“Definitely,” Grace agreed, though her stomach flipped. She already thought of Autumn as something of a friend, even though she was also in charge of the department. She didn’t want to make some kind of faux pas that would endanger theirworking relationship or friendship, so she added, “Also, I’m completely stuck on the algorithm we’re working on that orders the new profiles. Can you show me again?”
Autumn’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and she smiled. “Yeah, no problem. Scoot over.”
As Autumn talked Grace through the lines of code, which she understood well enough, Grace’s mind wandered. She thought of how she’d sat beside Alex, both of them bent over the laptop, close enough that their shoulders could have touched. Though they hadn’t.
Grace wasn’t about to endanger the new job she’d worked hard to get by developing a crush on the CEO. Still, Alex was attractive and interesting, and she had enjoyed spending time with him and winning his approval. She couldn’t help hoping that he might invite her for another meeting in the future.
By the end of the day, Grace seemed to be back on Autumn’s good side. The two women left together, chatting, and Grace headed out to her car for the drive back to her apartment. When she slept that night, lines of code danced through her head like sugarplum fairies—as did memories of Alex’s intense blue eyes when he’d looked at her in the meeting.
CHAPTER 3
ALEX
Alex Medson was not the kind of CEO who golfed or enjoyed long lunches while his employees worked. Ever since he’d started MatchupNow, he’d been involved with every single line of code, every bug fix, and every scrum. That meant he could easily recognize which of his employees were good at what they did, and which ones were just faking it.
Grace Boden wasexcellentat what she did. She had a different way of looking at things, as though she’d learned by experience instead of just memorizing what her professors and textbooks had told her in college, like many of the new hires did. And she wasn’t just fixated on the code—she possessed the ability to zoom out and think of how the app as a whole should function, then close in on small issues that would have an outsized effect on performance.
Alex noticed all of this in the first week of Grace’s employment. It wasn’t often that one of his employees stood out this much, and he found himself pulling up her résumé to find out a little more about her. It turned out that she’d gone to college in her early twenties after working as a waitress for several years afterhigh school. She’d grown up in San Valentino, but in a smaller neighborhood outside of the city center, Las Adelitas, not on the hill where San Valentino’s wealthiest (including Alex) lived. He saw something in her past that spoke to him. After all, Alex hadn’t always been a wealthy CEO, either. He understood the struggle of coming from a less-than-affluent background in San Valentino.
Perhaps all that was why, when he spotted Grace getting a coffee in the break room on Friday afternoon, he went up to her. He didn’t usually fraternize with his employees much, preferring to keep his focus on the app itself, but this was different somehow. Alex wasn’t entirely sure how.
“Hi, Grace.”
“Oh!” She jumped a little, as though he’d sneaked up on her, and blushed. “Hi.”
“How has your first week been?” he asked.
“You tellme.” Grace smiled. “You’ve been in all the meetings and reviewed all my code.”
Alex chuckled. “Based on what I’ve seen, I’d say things are going well. But I was wondering how you’re settling in with the company culture and your new colleagues.”
“Oh, it’s all been great,” Grace said. “My coworkers are so helpful, and I’ve never worked in an office with such great amenities.”
“I suppose online tech support roles don’t offer as many perks,” Alex said. Grace’s brow furrowed, and he realized he’d revealed that he’d looked into her. Well, it was normal for a CEO to be interested in his employees, wasn’t it?
“You know my employment history?” She didn’t sound upset, just a little confused.
“I know the employment history of all my employees,” Alex lied. “You know I like to be involved in all parts of MatchupNow’s work. For instance, did you know that Lukas Chen from your team used to be a bullfighter?”
Grace’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
“Unfortunately, I am.”
Grace laughed, and Alex cracked a smile.
“I can imagine him chasing down a bull,” she said, giggling. “All five foot five of him. Tell me about someone else’s employment history.”
“Well, you know your department head, Autumn? She also has her pilot’s license.”
“Now Iknowyou’re joking.”
“Actually, that one’s true.”
Grace laughed again, a bright, happy sound that made Alex smile.
“I’m impressed. I should ask her about it sometime.”
“I bet she’d be happy to talk about it.” Alex hesitated. “You know, I’m working through a difficult bug that the frontend team kicked up to me. Would you mind taking a crack at it?”
