Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(45)

“You’re on then, Sean. I’ll collect the $500 on Monday.” Krista went back to her game of solitaire. The guys wouldn’t want to be her friend. Not yet, and maybe not ever. They also wouldn’t appreciate that overachiever status—they didn’t seem like the kind of guys that were at the top of their classes in school. Her being aloof and withdrawn let them off the hook.

They started talking strategy. They didn’t even know what to expect and they were talking strategy. Boobs.

~*~*~*~

Ordinarily, Sean would be staring at Krista, trying to figure out how to get in her pants. She was hot when she took control. This time, however, he was staring at the guys.

He wasn’t sure what, but something had lit a fire under her butt. She was ready to kick some ass. What he also didn’t know was how the hell she had done that? Ten minutes. It had taken ten minutes, and they were working together more now than they ever had. What’s more, they were on board. They’d been led by the chick they hated, agreed to what she proposed, and then trudged along happily on the path she set for them. It was incredible.

If Krista had had an MBA, she should have taken a role similar to Sean. She was an excellent leader. He’d just seen proof and he couldn’t wait to tell Tory, who would get a kick out of what he’d just witnessed.

Sean went to his computer and opened IM. He sent Krista a message:

Thanks

Krista looked up briefly, glanced at the guys to make sure they weren’t spying, and angled her computer away from Bob’s prying eyes.

The message back said:

Sorry to step on your toes. They need to step up their game if you want to win.

I thought you needed a bad cop to get them pointed in the right direction.

From Sean:

I’ll take it. I wish you would’ve done it sooner.

It was impressive…

Krista looked up bashfully and met his eyes. He winked.

She flushed and looked back down, a smile curling the edges of her pink lips.

From Krista:

Ah shucks. It twernt nuthin.

Sean laughed outright. It was his old Krista. And it felt so damn good to talk to her without barriers again. It wouldn’t last for long this time around, but it was a start. It was a beginning. He had more groveling to do—she wouldn’t be satisfied until he was crawling on his belly—but it was a definite start.

Sean muttered something about a funny email to the guys, who had looked up when he started laughing, and closed the IM. He couldn’t help but notice Krista was still smiling.

Chapter Thirteen

When the meeting started, the subject was structural development. Krista’s hands were flying on the keyboard. She was going so fast at one stage, working to get every last idea and the corresponding detail, that the table next to them looked over. She was too rushed to be embarrassed, though. It was really interesting stuff, not to mention useful to what Sean was trying to do, and she was desperate to get it all down. She was hoping Janice or Sean would get what she missed.

When the talk finally ended, she leaned back with a sigh.

“How many words can you type?” Georgie asked with interest. Bob snorted, much like a pig would, and got up from the table with Dean.

Since it was the first time Georgie openly asked her a question, she wanted to be cordial and inviting in her response. She didn’t want to burn the olive branch he was offering. “Um, I’m not really sure. I’ve never taken one of those tests. But in school the laptop was my main source of note taking, and I am a pretty adamant taker of notes, so I got pretty familiar.”

He sighed. “I wish I could type half that fast. It’d really speed things up.” He got up from the table and followed Donald out of the meeting hall.

It wasn’t much, but through that dialogue Georgie didn’t sneer once. It was a start.

As Krista was putting away her computer, she noticed Sean looking at her out of the corner of her eye. When she met his soft green gaze, he just winked, then followed everyone else out of the meeting hall.

He’d noticed the dialogue between her and Georgie, and he’d thought it was just as promising as she did. It helped her realize that even though Sean was keeping his distance, he was on her side. He wanted her to break through just as much as she did. And for that, she was infinitely grateful.

The regions got a two-hour break to change and get some lunch. They would then meet at another large, banquet-style room. As was becoming usual, Krista picked something out, hit the bathroom to freshen up, and then found a different outfit waiting on her bed.

Marcus was starting to get overbearing.

When the time came, she headed down alone again—Sean wanting to stay behind with Janice, and Marcus already down there. She found the right room, after accidently walking into someone else’s meeting the first time around, and then found her region’s table. She sat down with another, “Hey guys.”

Georgie and Donald glanced up but didn’t say anything. Dean leered and Bob ignored her totally. At least they acknowledged hearing her voice. Baby steps.

Sean joined them a couple minutes later, which made Krista wonder what was so important that he couldn’t walk down with her. She pushed it aside and cleared her mind. She would get nowhere thinking about him all weekend.

“Alright,” Sean said with his game face on, “let’s do this. I think we have a real shot, but we have to work together. We work together, we win. No other way.”