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She tried to figure out if she’d somehow fallen into a parallel universe, a place where it might be plausible for her to be playing video games with Gage Russo, her too-hot-for-words playboy billionaire boss.
“Uh,” she said, super lamely. Because talking wasn’t something she did so well whenever her sexy boss was around.
“Wow. I think I heard something there, Beaumont. Did you just try to talk or are you choking?” Gage teased. The man typically said hello whenever he stopped by IT to talk to Toby or Rich, grinning when all she managed was a flimsy wave. He never tried to engage her in anything more because in the world of gods like Gage Russo, her mere mortal status rendered her virtually invisible.
Goddammit. She was going to read Toby the riot act tomorrow. Their gaming group was her safe space. A place where she could kick back and be herself. Toby knew she became a mute idiot whenever Gage was around, so how could he invite the boss and not ask her first?
Not that it was particularly shocking he had. Toby suffered from a serious case of hero worship where Gage was concerned, always trying too hard to relate and laughing too loud at Gage’s jokes.
She cleared her throat and tried again. “Uh. Hi.”
Okay. That was a little bit better.
“Thought I’d check out life inside the nerd circle,” Gage said.
Penny rolled her eyes, wishing she could be annoyed by the nickname. Unfortunately, Toby—taking a page from Fat Amy andPitch Perfect—had given their department that stupid moniker, deciding if they called themselves nerds first, it somehow made them cool.
Sadly, she suspected Samuel L. Jackson barking orders at them drill-sergeant style about how to dress and behave wouldn’t even manage to make their Island of Misfit Toys cool.
“I figured you’d have a date,” Toby said to Gage—because God knew he wouldn’t think that abouther. “Lucky that I asked on a night you were available.”
Gage chuckled—why did he have to have such a sexy laugh?—and said, “Scored at lunch, so it freed up my evening.”
Toby laughed as if that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard in his life. Then asked Gage about his “lunch date.” Apparently, Gage was currently dating some formerSports Illustratedswimsuit model, which sent Toby into orbit, firing off a million questions. To his credit, Gage answered them all, seemingly unannoyed by Toby’s endless fawning.
“You still there, Beaumont?”
Shit. Penny realized she’d forgotten to speak for a while. Not that she’d had a damn thing to add.
Regardless, she spent way too much time alone with only her thoughts. Curse of living by herself for so long. She really needed to work on her conversational skills. Or consider getting a roommate who wasn’t feline.
“Yeah. We playing?”
Woohoo! She silently cheered for herself. Three whole words. Not one stammer.
“Yeah, man. Let’s do this thing,” Toby said excitedly. “Wait until you see the graphics on this game, Gage.”
As always, once the game play began, Penny lost herself in the digital world, one where she fit in, where she felt comfortable. After a few minutes, she forgot all about Gage Russo, becoming the character she was playing, concentrating on nothing more than outrunning the serial killer.
“Dammit, Toby,” Penny yelled. “Get your shit together. Because I’m telling you right now, I’m not spending the whole night saving your ass from Michael Myers.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Gage laugh.
Toby scoffed. “I’m trying. Jesus. I spilled soda on my keyboard and the keys are sticking.”
“You use that excuse all the time, but I know for a fact you never put drinks anywhere near your computer. Watch out!” she yelled.
“What a game,” Gage muttered as he cut Toby down from where the killer had strung him up before Penny could reach him.
“Good save,” she said.
“Behind you, Beaumont,” Gage warned.
“I see him.” She deftly escaped, though she took a couple hits before she was able to beat the villain back.
Gage whistled. “Shit, you’re good at this.”
She wasn’t sure why, but something inside her warmed up at his praise. She didn’t consider herself the type of person who needed other people’s admiration, but it felt nice to be seen. Or not just seen but recognized as having an actual talent for…well,Dead before Daylightwas a stupid talent, but at least it was something.
