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“I’m not going far, Corbin. I need to think though.”
I nodded. It was torture watching him leave. The click of the door closing might as well have been as loud as the car backfiring for the way it echoed loudly in the room as he departed.
11
VAL
JJ was elbowing me. I couldn’t decide if it was irritating me or giving me a gentle massage. My head was down on the table. The prototype we had built was in pieces. It wasn’t working like we’d hoped so we took it apart to try and figure out the issue.
“I want to go back to working in the shop,” I groaned. The money was great at PJS, as were the benefits, but this shit got complicated at times. My brain couldn’t handle it this morning.
“Not today you’re not,” JJ said quietly. “Lift your head and look.”
“I hate you.” I did lift my head though.
There was Corbin, walking toward us beside Dominic. I couldn’t take my eyes off Corbin. He was in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, looking so cute and relaxed. I was a bit jealous. The tie around my neck felt like it was choking me earlier so I loosened it. Now I looked like a slob with my shirt untucked, top buttons undone, tie barely hanging on.
I stood as they approached and tried to smooth my shirt out.
Dominic grinned. “Look who I ran into out front.”
“I was already coming in, but Dominic saw me and decided we should come in together.” Corbin appeared a bit nervous. As far as I knew, he hadn’t been here before. It was good Dominic found him. The man knew PJS like the back of his hand thanks to working for Perry for years.
“What are you doing here?” I asked far too bluntly then cringed. I hoped he didn’t take it as I was hoping he didn’t show. It was the opposite.
“I thought I’d surprise you by inviting you out to lunch.”
The smile that lit my face was probably stupidly big. In fact, I knew it was because Dominic’s grew. “Lunch sounds good. It gets me away from this.” I waved my hand over the table. “Which I desperately need.”
“I promised I’d give Corbin the tour first,” Dominic said. “Want me to swing back when we’re done, or do you want to come with us?”
“I’ve had the tour, but I need the break, so I’ll join you.” It had nothing to do with wanting to see Corbin for longer. Nothing at all.
Dominic walked us through R&D, waving and saying hi to the people he hadn’t seen in a while. He explained the different areas to Corbin as we went around the departments. Dominic still came to PJS on occasion but usually went right up to the executive floor in the main building, which was where we headed next.
I didn’t bother going to the office building much. Usually, it was JJ who went to meetings with Greer or Greer came down to us to talk about projects our team and his were collaborating on. He knew technology inside and out. I usually felt stupid as hell when I was in a room with him. Greer was next level smart.
Dominic must have hugged ten people by the time we hit Greer’s office. It was like being escorted around by a celebrity. I knew he was here a couple of weeks ago, so it wasn’t like they hadn’t seen him in months.
“You miss having me at the fortress, don’t you?” Greer smiled when he saw Dominic, the typical tennis ball bouncing from his hand to the floor and back.
“Nah, but I bet you miss looking at my ass all the time.”
“I’ve got enough ass to look at with Dexen and JJ.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t need to hear about Jay’s ass.”
“Don’t you miss it, Val?” Greer asked. He could get possessive where JJ and Dexen were concerned, but most of the time he was laid-back.
“Not so much.”
“Hey, Corbin!” Greer stood and came over to us. “I didn’t see you standing there. What brings you in today?”
“Greer, it’s nice to see you again.” They shook. “I came to surprise Val with lunch.”
“Well, don’t let me hold you.”
“Not so fast,” Dominic cut in. “The tour isn’t over until we get to Mr. Altair’s office.” He smirked, hooked his arm in Corbin’s, and dragged him off without another word to Greer, who just smiled. He had to be used to Dominic by now.
