Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01 (21 page)

Krista waited as Ray gathered up
all the information.

When everyone was gone and the door
closed, Sean said, “That took you a month?”

“Um. Yes?” she said in a small
voice. And then she started babbling. She couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry, you just had so much on
your list. It was a lot—you know?—and if I didn’t organize it and categorize it
then no one would’ve been able to make heads or tails of it. Plus, there is so
much information—smaller parts of the larger—that I had to make sure it was
kept together or it would have been lost. And I thought you wanted everything I
could find so I did the work catalog stuff, but then the library stuff to give
it more body, you know? And I hadn’t seen you so I just moved on after...”

Krista, shut up already!!

But she couldn’t. Her mouth
wouldn’t shut off. “I mean, I probably should have checked in, I know that. If
I had more experience I would have. That is my bad. You live, you learn, you
know? And I’ve learned. But I thought I should just forge ahead. And Marcus
really is a genius when I have a clue how to work with his stuff, so I just…um,
but, I can go any direction you want. I can—“

“Krista,” Sean said to stop her
tirade. He had a smile on his face, but still an unreadable eye stare going.
“It appears you think me disappointed in your work?”

Krista shot a harried look at Ray,
meeting an encouraging smile. Back to Sean’s stare. “Um...uh...what?”

Sean leaned back and grabbed a book
with Marcus’s ideas. “Genius. Unbelievable. All of this. This is more
information than I have ever had to work with. Ever. I looked at the table of
contents. Everything I can possibly think of is in here, plus some I’d missed.”

“Well…yeah. That’s what you asked
for. Isn’t it?”

Sean switched his stare to Ray
across the table then shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not your boss. I’m not
even liked by your boss. I didn’t expect to be followed to the letter.”

“Oh. I thought you were my acting
boss for this?”

“Sean expected you to do the
minimum on each bullet point, and then he would tell you where to research
further,” Ray said to explain.

“Oh. Should I have done that? I
thought about that when you called the meeting. I should have checked up—got
clarification. Or asked for deadlines.”

“No, you dumb-ass. You’re not in
trouble.” Sean laughed. He sounded like the guy she had lunch with. Easy and
friendly.

“Oh?” She perked up. “Well why
didn’t you say so? But it is a bit of overkill, though, huh?”

“Yes. Very much. Which is exactly
what we need.” Sean’s eyes fell to the books, littering the table top. “And who
did you get to help you with Marcus’s ideas? I have often heard him shoot out
some great stuff, but we could never get anything from Research to help us. We
usually just had to try it blindly. It usually works. Almost always, actually.
But it is always a risk.”

“Yeah, I can see how Research
failed to figure out what he was talking about. I have a friend who helped.”

“Your roommate?”

“Yeah.”

“When can I meet him?” Sean was
leaning forward in predatory mode.

“He has a job. And he goes to
school.”

“When can I meet him?”

“Let’s get the account first, and
then we’ll talk.”

Sean just smiled and shook his
head. “You can’t protect him forever.”

“Oh yes, I can. He needs it.”

“What do you bribe him with to help
you?” Ray asked from across the room.

A glint game to Sean’s eye. He
obviously hadn’t thought to take that route in questioning.

“I help him with his finances and
he helps me with this or whatever I need. Or else one of us buys the other
dinner.”

“Help with his finances? Money
trouble?” Sean asked, leaning forward again.

“No, he makes a ton of money. He
just has a problem with budgeting it. And paying bills is beyond him.”

“Hmmm,” Sean looked at Ray, forming
a plan of the silent variety.

“Alright guys.” Krista stood up.
Sean and Ray stood up with her. “Marcus told me I am going to drinks with him
tonight. You all are welcome to come if you want.” She looked at Ray more than
Sean. It felt weird inviting Sean for some reason.

“I guess the secret’s out,” Sean
studied her with his clear gaze.

“I think it was out when Marcus
found out Krista got an office and a raise,” Ray said, getting ready to heft
the books into his arms.

“How did Marcus find out I got a
raise? I didn’t even know that until I got my paycheck! And, what secret?”

