Page 14 of Nefarious
Ron broke the awkward barriers. “That was balls.” He accompanied his review with a wide grin, so Dane took that as a positive reaction to one of the less popular aspects of finance.
Dane made eye contact with Val, and she pulled the group behind her. The sun, trailing her solar system. A solar system composed of baby ducks.
Noelle’s situation hadn’t changed, but the players had. They came, wave upon wave, and pinned her. She’d never come out of her office again if she had encounters like this awaiting her every time. Dane took this as his moment to intervene.
He stepped behind her and tapped her shoulder. “Could I steal you away for a moment?” He leveled his eyes at Paul Lehman, who’d choked off a word mid-sentence. “You don’t mind if I borrow her, do you?”
Noelle seemed torn, hesitant to leave with him. Paul’s stammering protestation reeked of desperation, and on either side of Paul more eager staffers waited to bend the ear of the top dog. They had so many suggestions, so many accomplishments to share, so many empty praises to lay at her feet. Her decision made, she followed Dane toward an unoccupied table in the far corner.
“What can I help you with, Dane?”
“Honestly, nothing. I thought you might like a break from the henpecking. They don’t mean any harm.”
She cut her eyes back toward the table where Paul looked a little lost. “It’s my job to listen.” But she didn’t make a move to return.
Paul waited, shifting from foot to foot, but his eyes wandered toward the donut truck.
Dane leaned in and whispered, narrating. “He’s wondering if the donuts will run out before he’s had a chance to try one. In a few minutes, he’ll walk away and blend in with a more familiar group.”
Paul threw a glance back at Noelle and then slowly turned and plodded to the truck. Noelle laughed. “There are others waiting. I really should—”
“It’s almost five. They’re about to realize they don’t need to stay until the bitter end of the donut social. When they figure out they can sneak out of work a little early tonight, they’ll be off to collect their things. Watch.” Noelle kept her face turned toward Dane but watched from the corner of her eye as the eager beavers dropped off one by one.
And that left Dane sitting across from Noelle as the courtyard cleared out.
“Still playingAge of Empires, Dane?”
He was surprised she remembered his affinity for that old strategy video game. “I’ve just been to more of these things than I care to count.”
“And yet you aren’t eating the donuts, drinking the coffee, or last I checked, socializing.”
He gave his most abashed half smile. “I’m talking to you.”
That spot on her neck appeared.
Hit.
“I thought you were merely rescuing a damsel in distress.”
He lifted his gaze and looked directly into her eyes. “I’m not in the business of rescuing damsels.”
“Right. You have rather the history of putting damsels in distress.”
“Is that so? Do I put you in distress, Miss Constance?” He touched her hand.
The red spot reached her cheek.
Another hit.
She pulled away. “Not in the least.”
Her resistance might have hurt him years ago. He’d slowly courted her, taken his time to get to know her, letting her get to know him. Not since college had he failed so spectacularly to conquer, and it earned him Val’s uniform mockery then. He could see it in her disgust now. But there’d been more to it than the challenge. Something about Noelle had intrigued him back then. He’d stupidly thought if he could win someone like her, it would mean he was worthy of more. Or it might just mean she was worthy of less.
But then Noelle suddenly and without explanation cut him off in the most humiliating fashion. He still found himself prodding the wound to his ego, wondering what in the hell had repelled her so profoundly she’d tell him off in a roomful of co-workers.
The question danced on the tip of his tongue, but he wouldn’t open his veins in front of an emotional vampire. Instead, he focused on the current problem. “Then why have you been avoiding me?”
“You have a number of off-putting habits, Mr. Russ.” She made to stand.
