Manny wasn’t sure what had transpired while she’d ducked out to the bathroom to splash water on her face and calm down, but she suspected Rhys had ripped Korbin a new asshole.
She didn’t care what had happened. All she cared about was that Korbin had apparently had a change of heart and thawed out.
Now, maybe, she could start focusing on her job, her real job, of trying to figure out who was behind what was going on.
Chapter Six
After her first day at Ormond Technologies ended, Manny was more than ready to go home. Hell, by that point, she was ready to quit despite Korbin’s greatly improved attitude. Unfortunately, the geeks had other ideas.
“Why don’t you come out to eat with us?” Korbin asked.
“Yeah,” Rhys said. “I know we didn’t make your first day the easiest. Let us make it up to you. We’ll buy you dinner.”
That’s an understatement of the decade. And it wasn’t Rhys’ fault, but she wouldn’t argue with him. Not when she could tell they were sincerely trying to make amends. “Okay, fine. Where do you want to go?”
“We’ll drive,” Korbin said. “You can ride with us. We’ll take you to our favorite spot.”
She thought about her Jeep’s air being on the fritz. Riding with them would beat waiting for her own car to cool down from its furnace-like status. “Okay.”
Rhys volunteered to take the backseat and insisted she sit up front. Turned out their favorite spot was a divey, open-air beachfront restaurant and bar on the northern end of St. Pete Beach.
Unfortunately, all of the tables were occupied. They managed to snag three seats at the bar next to each other, with Manny in the middle.
“You’ll love the food here,” Korbin said. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s great.”
The bartender put three of the establishment’s dog-eared, one-sheet menus in front of them and walked away without waiting to take their drink orders. Manny already hated the place, between the rowdy patrons, many of whom appeared to be college-aged, the loud music, and three dart games that were going on that drew loud cheers and catcalls from the observers.
Already feeling the tension ratcheting up in her shoulders and neck, she took a deep breath to try to calm herself and forget about the 9mm lying flat against the middle of her back in the waistband holster she wore clipped to her jeans, hidden by the loose shirt she wore over her cami top.
“It’s usually not this loud,” Rhys said in an apologetic tone. “Or this crowded. Sorry there aren’t any tables available.”
She focused on the menu. “That’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
The surly bartender returned for their drink orders. Manny stuck to iced tea, even though she knew it’d keep her up late that night. She was pleased to see neither man ordered anything alcoholic in nature.
She finally opted for a grouper sandwich. As Rhys and Korbin talked at her more than with her, she nodded where she felt it appropriate, made the right conversational noises as they started babbling on about a sci-fi movie franchise she knew nothing about, and did her best to not focus on the noises around them.
Surprisingly, she found her sandwich and the homemade potato chips to be as delicious as the men had promised they would be. Other than the crowd and having to be careful about taking sips of tea because of other patrons bumping into her as they stumbled past to go to the restroom, the meal was good.
Manny was still working on her sandwich, while Rhys regaled her with a story about some book he was reading, when Korbin excused himself to the bathroom.
With her attention on Rhys, she didn’t realize someone had taken Korbin’s barstool until she heard him speak up after he returned.
“Um, that’s my seat, dude.”
She sat up straighter and turned. The guy looked to be in his early twenties, and from the smell of him, he’d already had a few.
The guy glared at Korbin. “So? It was empty.” He looked at her and smiled. “Hello, baby.”
“He said move it. It’s his chair.”
“And what are you gonna do about it?” He started to lean in with a lecherous smile.
Manny didn’t realize she was up and moving until she felt her good foot connect with the side of the barstool at the perfect height to send the drunk flying backward off it and onto the floor. She smoothly reached out and hooked the stool with her foot before it hit the floor, righted it, looked at Korbin, and pointed at the barstool.
He sat without hesitation.
When the drunk came up off the floor at her, she stepped forward and stood toe-to-toe with him, almost hoping he would take a swing at her so she could satisfy the annoying itch inside her to beat the crap out of something.
“What the fuck you do that for?” he yelled.
She didn’t move, didn’t blink as she looked up at him. He had at least sixty pounds and six inches on her, but she knew as drunk as he was she could have him on the floor in seconds.
Again.
Only the second time, a lot more pain would be involved…for him.
In a low, calm voice she said, “You leave. Now. Or you explain to your buddies how a woman cunt-punted you, ripped your balls off, and fed them to you.” She sweetly smiled. “Or you can take a swing at me and let me totally revoke your man card right here and now.” She shrugged. “Your call, dude. I’m good either way.”
He swayed a little on his feet, obviously considering her offer for a moment before taking a step back. Someone grabbed him and dragged him outside.
As Manny turned to retake her seat, she realized most of the noise in the bar had stopped except for the music. Everyone’s attention was now focused on her. Especially Rhys and Korbin, who looked even more wide-eyed than anyone else.
She grabbed her purse off the bar, where she’d left it by her plate. “I’ll wait for you two by the car,” she mumbled before heading out.
