Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(120)

“Christ—does every guy like fighting?” Jasmine asked, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t,” Ben said quickly,

Sean shrugged then smirked. He couldn’t hide the glimmer of excitement.

“He was big, though,” Ben articulated. “Really big. Scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t mind admitting it. He had to be tasered twice! Didn’t think Sean stood a chance.”

“He had to be tasered twice?” Marcus whispered with wide eyes. “How big was he?” He had adopted a boyish grin. He sat forward on his chair and turned around to give Sean and Ben his full attention.

“All right you guys, let’s break for lunch. Krista, can I talk to you for a minute?” Sean asked, stepping toward her. Her tears were still streaming down her face.

Everyone shuffled out, Marcus asking Ben, “Seriously, how big?” as Sean closed the door.

Sean took a seat.

“I wouldn’t have told them, Krista,” he said tenderly. “I said it was a surfing accident.”

“I know.”

Sean nodded. The space between them, a mere five feet of desk, felt like a chasm. Krista longed for the comfort of his body. He longed to give it. They were at work, though. That kind of behavior was impossible.

“When do you meet with Tory?” he asked.

“I don’t have anything set up.”

“You have an email. Tory wants you badly. I would like to go over how to handle him.”

“Why me? Ben is smarter. As is Marcus.”

Sean smiled, “No, not smarter. They are each smart in their fields. As are you. Ben and you both cross field lines to bring it all together. You, however, are the package. You are thorough, you are social…”

Krista scoffed.

“—you are loyal, and you can sell your material. You are the package.”

“How do you know I have an email?” Krista deferred.

“Marcus isn’t the only one with connections.” Sean smiled at her—it wasn’t a business smile.

“Is Marcus definitely going, then?”

“Everything is all but signed.”

“What about Judy?”

“He doesn’t want the whole team, Krista. He wants the stars of the team. Marcus is an obvious pick. He has a lot more to him that this company can harness. A. Lot. Ben… well, Ben is a genius, no two ways about it. Then there is you. You bring ‘em all together.”

“No, Sean. You bring us all together.”

“Well. I am not as cheap as the rest of you,” Sean let the corners of his mouth slide up to let her know it was a joke. “But that is a separate issue.”

It sounded like Tory might be trying to get Sean as well. It was obvious by the way Sean was acting, though, that he didn’t want to discuss it. Maybe he didn’t want to jinx it.

They spent the next hour going over ways for Krista to sell herself. Sean said a common problem with women in general is that they sold themselves short. They didn’t have the giant egos their male counterparts had. Whereas a man would demand 20% more than he was worth, a woman might ask for what she was worth, then settle for 10% less. They were more realistic, apparently. Which was bad news when it came to getting their worth in negotiations.

Krista agreed. And took notes.

Chapter Thirty-Four

It was Friday and she had a date with Tory that evening in an extremely expensive restaurant. Sean said Tory planned to spend a fortune on dinner to impress her. Sean also said, with large, solemn eyes, to sell herself high and get what she needed. He knew she told John to politely shove it with the second offer, which hadn’t been much more than the first and had come with more negative feedback.

She arrived to the restaurant early with the intent to have a drink at the bar to calm her nerves. She was surprised to find Tory already there, at the bar, drink in front of him. He was looking intently at his smartphone as she pulled up a chair next to him.

“Hi,” Krista said as she sat down.

He looked up, caught sight of her, and smiled. “Oh hi. I didn’t expect you for another half hour. I was just catching up on some reading.”

“Always working, huh?”

“No, actually. I was reading a murder mystery. It takes the edge off. As does a martini. Can I get you something? Our table won’t be ready quite yet.”

“Yes, please. A glass of red wine.”

Tory took care of choosing the wine and they settled into easy conversation. Krista talked a bit about Seattle and Tory told her a story about a recent fishing trip in Mexico. Apparently he got a big one but almost fell in.

When it was time to eat they went to their table and discussed other odds and ends. It was amazing how easy it was to talk to him. Too easy, maybe. The guy was way smarter than her. He could be buttering her up, preparing her for the kill. It was impossible to be skeptical, though—he was too cordial.

After they ordered and rounded up their discussion on books, Tory said, “So.” It was time for business.

“So,” she stated.

He smiled. “I have been talking to Marcus.”

“In other words, there isn’t much you don’t already know about our company and especially our team.”

“I had no idea he was such a fountain of information.”

“He calls his work space the Dark Hub.”