Page 16 of Skins Game

Good.

“So, whatever happens the next few days or weeks, we can influence the outcome. We can make sure that we’re all on the same page when we talk to this evil VC firm, and we can hang together!”

With raucous laughter and a smattering of applause, Nicole climbed off her chair while Arvind steadied the back, but Kingston Moore was holding onto the back when she looked up.

“That was quite a speech you gave,” he said, smiling.

His smile was really something to behold: charming crinkles surrounding his blue eyes, white teeth showing, seemingly on the verge of a genuine laugh.

“Yeah, well, people were freaking out today,” she said, her shoes finally resting firmly on the slightly sticky bar floor. “You almost walked in to find an empty front desk and no one in HR to do your paperwork, let alone anyone in the lab to work on the new designs.”

“New designs?” he asked, leaning in.

Nicole continued, “And so I organized this get-together to keep everyone from literally walking out of the company today. I don’t know how long I can hold Sidewinder together. The fact that we haven’t heard jack-shoot from our new VC overlords is messing with people’s heads.”

Kingston looked upward at the wagon-wheel chandeliers hanging above the chattering, noshing crowd. “Good point.”

“These Last Chance folks are somedumbevil venture capitalists?—”

“Evil venture capitalists, you say?”

“Yes. Evil. And dumb. They should know that the most qualified people will bolt first, leaving their new acquisition short-handed and with a drawer full of the dullest knives.”

“That is an excellent point,” Kingston said.

“Yeah, well, I figure they’ve got until tomorrow at noon to get their act together and startcommunicatingbefore there’s a mass exodus.”

Kingston nodded, then said, “I’ll have to watch for that email while I’m on the plane back East tomorrow morning.”

Gravity dragged at Nicole’s shoulders and pressed on her neck, and fighting it to move her feet felt too difficult to contemplate. “Oh. I didn’t know your stay would be so short.”

His gaze found her eyes again. “I’ll be back soon.”

Sure, but not much. “Most of the remote sales guys only come into the office once a quarter or so.”

His soft smile was slow, and he held her gaze the whole time. “I’m not most guys.”

5

He Wrote the Email

KINGSTON MOORE

The next morning, a ping from Kingston’s phone indicated that his Sidewinder company email account, the one with the address [email protected], had received an email. When he checked the email, it was indeed from Last Chance, Inc., the evil venture capitalists, contacting their new employees and discussing their future.

Kingston had made a brand new Last Chance email account to send it from, [email protected], and triple-checked that he was logged intothat oneand not his own name before pasting the text and clicking the send button.

It was only eight-thirty in California, somewhere behind the tail of the private jet soaring eastward into the burgeoning morning sun.

Nicole would see the email any minute now, unless she was garbed in her enveloping white paper coveralls or smacking range balls with a prototype club on Sidewinder’s first-class golf simulators. It might take a while until she read it.

He probably didn’t need to sit in this leather chair and stare at his phone any longer. She might not even email or text him about it.

Why would she contacthim,really? He was just the new guy in sales. She’d probably discuss the email with her friends and co-workers who had been with the company for the four years she’d worked there, as he’d noted in her HR file.

Kingston should stop staring at his phone and waiting for Nicole to contact him.

He stretched and slid out of the chair, leaving his laptop on the table with the three empty chairs, and walked to the back of the plane to get another cappuccino, extra sugar.