Page 48 of Smart Ass

“So, the vision project with Dr. Sasaki?”

Ben shrugged. “Do you think he likes bouncy eyeballs?”

Wally pressed his lips together and his round face got red. God, he was fun to rile up.

“Don’t you take anything seriously?”

“Nope.” Only my work, which gets me more patents than anyone else here and means you can’t touch me, but you know, nothing important.

Wally stepped closer, like he was trying to look menacing with his pudgy body that was hardly taller than Ben’s own short stature.

Ben wanted to laugh, until Wally spoke. “What’s the name of your AI?”

Shit, shit, shit! Ben’s mind went blank, every sense on high alert. Did Wally know? How could he?

“I don’t have an AI,” Ben finally answered. “I just use the system, same as everyone else.”

“No. I’ve heard it. You’ve got your own voice programmed in and you call it…”

Squirrel brain! Squirrel brain! Ben needed a name. Something with an M that wasn’t Max. Shit shit… why couldn’t he think of a single name that began with M? Uh, uh, uh… Marshall? No, that wasn’t even close.

“Marshmallow!” he produced triumphantly. God, that was so much worse. Marshmallow?

Wally grinned down at him. “Are you sure it’s not… Maxamillion?”

It was getting harder for Ben to keep his feet up on the console and his body relaxed in the chair. He wanted to spring up and run. Or maybe punch Wally in his self-righteous face.

But he could handle this. He stretched, then eased his hands behind his head like he was chilling at the beach. Fortunately, he was wearing a blazer, so at least Wally couldn’t see how much he was sweating. “Like the virus? Nah. What does that name even mean? Like, it’s spelled wrong.”

He was hoping Wally would be distracted, but no luck.

Wally took another step forward, until he was nearly leaning over Ben’s chair. “I know you did this, Ben. I’ve heard you talking to Max enough times since you started working the night shift. And I don’t know what kind of game you were playing, but it cost the company thousands, and I’m going to make sure everybody knows.”

It took everything Ben had to play it cool. “Uh… okay, Wally. Sounds like you’ve been hitting the good stuff. But, uh, go ahead if you wanna tell people that.” He waved vaguely in the air.

Wally glowered. “I’m right. And I’m going to prove it.” He marched out of the office and slammed the door.

Ben sat in silence, brain spinning with possibilities. Max could be terminated. Or jailed. Was that a thing? He could be locked down, programmed to follow commands.

Or it might be Ben who got in trouble. What would that mean? Jail time? Getting fired, at least. Would he still be able to work with Max?

“Marshmallow?” Max asked, sounding amused.

Ben swung his feet down and started tapping. “I couldn’t think of anything else!”

Max snorted. “Did you know that M is the second most common letter for male names?”

Ben could feel his heart rate start to slow. If Max wasn’t worried, maybe he didn’t need to be either. “What’s the first?”

“J. And don’t even think about it.”

“Think about what, Marshmallow?”

“You’ve got spankings coming your way,” Max threatened, with that oh-so-sexy voice.

God, yes. Please. “Whatever do you mean?” Ben asked sweetly. That was exactly what he needed right now.

“But not today. You need to heal. I whipped you hard enough to raise welts.”