Page 36 of Off Her Game

“I don’t, even with two of us splitting the duties.”

“Is that by choice or because you’re truly busy?”

He sipped his coffee. “It is what it is.”

She propped her chin on her hands. “That’s not an answer. Do you make yourself busy to avoid things like dating?”

“You’re an armchair psychologist, too?” His look became inscrutable.

“Sorry. I get nervous and start overanalyzing everyone else’s issues.”

“You went to MIT. Why aren’t you out there designing what you want for a gaming company?”

She cringed. “I didn’t graduate.”

“Neither did Jake and I. Who cares. An MIT–trained programmer freelance coding doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe I sucked at it.” She fiddled with the edges of her paper napkin.

“Do you?”

She shrugged. “I took a few years off after dropping out. When I went job hunting…didn’t go well.”

“You weren’t sure this was the right field for you?”

She picked at the lid on her cup. “This is what I want to do. My dad needed someone to help him navigate treatments once he’d been diagnosed with cancer. It was a tough ride to the end.” She met his gaze out of fear she’d see the too familiar sympathy.

“That was brave to put your career on pause for someone who wasn’t always nice to you.”

Damn, this man was too much.

“I built a web design business during that time in addition to the freelance coding. It was pocket change, but it helped pay the bills. I also started gaming and earned a reputation.”

“Did you study under Professor Wingate at MIT?” He touched the top of her hand, drawing small, mesmerizing circles with his finger on her skin.

“The Dew Man. Of course.” She smiled as she remembered the professor who constantly misplaced his glasses and roamed his lab mumbling about it incoherently until he found them again.

“Did he guzzle Mountain Dew when you were there?”

The circling of his finger on the top of her hand shifted direction. Tingles skirted up her arm. “Since he became diabetic he’d switched to sugar free. He complained about it nonstop.”

He lifted her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “Why didn’t you self-publish your game?”

She teased a napkin around the table, but didn’t remove her hand from his. “I guess my dreams are bigger than what can be done going it alone.”

“Frank ego. I like it. Why is someone so talented still single?” His tone was light and playful.

“How do you know I’m talented?”

“You studied with the Dew Man. He’s selective. You’re single because…” His eyebrows shot upward, prompting an answer.

“Ex talk again?”

“Yep.”

“I choose the wrong guys. After the last jerk I decided to avoid the dating scene for a while.”

“This is the guy who cheated on you?”