Practically at a run by the time she hit the parking lot, she belatedly remembered she was supposed to be protecting the two guys.
“Argh!”
She turned around to head back to the restaurant when Rhys scurried down the sidewalk toward her. “Where’s Korbin?” she called out to him.
“Paying the bill.” He caught up with her and they headed back to Korbin’s car. “Wow.” He let out a laugh. “That was bloody brilliant!”
Manny crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the side of the car. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. He was just a stupid drunk. Sorry.”
“No!” He playfully grinned. “Don’t apologize, please. I thought things like that only happened in movies.” His smile faded. “I wish I’d had someone like you around in college.”
“My dad’s retired Army. Despite my mom’s feelings on the matter, he enrolled me in martial arts when I was a kid. I’ve done some kickboxing training too, as part of my physical rehab.”
“The sad thing is he’ll probably be too drunk to remember the lesson in the morning.”
She took a deep breath of the muggy sea air, held it, and let it out again. “Fortunately, he doesn’t have any reminders of it to take home with him.”
“Like a bloody nose?”
She slowly nodded. “Sure.” More like an entrance wound. But she didn’t say that out loud. She worried it might scare him.
Korbin finally appeared just as she was about to go back and look for him. “Sorry, their credit card machine took forever. You all right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“Sorry?” He looked incredulous. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I don’t have much patience for jerks like that. Sorry I lost my temper.”
Korbin grinned. “It’s okay. I’ve been on the losing end of enough battles in my life. Felt good to be on the winning side for a change.”
Another pang hit her as she contemplated his words while getting in. These two poor schmucks weren’t bad-looking, but instead of growing out of their geekiness in college, it’d settle
d in deeper and more strongly, tying them closer to the culture of the stereotypical smart wimpy nerd than that of the evil supervillain.
They’d obviously accepted their lot in life and put up with it rather than try to change it.
Or maybe they’d tried one too many times and just gave up.
As they headed back toward the campus so she could pick up her vehicle, she took a chance and spoke up. “Can I ask you guys a question?”
“Sure,” Korbin said.
Nut the fuck up, girl. “Do you think you could install a scanner for me?”
Chapter Seven
She felt a little bad that the men practically tripped all over themselves, almost begging her to let them help her. They took her back to the campus to pick up her Jeep. With them following her, she drove home to her apartment.
At least it’ll get Daddy off my ass.
She quickly scanned the living room after she unlocked the door and turned on the lights.
It’ll do.
Not like she was facing inspection. And based on the looks of the men’s office, they weren’t exactly bastions of neatness, either.
They followed her inside. About the only thing missing was them eagerly rubbing their hands together in anticipation.
She laid her purse down on the desk and started up her laptop. Then she walked over to the counter and grabbed the box. “Here’s the little bastard.”
Korbin took it from her, and for a moment she thought the men were going to fight over who got to open the box and unpack it. In five minutes, they had it set up on her desk and were tussling over the installation software.
Rhys picked up the network cable that hooked her laptop to the cable modem on the desk. “Why are you wired?”
She wondered how smart he really was. “Uh, so I can have Internet.”
“Doesn’t your wireless work? It’s a wireless modem. Your laptop has wireless.”
She shrugged. “It’s supposed to. Apparently I broke it a little while after I got it. It was easier and faster to buy a twenty-dollar cable.” Now she felt a little silly as she watched their expressions. “It reaches over to the couch,” she lamely added.
The men shared an incredulous look she didn’t miss. She headed for the kitchen rather than watch their stunned disbelief over her ineptitude. “Anyone want anything to drink?”
“No thanks,” they both said, returning their attention to the computer.
Korbin ended up sitting in the chair while Rhys hovered over his shoulder.
They are kind of cute.
Well, in a geeky sort of way.
It took them less than fifteen minutes to tame the scanner. In another three minutes, they had her wireless connection working again and talking to the modem.
“You realize it will turn on me and devour me in my sleep, right?” she snarked.
Korbin smiled. “That’s your first mistake. You can’t show them fear.”
“Never show them fear,” Rhys deadpanned.
She loved his smile and couldn’t understand why either man was still single. “Ah. So that’s what I did. Because believe me, I’m plenty scared of them.”
They sat her down at the desk and ran her through how to operate the scanner software.
It appeared to be ridiculously easy.
“What’s the catch?” she asked as she dubiously watched a receipt pass through the scanner.
“No catch,” Korbin assured her. “Look, there’s the file it created.” He pointed at the screen where a new file had appeared in the software’s cabinet.
“And you can create categories for your scans,” Rhys explained. “Expenses, utilities, medical costs, home repairs, whatever.”
They had her do a few more on her own. “This will get my dad off my back, at least,” she said. She looked up at them. “He’s a CPA.”
“Ah,” the men replied.
She tried another one. “You realize as soon as you both leave I’m going to have problems, right?”
Korbin smirked. “We’re happy to help. Anytime.”
“Anytime,” Rhys repeated.
“Anything else we can do for you tonight?” Korbin asked.
