Chapter 9

nine

DYLAN

On Saturday morning, I stood behind Alex’s chair with my arms crossed. “How does it look?”

“About the same as the last time you asked,” he replied.

I squinted at the computer screen. “If it was going to fail, it would have done it by now.”

Alex leaned forward, staring at the color-coded outputs appearing on the screen. “The third phase is complete.”

I held my breath as another function reached eighty percent completion. Glancing at my watch, I was surprised that it was nearly lunchtime. We’d been working since six o’clock that morning, cross-checking everything before our first trial run.

“The fourth phase is complete.” Alex tapped his fingers against the desk.

The next set of processes was crucial. Yesterday afternoon we found a bug in a sub-processor. We had no idea if fixing it would create another problem—but we were about to find out.

I walked across to the window and stared at the leaves scattered across the yard .

“Fifth phase complete.”

I bit my bottom lip. If the next three functions worked, I could go home, surround myself with satin and tulle, and support my brother.

The tapping of keys made me spin around. “What is it?”

With his head bent over his keyboard, Alex’s entire focus was on his computer.

I hurried across the room and peered over his shoulder.

“Something happened during the sixth phase.”

“Is it related to the bug we found yesterday?”

Alex sighed as he aborted the program. “I don’t know. I’ll do another core dump and see what happened.”

“At least we made it to the sixth phase.” Even to my ears, my positive spin on today’s test sounded weak. “It could be worse.”

“Not much.” Alex didn’t move.

Even after working until midnight most nights, Alex hadn’t looked so exhausted or seemed so defeated.

“Come on.” I spun his chair around. “We’ve both been working long hours. And even if you aren’t hungry, I am. How about we have some lunch before we look at the program again?”

Alex ran his hands through his hair. “I have a better idea. I need more groceries and you need to drive back to Boulder. We can have lunch in Sunrise Bay, then go our separate ways after that.”

I shook my head. “I can’t leave now. The program isn’t working.”

“Your brother’s organized a bachelor party. Unless you want to be banned from the wedding, you have to be there.”

“I never thought of that.” Even though my parents and brothers wouldn’t be impressed, using work as an excuse not to be at the bachelor party sounded like a great idea. “I wouldn’t have to wear the suit Luke chose or listen to him panic about everything that could go wrong.”

“You also wouldn’t be part of the most important day of your brother’s life. You’re driving to Boulder.”

“Have I told you how annoying you are?”

Alex laughed. “Not since yesterday.”

His smile made my stomach clench. Alex Quinn was too much of a distraction, and that was the last thing I needed. I pointed to his computer. “You should turn it off.”

Alex tilted his head to the side. “Yes, sir.”

I waited for him to move, but he stayed exactly where he was, staring into my eyes. If I thought Alex’s smile made me feel off-center, the warmth in his gaze made me feel even more unsettled.

“Alex?”

“Yes?”

“Shut down the computer.” The huskiness in my voice made me cringe. Alex was a client of Bryant Security. Feeling anything other than professional respect was out of the question. Way out of the question.

Alex’s slow smile made me blush. It was just as well this assignment was nearly over. “You’re impossible,” I muttered as I walked across to the doorway. “I’ll meet you by the entryway in ten minutes.”

“Pack for the weekend. I don’t want to see you back here until Monday morning.”

“Sunday night,” I said over my shoulder. “We need to fix your program.” Unless Alex did that when I wasn’t here. My heart sank. If that happened, I might not see him again.