Gem in the Rough

Chapter 2

I hear a slight clearing of a throat again and shake myself out of my own head.

"Uh, I'm Kieran. I'm here to train for a tech position?" He frames it like a question, looking at me briefly before his eyes widen and he brings his gaze to the floor. His cheeks turn darker, and it seems like it's taking a lot of control for him to not look at me.

My hand is rubbing at my forehead slowly, attempting to get the imprint of the desk that was inevitably there to go away. My mouth is also probably to the floor, but I can't get words to come out.

"Sorry," I flash a hesitant smile. "My name is Gemma. I'll be the one showing you around the office." I offer my other hand to him, the one that wasn't on my forehead, in greeting. This was right after rubbing it on my jeans to get rid of any nervous sweat that had appeared in the last thirty seconds.

Kieran only moves his head to look at my hand and shakes it briefly, lowering his eyes afterward. He mutters a "sounds good" as I round the desk to show him around, ignoring the tingling in my hand.

I look in the mirror on the desk quickly beforehand to make sure the mark on my forehead is gone and sigh with relief when I see nothing.

The tour of the office is awkward to say the least. I walk him around the desk, show him the copy room, point out where the restrooms are, and then finally we go to the room with the computers and other equipment he would be using for training. As we're walking around, I feel like he's staring at me, but I shake the feeling off. I, myself, have been trying to not look at him because I'm afraid I'll drool.

"This is the technology room. Everyone here calls it "tech" for short, so don't be alarmed when you never hear the full word," I laugh nervously at my attempt at a joke. Kieran doesn't say anything, his face still a little red from when he first walked into the tech office.

At least I'm not the only one affected, but I'm not sure why he's acting like this. I'm not show-stopping gorgeous like he is.

I continue the tour, stopping at Anthony's desk. I explain his role as the lead tech and how he runs the office, letting Kieran know that will be the person he reports to typically. I also tell him that's who makes the schedule.

"I'm just showing you around today since he's busy with some things around campus. We have a tech fair every semester for people to come and get help with any technology issues they're having. It's a great way for students to remember there is support here for them while also giving them easier access to it. A lot of preparation goes into it, so I'm sure you'll be working on things for it too. Do you have any questions so far?"

Kieran shakes his head, causing his hair to move across his face and his scar to show a bit more. I try not to stare, looking away quickly.

"Okay. Well, if you don't have any questions, I can let you sit down with an actual tech so they can show you what you'll be doing. Do you have a lot of experience with computers?"

"I guess," Kieran states with a shrug of his shoulders.

I nod and roll my eyes slightly, getting the hint that he isn't too into talking to me. I see a look in his eyes briefly, almost like he's...mad? It goes away quickly, almost like it never happened.

I walk him over to Chris, another tech, and tell him to let me know if he needs anything before Anthony comes back. I walk back towards my desk, realizing I've been gone awhile and probably have a few calls that were missed.

Before I leave the tech room, I get the feeling that I'm being watched. I look back and catch Kieran's gaze, lowered to my ass. Seeing me turn around, he raises his widening eyes and quickly turns his attention back to Chris.