Page 4 of Tech Bros

“It was four years ago. And your company speaks for itself.”

Here’s where I want to touch his face and tell him not to undersell himself. I do say the words, but don’t touch him.

He smoothes down my collar and meets my eyes with a smile on his swollen lips. “Thanks,” he says.

“For what?”

“Appreciating my contributions, my calendars. And my pants.”

Unable to help myself, I drop a kiss on his forehead. My lips linger there as he takes a deep breath, not moving away too soon. I inhale the sweet, citrus scent of his hair and the intoxicating scent of what must be his pheromones.

“Isaac,” he whispers.

“Hm?”

“It’s really time to get to work.”

2

EVAN

Unless he somehow forgot my name, Hunter Cross had to know I would be at this meeting. I’ve been the only point of contact. I sent the meeting agenda to his VP. My name is on it. And unless he’s as oblivious to his schedule as Isaac is, the look of surprise on his face when I walk into the conference room with Isaac is completely over the top.

But I think there might be some surprise on mine, too. I’ve seen Hunter in a suit a handful of times. His fraternity had formal parties on occasion where we’d both dress up, but in the same way I’ve filled out since college, so has he.

He was always the hot jock, while I was casual, studious, bordering on nerdy with the complete understanding that nerds have sex appeal, too. He’s aged a bit more than I have, I think, and I can only imagine it’s from the death of his father and the stress of taking on a company he didn’t think he’d have to deal with until he was in his forties.

Isaac takes point, singling Hunter out immediately to shake his hand and introduce himself. Hunter snaps his gaze away from me and nods at Isaac, stammering out his own introduction.

“And this is my assistant, Evan Lockwood. I understand you’re acquainted.”

Hunter’s green eyes flare at the innocuous word, and then he offers his hand to me.

I try to keep my grin relaxed, but it’s stiffening. The way he’s looking at me—I didn’t expect that. I had this whole thing mapped out in my head—he’d be douchey and cocky—resistant to asking for help, but that’s not how he’s acting or looking. He looks…desperate.

Talk about an easy mark for Isaac, but it’s giving mefeelings. Old ones, nice ones. I thought seeing him would bring up all the reasons we broke up, but instead, all I can think about are the reasons I fell for him in the first place. We werebest friends.

Yikes, is all I can think as his hand wraps mine up and those pleading green eyes meet mine. “Sogood to see you,” he says, and he really sounds like he means it.

Hunter was the last guy I was in a serious relationship with. He hurt me pretty bad, but I never thought it was because he was a bad person. He was just more confused about us than I was.

Still, it was a third-degree burn. It left some deep scars, one of which is my lingering fear of getting involved with someone on an emotional level, hence casual office sex with my unattainable boss.

“You, too.” I remove my hand from his, aware that Isaac is watching me like a hawk. If I’m going to freak out, I need to save that shit for later. I swore I could handle this, and Iwill.

Isaac takes a seat, and I sit next to him. He opens with his standard line. “Tell me a little about your company.”

Hunter rips his gaze away from me and seems to try like hell to focus on Isaac. But when no words come from his mouth, the woman on his left, who looks like she’s been around this particular block a few times, introduces herself as Glenda, the executive vice-president, and she takes over the talking.

Hunter sits back in his chair with a stoic expression and watches her, occasionally letting his gaze drift to Isaac, and once in a while, to me.

I’m not staring at him. Not exactly. I’m doing my job, taking notes, making sure Isaac can see my screen. His knee is resting against mine in a warm, comfortable, and slightly protective way. A reminder that he’s on my side.

Once the VP is done speaking, Isaac launches into his sales pitch, tailored specifically to the needs of Four Points Freight, proving he can pay attention to business when the moment calls for it. Not that I doubted him. He presents as very laid-back in his CEO role, but no one achieves the level of success he has without having some serious acumen.

“Evan,” Isaac says suddenly. “Tell them about the program you’ve been developing.”

I look at him in surprise. “What?”