Counting on You (Amarillo Sour, #1) Page 14

  “Won’t they think I’m weird?”

  “Isn’t your ex-boyfriend paying for an open bar?” He waited for her nod of confirmation. “Lead with that. Most guys won’t say no to an open bar and free dinner on a Friday night.”

  It had sounded ridiculous, but it was better than anything she’d come up with on her own. Besides, it would divert some of her attention away from Ian.

  If only it had worked. Even before he’d stepped into the bar, her mind had wandered to him. While Patrick told her about a disastrous house that should be condemned, but the sellers wouldn’t budge on the price, she’d wondered what Ian would make of her plan. Once he was actually there, and she stole peeks at him while he wasn’t looking, she wondered if she was being ridiculous.

  When James gave her a rose, she wondered if Ian had a romantic side. She guessed he might, but it was probably hidden somewhere between lines of code.

  That kind of thinking would only get her in danger. She’d let her guard down before—let someone all the way into her heart—and all she’d gotten was years of regret and a bunch of anxiety. It would be all too easy to lose herself to Ian. That was something she couldn’t afford.

  So rather than face Ian like a grown-up, she’d escaped to the restroom to wait out Nick’s arrival. She was studying the pores on her nose when Sidney texted to announce his arrival.

  Pulling back her shoulders and plastering what she hoped was a contrite, but inviting, smile on her face, she stepped out into the bar for her second chance with the firefighter. And ran straight into Ian.

  “Hey, where’s the fire?”

  “I’m actually on my way to meet someone who could take care of one of those.” She winced inwardly. That had sounded cooler in her head. “Sorry we haven’t had a chance to catch up, but I’m meeting—”

  “Mr. Perfect will be a few minutes late.” Ian leaned against the wood panel wall. “We have some time.”

  She cast a nervous glance toward the bar. “I . . . thought he was here already.”

  “He was, but he . . .” Shaking his head, Ian let out a short laugh. “I can’t even come up with a good half-lie. I might as well tell you the full truth. I asked if he’d give us a few minutes to talk. He’s waiting outside.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because we need to talk.”

  From his cool, yet defiant stance, it didn’t look like that was up for discussion. She folded her arms across her chest. “Well?”

  “Before we get into it, I have to ask. Did I do something to piss you off?” He swallowed hard. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry. And I won’t do it again.”

  The concern, the hint of hurt on his face was her undoing. This wasn’t fair to him. Not after everything they’d been through.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Then why did you cut me out of this. Why the—”

  “I’m tired of going on first dates. My reunion is little more than a week away. I can’t keep playing with this app like it’s a game.” Before he could interrupt, she hurriedly added, “Don’t worry, I already wrote a full account of my experience and sent it to your work email.”

  “You sent me an email.” He reached for his phone and opened his messages. “Five minutes ago.” He squinted at the screen. “And you included Taylor.”

  “I figured I’d save you the trouble of having to forward it to her. I found both of your addresses on the LD website.”

  He stared at his phone. “You wrote a ten-page report.”

  “Double-spaced.”

  “I see.” But he didn’t say what he saw. The longer he went without saying it—or anything—the more the butterflies in her stomach fluttered.

  “Don’t worry.” She struggled to keep her tone easy, light. “I raved about the app and how it helped me come out of my shell. I’m sure Taylor will come up with some way to spin it to your investors.”

  “This is just about the reunion?”

  “Of course.” She wished she believed that.

  “Well, okay.” He tucked the phone back in his pocket and took a step toward her. “I’ll go with you to the reunion. Take me.”

  “We had a deal. I’d meet twelve dates on your app—”

  He moved forward another step. “Forget the deal. Forget the app.”

  “But your launch . . .”

  “XO goes live in one week from today. I’ll be free by Friday night.”

  “But . . . you have no reason to go.” She was really grasping, but it was getting harder and harder to keep the distance. Especially with him narrowing the gap so he was practically against her.

  “This is important to you, which means it’s important to me.” His hand cupped her cheek, and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his palm. “You’re important to me.”

  Her eyes flew open. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do. I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way you started to matter.” His thumb stroked the full curve of her bottom lip. “You made me forget this was supposed to be for work. Nothing has ever made me forget my work before.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I always figured I’d slow down and enjoy life someday. You make me want someday to be today.”

  Her heart pounded. She wanted that too. So much, it had her heartbeat speeding.

  “Maybe it’s not just first dates I’m bad at. I was a kid the last time I dated someone. I’m not sure I know how to do relationships. I’m not sure I can.”

  “Who says I’m any better at it? Relationships aren’t easy. Why do you think there are an infinite amount of books out there on the subject?” He rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t want to force you into anything. If you don’t feel the same about me—”

  “But I do.”

  He pulled back enough to look into her face. “That’s a start. That’s more than a lot of relationships have in the beginning. What do we have to lose by trying?”

  How about everything? Like the strength and independence she’d built over the years. She hadn’t even done that well. Look at the mess they were in right now. They were in it because she wasn’t strong enough to face gossip from people she hadn’t seen in almost a decade.

