She glanced up, and he saw the wonder in her eyes before she spoke. “Thank you. These are amazing, Cal.”
Had she been thanking him? Cal? Both of them? It didn’t matter. Until she looked him square in the eye and said something, it didn’t count.
“They were fun to make. Eliza has some strong opinions about your desk.”
“I’m sure she does. Which one is her favorite?”
Cal pointed to the one on the far right of the group. “She likes this one.”
The desk surface was oval-shaped and had four beautifully designed legs. But it wasn’t a particularly practical desk.
“Oof. I hate disappointing her, but that oval top would drive me bonkers.” Bronwyn grimaced. “I want it to be a piece of art but also functional.”
“You don’t have to decide now. Think about it. I have some sketches of a few others that might be better than these models.” He handed her a stack of paper. On the top was a note.
Mo read it upside down, a peculiar but handy little skill he’d picked up somewhere along the way.
Playalong. Moneedsmoreaccesstothecomputer.
Bronwyn took the stack and shuffled the top page to the bottom, then continued to look through the sketches.
“You know, while Mo’s here, you should get him to take a look at your computer.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Mo asked.
Cal shrugged. “How should I know?”
“You’re the one who said I should take a look at it.”
Bronwyn finally got with the program. “Cal, I can’t bother Mo with this. I’m sure it’s just a glitch.”
“It’s no trouble.” Mo jumped in. “I can take a look.” He wasted no time sitting down behind Bronwyn’s computer, which was now plugged in and hooked up in the back of the conference room. He tuned out most of the conversation happening behind him. Cal and Bronwyn returned to discussing her desk. Good call, given that they were both such horrible actors. No one who overheard their stilted conversation would have believed it for long.
After a few minutes of work, he took advantage of a lull in their chatter. “I think this is fixable, but I’ll need some time.”
He twisted in the chair and made eye contact with both of them before turning back to the screen. “I think a day or two should cover it. I can always bill Bronwyn. But, of course, if she needs this device to get any work done, that will be a problem.”
Cal jumped in. “What do you think, Beep?”
“I’m sure I could work on my laptop. If I need that computer, I can let him know.”
And how, exactly, would she do that when she refused to speak to him? Morse code?
An hour later, Bronwyn sat at one end of the conference table. Mo continued to peck away at the computer in the corner. She had no idea what he was doing or how he was doing it. He stared at the screen for so long after Cal left, she was afraid he would burn out his retinas.
A soft tap on the door pulled her attention away from Mo. “Ms. Pierce?” June poked her head in. “Your lunch is here.”
“My ... what?”
“Your lunch.” June pushed a room service tray inside the room. “I think you’ll like it.” She set several plates on the table, silver covers hiding the contents from view.
“Mr. Quinn, some of this is yours,” June added, turning to Mo. “Would you like to eat now?”
Mo stopped what he was doing, twisted in the seat, and made eye contact with her. “Thank you, June.” Did her assistant blush? Yes, she did. Bronwyn couldn’t blame her. When Mo Quinn gave you his full attention, it made an impression. “You can leave it down there,” Mo said. “I’ll grab what I want in a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” June gave him a warm smile. “And thank you for taking care of Ms. Pierce. She forgets to eat.”
Wait. What?
