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“This is weird. Isn’t this weird?” I blurt. I’ve been kicking myself from the second I walked out of the bar without Carter’s phone number. My mom sent her typical SOS signal, which meant she wasn’t safe and needed my help to get out of it. I knew if I waited a single second too long, she could’ve gotten hurt, so I left without thinking. Now I have a chance to get more information about Carter, and I’m being a bumbling idiot instead.
Tucker rolls his eyes at me and turns back to his desk. He grabs a pen to write something down before turning back to me. In his hand is a sticky note with a phone number on it.
“This is Carter’s number. Do with it what you will, and I’ll tell Nolan he’s an idiot.”
I take the note with a laugh. “There’s no need for that. I should probably be thanking him. From what I could tell, I’m pretty sure he’s the reason Carter came over to talk to me in the first place.”
Tucker tilts his head. “Sounds about right. I won’t say anything, then, and let him wonder if anything ever happened.”
I frown. “Won’t Carter tell him if I reach out?”
“I doubt it. Carter doesn’t say much in general. He definitely won’t share anything with Nolan.”
Hmm. I didn’t get the quiet vibe when I ran into him by the bathrooms. In fact, he seemed to force himself to stop talking. Does that have to do with me, or was it the circumstance?
“Thanks for this, Tucker.” I hold up the note as I stand to leave his office. The hallway is quiet, giving me the space to decide what I want to do next. Do I send a text first? Call? Is it weird to have his phone number at all?
What if he didn’t feel the same spark I felt when I touched his hand? I’ve been thinking about Carter nonstop since I left the bar. What if my attraction was completely one-sided?
There’s only one way to find out.
Me
Hey, Carter! This is Sam Shields. We met at O’Malley’s last Friday. I realized I still owe you a drink for the mishap with your phone. You still interested?
I darken my screen and tuck my phone away in my pocket. If I don’t hide it, I’ll constantly be checking to see if he responds.
I find Taylor and Charlie again to let them know our plan is a go. Since we only have a week, we start planning right away.
All the while, my phone sits quietly in my pocket. I pretend to not notice, but deep inside, the disappointment is cutting.
CHAPTER 3
Carter
The red light on the security pad beeps green, allowing me entry into the building. The white sterile hallways always make me uncomfortable. I’m grateful I don’t have to come into the office more often than once a month.
As the technology specialist for Pharmatech, most of my job can be done from my computer at home. I have a team of four others who help me keep up with the demands of our researchers. Two of them work here in the building full time, and the other two work from home like I do.
Pharmatech is one of the leading drug research companies in the country. My team helps create research tools to analyze data. We maintain the current technologies used in the labs, and we also aid in keeping the data we collect secure. There are constantly new projects landing on our desks from our research teams, and the general upkeep of having a technologically advanced building is a full-time job in itself.
I walk through the door of our shared office. The open concept is set up with three desks around the edge of the room and a conference table in the middle.
I pull out one of the desk chairs from the table and put my computer bag on top. It takes me a minute to settle in. I’m never very comfortable here. It’s noisy, even when no one else is in the office at the same time. When people do show up, it’s even worse. Being productive is laughable, which means I spend half the night after I get back home finishing the work I should’ve finished while I was at the office.
But meeting with my team in person is a necessary evil. I’m able to get a better measure of how everyone is doing and what projects we need to be focusing on.
I get the agenda printed out for our meeting while I wait for everyone to arrive.
William is the first one to show up. He’s as introverted as I am, and we exchange head nods as he sets his stuff on the table across from me. Inez and Paul filter in soon after, turning on their desktops before sitting at the table. They’re the two who work in the office full time, and the third desk is used on an as-needed basis.
Eliza is the last to enter. Her dark hair is a little frizzy, and the coffee cup in her hand has a stain on the side, as if she’s spilled it a couple of times. Her constant disheveled state is something we all tease her about.
I get the meeting started once Eliza is settled in her seat. “All right, let’s get our updates out of the way first. I’ve been working on the new security features for the leukemia research team. There are still a few bugs I need to work out before they’ll be ready to be added to the system. I’m also updating the security cameras with an alert system. George, the head of security, mentioned there have been a lot of new cameras added to the building, so I’m going to do what I can to ease their burden a little. Inez, what have you got?”
Inez dives into her projects. She’s our people person and deals with the majority of the company employees. Any of the random bugs or computer issues that come up, she handles, unless there’s an avalanche for the day, and then Paul will step in to help her.
“There haven’t been too many issues. The patch Eliza made seems to be working well. The osteoporosis team kept getting a firewall pop-up when scoring their data, but it seems to have fixed itself after they reset the program,” Inez tells us.
