Becky asked after she’d given them all a brief update on what she was planning to say.

Ryan’s head snapped up and Sam was aware of his eyes watching her intently as she replied. ‘I don’t think so. They said they didn’t want to interfere. Just to help.’ Why did she suddenly feel as if Ryan was weighing her up, and finding her wanting? Worse, why did she care if he was?

‘Mummy and Daddy funding your pet project, are they?’

At the derision in his eyes, she felt her blood boil. ‘This isn’t a project,’ she told him tightly. ‘It’s my life. My parents didn’t give me a penny until …’ She slammed her mouth shut, aware she’d nearly given him further ammunition to laugh at her. ‘It’s none of your business.’ Words she should have stuck to in the first place.

‘You’re right. Sorry.’ Ryan gave her an awkward-looking smile. ‘Sometimes crap comes out of my mouth before my brain has a chance to filter it.’

Mollified – and more than a touch surprised – by his unexpected apology, Sam moved quickly on. ‘The next agenda item is employee of the month. Does anyone have a recommendation?’

‘What?’

The look on Ryan’s face was almost comical. ‘We have an employee recognition scheme,’ she explained patiently, well aware he’d feel as much affinity towards that as he did to open-plan working. ‘Anyone can nominate someone for it. They just need to give a reason. We discuss the recommendation in this meeting. The nominated employee gets to keep the plaque on their desk for a month.’

‘Whoopee.’ Though his tone was sarcastic, his eyes were amused.

‘They also earn a fifty-pound voucher of their choosing.’

Ryan’s lips curved in that funny smirk. ‘Can I nominate myself?’

Becky leant unsubtly towards her. ‘Self-nomination is the only way he’ll get one,’ she whispered, though whispered wasn’t quite the right word as Ryan’s eyes flashed in their direction.

‘Not very teamy of you, Becky.’ He gave a slow shake of his head. ‘At least direct your sarky comments to my face.’

‘Not very teamy of you to shut yourself in a meeting room all day.’

He raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘I don’t sit at my desk dreaming up cute ad slogans. I write complex code. It requires thought.’

‘Seb wrote code,’ Becky retorted, never one to step down from a challenge. ‘He also sat in the open plan area and was happy to be interrupted when I needed to ask him something.’

‘Is this the same guy who told you he could do the impossible?’ Before Becky could reply, and from the way she was practically vibrating, Sam knew her friend was itching to deliver a snappy put-down, Ryan spoke again. ‘Look, I’m sorry I need quiet to work. If you need to talk to me, why not use the same slots as Mochaccino Man.’ He pointed at Lucas.

Becky stiffened. ‘That’s rude.’

Lucas, though, looked far from unhappy, his blue eyes shining with amusement. ‘That’s nothing. He called me a fruit the other day.’

As Becky gasped, Ryan cut in. ‘It’s not as bad as it sounds. He’s winding you up. And at least I don’t talk about people behind their backs. I say it to their faces.’

Sam felt a dart of guilt as she recalled Ryan overhearing her and Lucas talking about him. But God, had he seriously told Lucas he’d looked like a fruit? And was Lucas really as okay with it as he seemed to be?

Time to move the meeting into safer, more professional territory. Sam cleared her throat. ‘Okay, enough. While Ryan’s working in the meeting room, Becky will use the same time slots as Lucas if she needs to talk to him.’ Not that she was going to let Ryan work in isolation for much longer. She fully believed employees who chatted together and socialised together worked better together. One team, one mission, one heart wasn’t just the company motto. It was a fundamental part of their success. ‘Now can we get back to employee of the month?’

‘I’d like to nominate Alice.’ Becky gave Ryan a pointed look. ‘She’s been terrific, helping me as much as she can when Ryan’s been … unavailable.’

Ryan’s face twisted. ‘There’s something going on with her.’

Not the response Sam had been expecting. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Nobody can be that happy all the time. It’s not real.’

‘Especially not working with you.’ Becky uttered the words loud enough for Ryan to hear this time.

He let out a low laugh. ‘Good one.’

Sam accepted Alice’s nomination and moved hastily to the next item on her list. The conference. ‘We’ve agreed to have a stand at the mobile app conference next month. Becky, I know you and the sales team will be attending on both days. Do you need support from anyone else?’

‘In the past we’ve had one of the development team come, in case we get asked anything technical.’ She smiled sweetly over at Ryan. ‘Alice did a great job last time.’

He smirked. ‘What, you don’t want me?’

‘If your face can do anything other than glower, then yes. Otherwise, we’d rather have Alice.’

Sam sighed. Here they went again. She was going to throttle her friend. Sure Ryan was a pain in the arse, but Becky knew that. She’d flipping interviewed him. Needling him was only going to make him worse.

‘You think this face can’t smile if it needs to?’ Ryan countered. ‘At least I don’t have bright blue hair.’ As Becky bristled, he held up his hand. ‘Hey, don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of cool, but who’s to say it won’t put more people off than my sour face?’

Ignoring him, Sam turned to Becky, trying to gauge her thoughts. Did she want Ryan at the conference, or not?

Her friend clearly read her unasked question. ‘If he puts on a suit and plays nice, I’m happy for him to come.’ She paused a moment. ‘Will you be coming?’

‘Yes, for a bit.’