  “I just wanted a date to my reunion.”

  “And I just wanted someone to test my product.” His hands moved up and down her arms, comforting her and drawing her closer. “Plans change.”

  “I want more, but I’m not sure I can handle it.”

  “Okay.”

  She gaped at him. “Okay. After all that, it’s just okay?”

  “Sure.” He tugged her closer and wrapped his arms around her. “For now, let’s start with the reunion and see where it goes.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that. Though maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go on a couple of real dates, too. See how we do in the wild.”

  She couldn’t resist grinning at that. She wanted to say yes. To let go of her fears and just . . . try. Wanting didn’t make it any easier.

  “You make it sound simple.”

  “Who says it has to be hard?”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. It wouldn’t have mattered. When his lips crashed against hers, her mouth was put to another purpose. His heat, his passion mingled with hers until she couldn’t tell where it began and ended. Her hands slipped up over his shoulders to pull him closer. In that moment, she forgot to worry about her heart. She forgot to care about anything but pouring every bit of herself into the kiss.

  Seeming to sense the change, the kiss softened, becoming more of an exploration than a demand. The more her mouth searched his, the more she liked what she found.

  From somewhere beside them, a chuckle and a cleared throat pulled them out of their haze.

  “Do I have to remind you about the bar’s PDA policy?” Ford asked. “We have a strict no funny-business policy.”

  “Hater.” Sidney laughed again. “But, seriously, if you plan to
keep that up, you might want to—”

  “Sidney,” Haleigh interrupted, turning her attention back to Ian and the hint of a smile that played at the lips that still seemed to be connected to hers. “Would you mind telling Nick I’m sorry, but there’s been a change in plans?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll let him down gently.” Sidney pulled Ford away, telling him that maybe the firefighter might be willing to accept a bartender in lieu of a teacher on his next date.

  Alone again, Haleigh played with the collar on Ian’s shirt. As his head lowered again, she pressed a finger to his lips.

  “You said this didn’t have to be hard, but . . .” She didn’t want to spoil the spell, but she had to say it. “It might not be easy either.”

  “Then it will be what it will be.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “We can figure it out.”

  It wasn’t a promise that everything would be fine or perfect. No one could make that guarantee. But he’d said they were in this together, and that was good enough for her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Typically, the week before a launch, Ian was a jumble of nerves. After months—sometimes years—of working on a project, those final days were torture. On the one hand, he couldn’t wait to release the product and see how people responded. On the other, he wanted to hold on tight to it in case there was something wrong. Or the masses hated it.

  His interns and co-workers knew to avoid him in that buildup. While he was usually laid-back, the final days brought out a side of him that could politely be called terse but might more accurately be termed “mega dick.”

  Not this time. With less than a week to go, Ian hadn’t been in danger of jerk mode even once. His colleagues eyed him with suspicion, like they were waiting for the mask to fall off and his usual grinch to come out.

  Why shouldn’t he be happy this time around?

  The final survey responses from the XO On Demand beta test were better than glowing. They were off the charts.

  Taylor had spruced up Haleigh’s own report and passed it on to the founders, who in turn had given it to the investors. No definite answers yet, but the early buzz was good.

  With Haleigh’s help, the night before he’d finally assembled his treadmill—and it worked.

  And he had Haleigh. Smart, witty, sweet Haleigh.

  That was brand new, but he had no complaints. Well, besides how busy their lives were. It would take creative scheduling to get some time together before her reunion.

  Which was why he’d invited Haleigh and the Girls Who Code for an impromptu field trip to the Link Digital offices on Thursday afternoon. The founders were always saying they should do more with the schools. When he’d told them about the possibility of extending an invitation, they’d shuffled meetings and plans to make it happen. While he was feeling pretty good about their chances of securing the funding, it didn’t hurt to add another layer of incentive. It looked good when a company gave back to youth organizations. It also fulfilled a promise he’d made to the girls during their post-Career Day reunion. It was an all-around win.

  And it meant hanging out with Haleigh during work hours. They’d be at his office with an audience. It would have to be purely platonic hanging out, but he’d take it. Still, maybe after the girls were on their way home they could grab dinner and see what happened.

  If they could shake Taylor. She’d insisted upon helping with the tour, and he couldn’t come up with a reason why she shouldn’t. Somehow, he doubted being honest and telling her he was dating their guinea pig and wanted one-on-one time with her would work.

  It would open up too many questions. They didn’t have time for that. Not with their visitors coming up the elevator.

  “Remind me . . . How did you connect with this group?”

  “I did some mentoring with them a couple of weeks ago.” That was a bad half-answer. Especially considering how she’d see the real connection in another minute. “I met them through Haleigh. She’s their faculty adviser.”

  “Haleigh from the—”

  “Report. Yeah, that Haleigh.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “She’s filling in for the teacher who usually does it. She doesn’t know much about coding—yet—and it’s a good organization, so—”

  “You took pity on her and volunteered to help coach the girls.” Taylor shook her head. “Ian, I had no idea you had such a soft side. You’re a regular sap.”

