Page 59 of The Nanny and the Nerd
Did Jerome approve of her ideas? That had to be good, right?
Rowen removed his hand, and she passed over the headset.
“I’ll be in my office,” the assistant added before taking his leave.
Left alone with Rowen, the situation sank in. From his perspective, she’d sauntered into his building, and uninvited, edited the narrative he’d created. She looked away from the board as more people filed out of the third-floor office space.
“Looks like the meeting is over. The conference room is empty,” she announced, gesturing to the space like a game show hostess, but Rowen didn’t take his eyes off of her. And it wasn’t only his searing gaze that had her heart hammering. She felt the heat of him—that maddening energy she couldn’t figure out how to ignore. If there was only a Rowen Gale off switch!
“That’s my office,” he said, still watching her like a hawk.
“That whole floor?” she exclaimed. She couldn’t help it. It seemed a bit much—even for a tech mogul.
He took a step toward her. “I am the boss around here.”
Holy ovary crusher! Why did that sound so hot? She couldn’t make eye contact with the man—not after he uttered something like that. She might melt into a pool of swoon—and she wasn’t here to swoon. Instead, like the awkward human she was, she peered at the frosted glass encasing the space. “Is that where you’ve been sleeping this week?” she stammered, not meaning for the question to tumble out, but at this point, her brain had turned to scrambled eggs.
“Why are you here, Penelope?” he asked again in a low grumble—not answering her question. But at the sound of her name, a flutter erupted in her belly.
Penelope.
She’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t missed hearing him say her name.
Lightheaded, she did her best to disregard the crazy energy pulsing between them.
She mentally went over her response options.
I’m here because you’re in big trouble, mister!
You’ve been gone a week and haven’t thought to check in on Phoebe—a real dick move!
And by the way, why did you kiss me like I’ve never been kissed before?
Could that be it? Could it not have meant anything? He had called it an error in judgment.
She steadied herself, then took a page out of his playbook and ignored his question just as he’d disregarded hers. “Your video game narrative needs a do-over,” she replied instead. Had she not been watching him from the corner of her eye, she would have missed the slight twitch to his lips.
Was that a Rowen Gale almost-smile?
“A video game narrative do-over, huh? And this from the woman who can’t name a video game besides Ms. Pac-Man,” he shot back.
Oh, hell no!
“This comes from a woman who knows a thing or two about a story that’s fallen flat,” she countered.
He plucked a teal note from the board. “Princess Amelia needs agency?” he read with a thread of derision. “Is this one of your suggestions?”
She plastered ago-screw-yourselfsmile across her face. “Yes, it’s one of my edits. The princess character is dressed like a prostitute and is ornamental at best for the majority of the game. It’s only at the very end when she plays the harp that she has any decent character development—but that’s it. From what I can tell, AI-77 drags her ass along while he fights evil cyber archers and solves puzzles to add to the map to get to the Ruby Castle.”
“She’s a princess. That’s who she is. She doesn’t require agency,” he replied flatly.
Penny touched the screen above an image of the two characters. “That’s where you’re wrong. Amelia is a princess. She requires more clothing, a solid purpose…and a worthy prince.”
Rowen scoffed—exposing a crack in his muted demeanor. But he didn’t disagree.
She peeled a yellow note from the board and handed it to him. “Read it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you giving the orders now?”
