Page 68 of Off Her Game
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Emma stalked into the lobby of the NJ Legacy building. She waved for Tori to follow to the keycard access elevators.
“You look perfect. Stay cool.”
“Don’t be the personal assistant to me. I can’t take that fake sucking-up crap,” Tori snapped.
“I wasn’t. You look nice.”
“Sorry. I’m nervous about all of this.” Mostly about seeing Noah again in person. After long deliberation and emptying her entire closet onto her bed, Tori settled on skinny jeans, boots, and a relaxed black top for the meeting. Emma hadn’t thought the outfit worked at first, but when she explained this reflected the height of dressed up for her, Emma went with it. A programmer didn’t need a suit. She brought herself and her talent, potty mouth, piercings, and all. Her hair she left down, although debated on putting it into a familiar ponytail. Something about Noah saying he liked it down made her leave it. Now she regretted and considered pulling it up with the band she had around her wrist.
She clenched her shaking hands around the strap of her computer briefcase.
Selling her game, the need to hack NJ Legacy’s system for the code, and seeing Noah again was too much. She’d either have a stroke from high blood pressure or a core meltdown.
In the elevator, Emma scrolled through several screens on her iPad. “Relax. Noah will take one look at you and let you have whatever you want. This is a great deal for you.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better. That I’m not the slut everyone will soon call me.” She glanced around. “You seem okay in the elevator. You sure you’re okay?”
“Sam says he has everything in this building super protected. I believe him. Remember him? The IT security guy?” Emma stress smiled.
“Your smile’s freaking me out. You sure you don’t prefer the stairs?”
Emma grabbed her finger before she could push the button for the next floor. “I’m not walking twenty more flights of stairs right now, not with the blister on my foot.”
She crossed her arms and fixated on the increasing numbers. “Them buying my game is about my skill, right?”
She saw Emma lower the iPad in the metal wall’s reflection. “Of course, it’s about your skill. These guys don’t mess around if they find something they like. The world might misconstrue the events leading up to the game’s acquisition, but the company would never want your game for something this big. Look, they’ve been shopping for a game to launch in six months for about a year. They’d settled on something last week out of desperation and were about to sign that developer with a contract until they saw your work.”
That did somewhat soothe her ego.
“Are you planning to decline their offer?” Emma’s brows drew in. “This isn’t about dating Noah or you and the FBI. This isn’t some new angle to work the gaming case.” Emma snapped her fingers in front of her fixated gaze to get her attention.
“Everyone will still think I slept my way into this. The shits who troll me online will be doing cartwheels over this.”
“Screw the trolls.”
Easier said than done. Words hurt.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened.
Emma stepped out ahead to lead. “Ask Sam his opinion. He’s brutally honest about almost everything. He’ll tell you that’s wrong with your game and what works. Follow me.”
The conference room wasn’t a typical oblong configuration with beige carpet and some sort of screen. It had a semicircular table, festive carpeting, several tree-sized plants, and huge windows that were open. She’d expected Jake, Noah, and maybe Emma at this meeting, not a crowd of about fifteen unknowns.
A twenty-something guy jumped in front of her with a grin and held out his hand. “I’m Jonathan, Jake’s assistant. Your sister’s equivalent. Is there anything I can get you? Water, coffee, tea, maybe a sandwich or doughnut?” He pumped her hand with enthusiasm. “Stoked to have you come on board.”
“I’m good.” Was everybody some freaking nice here? She’d prepared herself to pull out the hard-ass gamer bitch.
“I’ll grab you a water. Everyone needs water.” Jonathan was like an animated character, filled with a bubbly, ingenuous eagerness.
Noah closed in on her. God, he looked great in jeans and a white button-down shirt.
“Be fierce,” he whispered as she passed by him.
What the hell? She halted and whispered, “You can drop the act.”
“What act?”