  He wouldn’t argue with her. She was probably right. As the elevator doors slid open, he arched his neck to find Haleigh. When his eyes met hers, her lips curved up into a full smile that gripped hold of his heart, spreading warmth through his chest. If not for the gaggle of teenage girls between them, he might have pulled her into his arms and put those lips to another use.

  Taylor was right. He was a regular sap.

  Tearing her eyes away from his, Haleigh turned her attention to Taylor. A dark shadow seemed to cross her face but left quickly. He should’ve given Haleigh a heads-up that Taylor was joining them. The two women seemed to view each other skeptically. He didn’t know what to make of it.

  There wasn’t time to delve into that now. Her thoughts were apparently running in the same direction. Using her best teacher voice, she drew the girls’ attention over their giggles and banter.

  “Girls, you remember—”

  “Ian,” they said in unison.

  A dozen pairs of eyes stared at him expectantly.

  “Welcome, Girls Who Code.” He cleared his throat, hoping it would bring his voice down to its usual octave. “We’re glad you could make it today. We’ll show you around the offices and let you talk to some of the product development team.”

  Noticing the curious glances the girls kept stealing at Taylor, he gestured to her. “This is one of my co-workers from the marketing team. She’s going to tag along. Help out,” he amended when she scowled.

  Haleigh betrayed no sign of her thoughts but fell in line at the back of the group. Much as he would have liked to have her walk at the front with him, it made sense. Someone had to make sure none of the students took a wrong turn or ran off with an intern.

  As he showed the guests the fully stocked kitchen and arcade room, he gave a quick rundown on the company’s history. Every room they entered, LD employees spared a quick nod or “hi” but quickly turned their attentions back to their screens. They were days away from launch. A student tour wasn’t a good enough distraction to break their focus.

  The only exception was during their quick walk-through of the marketing pod. Haleigh, in particular, earned a few interested looks. They’d probably read her dossier and looked up her profile. He fought back a jolt of annoyance. Taylor probably had good reason for sharing the details with them.

  At some point, Taylor had dropped to the end of the line and had fallen into step next to Haleigh. Ian wished he could pause the tour—or at least read lips—to find out what they were discussing. It was probably nothing, but not knowing made him edgy.

  Under the guise of wanting to give the girls more time to “see where the coding magic happened,” he rushed through the rest of the tour. Entering the product development wing, he called out to his team and made a quick introduction.

  “This is Derek.” He pointed to the developer closest to him. “How about you tell them what you’re working on.”

  With his audience directed elsewhere for the moment, he took the opportunity to have a couple of minutes with Haleigh. As he moved closer, he could make out more and more of their conversation.

  “So, you have a date for your reunion?” Taylor asked.

  “I do.”

  When she didn’t elaborate, Taylor pressed, “But who is it? Is it someone you met through the app?”

  “You could say that.”

  The evasion didn’t slip Taylor’s notice. Before she could push the issue further, Ian stepped between them. “Hey, I was thinking it might be fun to get the girls some ice cream for the rest of the tour. Can you get someone to help you with that?�
��

  Taylor pursed her lips, like she wanted to make a snarky remark about how she wasn’t their waitress or mother. That they could get their own ice cream. Then he said, “Please.” Her expression softened from furious to annoyed, and she turned toward the kitchen to find an intern.

  Somewhat alone at last, Ian grabbed Haleigh’s hand for a quick squeeze and released it again before anyone could notice. Voice lowered, he said, “Sorry about Taylor. She insisted.”

  “Not a big deal. She’s persistent.”

  “That’s a word for it.”

  “Is there any chance she won’t keep pressing me for details on the reunion?”

  “Doubtful. But I’ll just keep coming up with errands for her until we wrap up the tour.” Again, he wished they were alone. It would be all too easy to pull her into his arms. To see if her lips tasted as sweet as he remembered. “Are you free after?”

  She nodded. “Once I’m sure the girls are set for their rides, I’m all yours.”

  “I was thinking we could try this restaurant—”

  Taylor took that moment to reappear. She arched an eyebrow. “Making dinner plans?”

  Ian’s mouth froze mid-sentence. He darted a sideways glance at Haleigh. Still facing forward, a hint of a grin played on her face. Was she enjoying this?

  “We were going to go over a few things,” he made up lamely, hoping it was specific enough while still being completely ague.

  “About?”

  No such luck. “We’re . . . discussing a possible partnership between LD and the club.”

  Haleigh’s eyes widened, and he shrugged.

  Taylor’s brow relaxed, and she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “You mean something more official than a tour and a couple of coaching sessions?”

  “Sure.” He racked his brain for something—anything—that would make this sound legit and not like he was making it up on the spot. “The girls have a really great product. It’s something that could be huge if they had more resources for the launch.”

  “You want to launch one of their products?”

  “Maybe. We’d have to talk to the founders and the school,” he rushed out when Haleigh gave him another look. “It’s just an idea. We still have to hash out the details. That’s why we’re grabbing dinner. Just us,” he added. “For now.”