“Well, I could use a ride to work in the morning. I need to drop my Jeep at the garage. The air died.”
“No problem,” the men parroted.
“Do you want us to meet you here and follow you?” Rhys eagerly asked.
She fought the urge to laugh, afraid they might misinterpret why. “I’ll give you the address.” She retrieved a business card from her file and wrote the information down for them. Both men reached for the paper, Korbin edging his friend out and taking it from her.
They were preparing to leave when Rhys spotted her old turntable on the bookcase where her DVD player sat. “Do you enjoy vinyl?”
She snorted. “I did. They don’t make the needle for that brand anymore. And it’s an older model with weird cables. When I went looking for a new one, I couldn’t find anything to match. So there it sits, collecting dust.”
The men converged on it, apparently as eager to fix this for her as they were her scanner and wireless issue. Fifteen minutes later, they’d turned the whole stereo assembly around and taken numerous cellphone pictures of both it and the turntable, as well as the wires and connections.
Okay, so yes, she had to admit smartphones were helpful for that kind of stuff.
When she finally got them out the door after agreeing to meet at the garage at eight, she turned and looked around her living room. It felt like something fundamental had shifted in her world, and yet other than the scanner on her desk and her laptop now lacking the cable tethering it to the cable modem, nothing had really changed.
Had it?
She tried to shake off the feeling as she turned off the lights and headed for bed.
* * * *
Korbin didn’t talk much on the way home and did his best to tune out Rhys’ ramblings about the evening and their new coworker.
Yes, she was attractive. He could understand why Rhys, just a couple of months out of a bad break-up, had quickly fallen for her.
Unfortunately for him, he’d had plenty of experience with celibacy and had learned to think with something other than his cock despite his physical attraction to Manny.
He’d seen the pictures in her apartment. An older couple he guessed were her parents. Some family photos. Then several of her and a man, especially one prominently displayed on the bookcase by her TV.
And the look of unadulterated love on her face, the smile that lit her to the depths of her soul, as she looked at the smiling soldier in desert camo fatigues.
A smile she damn sure didn’t seem to possess anymore. Was Mr. Wonderful still in her life? He didn’t know. He found it hard to believe a woman like her, beautiful, self-confident, and with her life obviously put together—aside from her crippling technophobia—could possibly be single.
It didn’t matter that she wasn’t wearing a ring. In these days, that didn’t mean anything.
He still wasn’t exactly sure why Ormond had hired her. She obviously was anything but qualified for the position she’d been assigned to, mercy job or not.
All he knew was, despite how attracted he was to her, and how he hated himself for the way he tripped all over himself to help her, women like her never settled long-term for guys like him, or Rhys.
Well, Rhys had a better than odds-on chance because he had that whole British accent thing going. But once they realized what they saw was what they got with them, they lost interest. Brains only got them so far. Rhys’ last break-up was proof of that. Yes they made decent money, but not enough for women to ignore their shortfalls in other areas.
Richard Branson, now he has money to overcome the ugly-stick factor.
Despite how well Artemis appeared to be going, how much money it would likely bring Ormond Technologies and them as well, it wasn’t nearly enough.
And he was sick of getting his heart hurt. Even more sick of letting women use h
im. Whether it was to get better grades in school, or fix their computers for them when they died, or hooking up a printer…or taming a surly scanner.
It wasn’t worth letting himself fall, once again, for a woman he could never really have no matter how far she led him on.
Even if she could kick a drunk’s ass for him in a bar.
Once he was alone in his home office with the door shut, he fired up his laptop and engaged in some Google-Fu. In less than five minutes, he’d confirmed his guess that Amanda “Manny” Croyle was not what she claimed to be, far more than she seemed, and he wondered what the hell Ormond was up to, sending someone to spy on them. She was former military and former law enforcement, with a degree in criminal science, according to the employee page on the Sawyer Security Services’ website. And she was one of their firearms instructors, too.
He sat back in his chair and stared at the laptop screen. Did Ormond suspect something insidious was up with Artemis? Did he suspect them being a part of it? Did he worry for their safety?
He didn’t know, and frankly, he didn’t have the energy to worry about it. But he’d be on his guard around Manny from now on despite his initial attraction to her.
He couldn’t afford to screw up now, not when they were so close to delivering Artemis and possibly securing a lucrative contract. It would guarantee he and Rhys could write their own tickets with Ormond for the foreseeable future. And that kind of security he wasn’t willing to throw away.
Not even for the beautiful Manny Croyle.
Chapter Eight
When the men pulled up outside the garage exactly on time the next morning, Manny was already finished talking with the mechanic and waiting for them.
“I appreciate the ride,” she said as Rhys opened the passenger door and got out.
“No worries,” Rhys said as he switched from the front seat to the back.
“So how are you planning on torturing your new administrative assistant today?” she asked, only half-joking.
Korbin wore a playful smirk. “You’re going to learn how to program code.” He glanced over at her when she didn’t respond. “I’m kidding,” he said.