Chapter 7

The director of the RD department drops her gaze to our joined hands and I realize I've been holding her hand for way longer than it'd be considered appropriate.

I let her go and scratch the back of my head with that same hand. This is not how I had expected the meeting to go. I knew the head of this department was a woman, but I'd just assumed she'd be a middle-aged person, not a hot brunette who probably isn't even in her thirties.

My gaze flits to the door of her office and the "Dr." etched before her name. Don't PhDs take ages to complete?

"How old are you?" I blurt.

She frowns. "What kind of question is that?"

The dick kind.I'm behaving like an idiot.

"Sorry, what I meant to say is, aren't you too young to already have a PhD and lead a department?"

She follows my gaze to the engraving on the door. "I'm twenty-nine, and yes, I'm too young. But I graduated a year early both from my bachelor's and master's degrees and completed my PhD in four years instead of six, saving four years of school in total."

I low whistle. "And how long after you started here were you promoted to the big chair?"

"Two years," she says begrudgingly.

"So, you're a genius?"

She throws me a sour stare. "I'm smart."

"Okay, Smarty, do geniuses eat? How about I take you to lunch, and we can get to know each other better?"

Her eyes widen in shock, so I raise my arms, adding, "Know each other professionally. If we have to spend the next three months working together, we should get comfortable with one another."

She narrows her eyes at me and if looks could kill, I'd be a goner. "Sorry, but I already ate. But, please, go have your lunch break and when you come back, I can give you a tour of the lab and the new products we're developing."

Nice speech. Totally believable. Pity that the moment she stops speaking, her stomach gives a loud rumble.

I raise my eyebrows in a silent "already ate?" question.

"I had a light lunch," she explains.

Sticking to her story, uh?"K-2P, did Dr. Campbell already have lunch?"

"No, she wanted to get changed first and then join the others at TGIF."

Arms crossed, head tilted, I'm all ears for some explaining.

She throws her arms up in the air. "I'm embarrassed, okay? My future boss caught me dancing half-naked in my office. Excuse me if I'm not exactly eager to go out to lunch with you."

I have to concentrate hard to push the image of her booty shaking and boobs flashing out of my head to keep my expression neutral.

"Could've happened to anyone, and I'm okay not mentioning the incident ever again if you are. Consider it erased from my memory." Fat chance of that actually ever happening. "And waiting to talk would only make things more awkward between us. So, what do you say we jump right back on the horse and share a meal while you give me the rundown of your department?"

"Fine," she snips.

I take her to my favorite Italian restaurant near our offices. If garlic bread and pasta don't soften her up, nothing will.

The weather isn't too chilly for mid-October in New Jersey. The sun is shining unchallenged by any clouds, but there's also a breeze coming in from the Hudson River that could make it too cold to have an entire meal outdoors.

"Is a table inside good?" I ask, keeping the door of the restaurant open for her.

"Sure." She shrugs and gets in before me.

The owner, Carmelo, greets me with his usual enthusiasm. "Thomas, great to see you, table for how many?"

I raise two fingers.

Carmelo's gaze shifts briefly to Reese before he grabs two menus and leads us to the front of the restaurant. With the sunlight flooding in from the wall-wide windows, it almost feels like we're sitting outside—minus the cold wind.

"Are you having the usual?" Carmelo asks, turning to me.

"What's the day's special?" I ask.

"We have a risotto today with almonds and stracchino cheese." Carmelo kisses his fingers. "Delicious."

"I'll get that," I say.

Reese closes her menu and nods at me.

"Two day's specials," I tell Carmelo.

"Anything to drink? I have this red from near the Vesuvio that's?—"

"I'll go with just water." I look at Reese for confirmation, and she nods.

Carmelo leaves with our order and while we wait for our food to arrive, I take the time to observe the mysterious Dr. Campbell.

She's sitting in her chair nervously fiddling with the tablecloth, doing her best to avoid meeting my gaze.

I try to think of a way to draw her out.

"You know, if you keep avoiding eye contact with me it's going to be hard to break the ice."

Her brown eyes lift to mine. For a split second she glares at me, almost resentful, but she's quick to hide it. "Sorry, I'm still embarrassed about earlier."

"I sense your reluctancy to talk to me isn't 100per cent due to the office incident. Why?"

Reese lowers her gaze guiltily.

"Come on, I can't fix what's wrong if you don't tell me."

Our eyes lock again, and she crosses her arms on her chest. "You want to hear it how it is?"

"Always."

"Okay." She leans her elbows on the table and grabs a garlic breadstick from a basket a server dropped off. "I'm not thrilled to have to babysit you for the next three months. I'm even less thrilled that Emmet Proctor an engineer with cojones is leaving the company and that"—she waves her hand, pointing the breadstick at me like a sword—"you, a man with zero robotics knowledge, have been selected as his replacement." Reese ends the speech and takes a giant bite out of the breadstick.

I take a moment before replying by unfolding my napkin and squaring it on my legs. "So, it's my business major that offends you."

Called it, Dad!

She replies, chewing with her mouth still half full. "If you were some kind of corporate rainmaker with experience running a company, it'd be at least digestible." She swallows. "But according to your online resume, you're just the boss's son with no experience except for looking pretty."

"Ah."

At least she finds me pretty.

The server drops our food in front of us, and I shuffle the rice on my plate, watching Reese out of the corner of my eye.

She only picks at her food, and I wait for her to annihilate me some more. "Too direct?" she finally asks.

"Nope," I say, taking a bite of risotto and not fully enjoying how good it is. "These are the same objections I presented to my father when he informed me of the decision—yesterday. You've met the man, haven't you?"

She nods.

"So you know he's not an easy man to say no to."

"For one of his employees, no. But for his son? I don't know."

"It's the same."

"If you say so."

Undeterred, I forge ahead. "Listen, Reese, we're in this together. Neither of us is particularly thrilled by the situation, but I believe that if we work together, we can make the best of the hand we've been dealt."

"How?"

"You teach me the ropes, and I'll work hard to unlock the division's potential," I say with a shrug. "I might not have a fancy technical degree, but I'm not an idiot."

She rolls her eyes. "You can't learn robotics in three months, or even fifteen."

I smirk. "Mmm, sure, it sounds hard, but not when I have a secret weapon."

"Oh, yeah? What secret weapon?"

"A genius teacher." I wink at her, and her cheeks flush.