Page 31 of The Nanny and the Nerd
How in the world did he know she was here?
She broke their connection and turned to her friends, who were also rendered speechless.
“That’s him! That’s Rowen Gale,” Libby said, her gaze bouncing from the image on the tablet to the real-life man standing outside the bar.
“Why is Rowen Gale standing outside staring at you, Penn?” Harper asked, the next in line to find her voice.
“Are you supposed to be working for him now?” Charlotte questioned.
Penny sat back in her seat. “I don’t think so. I figured that I’d start on Monday,” she answered in a daze as she went over their conversation. Had they set a date for her to start—and was it tonight? No, she’d told him that she had plans. “Okay! Nobody look at him!” she whisper-shouted.
The women leaned in—their foreheads mere millimeters apart.
“Why can’t we look at him?” Libby whispered.
Penny chewed her lip. “I don’t know! This is super weird, and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.”
“We told you, Penn! You attract the weird,” H answered with a wry grin.
Penny gasped. “That’s not some guy! It’s my boss!”
Harper shrugged, then lowered her head toward the bowl of tortilla chips and snagged one with her teeth.
“How can you eat, H?” Charlotte pressed, eyeballing Harper.
“Because I’m hungry,” she answered through the bite.
“I’m going to look,” Libby breathed, determination creasing her brow.
“No! Don’t!” Penny cautioned.
“I can’t help it. It’s like the universe wants me to look for you, Penn,” Libs replied, whipping her head toward the window. The woman sucked in an audible breath, then rejoined the literal tête-à tête going on over a bowl of tortilla chips. “He’s still there, Penny!”
“Do you think he’s going to come in?” Charlotte asked.
“He’s not moving. It doesn’t even look like he’s breathing. That’s a serious Zen-master move, or he’s an actual robot,” Libby answered.
She wasn’t far off.
“Is he still staring in the window?” Harper asked, going in for another chip.
“Oh yes, with his gaze trained on our Penny,” Libby replied with a sly smirk.
“Penny and the weirdos! Penny and the weirdos! Penny, Penny, Penny! Penny! Penny and the weirdos,”Harper sang as Charlotte and Libby swayed to the stupid beat of H’s impromptu idiotic song that, dammit, was slightly catchy.
“Shush! Oh my God! This is nuts,” Penny exclaimed. She glanced through the window to find her boss in the same spot, as relayed by Libby, with his gaze, you guessed it, trained on her. She had to do something. She slid the tech items into her tote and started for the exit. “I’m going out there to see what he wants,” she said, her heart pumping and every nerve ending supercharged as if she’d jammed a fork into a power plant.
“I’m not missing this,” Harper called, coming to her feet as Char and Libby scrambled to catch up, and the women fell in line behind her.
Penny pushed the door open and charged out of the bar, eyeing Rowen. He might be her boss, but this was way out of bounds. She stopped a few steps in front of him and crossed her arms, doing her best to stare him down. But the man didn’t flinch. He didn’t smile. He stood his ground like one of those soldiers that guards Buckingham Palace.
“Do you bolt from every business you frequent like a bat out of hell?” Rowen asked in that sexy monotone that ignited those stupid tingles currently on overdrive, racing through her body in a feverish, tingly pace.
“What are you talking about?” she threw back.
He glanced at the bar and then back to her. “You exited the Gale Gaming building in the same manner just hours ago. It’s a behavioral observation.”
A behavioral what?
