America's Geekheart (Bro Code #2)(13)

“I know. That’s why your sister follows me. We’re all trying to save the world.”

“Except me.” His brows furrow for half a second. “You’re trying to save the giraffes.”

“They’re endangered.”

“But we see them in zoos all the time.”

I heave an exasperated sigh. “Just because you see them in zoos doesn’t mean they’re not endangered in the wild. Zoos work with conservationists. Pandas were endangered for a long time. But because we knew it, people worked to save them. They’re still vulnerable, but we’re making progress. No one knows giraffes are endangered though. That’s why it’s such a big deal that Persephone, the giraffe at the Copper Valley zoo, is having a baby. It’s not just about the cute baby giraffe. It’s about survival of the species.”

“And honeybees?” he asks.

Those are the magic words.

I can talk about honeybees for hours.

Mackenzie’s not there. Charlie’s not there. I’m just telling the underwear ape how important honeybees are for our food supply and the whole ecological chain of events that matters so much to me.

Completely and totally geeking out.

And if he’s not listening, he’s still making me feel like he is, nodding along, asking more questions, cracking the occasional joke that’s actually funny.

I pause, because I realize I’m rambling, and he smiles at me.

Not a hey, lady, want to see me in my underwear pose? smile, but a friendly, I get it, I’m passionate about things too smile.

“You care,” he says.

“Everybody cares about something. What do you care about?”

“My family.”

He doesn’t even pause, and I don’t know if that’s because it’s the answer he’s trained to give, or if he really has kept himself that grounded through the years.

He bends one long arm to scratch his neck, his grin going rueful again. “My mom chewed me out pretty bad this morning,” he tells me. “Never too old to get an ass-chewing when you deserve it, you know?”

“If you need more ass-chewing, I have a friend who’s really pissed at you too,” I offer.

He laughs. “Yeah, I think I met her in the park this morning. She threw a yoga brick at me.”

“You might’ve deserved it.”

“I’m pretty lucky that’s all she threw. That was an asshole tweet. I shouldn’t have even sent it to my sister privately. She works hard. Really hard. You know we almost lost her in a car accident about eighteen months ago?”

I knew Ellie walked with a limp when I moved in next to her a year ago, but I didn’t know why. I shake my head.

“She worked her tail off to walk again, to get back to work, and she just finished a project that’ll save the city a buttload of money every year in energy costs. And I just model underwear and encourage people to wear comfortable stylish clothes.” He shakes his head. “You keep doing you, Sarah. Save your giraffes. World needs more people like you. Give it up, Taser Lady.”

He holds out a fist, and even though the last person I fist-bumped was a drunk stranger on the light-rail downtown over a year ago, I bump his fist back.

He grins at me.

And I smile at him, because it’s nearly impossible not to.

“Thanks for your time,” he says. “You didn’t owe me anything. Really appreciate it.”

“Sure,” I reply. “People say stupid things all the time.”

“Is that a wrap?” Mackenzie asks, and I jump.

I almost forgot she was there.

“That’s a wrap,” Charlie says.

Beck leans back, and I realize he was sitting here with his arm on the back of my chair practically the whole video.

And now I feel weirdly cold.

“As soon as I check my phone, we should have a draft from the lawyer for the agreement,” Charlie says. “I’ll send it over.”

Poof.

Magic all gone.

Now we’re back to work.

Which is what that video was.

Work.

Not me sharing my passion with someone who understood. Just work. With someone who has to pay people off enough that his team has a standard agreement that a lawyer just has to modify terms for. On a Saturday night when he should be out doing anything other than work.

“Ohmygod, the game!” Mackenzie squeals.

She darts for the living room with my phone, and a moment later, she’s whooping with joy. “We won! WE WON! Two in a row! WE WON!”

“I’ll look over everything and get back to you in the morning,” I tell Charlie.

Okay, yes, I’m calling my parents’ lawyer and swearing her to secrecy, even though I said I wasn’t. I’m pretty sure they’re not on social media, but their friends will be.

And I’ll call them before I post the video too.

I will.

And then I’ll tell Mackenzie who I really am.

I swear.

She deserves to hear it from me.

All of this is happening so suddenly though. I’m just not sure I’m ready.

Twelve more hours. Twenty-four, tops.

Beck squeezes my shoulder. “Thanks, Sarah. I really am sorry for dragging you into this.”

I ignore the skitters fluttering in my belly and nod to him. “I just hope something good comes of it.”