Well, he mostly managed not to notice
As he was about to install the first panel of new wiring, Sarah cleared her throat.
“Will it bother you if I make a couple of calls?”
He was tempted to tell her the coffee shop across the street might be a better place but bit his tongue. In truth, he understood why she might hesitate to leave him on his own here. As she’d told him several times before, this company, this office, was her baby. A mother didn’t abandon a sick child when its temperature was still burning hot.
Reaching for his phone, he paused the music. “Be my guest.”
With a quick grin of gratitude, Sarah punched in a number and brought the phone to her ear. She exchanged a few pleasantries with the person on the other line. Then she launched straight into business.
“I understand you’re interested in going to France, but I’m just not sure it’s a good fit.” She paused. “You’re right. There are plenty of English-speaking companies where you could work. But not knowing French might make your day-to-day experiences more difficult.”
Beck couldn’t help but turn and stare. Just what exactly was this business Sarah was launching? He casually listened to the rest of the conversation, which only confused him more.
When Sarah hung up the phone, Beck debated whether or not to ask Sarah what exactly GO would do. In the end, curiosity won out over his determination to remain aloof and detached.
Sarah’s eyes lit up as she launched into a full explanation of the company.
GO, she said, would serve as an exchange program of sorts. Only instead of high school or college students studying abroad, the company would link professionals and companies around the world for three months, six months, or a full year. While working for the company, the employee would also experience the local culture. The more she explained the company, the brighter her eyes shone in excitement.
That hungry light in her eyes caused a warmth to spread in his chest. He had to douse it with water before it caught fire.
“I always thought travel was overrated.”
The light from her eyes was gone along with the burning in his chest. “How can you say that?”
“People go on and on about how a trip will change your life. But you know what else can change your life? A movie. A song. Even a slice of pizza. And you don’t have to hop on a plane for any of those.”
Anything that required boarding an airplane wasn’t worth it to him.
“If you ask me, it’s just people always thinking the grass is greener.”
There was ice in her eyes now. “Well, I didn’t ask.”
It would be rude to push the issue anymore. Maybe that was what they both needed right now—a little rudeness.
“You’ve figured out a way to monetize this whole thing?”
She eyed him warily. “I have. The companies will pay a fee of sorts, and we have partners and advertisers who will sponsor social media posts along the way.”
He snorted then.
A ‘V’ formed between her eyebrows. “What?”
“I’m just saying, it sounds a little flimsy.”
That was probably too rude.
Her eyes turned glacial. “It doesn’t matter what you think about my company. I’m not paying you for your opinions. I’m paying you to keep my server online.”
He supposed he’d been asking for that. She was right. It wasn’t his job or place to criticize her. Even if it didn’t make much sense to him, it was her business, not his. Besides, she’d proven countless times in the past decade that her professional instincts were better than anyone else’s. She probably had another multi-million dollar idea on her hands, and she’d prove him wrong. Again.
Sarah slammed her laptop shut. “You know, I think I’m going to make this next call across the street at the coffee shop. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Tucking her laptop into her backpack, she rose to her feet and strode toward the door to the stairwell. Part of him longed to call after her. To apologize for what he had said. But he didn’t. It would be better for them if she kept thinking he was an ass. He could live with the guilt gnawing at his gut.
Still, he found his mind wandering more than once as he continued the installation. The fire he’d seen in Sarah’s eyes while she’d been on the phone—the ice in them as she’d glared at him—were hard to forget.
More than once, he found himself wishing she’d look at him again with fire in her eyes instead of ice.
He was in trouble. Only time would tell just how deep in it he was.
Chapter Five
Sarah would say this about Beck: He did good work. As she stood in front of the wall that he’d completely rewired the previous evening, she could tell he’d put care and precision into building a state of the art infrastructure. Maisie had been right. He really was the best.
Even if he was an ass.
After he’d dissed the premise of GO and essentially called her a hack, Sarah had taken a long walk around the block before spending the next half hour working at the coffee shop. It had kept her from saying something that likely would’ve shut down production and ended up costing her even more money with yet another bribe to get him to finish the work.
It was strange. For all of his faults—and she was sure he had many—Sarah didn’t remember him being such a jerk. He might’ve hated her work hours, but he’d never been anything but supportive of her ideas.
Maybe that’s why it had bothered her so much when he’d scoffed at GO.
Maybe, just maybe, he might be onto something. For as much as she loved and believed in this venture, she’d already faced plenty of naysayers. There would be even more before it was all said and done. And maybe time would prove that the naysayers were right, and she’d completely missed the mark.
Ugh. She’d love nothing more than to give Beck a good slap across the face for putting those doubts in her head. But they’d already made it through one night. In the name of giving her crazy idea its best shot, she could hold back her anger for a bit longer.
Even if the pressure of keeping it in gave her a stroke.
They hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words after she’d come back to the office the previous evening. It was for the best. She saw that now. Just like she saw Beck for who he really was: a jerk.
The elevator doors slid open promptly at six o’clock. Beck rolled in with his cart, pausing for only a beat when he caught sight of her. Sarah might be wrong, but she could swear she caught a hint of remorse in his eyes. Maybe he felt bad for what he’d said.
Then again, maybe she imagined that because she wanted him to be a good guy. It was like her brain needed to rationalize why she’d ever been hung up on him. Why she still felt drawn to him after how it had all gone south.
He mumbled a greeting as he pulled the cart to a fresh section of the open wall. “Your contractors have been busy.”
“We’re on a deadline.”
His eyes flickered a little. “I remember.”
For some reason, the intensity in his dark brown eyes made her stomach flutter. No. She wouldn’t let a pair of nice eyes dissolve any of her anger. And she was angry. Wasn’t she?
“You good if I cut the power?”