Page 12 of Work with Me

I dragged my attention from the guy who’d hired me to my team. “Before we start, I’d like to say a couple of words. First, I’m so excited to be working with you all. I know we’ll do great things together.”

Stepping up to the task board and its collection of colored sticky notes, I led them through a review of the backlog of work. Before we launched into a discussion of who would do what, I said, “I understand you’re familiar with pair programming. I’d like to try that, at least on this first sprint. I know it’s not the most efficient way to code, but it’ll save us time in the end because the code will be higher quality. Okay? Now—”

“No.”

All eyes swiveled to Jackson, who’d said it.

“No?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I code best on my own. I don’t care if everyone else partners up”—he shrugged, hands in his pockets—“but it’s not for me.”

I took a deep breath through my nose. Was he resisting me because of the babysitting comment? “Jackson, I’d like everyone to try this. If it doesn’t work, we can try something else for next sprint. Besides, we have an even number of people on the team. It’ll work out well.”

He hesitated, not even for a full second, but it was long enough for me to take back the reins. “Now, who’s going to run with this first task?”

In the end, the other programmers paired up obediently. Only Jackson stubbornly refused to join up with anyone else. The words didn’t want to come out, but I forced them to sound cheerful. “I guess that means you’re with me, Jackson. All right, everyone, let’s start.”

The other guys rearranged themselves into pairs, but Jackson and I, already at the same desk, returned to our seats.

I unzipped my laptop bag and pulled out his folded, gray shirt.

“I got the blood out,” I muttered, sliding it to him across the table.

“Thanks.” His fingers brushed against mine for less than a second, but goosebumps still rose on my arm. I rubbed them away.None of that.

“Hey, Alicia?” Tyler’s face hovered over the tops of our screens.

Had he seen me hand Jackson his shirt? I tried to smile at him, but the corners of my mouth wouldn’t rise. “What’s up?”

Jackson turned to his monitor and banged on his keyboard. The clacks of the keys rang out like crackling thunder.

Tyler asked a question about one of his tasks. I answered it, scanning his brown-green eyes for any hint of suspicion. His gaze flicked over to Jackson. Was it fanboy adulation, or did he think something inappropriate was going on between us? As a woman on a team of men, I’d been suspected before of secret relationships, of favoritism. I sent him off with a touch more vinegar than the question had merited.

After he went back to his desk, I logged into the Synergy network. Beside me, Jackson clacked away at his keyboard, but his stiff posture radiated tension. I wished I’d never said what I had to Tyler. We had to work together, damn it. And I needed to act like a leader, not one of the crew.

Softly, I said, “I’m sorry. About that comment I made. It was an attempt at a joke.”

“A joke.” The chill in Jackson’s voice made me shiver. “Maybe you’d better leave those to me. I was always the class clown.”

His tone was light, but the pain in those bottomless eyes twisted my stomach. “I meant it about me and my job, not about you.”

Silence stretched between us. At last, he said, “Let’s try to focus on the work.” He turned to his keyboard.

Work. He was right. We were here to do work. Not to make friends. I’d apologized, and that was all I could do.

“Would you like to drive, or should I?”

“Hmm?” The bangs coming from his keyboard were so loud he might not have heard me. Listening to that all day would make me want to stab out my own eye with one of Tyler’s action figures.

“We’re a pair. How about I do the code entry—drive—and you navigate, by which I mean watch and comment?”

His fingers stilled, and he turned those dark brown eyes on me. They weren’t melted-chocolate soft like they’d been yesterday but hard like polished mahogany. Quietly, he said, “I know what pair programming is. But I work best on my own. I’m not much of a team player, so I think we’ll go faster if you do your work and I do mine.”

My throat tightened. “Everyone can benefit from partnering up. We can learn from each other. Help each other.”

He gave me a tight smile that only made his eyes seem harder. “I doubt you need help from someone like me.”

Encouraging. “I guess that means I’ll drive.” I logged onto the coding interface and started typing. After a minute, he rolled his chair an inch or two closer, looming in my peripheral vision. The hairs on my arms rose again. He smelled. Like. Heaven.

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