stomach roiled. “This is a—”
“Start with the guy who made you laugh,” he interrupted.
Excitement shot through her. Okay, she liked the idea of meeting Bigbrother, especially with her boss giving her permission, but that wouldn’t be fair. “I really don’t think—”
“It’s not your call.” James read the e-mail on her screen. “Bigbrother, huh? I wonder what’s big about him.”
She cringed. The guy did not look like a player. Far from it. She was worried she might hurt him.
“Hit ‘reply’,” James ordered.
Dani didn’t. She couldn’t.
A part of her wanted to quit. Right now. But, with her student loans and family obligations, she couldn’t afford to be without a decent paycheck. That was the one thing she had to say about her boss—he paid well.
James reached around and hit “reply”. “Tell him you want to meet him for coffee.”
“But I don’t want to meet him for coffee. I have no idea who he is. I know absolutely nothing about him.”
Nothing except he intrigued her. The way he’d approached her. His brief e-mail. His quick reply. His picture.
“If you don’t ask him out,” James said with a steely glint in his eyes, “I will.”
Dani gulped. She knew he would follow through on the threat. “I’ll do it myself.”
James didn’t move. A muscle flicked at his jaw.
“I can reply right now,” she added.
Dani started typing an invite to coffee, aware and annoyed that James was peering over her shoulder.
“Make sure you tell him the meeting is your treat,” he said. “That can make a difference to some guys.”
Darn James anyway. Her exchanges with Bigbrother had been fun and flirty, but her boss was ruining it. “Do I get to expense it?”
James tossed a twenty on her desk. “No expense form needed.”
Dani hit the “send” button, lobbing the ball back over the net to Bigbrother’s side of the court. The next move was up to him. She was torn over how she wanted him to respond. She hoped he ignored her request or said no because she didn’t want to mislead him, but a part—a large part—wanted him to agree to meet her.
Just then another e-mail from Blinddatebrides.com appeared in her in-box. Maybe she’d lucked out and the system had kicked her reply for some reason. And then she saw the sender’s name. Gymguy. Oh, no. Not another one. She shook her head.
“Woo-hoo,” James said. “Looks like you’re Miss Popular. Want some help replying to Gymguy?”
Dani sighed. “I know what to do.”
Unfortunately.
“Thanks, Danica,” James said, backing out of the cubicle, much to her relief. “I won’t forget all that you’re doing for the site.”
She stared at the twenty. Neither would she.
“How’s it going?” Joelle entered Bryce’s office carrying a pizza box with a paper bag sitting on top.
The scents of oregano and freshly baked crust made his stomach growl. He glanced at the clock. Eight o’clock? He’d lost track of time, but wasn’t surprised with everything going on.
“Trying to stay a step ahead of the scammers isn’t easy. They may have found a hole, but they couldn’t crack the encrypted format.” That unfortunately wouldn’t stop them from trying to steal information again. Every time Bryce’s engineers changed something, the hackers would modify their programs to try and get around the new security. It didn’t help matters that they used stolen credit cards to register and pay for membership. If only he could run background checks on everyone who wanted to join, not just U.S. citizens. That would crack down on foreign scammers. “Talk about a cat and mouse game. It’s never ending.”
“Just remember to eat,” Joelle said.
“The team—”
“I ordered enough food for everyone.”
Always thinking. Always one step ahead. Sometimes Bryce thought Joelle could read his mind. “Thanks.”
She opened the bag and pulled out a Styrofoam box and packets of Parmesan cheese and chili peppers. “Start with the salad, please.”
He grabbed a slice of sausage and mushroom pizza from the box and bit into it. “You’re sounding a lot like my mother.”
“You think?” Joelle’s mouth quirked. “Well, then, as soon as you fix this problem, why don’t you reward yourself by seeing if those matchmaking algorithms you developed can find you a few dates?”
An image of Sanfrandani with her red bandana around her head popped into his mind. Bryce nearly choked. He swallowed and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “You’ve been talking to my mother. Those words are straight out of her playbook.”
Joelle’s cheeks reddened. After six months of his mother’s lectures about his dating more, he’d finally told her no more. She’d stopped. Now he knew why. She was trying to have Joelle take up the cause.
“You have a profile set up,” Joelle said. “You should keep it public all the time, not just when you’re investigating clients or trying to flush out scammers.”
“I’ll tell you what I told my mother,” Bryce explained. “I spend all my time working on Blinddatebrides.com. It’s a win-win situation. Others find love. I make a whole bunch of money. I can’t handle a relationship of my own right now.”
He thought about his e-mail exchange with Sanfrandani. That was the closest he’d come to flirting in…weeks. Or was it months?
“Can’t or won’t?” Joelle challenged.
“You know I can fire you.”
She tilted her chin. “Yes, but you’d never be able to replace me.”
True. One of the most successful online dating Web sites was a one-man show, but Bryce needed help. Joelle handled everything from finances to human resources. She didn’t mind answering the phones, either. Her title of Business Manager was far too bland for all she did. Business Goddess would be a more apt description. He couldn’t run Blinddatebrides.com without her. He knew it, and so did she. “Are you this hard on Connor?”
“Harder,” she admitted. “But my husband knew what he was getting into when he married me. You, however, had no idea when you hired me.”
“No regrets.” Bryce winked. “At least none yet.”
She smiled. “You have to admit, it would be excellent PR if you married someone you met at your own site. Just look at the interest in your sister’s engagement.”
“Stop. Now.”
“Okay. I’ll stop. Only because I know you have more important things to do right now, but tomorrow—”
“Out.”
“I’m going.” With a grin, Joelle walked out of his office.
As Bryce waited to hear from one of the engineers, he ate dinner. He’d forgotten everything that didn’t involve the SQL injection, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about one thing. One person really. Sanfrandani. Had she replied yet? He hoped so.
Checking his in-box, Bryce found a message from her. The corners of his mouth curved. The thrill of the catch, he told himself, and opened the e-mail.
To: “Bigbrother” <[email protected]>
From: “Sanfrandani” <[email protected]>