Page 27 of The Best Man Problem
“What’s wrong?” Her roommate waved the tiny paper in the air. “Chicken?”
Reluctant to admit it but knowing there was no other solution, Lilly rose from her desk and marched over to Mo. Snatching the paper from her friend’s hand, she pointed.
“I’m only using this to get him to fix our computer.”
Mo held up her hands. “Whatever you say. But you better put the number in your contacts just in case. Ya know, for any emergency that might come up.”
Only Mo could make an innocuous word like “emergency” sound like sex. Her friend had a talent—an evil talent, but a talent nonetheless.
“Mo.” Pru shook her head slightly. “Lil is using her brain about this whole…situation. Give her a break, will ya?”
At least one of her friends was on her side.
Heading back over to her desk, she pulled out her cell phone, staring at the ten tiny numbers in stark black ink on the bright white piece of paper in her fingers. She really had no choice. It wasn’t about her needing him; this was about the business needing his specialized set of skills.
And boy does the man have skills.
She told her horny self to shut up. This was about computers, not bedrooms.
Taking a deep breath, she dialed the number and reminded herself she was a professional with strict rules set in place for a reason. This was a business call, not a booty call.
…
Lincoln stared at his phone, debating whether or not to answer. Usually he ignored numbers he wasn’t familiar with. If it was important, the person would leave a message and he’d get back to them, but it was usually just a telemarketer.
The phone rang for a third time, and he almost let it go to voicemail, but something in him kicked. He had no idea why, but he had the strongest urge to pick up the phone and answer. So he did.
“Hello?”
“Lincoln?”
He paused, sure his ears were deceiving him. “Lilly?”
“Yes, um, hi.”
Must be his lucky day. Lilly Walsh was calling him. How did she get his number? Probably from Marie. She’d asked him if she could give it to the wedding planners in case of emergency, and he’d agreed. But what the hell kind of emergency could Lilly have that needed his assistance?
Oh, please let it be the naked kind.
Wishful thinking.
“So, um, I understand you do computer stuff.”
If she meant applying mathematical analysis and computer science principles in order to develop software for companies to use, then yeah. He did computer stuff.
“Need a company computer guy?”
His new job didn’t start until after the wedding. He’d decided to take a few weeks off in between to help Kenneth and Marie and also get a feel for his new city, but honestly, he had been getting bored. His friends didn’t need as much help as they thought, and Lincoln didn’t do great with idle time. He had his entire apartment unpacked within the first few days, and there was only so much exploring he could do before he got antsy. He needed to code, tinker, fix something, or have wild hot sex with a beautiful, poised wedding planner. Since that last one was off the table—for now—he’d go with the first option.
“That’s the thing.” Lilly’s voice carried over the phone. “My computer froze, and nothing I do is working to fix it. The person who normally fixes our computer problems is out of town, and—”
“Say no more. I’ll be over in ten.”
“Are you sure?” Uncertainty rang in her voice, along with something else…edginess. “I wouldn’t want to pull you away from any important work.”
“You’re not.” He’d been installing a new Linux distro on his home server and trying to figure out the driver for his GPU. Nothing he couldn’t attend to later.
“Thank you.”
