Rules of Engagement. Carla Cassidy

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      She saw his look of dismay as he took in her orange peels on a napkin in front of her. “Sorry,” she said, and scooped the peels into a trash can next to the desk. “Guess you don’t munch and work in the same place.”

      “I never eat or drink at the computer.”

      “I always eat and drink at the computer,” she said. She’d forgotten how rigid he could be, how compulsive in habit. “Did you know you have a glitch?”

      He stood behind her and saw where she was at in the program. “Yeah, that’s the only problem I have left to solve before it’s done.”

      “It’s brilliant, Nate,” she said, and enjoyed the first real hint of a smile that crossed his face.

      “Thanks.” He slid into his chair and his features lit with animation, making him not just handsome but sexy as all get-out. “I’ve worked it in my head for months, visualized it for years. I still can’t believe it’s finally coming together.”

      “All we have to do is catch one little nasty hacker before he messes it up,” she said.

      The half smile fell from his lips and he nodded. “So far a total of five sections have been copied and subtly changed. I haven’t been able to find out how the hacker is entering the system.”

      “You must have an open back door somewhere,” she said.

      “I’m aware of that. I just haven’t been able to figure out where it is.”

      He’d seemed rather churlish to her before he’d left for his meeting and she’d hoped he’d be in a better frame of mind when he returned, but if anything he seemed more tense.

      “I’m sure we’ll be able to find the portal and close it up tight,” she said in an attempt to ease his mind. Her words seemed to have the opposite effect on him.

      “If I’d just had a little more time I’m sure I could have figured it out on my own,” he replied.

      Pride. Good grief, she thought. What she was dealing with here was apparently wounded male pride. “I’m sure that’s true. But, hopefully with time being of the essence and two of us working to solve the problem, we can do it in half the time.”

      “Hopefully, we can solve it in no time at all and you can get back to your life in California.”

      She was suddenly tired, and more than a little bit irritated. From the moment she’d stepped into his office, he’d done nothing to make her feel welcome. She’d had a long plane ride, hadn’t eaten properly all day and decided at that moment that what she wanted to do was check into her hotel room, get a hot meal and better prepare herself for working side by side with the reluctant Nate.

      “There’s nothing I’d love better than to solve this problem right now and get out of your hair, but I’m going to get settled in my hotel for the night and start fresh in the morning.” She stood and turned off her monitor.

      She picked up her coat from the arm of the leather sofa and pulled a key from the pocket as he got up from his chair. “If you could just direct me to the Brisbain Hotel.”

      “It’s two blocks from here. As you exit the building go left and you can’t miss it. I’ll call you a cab.” He picked up the phone.

      “No, it’s ridiculous to call a cab to take me two blocks. Besides, I’d rather walk. I definitely could use some fresh air. I’ve noticed it’s very stuffy in here.” She hoped he got the jab. She pulled on her coat and grabbed the handle on her suitcase. “I suppose you’re in at the crack of dawn most mornings?”

      “Nine will be fine,” he replied. Had she ever really heard his voice radiating with warmth? Or had it always held that cold, sardonic tone?

      She opened the office door. “See you tomorrow, Nate.” She pulled her wheeled suitcase out into the hallway and breathed a deep sigh.

      She was tired, too tired to concentrate on the program with her thoughts focused too intently on Nate. She’d thought she’d see him again and it would be no big deal. She hadn’t expected his surliness and she certainly hadn’t expected the twinge in her heart.

      Pressing the button on the elevator, she promised herself that this evening she’d resolve her emotions where he was concerned so she could begin tomorrow focused solely on solving the problem, as she’d been hired to do.

      She stepped into the elevator and was surprised when Nate slid through the doors to ride down with her. He’d pulled on a midlength gray coat and looked every inch the successful businessman.

      “Going home to the little lady?” she asked as the elevator door whooshed closed.

      “There is no little lady.”

      “Ah, going home to the big lady?”

      Almost…almost he smiled, but it was only a promising glimmer in his eyes before it was snuffed out by a scowl. “There is no lady at all. I figured I’d better walk you to your hotel. It’s late enough you shouldn’t be walking the streets alone.”

      He held out a hand for her suitcase. For a moment stubbornness made her fingers tighten around the handle, but she was tired and the suitcase was heavy, so she relinquished it to him as the elevator doors opened.

      “So, you haven’t married?” she asked as they stepped out of the elevator.

      “No, what about you?”

      “Marriage has never been high on my priority list,” she replied.

      “Yeah, I seem to remember that.” There was a touch of bitterness in his voice, the first real indication to her that the past they’d shared wasn’t totally forgotten.

      A responding swell of bitterness rose in her. She swallowed against it, refusing to give it a voice. There was nothing to be gained in rehashing a past relationship that wasn’t meant to be. There was no reason to bring up old issues that might make the two of them working together more difficult.

      As they stepped into the office building lobby, the floor-to-ceiling windows ahead revealed a wintry wonderland. At least three inches of snow had fallen.

      “Oh, Nate! Isn’t it beautiful?” She hurried ahead of him and pushed through the double doors and outside. She twirled around on the sidewalk, her arms raised to the heavens, where the snow was still coming down at a good clip.

      After the tension in the office, the stress of the past couple of hours, she felt like dancing in the street, reveling in the snow that was as alien to her as Nate’s taciturn nature.

      “It’s just snow,” Nate said.

      “My first snow,” she exclaimed.

      “Really? So, you never drove up to Oregon or anywhere to experience snow skiing or snowmobiling?”

      “Never took the time. It’s a long drive to the mountains.”

      She picked up a handful of the white snow and packed it into a ball, then eyed Nate with a wicked gleam.

      “Don’t СКАЧАТЬ