Page 58 of The Nanny and the Nerd
“Beta version?” she asked, not sure what they were talking about.
“It’s the most recent version of the game we’re testing. The closest thing to the final product,” Man Bun explained.
“But it’s not just the beta version’s gaming engine that’s giving us a hard time. We’ll figure out those issues,” Just Randy added.
“What else is wrong with the game?” she asked. They were holding back—she could tell.
Boomer twisted his hoodies’ drawstring. “When AI-77 isn’t crashing, our test players are telling us that they hate it.”
“That’s pretty harsh,” she replied.
“Yeah, but their input is invaluable,” Man Bun answered.
“What don’t they like about it?” she asked. But despite not knowing the first thing about video game production, she had a sneaking suspicion about the reason.
The men exchanged worried looks.
“They haven’t connected with the characters,” Goose answered, lowering his voice conspiratorially.
Yep, she could have guessed it from the storyboard. Her training as a writer clued her in on the plot holes and the one-dimensional characters. Still, from what she’d seen on the screen, there were redeemable elements to the story. She paced in front of the storyboard, her sticky notes flapping as she passed by. “Who came up with the narrative? I could talk with them and share a few suggestions. Is that person here?”
The men shared another round of nervous glances before each turned a shade of pasty white.
She didn’t mean to upset them. She pressed her hand to her chest. “I won’t hurt their feelings. I promise to be constructive. Point me in the direction of that person or team or a gaming engineer—whatever you call it around here. I can help,” she replied gently, not sure why the men had gone mute until someone behind her cleared his throat. And, oh crap! She understood the men’s reaction now!
Twelve
Penny
Penny held her breath,waiting for the…you guessed it, the penny to drop—and the pun was not lost on her.
“That would be me,” came a voice that sent a delicious shiver down her spine. She pasted her treacherous lips together to stop them from tingling. Stupid lips! “What are you doing here, Penelope?” Rowen snapped.
Slowly, she turned. And holy hot nerd! It must have been hoodie day at Gale Gaming because standing in front of her wearing the hell out of a heather gray zip-up was her boss. And damn the man! Scruff covered the sharp angles of his chiseled jaw as if he were some disheveled cover model. He’d pushed up the sleeves on his hoodie to reveal toned forearms. Her gaze rose to his eyes, and that’s what gave him away. Despite rocking the handsomely unapproachable tousled gamer look, the dark circles under his eyes revealed that the man was utterly exhausted.
“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step toward him. Yes, she’d come here to tell the man off and to knock him down a few pegs—and he deserved it. There was no excuse for cutting off contact with Phoebe for an entire week. And yes, it hurt that he’d abandoned her in the hallway. But the man looked awful. Those sea glass green eyes tried to hide it through his unaffected glare, but she could see past it—past the mask. He wasn’t a heartless Tin Man. Like before, she’d glimpsed the vulnerability beneath the surface of Rowen’s robotic demeanor.
“Rowen, I forgot to mention that Penny was here,” Jerome interrupted, gifting her with a sympathetic grin as he joined the group.
“I stopped by after I dropped Phoebe off at school. The place seemed pretty busy, and I told Jerome I could help out with the phones,” she said, pointing to the headset cradled around her neck.
Rowen observed the enormous touchscreen. “Just the phones?” he asked in that sexy monotonous purr that sent another thunderbolt of tingles through her body.
He had her there.
She touched the corner of a hot pink two-by-two square. “It got quiet on the first floor, so I wandered up here, and…”
“And you defiled my storyboard?” he supplied.
She scoffed. Defiled? She’d done him a favor!
“I made a few developmental edits,” she countered, lifting her chin as they locked eyes. And…pow! Her pulse kicked up as the air between them crackled with a tension that made her toes curl. She parted her lips, not sure exactly what was about to come out of her mouth when, blessedly, the phone rang. She startled, breaking their connection, then began to put the headset on when Rowen moved toward her. Inches apart, he rested his hand on top of hers, stopping her from taking the call.
“Can someone grab this? I need to speak with Penelope alone.” He glanced at Boomer, Just Randy, Goose, and Man Bun. “You four left the meeting early to test the tweaks I made to the model, correct?”
“On it!” Boomer called as the men dispersed like drops of dish soap hitting a pool of oil.
“And I’ll answer the call,” Jerome said smoothly, taking in an eyeful of the sticky note-clad board before tossing her a sly wink.