Sean chuckled. “Marcus makes it is
business to know the gossip around here. He must be friends with someone in
payroll.”

“You as a viable team member
secret,” Ray said with a kind-hearted smile.

“Ray, are you ever mean?”

“I leave that to my wife. Or Sean.”
Ray laughed. “I remain the sugar, they remain the vinegar.”

“Huh. Anyway, I’m off.”

“Krista—“

Krista turned back at Sean’s voice,
her face nearly bumping off his neck. She hadn’t realized he followed.

“Great work,” his voice was deep
and quiet. “Really. It beats my expectations. You were a solid choice. John
doubted my faith because you have no experience. I like being right. Thank
you.” He gave her an adorable boyish smile that melted her heart.

“Oh, not a problem, Cap’n. That’s
my job, after all.” She backed up, uneasy with the fire consuming her body. His
musky scent was intoxicating her, his hard chest so close.

He continued to look down at her,
inside of her, his lips a foot from hers. “Give my regards to Marcus, will you?
I have to work late.”

“On a Friday? ‘All work and no play
makes Jack a very dull boy.’” She quoted as she turned and left. She wasn’t
about to talk him into it. She didn’t know how long she could stay good with
the mood she was in.

~*~*~*~

Sean watched her go, the elegant
sway of her h*ps inspiring a sheen of sweat on his brow. He thought back to
when he first walked into the room. She’d been looking at him with a hunger he
hadn’t seen from her before. It appeared she’d lost her nervousness.

Strangely, it also appeared he’d
found it.

He had to admit that it wasn’t
abnormal when a woman stared at him like he was naked, but it wasn’t often she
had a wild magnetism behind her eyes that made him think she’d prey on him, and
then rip him apart with her lust. It wasn’t often a woman would have him
completely at her mercy.

Or that he wanted it that way.

He turned to Ray. “This account is
going to sap all the time from my life, I can already see it. And we don’t even
have an in yet. What amazes me is that Krista was terrified the whole time. She
thought, without a doubt, that she didn’t do enough. It’s…she’s crazy. She must
be.”

Ray sat in a chair with the first
of Krista’s books in front of him. His eyes monitored Sean steadily as he said,
“I owe you an apology.”

Sean, slightly taken aback, sat down
opposite him. “What for? Did you date my sister at one time and never tell me
about it?”

Ray didn’t smile at the jest. “I
one-hundred-percent doubted you. I met the young—I met Krista, I worked with
her presentation, I’ve seen some of her previous reporting, but I still
believed the rumors the whole time. I thought she was on the team so you could
get closer to her. I’m sorry.”

Sean had to consciously keep
himself from fidgeting. He didn’t want to show how troubled he was. He didn’t
even know why he was troubled in the first place! Ray had doubted him many
times, sometimes so much so that he refused to follow Sean’s leadership. But
this time…it seemed personal, somehow. It seemed like an attack on Sean’s
vitals.

He shrugged it off. “You aren’t
going to apologize for Marcus?”

Ray continued to gaze steadily at
Sean for one more beat before he dropped his head to continue examining
Krista’s work. “Nope,” he said, “Marcus requires constant attention to keep on
track. He has great ideas, I will admit, but as far as a viable asset to this
team, he is only as good as Krista makes him.”

“But look at how far he’s come in
two short weeks. Since the day Krista met with him to go over his ideas, and
actively started working with him, Marcus has turned on, has he not? He looks
at the big picture more, he cares about the presentation, he is interested in
new ideas—the man is transformed.”

Ray hesitated before he said, “He’s
less slow, I’ll wager, but only where it concerns working with Krista.
Everything else you’ve asked for has been half-assed. I’d call that waking up
slightly, rather than transformed…”

“All I’m saying is that when he’s
intrigued he is motivated. He will come a long way yet, you wait and see.”

Ray snorted. “Now you’re just being
cocky.”

“He is high maintenance, though,”
Sean conceded.

“He’s not the only one that’s high
maintenance…”

Sean shifted uncomfortably. He knew
where this was going.

“Monica.”

And then it did.

Sean stood and paced to the large
window overlooking the bay. “She needs validation to do her best work. I told
you that.”

