Wes finished talking to Charlotte, and thenthey headed off to grab Thai food on the way back.They wound theirway back to Ryker’s an hour later.
“Can you find a movie while I plate thisup?”Ryker asked from the kitchen as he prepared green tea and gotthe food unwrapped.
“Anything in particular you feel likewatching?”Wes asked as he fiddled with the remote.
“Nah, I’m easy.”
“Are you now?Lucky me.”
“Funny.Just pick something!”
“Grumpy and bossy.I like it.”Wes winked.“Okay, how aboutLove Actually?”
“A rom-com?Really?”Ryker teased.
“Don’t be a movie snob.You told me to pick.I picked.We need all the help we can get when it comes to romanticdialogue for our book, so this may be useful research.”
They gathered on the sofa, and Spock satbetween them, staring at Wes, then Ryker, then back at Wes, hopingthat one of the humans would accidentally drop some food or justcave under the canine pressure and hand it over.
“Can’t I give him some noodles orsomething?”Wes asked, petting Spock with one hand.“Look at hisface.I can’t take these sad eyes and the drool.It’s breaking myheart.”
“No way.He eats this stuff, he’ll eitherbarf or get the runs, and I’m not in the mood to deal with either.Treats are in the large tin on the counter.Go grab him one beforeyou completely give in.”Ryker chuckled as Wes hopped up and madehis way to the kitchen.“Man, who would’ve thought you were such asoftie?”
“I’m not a softie.I’m hard.All over,baby,” Wes said as he flexed his biceps, and Ryker laughed.
“You’re too much is what you are.That egoof yours grows by the minute.I’m not sure there’s enough space inmy apartment to contain it.”
“Say what you want about my ego, but you’restarting to like me.”Wes smiled and Ryker struggled not toreciprocate.Wes was way too appealing for his own good.
They finished eating by seven and set upRyker’s laptop for the video conference.After a few minutes oftrying to connect, they noticed that neither the video nor theaudio were working.“I’ll text Luca.He got this organized withMac’s assistant,” Wes offered.
Wes typed furiously on his phone.“Lucawants us to log in again.Should be okay now.”
This time, all was good.Mac’s face poppedup in the top right corner.From the background, it looked like hewas still in his office.
“Everything okay now?You can hear me allright?”Ryker asked.
Mac nodded.“Yup, all good.Hey, Wes,” hesaid as he rubbed his hands through his hair.“Thanks for gettingyour assistant to set this up.Helena didn’t have time before sheleft.I needed her here until eight, but of course there’s alwaysan excuse for why she can’t stay late.It may be time to let hergo.I can’t wait for AI to create a robotic assistant—no excuses,ever!”
“Your assistant obviously has a life outsideof work, Big Mac.You might want to take a cue from her unlessyou’re a robot yourself.”
Ryker didn’t recognize the voice that hadspoken, but he noticed that Luca was online as the moderator.Wasit him?Did he know he wasn’t muted?Shit, Ryker couldn’t help butlaugh out loud.
“Who the hell said that?”Mac bellowed asRyker and Wes snickered uncontrollably.
Wes finally calmed down enough to text Lucaand advise him to mute himself.Then he showed his phone to Rykerso he could see Luca’s response.
Luca:No, I said what needed to be said.I feel sorry for his assistant.Feel free to use the nickname.LMFAO!
Luca’s twenty-something face popped up onscreen.He was striking, with wide chocolate-brown eyes and brownhair with dyed green ends.Definitely someone you wouldn’t forget,with his silver nose ring and a swirling, colorful neck tattoo.
“I did.I’m Luca, Wes’s assistant.”He gavea little wave at everyone.“One hundred percent human and stillgreat at my job, because my boss enjoys work-life balance.I guessin New York you just work until you drop, eh, Macaroni?”
Mac’s dark green eyes practically searedthem through the screen.“Well, Luca, I believe who I hire or fireis my business.And here in New York, we work hard and we playhard.”He paused to sneer.“Anyway, isn’t it past yourbedtime?”
“Don’t worry, old man, I’ve got energy tospare.I’m heading out for a run once this call is over.Later, BigMac.”Luca got the last word in, closed his video feed, and was nowmuted.
“Wes, does that man really work for you, orhave I been Punk’d?”Mac asked, his face now as red as hishair.
