Page 42 of Stick to the Plan
His hands still. “No, everybody alright? They find the cause?”
I turn to face him fully. “Yes, and yes. There was a wrong dimension on the drawing. They’re re-fabricating the pieces now. We lost a bit of time, though.”
“Well, that’s fucking grand. I’ll go check it out while you make your call. Leave for dinner in, say… twenty minutes?” Despite the stress in his tone, his eyes turn molten as they meet mine.
Another deep breath of his comforting smell and I relax my shoulders. Since he walked in, my tension has lessened a bit. I don’t feel as alone or in my head as I had five minutes ago. Returning his smile, I allow myself a moment to imagine. What if this was my life? To go home with him like this after every long day. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to lighten the load, like he did yesterday? Already thinking about another night in Colin’s arms, I nod to him. “Twenty minutes.”
With a last squeeze of my arms and a wink, Colin heads out to the production floor and I pull out my cell, already scrolling through my contacts.
The call picks up after the third ring. “What’s up, Queen B?”
“Hey Gabe, I need a favor…”
Chapter thirty
Himself
Colin
When I get to the production floor, I can still see ugly black marks on the workbench and back wall where our prototype had sat yesterday. Anything salvageable seems to be laying out on top. Frowning, I pick up a hunk of melted, twisted plastic from the bin of broken pieces under the workbench to inspect.
What the hell happened here?
Feeling a presence beside me, I turn to find a man at my side, also staring at the piece in my hand. He is maybe in his mid to late thirties, dirty blond hair and intelligent brown eyes. Trim, but not overly bulky in a polo shirt and jeans.
“Hell of a mess.” His tone is neutral, maybe a little cagey.
“Aye. I don’t think we’ve met. Colin McLeary - engineering lead on this mess.” I turn fully and hold out my hand to the man.
He pauses briefly before giving a single firm pump. “Stan Meyrick, production manager.”
I give him a nod and grin as I recall dinner with Brianna last night. “Stan, the production manager of the pink smart screens?”
Stan chuckles and his whole demeanor changes. His shoulders relax and his expression becomes more friendly. “Brianna told you about that, huh?” I give him another smile and nod. “Wish shipping fuck ups were all I had to worry about today.”
That’s a sobering thought. “Thank goodness everyone is OK. What happened? Brianna mentioned a dampening issue?” I ask.
He studies my face for a beat with a curious gleam in his eyes. “Yea. The dimension on the server copy was wrong. One of the guys turned it on and the vibrations set the battery off.”
“I’ll get the Dublin engineering team on a call in the morning. They’ll have to re-model all the designs. This shouldn’t have happened. If you need anything at all from my guys, just let me know. C.A.E. has been working on this for months, but we’ve been pouring sweat into this for years.” I look Stan in the eye to make it clear how serious I am.
“OK, happy to sit down with the engineering team after you run those models.”
“Grand, I’ll set it up.”
Tossing the scrap back in the bin, I brush my hands off on my pants and check my watch. “Well, I better go get Brianna. I promised her I’d be ready to get dinner about now. Good to meet you though, happy to put a face to the name.”
Stan’s eyes narrow as he squints slightly. “You and Brianna seem pretty close.” He shoves his hands in his jean pockets and rocks back on his heels. The casual stance belies the intensity of his gaze.
Taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I can’t help but feel a tinge of discomfort under the weight of the man’s penetrating stare. “Aye, we’vebeen joined at the hip on this project for over a month. She’s one hell of a woman. Who wouldn’t want to get to know her?”
Stan’s eyes relax, and a smirk appears on his lips. He looks like a man who’s just figured out a puzzle. “That she is, indeed. One hell of a special woman. Better get going before she gets hangry. See ya around, Mr. Disney World.” Chuckling to himself, Stan strides back to his office before I can ask what he meant by that.
No time to ask now, anyway. I rush back to my office to find Brianna done with her call and ready to go.
Since we went to Pop last night, I decide to take Brianna to my favorite local pub for some Irish comfort food and a drink. She still looks distracted as we pull into the lot. The pub is a bit more crowded with the dinner rush, so we opt to sit at the bar.
I wrap my arm around Brianna’s waist as we move towards the stools. We pass a table of men who haven’t stopped staring at her ass. I glare at them as I move my hand to the small of her back in a clearly possessive move.
