Yes, she knew and the thought of Joe mourning her father disconcerted and warmed her at the same time.
Joseph’s grieving brought an image she hadn’t anticipated and didn’t know if she was ready to accept. “Which would explain how chipper he’s been.”
Vince let out a smile. “Well…truth is, he’s just about always that way.”
“But the rest of you—you and Tim and Andy—you’re all so nice and welcoming. How do you do it?”
“Tim and Andy are really great. We’ve all been friends since…well, forever.”
How wonderful those sort of ties must be. There was no one in her past with whom she kept in contact. “Tell me about all of you.”
Vince laughed without embarrassment. “We were the proverbial school geeks. You know, the ones girls wouldn’t even look at? Luckily, we’ll get the last laugh. At our five-year reunion, we realized most of our school buddies are struggling with jobs like bagging groceries. Nothing beats this. Plus we still have hair.”
She laughed. “And you’re fit. At my reunion, the cheerleaders had gotten fat.”
“See?” He grinned. “We’re not fat. And we’re doing what we love.”
They were, Caitlin realized with a spurt of envy. She’d never found her place. She’d never really been satisfied. Maybe that was because she’d never really challenged herself, never held a real job.
That could change, she thought with hope. She could find her place. Maybe even right here.
The phone rang. “Just a sec,” she said quickly, and then raced down the hall. “Good morning, CompuSoft—No, wait,” she managed to say, breathless from her dash down the hall. “It’s almost afternoon, now isn’t it?” Rambling. A very unattractive trait. “Oh, forget it. Just hello.”
She got a dial tone. “Well, hell.”
“Nice phone manners.”
Caitlin nearly leaped out of her skin at Joe’s low, husky voice coming from directly behind her. Careful to roll her eyes before she turned to face him, she planted a smile on her lips. “So. You’ve come out of your cage.”
“I smelled coffee—” He broke off abruptly when she suddenly shrugged out of her jacket.
Beneath the splashy red, she wore a sleeveless white silk blouse, pretty enough, and unremarkable but for the body beneath it. The soft material clung to her ripe curves in a way that made his pulse race. “What are you doing?” he demanded, backing up a step.
She laughed at the expression on his face. “Whatever you’re thinking, that’s not it.” She dropped the jacket carelessly into her chair, kicked off her pumps and put her hands on her hips. “For your information, I just cleaned your filthy kitchen and I’m hot. Hence the jacket removal.” She sent him a nasty look. “You guys are pigs.”
She swung her hand out for emphasis and hit the lamp on the credenza.
Joe grabbed for it—a split second after it crashed to the floor, where it shattered into millions of jagged shards.
“Dammit!” he roared, falling to his knees besides his brand-new, very expensive zip drive. “What’s this doing on the floor?”
“I was dusting. Do you have any idea how bad dust is for your computer?”
Strangling her was definitely wrong, he told himself. Carefully, he brushed away some of the lamp glass, but stabbed his thumb on a sharp, jagged piece. Swearing again, he pulled the sliver out of his skin and glared up at the woman who’d single-handedly brought chaos into his life.
Big mistake, looking up.
Kneeling at her feet, he found his face came to a very interesting level on her body. Interesting and erotic as hell. He forced his gaze past her tempting thighs, past the juncture between them, past the rest of her lovely curves and on to her unsettled, melting brown eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wringing her hands. “It’s just that I’m—” Her stomach, inches from his face, growled noisily. “Hungry,” she finished lamely. “I’m…very hungry.”
Joe closed his eyes. “You’re hungry.”
“Yes.” She nodded emphatically, pressing her hands to her belly.
At that moment, Vince walked in, his gaze widening slightly at Joseph’s and Caitlin’s suggestive pose. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Just me about to get fired,” Caitlin said with a sigh.
Tim and Andy pushed their curious way into the front office, too.
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked, after taking note of Joseph’s fierce scowl.
“Everything,” Joe said, glaring at Caitlin.
“It’s really been nice knowing you guys,” said Caitlin, smiling shakily at the three techs.
“Wait,” Vince said quietly. He looked at Joe. “Wait a minute. Don’t do anything rash.”
“Yeah, Joe,” Tim piped up. “You can’t fire her. She made coffee. Great coffee.”
“And she cleaned,” Andy added. “Did you know the tile in the kitchen is white?”
Instead of detonating, as Caitlin fully expected, Joe just shook his head.
Then burst out laughing. A full, rich, very pleasant and contagious sound she’d never expected of him. While everyone stared at him, he laughed so hard, he doubled over, hands on his thighs.
Caitlin didn’t get the joke. “I’m sorry about the zip drive,” she whispered.
Silence. Apparently, for once not even Tim, Andy or Vince had anything positive or hopeful to say.
Instead, they all looked in unison at Joe, their expressions filled with the uneasy worry one gives another before shipping him off to the mental ward.
Joe sniffed, straightened, took a deep breath and said, “Well, shit. I guess it’s lunchtime.”
“Really, Joe?”
He looked directly at Caitlin, his eyes hooded. “Yeah. What the hell.”
Relief and hope surged, made her laugh a little giddily. In that moment, Caitlin forgot that he didn’t like silly, untrained women, and that she didn’t like hard, know-it-all men who looked too tasty for their own good.
Maybe, just maybe, this would work out after all.
That’s when the coffeemaker, still plugged in, burst into flames.
4
LUNCH SHOULD HAVE been simple. After they’d gotten rid of the fire department, the five of them—Vince, Tim, Andy, Joe and Caitlin—all piled into Vince’s van.
But Tim and Andy couldn’t decide on a place, and Vince kept making the wrong turn when Joe would call out directions. This would have normally greatly amused Caitlin, except for the fact she was pressed up close in the seat next to Joe.
Actually, plastered was more like it.
She found it a bit unsettling to feel the solid power of him against her, to realize how big he really was. And given the rigid way he held himself so as to minimize contact, he was obviously every bit as aware of her as she was of him.
“Wait! That way,” Tim yelled, and the van swerved as Vince made the turn.
Caitlin could feel the strain in Joseph’s body as he tried to remain completely upright and away from her. He didn’t quite succeed and at the next quick turn, which came