Heating Up the Help Desk, a novella

Chapter Nineteen

*Reese

In some ways he was right. There is no destined to fail, there are no crystal balls telling fortunes, and there is no magic formula for the perfect couple. There are only people working through this world together.

But where would that leave her when he decided she wasn't smart enough or didn't enjoy his sci-fi movies enough in a few months' time? While she stood on the sidelines of his amazing career and hers sputtered and died?

He threatened this job—her work was numbers. Cold. Hard. Black, white, and red. Completely lifeless. But it was her income.

"Are my files unlocked?" she asked. "I have to go."

"They are free. I had them timed."

She stood and hurried from her desk. Clem and Barb trailed after her, attracting more coworkers.

Kenneth caught her hand before she reached the hall.

"I just wanted to give you this." He handed her a card. "It's yours. I trust it with you now and for always, to keep it close to your heart. I'll never forget."

"What?" she asked, glancing down.

"My V card, of course. And by V card, I mean my Vulcan Fan Club membership card from when I was—" he paused to cough. A group of half a dozen ladies stood by, not even pretending to not be listening. "Seventeen years old."

They chuckled. Obviously picturing Kenneth at seventeen and being a part of the Vulcan fan-boy society was entirely too easy.

"I trust you not to throw it away or forget how you came by it. I trust you blindly, foolishly, perhaps."

"Kenneth, I don't know what to say." She swayed in place, torn.

Leap of faith or clean break?

For someone who wanted to give advice for a living, Reese had no idea what to do with herself. Her emotions were a smoking train wreck she couldn't help staring at.

"And you need to check your emails," Kenneth said. "I think you'll be pleased with what you see."

Then he was going. He was going.

He was gone.

Laptop clutched to her chest, she hurried to the meeting room at the end of the hall. It was gray-walled and supplied with a cold black table and chairs, like all the other meeting rooms. She said hello and slipped in, but they ignored her. They were discussing another project, voices a cacophony of disagreements while she connected her laptop to the beamer and found her presentation.

They were still arguing.

Her phone buzzed in her purse. Hiding it below the table, she swiped the screen to check. An email. No—twenty new emails. Another arrived as she stared at the screen.

A river of requests for her coaching lessons. Self-described geeks, nerds, gaming guys, single dudes, a single dad, loners, and above all—nice guys hoping to meet someone special they could spend their lives with.

They heard she had helped one of their own find an exciting new relationship and they were begging for her to coach them, too.

With this many clients, she could hand in her notice at Orbis Tech. This was her dream career handed to her on a platter by Kenneth. After she had left him without a word in the middle of the night, he saved her dream and upheld his end of their bargain for teaching him how to seduce a woman. Which he had done exceptionally well.

She really was an idiot.

"All right, are you ready, Reese?" Melanie hissed, clearly annoyed with the other managers. The CEO sat stony-faced and fearsome at the head of the table.

Reese gulped. Several managers rolled their eyes or slumped in their seats, already bored. This was her life. Her lifeless life of cold numbers and colder people.

Clearing her throat, she clicked on her presentation. "You know...this thing really speaks for itself. I have to go, there's a situation in the tech development department."

She walked out of the room as her presentation scrolled along to utter silence.

In the hall, her accounting coworkers were still whispering and milling about. Clem hushed them, and they all looked at her expectantly.

"I think I made a mistake," Reese said.

"I'm sure that cute boy has potential," Barb said, winking. "Bad ties are a sure-fire sign of a big heart."

"You think a blonde with a PhD might not be his thing after all?" Clem asked.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Reese marched for the elevator. The girls cheered her on until the doors slid shut and she was alone.

Very alone.

The Development floor was nothing like the accounting department. There were ping-pong tables and games in the corners. No partitions, but plenty of comfy chairs and a hammock.

Kenneth was smack in the middle of the floor, putting on his coat. He paused for a second at the sight of her and then pulled it on with a snap.

He stared in silence as she wended between the desks, pod chairs, poofs, and tech developers wrapped in their introvert worlds. He didn't move. He didn't smile.

When she realized how much she missed it, her chest constricted, putting her heart in a vice.

Reese paused in front of his wide desk, hands clammy and cold.

He still didn't greet her.

"I put the presentation on and came down here." Her voice was thin as winter sunlight. Her heart hammered, squeezing up to her throat. She couldn't find the words, and he was standing there like a stranger, as if they had never been together. Swallowing against the paper dryness in her mouth, she struggled to speak. "Kenneth, I—"

In two long steps, he caught her in his arms.

His mouth came down on hers, cutting off her words. His lips moved, flooding her with warmth. They breathed together. Her knees loosened, and starbursts filled up her chest.

The fear and doubt that plagued her since reading his worksheets transformed into a foggy haze and then vanished. There were no guarantees, but she wouldn't trade this kiss now to save herself possible heartache later.

In the distance, the elevator pinged, followed clapping. Then more, louder clapping. She shook herself free for a moment.

The ladies had followed her down in the second elevator, applauding along with the tech team. Someone whooped. Probably Clem.

Kenneth twirled her around in the air, her head spinning before he sat her down. "Leap of faith?" he asked.

She grinned. "Yeah. Leap of faith. We might go up in flames, hating each other's taste in movies, but we always have sex to fall back on."

His eyes went wide, and he loosened his collar and knitted tie. "I was going to say we could find new movies to watch, but I'm fine with more sex if that's what you prefer."

"We should get out of here. Find someplace with fewer people."

He nodded in agreement and took her hands in his, interlacing their fingers. The warmth made her shiver. Through the clapping and cheers of the two departments, they headed for the elevator.

Kenneth squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you changed your mind. You wouldn't believe how happy I am."

"And you," she said, voice low so he alone would hear. "You wouldn't believe how urgently I need you."

*** YAY!!! A happy ending!!! If you have loved this story, be sure to check out Two Tickets to Paradise for a wild journey to love in Hawaii, and also One Drop of Golden Sunshine - which is being updated on Fridays - to see what Ray decides about love and guys when she thinks her new boyfriend is sending her poetry and love letters. But for now, hit the star and check out the very fun epilogue to Heating Up the Help Desk! ***