“Oh my gosh, Tabitha. You should see your face.” Jules bumped my shoulder with hers. “I can’t believe he heard us talking about him.” She waved her hand in front of her face as if she were overheating, which, considering she was an arctic fox in early spring, could have easily been a possibility. But that wasn’t the case, despite the fact that I felt her elevated body heat. Nope, Jules spoke enough about Bae, Kasim, and Arin for me to know all about the little crush she had.
“How could you say that hunk of meat is just fine? I mean that man is Grade A prime meat.” Jules smacked her lips together loud enough for Arin to glance back over his shoulder and wink at us.
Kill me now. He better not think that kissing noise came from me. I ducked my head as my cheeks burned.
We followed him down the aisle, and I watched the way his butt muscles clenched inside his tight dress pants. Okay, so Jules was right. The man wasn’t just fine, especially when he was wearing clothes that fit his body. Although I did have to admit that a number of times when I saw him on campus walking in his jogging pants, I found myself staring at the way his muscles rippled and flowed with movement until I discovered it was him I’d been ogling.
Jules continued to snicker and make little comments under her breath, forcing me to drop into the first available chair in the back row. I’d never sat so far back before for a lecture of any type, and doing so now made me want to break out in hives. But what choice did I have with Jules continuing to extol his virtues in her not-so-quiet whisper?
When she switched to grumbling over my seat choice, I elbowed her arm. “Shhh. He’s about to speak.”
But it was Jules who managed to get in the last word. “Thought you didn’t think he had anything worthwhile to say, huh?”
Grrrr. I bit my lip, refusing to be drawn into Jules web. No matter what I said, she’d twist it.
Instead, I stared straight ahead and tried to ignore the subtle heating of my body whenever his gaze brushed against mine. I would not succumb to whatever traitorous female hormone my body seemed to be producing to match that of the other simpering fools in the audience. It didn’t matter that his shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail highlighted his strong cheekbones or made his normally slightly-too-large-for-his-face nose a piece of art. None of that would affect me any more than a nice painting on the wall.
By the end of his hour-and-a-half talk, discussing the use of tech in the field and the things he wished he had when out on some missions, I had to pick my jaw up from the floor. Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone. But boy, could that man talk. It wasn’t with the same in-depth technical knowledge that someone who specialized in the field spoke with, but he knew enough to paint a clear picture and to excite me. Designs for future projects jumped into my head.
I found myself standing and applauding just like the rest of the listeners. And when Jules gave me her patented look that suited the sly fox she was, I raised my chin, spun on my heel, and marched back toward my design. If he wanted to see a great piece of tech, he’d have to come to me. There was no way I would lower myself to walk up to him.
Neat and orderly was how I liked things. Following the rules and the path laid out. This meant I should have been the sixth table that he visited, but could he follow that logic? No. Instead he meandered through the room, going from one side to another, up and down, until I couldn’t stand still any longer.
While I paced in front of my table, I scanned the room, only to discover his gaze on me. And each time, my fists clenched and my blood boiled. But when the corners of his mouth hitched a little higher, my hackles rose. That man is toying with me like a mouse on a string.
“Relax, Tabitha. Your device is awesome. I’m sure he’ll love it.” Jules brushed up against my side, offering a little comfort.
I tried to smile, but it felt a little like a grimace from the way my lips pulled tight over my teeth. His actions might have rubbed my fur the wrong way, but I was made of sterner stuff than that. Tech was my domain. And this little house cat could roar like a lion.
Presenting him with my back in a sign of dismissal, I opened my laptop and began to work on my code. Let him take his time getting to me. I’d just use that time to work. Lines of code swam before my eyes as the noise of the room faded out.
“Tabitha, they’re ready for you.” I glanced up into Jules’ face as the lines of code disappeared from my clouded brain. “They want to see your device.” Jules motioned toward the small gadget that looked like a beefed-up USB. The cobwebs cleared. Right. My new invention.
I plastered a smile on
