“Didn’t know you were into nerds, Abernathy. But then I guess they’re usually an easy lay, huh?” Tony had no idea how close his beer bottle was to going down his throat. “After what happened to our golf anchor, you might want to think twice about chatting up anyone from work. You never know when their crazy is going to show.”
Jake’s stomach rankled at Tony’s insinuations, but said nothing. She was gorgeous in a down-to-earth way, and as much as his stupid mouth had indicated otherwise, a serious fan if she sought out such an obscure piece of merchandise. But he didn’t expect Tony to understand that. He didn’t dare out himself as a nerd to his coworkers; they’d make his life hell like the Huskers had when he was playing football. And if it got out on social media, his credibility would be shot.
“Want a beer?” Tony had got up to hit the coolers.
“Sure. Then let’s play cornhole.”
Jake watched Blondie walk away. Whowasthat woman? He was determined to find out, but it wouldn’t happen today.
“Ugh, whowasthat asshole?” Olivia grunted as soon as she and Nadia were out of earshot. Nadia’s fellow accounting lackey was bringing up the rear.
“That was part of the talent. The guy you were talking to is Jake Abernathy, and the other guy is Tony Valdez. They’re the college football anchors,” Nadia’s coworker said. Olivia wasn’t sure of her name. Was it Sophie? But she apparently watched sports news. Olivia didn’t. Sure, she worked for CBSN, but she’d never cared about sports enough to watch it.
“Figures he’d be ajock.” Olivia picked at her potato salad. Her appetite dulled at the nauseating insinuation she wasn’t a “real fan.” She had to deal with it enough from elitist nerds online and at conventions, she didn’t need it from a jock at her work picnic, even if he was cute as hell.
He was tall, with a muscular build, a strong jaw and full, dare she say, kissable lips. His brown hair was a bit long on top and neatly trimmed at the sides. But it was obvious he was an elitist, and that kind of asshole attitude was why she steered clear of jocks, and really, men in general. Too many times she’d heard it in forums on the internet, or at conventions, that she couldn’t possibly know more than a guy about some show or other. Her friends had all dealt with the blatant sexism, too. God forbid a man ever get outsmarted by a woman.
Regardless of who the hot asshole was, Olivia was too focused on moving up the career ladder to get caught up in a guy anyway, never mind someone who’d blatantly mocked her in front of her coworkers. And she wasn’t going to drop her hobbies for a man. No, all she needed in her life was her squad, work, and cat, Kusanagi.
“Forget him. Let’s finish our lunch, then go find my manager, Sally. Gotta make it look like we care.”
“Hey, some of us do.” Olivia narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Graphic design is a difficult field to break into. I’m damn lucky to find a steady job. You could work in accounting anywhere.”
Nadia chucked her paper plate in the trash and raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, firecracker, let’s go.”
Tuesday at noon, Jake wandered into the sixth-floor employee break room with his thermal lunch bag in tow. He was avoiding Tony. Quite frankly, he’d had enough of the guy between the unwanted gossip and his disrespectful remarks about women … specifically toward that blondeG Gundamfan. For some reason, despite the fact she’d flipped out on him, he was feeling protective over her. And he still was no closer to finding out her identity.
That encounter played in his head on repeat. He’d come off as such a dickhead. It didn’t help that yesterday Tony had been hammering on about her attitude. And try as he might, Jake couldn’t explain to him why she’d reacted that way, at least not without outing himself as a closeted nerd. Tony had been at CBSN longer than Jake, and he couldn’t afford to make waves. Last night, the kids on his peewee football team had picked up on his distraction and run circles around him during practice. His assistant coach had ended up running drills just to tire them out. It wasn’t like him to lose control like that. But he couldn’t break out of this funk he was in. He just needed to lose Tony for a while. Maybe that would help.
The hair rose along the back of his neck as he entered the break room. Much to his surprise, the blonde who’d haunted his thoughts all weekend was sitting at a table with her brunette friend. He almost didn’t recognize her from the smile across her face. When he’d met her, she was mostly scowling. Now she was laughing, chatting animatedly with her friend from the picnic. It was the most beautiful sound. This was a completely different woman from the one he’d met on Saturday. She exuded sunshine and warmth, and it drew him in like a bug to a lantern.
He started to approach them, then stopped himself. Going in half-cocked without proper planning was what got him into trouble in the first place. He settled down at the table next to them, keeping his back to them so he wouldn’t be obvious he was eavesdropping. Jake ate his sandwich while contemplating what to say. Maybe he could find an opening to apologize for being a jerk.
“So, the hotel is two hundred a night, but the suite sleeps four. We can ask for a rollaway bed.”
“Look, the Ambassador Suites are only one-fifty a night for a two-bedroom. It’s only ten minutes away from the con.”
“Perfect. We’ll draw straws to sleep on the couch.” Blondie was taking notes.
“At least it’s a sleeper sofa.”
“Okay, so two nights there, between the five of us, is sixty apiece. Not bad.”
“Even with admission and food, we can probably keep it down to a hundred apiece.”
“Jade’s the only one I’m worried about.”
“We can cover her share if she needs us to. It wouldn’t be that bad.”
“She would never let us do that, and you know it.”
Okay, so the conversation was too deep for there to be a smooth opening—noted. Jake finished his sandwich, formed an apology in his head, and plastered on his most confident smile. Going for it, he tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me.”
Her low ponytail swung around as she turned to look at him, and her eyes narrowed. “Do you need something?”
“I just wanted to say sorry for what happened at the picnic. I wasn’t trying to offend you. It … came out wrong.” His smile faltered under her cool gaze. The Ice Queen was back.
“Apology accepted. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re in the middle of something, and only have ten minutes before our lunch break is over.” She turned from him, and he caught the brunette giving him side-eye … again.
That was it? No chance to ask her name, why she’d chosen to wear the Swedish Gundam, or who her favorite character was? Jake swallowed his hurt pride and backed away, back to his table where the rest of his sad little lunch sat. His charm hadn’t ever failed to get him out of trouble with women before. He put the food away, no longer hungry, but he still had time to kill. And they were still talking.
“Annapolis isn’t that far, so we won’t have to worry about gas. Jade can’t get away for Saturday, but she is joining us Sunday for the group cosplay competition.”
“I have to get her the money for our fabric, too. These costumes are going to be killer.”
“Right? I’ve always wanted to cosplay as Sailor Moon.”
“We have our own personal Sailor Guardians.”
Jake smiled as he listened to their giggling. So, Blondie was going to cosplay as Sailor Moon, huh? Calling her “Bun-head” would have been completely appropriate. They had to be talking about the big anime convention coming up next month in Annapolis. He’d never been, nor planned to go, but since she wouldn’t talk to Jake from CBSN, maybe she’d talk to another cosplayer.