“You didn’t tell me how low you
were stooping to give her that validation…”

“It’s not stooping. It’s par for
the course with this company.”

“Maybe when you were twenty and
didn’t know any better. Or when there weren’t any better options to focus your
attentions…”

“What other option is better for my
focus than this mammoth account? My sole motivation is landing this account.
She is integral to that. If I dangle the bait, she’ll do anything I ask,
whenever I ask it. It’s not pretty, but it’s a means to an end.”

Ray’s fabric rustled in the quiet
room. “I don’t agree. I don’t think selling your soul is necessary to keep that
woman on the hook. I think you are just stroking your ego, and I also think it
will come back to bite you. In more ways than one.”

Sean blew out a breath as he ran
his fingers through his hair. “I will make sure to keep it going until we have
the account. After that it doesn’t matter. She’ll get over it.”

“Who will? Monica, or the bright
young woman who lets you be yourself?”

Sean turned back in confusion,
“What are you talking about?

Ray shrugged, flicking pages. “How
many double dates have we been on?”

“Wha—double dates? What does that
have to do with anything?”

Ray closed the book and swiveled
his seat toward Sean. He had a grave look. A worried look. “How many double
dates?”

Sean shook his head in frustration.
He wanted to hash out this account, not talk about his failed attempts at
dating. Finally, seeing that Ray was digging in his heels, he said simply,
“Lots.”

“Yes. A lot. I’ve seen you with a
lot of women. I’ve seen you with women you thought you really liked, with those
you were using, much like Monica. Through every one of them, you had a false
bravado. None of them so much as got you to stay interested for more than a
night. None of them, not one, ever had you flustered.”

Sean put his hands on his h*ps much
like Ray’s wife Mary when she was tired of waiting for him to make a point.
Sean must have learned it from her. “Yes, I’m not great in a lasting thing.
Mary’s berated me enough for the both of you. What’s your point?”

“I’ve never seen you blush. Not
once. Not even when you’re teased. Your ego won’t allow embarrassment.”

“I am embarrassed plenty, I can
assure you.”

“Maybe, but not enough to show it.
Until now.”

“Despite your weird attempt at
seduction, Ray, I am not embarrassed at present.”

“Not at present, no. But I saw you
blush twice today. From just a look. From just a meeting of eyes.”

Suddenly Sean knew exactly where
this was going, and he was more uncomfortable now than when they were talking
about Monica.

“See? You’re blushing again. You
must know who I’m talking about.”

“I think I’ve lost the plot,” Sean
muttered, turning back to the window. He heard Ray turn around, also.

“I’m just saying that what you are
doing with Monica will come back to bite you in more ways than one.”

“Well, I’m sunk on that score,
then, because if I back out now she’ll take it personally.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw
Ray nod, then reach for a different book.

“I do like her, though,” Sean
acceded quietly.

“Mary is dying to meet her. Unlike
me, she did think you brought Krista onto the team for exactly the reasons you
said.”

Sean shook his head. Then, since he
was laying it all out there, he said, “I haven’t asked her out. I’m afraid
she’ll say no.”

“Yes, you’ve alluded to that.” Ray
paused for a minute. Pages flicked, drawing out the pause; the judgment. “I
think you’re right. She’s smart, but most importantly, she’s wary. She doesn’t
trust you, and I don’t blame her—especially with how you act around Monica.
Which is interesting, because you’re more genuine with Krista than I’ve even
seen you with Mary.”

Sean felt like punching the glass.
That was the bitch of it, wasn’t it? It was the thing that was unraveling him.
He could utterly and completely relax around Krista, which was as rare as it
was disconcerting. For that reason, he couldn’t relax any other time, worried
about what he might say when she came around. What might escape his usually
composed and constructed persona.

“She makes me,” Sean admitted
grudgingly, clenching his jaw. “She has exacting standards where that comes in,
and she holds me to it. It was one of her conditions to working on the team.
She almost ducked out a couple times—she turns away or runs whenever I try to
throw her a line. Always has. It’s maddening.”

Ray laughed, “It’s good for you.
It’s what you’ve always needed. But you’re right; she doesn’t trust that side
of you.”