“You can’t sit here.” Owen Fletcher, her colleague and friendly office pain in the ass, dropped down into her chair before she had a chance to dump her satchel there. “This desk belongs to a grumpy pink-haired lady who never wears skirts.”
Smirking, she sipped her giant latte. “That’s got to be the first time you’ve ever called me a lady.”
“Seriously, what’s with the dress? It’s...weird.” He scrunched up his nose as if she’d walked into the office wearing a trash can.
“Can’t I wear a dress without getting hassled?” She tugged on the hem again.
The tight fit was already bugging her, not to mention the fact that she’d had to go commando because she hadn’t brought a fresh pair of underwear with her. How did women dress this way? Give her a baggy top and a pair of jeans any day.
“Please come to work in a ‘Space Invaders’ T-shirt tomorrow.” Owen got out of her seat and held it out so she could sit down. “You’re messing with my view of the world.”
“Your view of the world?”
“Yes, the things I need to believe in order to know the universe is right. Taxi drivers are crazy, the Mets are the greatest team on earth and you dress like a teenage boy.”
“I guess I should feel honored that I feature in the world law according to Owen Fletcher.” She swung her chair around to face her desk. “Now go away. I have work to do.”
“No dress tomorrow, promise?” Owen raked a hand through his blond hair and grinned.
“Promise.” She shooed him away with one hand and typed her password into her laptop.
Already her inbox was filled to bursting with banal requests. Printer errors, missing cables, password resets and setup for the new hire. Ugh.
She couldn’t take this job much longer before she’d go nuts. The years she’d spent at university could not be wasted on constantly advising people to restart their computers.
“Quinn?” Her manager, Rhys, came out of his office and over to her desk.
“Morning, boss,” she said, pushing up from her chair. “Any chance you might be free to catch up today? There’s something I’d like to discuss.”
“Hold that thought. I have a special project for you to work on.” He motioned for her to follow him through the IT department. “Bring your laptop.”
Great. What’ll it be this time, a server upgrade? Someone broke a macro? A busted scanner?
She opened the cable lock that secured her laptop to the desk and tucked the device under her arm. Scooping up her coffee with her free hand, she hurried after him.
“So I was thinking about the position you applied for recently,” he said.
“Oh. Really?”
Rhys nodded to the receptionist as they walked past her and into an empty conference room where they usually met clients. “I know you were disappointed you didn’t get it.”
“No shit,” she muttered as she pulled up a chair and placed her laptop and coffee onto the table.
He held up a hand as he usually did when Quinn was about to start ranting. “We had a better candidate.”
“Did you really drag me out here to reinforce the idea I’m not good enough?” she asked, heavily ladling on the sarcasm.
He folded his arms over his chest and took the seat across from her. The wall clock ticked loudly in the pause, the sound grating on her nerves. She inspected the remains of her black polish and made a mental note to locate the bottle of remover she kept in the IT department cupboards.
A smile tugged at the corner of his full lips. “Now, if you could dial back the sulky-teenager act for a minute, I’d like to talk about the job I have for you.”
“A job?” She tried not to appear too excited at the possibility that they’d already realized she was promotion-worthy without her having to convince them.
“I want you to work a case with the new hire.”
If she’d been able to pop Rhys’s head with sheer mind power at that moment, she would have. “What?”
“We’ve assigned him to a case involving a leak at a game design company, and we thought it would also be a great opportunity for you to stretch your wings.” He folded his hands in front of him on top of the table.
“What exactly will ‘stretching my wings’ involve?” She chewed on the inside of her cheek.
“It will mean playing nice in the sandpit, for one.” Rhys looked at her pointedly.
“And?” She kept her face neutral, undecided how she felt about this opportunity. It was what she wanted...kind of. However, being forced to work with the guy who’d gotten the job she deserved was not at all her cup of tea.
“Getting a positive outcome. We’re briefing the case this morning, so you’ll be up to speed on all the important details.”
“Can’t I work with one of the other guys? What about Jin or Owen?” She drummed her fingertips against her bare thigh. “Surely they’d do a better job with this case since they already know how we do things around here.”
“No.” Rhys turned his phone over in his hands and swiped at the screen. “This is the opportunity I’m giving you. Take it or leave it.”
“Since when do you play hardball?”
“Since you decided to argue with me. I like having you on my team, Quinn, but damn, you’re difficult sometimes.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Now, are you on board or not?”
She rolled the proposal around in her mind. Her gut told her she’d be stupid to turn it down. Rhys was trying to make things right and, given he was the head of IT, she’d still be working for him.
“Who’s going to cover my job while I’m on this case?”
He shrugged. “We’ll get a temp in.”
“Will you let them sit at my desk?” She shuddered at the thought of someone touching her things.
“Yes. Where else would they sit?”
Crossing one leg over the other, she leaned back in her chair. “Do I get a raise?”
“We’ll talk about it if the assignment goes well.”
“Do I get an office?”
Rhys laughed as if she’d asked for a life-size statue made of marshmallows to be erected in her honor. “No office. What you get is the opportunity to do something different, which I believe is what you’ve been hounding me for. Do it well and then you can negotiate with me.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” He stifled a smile as he checked the clock. “You’re not going to chase the new guy away?”
“If he’s chased away so easily, he probably isn’t a good fit for our team,” she said. “So, when do I start?”
“Right now.” Rhys motioned to the conference room door as Jin, one of the senior security consultants, held the door open for the person behind him.
“Hey, Quinn, glad you could join us.”
She opened her mouth to respond but the words evaporated right off her tongue as the new hire walked through the open door.
The intensity of his blue gaze hit her immediately, followed by the sharp cut