‘Then it probably makes sense for Alice to come on the first day and for you and Ryan to come for the second day. We can hold an informal Q&A at the stand.’ A slow smile crept over Becky’s face. ‘And I think you and Ryan live near each other, so this way you only need to bring one car.’

Sam’s jaw dropped open. What on earth was she cooking up? But Becky just continued to smile.

‘Ryan?’ With great trepidation, she looked over at him, but he wasn’t listening. He was staring down at his phone, a tight expression on his face.

‘Sorry, got to get this.’

Without another word, he shot to his feet and marched out of the room.

‘Well.’ Lucas leant back on his chair and started to laugh. ‘I’ll say one thing for Black. He certainly livens up a management meeting. Is there anything else we need to discuss?’

‘We’re done, but before you go, one question.’ Sam knew Lucas put on a good game face, but behind it, he was far more sensitive than he let on. ‘Are you really okay with Ryan taking the mick like that?’

‘Darling, he can call me whatever he likes.’ When she continued to look at him, his face sobered. ‘If you want the truth, there’s something refreshing about a man who’s prepared to stare me straight in the eye and say I look like a watermelon. Most of the time that sort of stuff is whispered behind my back. With Ryan I know where I stand. There’s no side to him. He’s not saying it to be mean, or to goad me. He just says what he thinks.’ As he stood up, he added with a wink. ‘Don’t go telling him I said this, but I’m actually starting to like the man.’

Feeling equal parts surprise and relief, Sam watched him leave before turning to her so-called friend. ‘What the hell, Becks?’

Becky had the grace to look shamefaced. ‘Sorry about setting you up to travel with him like that, though I’m not sure he heard any of it. He was so focused on whoever was calling him.’

‘But why would you? Especially after you’d just spent the whole meeting winding him up, which wasn’t cool, by the way. I’m trying to develop a culture of team working. Of being one happy family.’

Becky grinned. ‘You have brothers, right? Don’t tell me you never wound them up on purpose, just to see how they’d react.’

‘Is that what you were doing? Because it seemed to me it was more than that.’

‘Hey, he started it. Not very teamy of you, Becky,’ she drawled in a terrible imitation of Ryan’s deep yet oddly soft voice.

‘When I said I wanted this to be a family, I didn’t mean I wanted squabbling siblings. And I certainly don’t want to be Mum.’

Becky snorted. ‘No, it’s quite clear what you want. He’s six-three with big shoulders, dark eyes and an annoying attitude.’

Sam lurched back, aghast. ‘I do not.’

Becky gave her arm a light touch, her expression turning from highly amused to concerned. ‘Are you sure about that? Because the way you looked at him before we went into the room sure didn’t say not bothered.’

Groaning, Sam covered her face with her hands. ‘Please tell me I didn’t look like that in the actual meeting.’

‘You didn’t, though I suspect that’s just because you barely glanced at him.’ Becky sighed, giving Sam’s shoulders a sympathetic rub. ‘Hey, come on. You like him, he likes you.’

‘He doesn’t.’

‘Of course he does. You think he’d say sorry to any of us like he just did to you?’ Her eyes brimmed with understanding. ‘I know it’s not ideal because of the office connection again, but it’s only really a problem if you make it into one. I thought if you travelled to the conference together it might give you a chance to talk things out.’

‘Oh no, no, no.’ Sam heaved in a breath and sat up. ‘No, no, no. There’s nothing I have to say to Ryan outside work. What we did was a mistake. I can’t see someone from work again. Have you forgotten how badly that went for me last time? And God, Ryan works for me, sleeping with him is all sorts of wrong.’ A bubble of brittle laughter escaped her. ‘Except I did, didn’t I, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.’ Emotions all over the place, she looked glumly over at her friend. ‘I don’t even know if I like him, Becks, but my eyes can’t stop tracking him. My body can’t stop remembering what it felt like to be touched my him. What the blazes am I supposed to do?’

Becky took hold of her hands and clasped them in hers. ‘Number one, stop worrying. Just because Damien ended in disaster doesn’t mean every office-based relationship is doomed.’

‘Did I mention the part about me being Ryan’s boss?’

‘You’re not the first boss to sleep with an employee.’

‘Yeah, but the boss is usually male. I hold myself to a higher standard than that.’

Becky started to snigger. ‘If it’s like I’ve read in books, the boss isn’t just usually male, he’s also usually a billionaire who likes to tie his employee up in all sorts of—’

‘Thanks, I get the picture.’

Becky gave her a cheeky grin and started to fan herself. ‘Oh my, so do I. You standing by the four-poster in sexy heels. Ryan sprawled out on the bed, arms and legs cuffed to the posts.’

‘What’s point number two?’ Sam interrupted, feeling heat pulse through her body. ‘Because number one isn’t exactly helping here, you know.’

Becky sobered. ‘Number two is spend more time with him. Go to the conference together. You might find you don’t like him, and then this crazy attraction will disappear.’

‘And if the opposite happens?’

‘Ah.’ She slid Sam a look. ‘You think you could actually like a guy whose default mode seems to be rude and the only smile he knows is a smirk?’

‘No.’ Yet the man she’d slept with, who’d nearly walked away from a certain one-night stand because he’d been worried she was drunk, and who’d been kind enough to pretend to listen when she’d poured out her grief about her grandad, had been more than that. ‘At least I don’t think so.’

PART THREE

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