My Nerdy Valentine (Nerds, #7)(16)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

With obvious reluctance, he brought his attention back to his client. "Yes, Gloria?"

"I’m so open to an investment right now. Right this very minute. Can you manipulate my portfolio and make it happen?"

"Uh, sure." He grabbed his coffee and drained the cup. "I need to get back to the office. Once I’m there, I’ll take a look at your holdings and see what sort of liquidity you have and what sort of assets you have available." Then he squeezed his eyes shut. "What I meant to say is—"

"I know exactly what you meant to say. And let me assure you that when I focus on that rising prime, I perceive my assets as extremely liquid and exceedingly available."

"Right." He pushed back his chair and stood. Then he put some bills on the table for the tip. "I do have to leave. Enjoy the rest of your lunch."

"Actually, I’m finished." Gloria stood and grabbed her mink coat off the back of her chair. "I’ll walk back with you."

Amanda hated to leave William to joust with Gloria by himself. "I should probably leave, too," she said.

"Sit, sit," Gloria said. "Enjoy your salad and sandwich. You work too hard." She turned to William. "Shall we?"

He hesitated as if he didn’t dare answer such an open-ended invitation.

Seeing how nervous he was about walking back to the office with Gloria, Amanda made up her mind. William had been a friend to her, and he deserved a friendly gesture in return.

She quickly folded the remains of her sandwich into her napkin and got up. "I have tons to do at the office," she said. "I’m coming back with you."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re such a workaholic. Let’s go, then."

As Gloria headed out of the restaurant, William hung back. "Thanks," he murmured. "I owe you one."

"Nah. We’re even. And for the record, I know you’re not the valentine guy."

His shoulders dropped in obvious relief. "That’s good, but we need to talk about who is."

She shook her head. "Not your problem."

"But—"

"No, seriously. Now get moving, before she thinks something’s going on between us."

He looked her straight in the eye. "You know what? Something is." Then he turned and followed Gloria out of the restaurant.

TWELVE

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. William worried about his impulsive comment all the way back to the office. He walked along between the two women, with Gloria on one side chattering about dinner plans, which he deflected as best he could, and Amanda on the other side being very, very quiet.

She’d looked shocked when he’d made that statement to her, but it was true, damn it. She might not want a boyfriend, and he wasn’t elevating himself to that position, but she needed someone to help her figure this thing out with the valentine stalker. He was prepared to be that someone, and that fit, because he was the only person who had all the background, being the first suspect in the case.

As he left both women at the door of Gloria’s office, Gloria continued to badger him about going to dinner with her while Amanda unlocked the door and went inside. Any hope he’d had for another moment alone with Amanda was crushed as she walked into the office with a little wave of goodbye.

"If you’re not available for dinner tonight," Gloria said, "then I claim tomorrow night. I know this cozy little French bistro not far from my apartment. That way, after dinner we can go back to my place and relax."

He didn’t think any male could ever relax in Gloria’s presence. "Gloria, I have to level with you."

"By all means!"

"I don’t believe in dating clients, but—"

"Then I’ll go back to the old fart I was with before. See, problem solved." She beamed at him.

"I was going to say, I can’t afford to lose any clients at this stage in my career." Warmed by the heat in the hallway, he unbuttoned his overcoat.

"And I enjoy giving you my business." She moistened her lips. "Couldn’t you make an exception in my case?"

"I’m afraid not."

"I’m not asking you for a lifetime commitment. Strictly fun and games." She reached over and fingered the lapel of his coat. "You do know how to have fun, don’t you, William?"

Shit. If he gave her up as a client, she’d think he was doing it so he could go to bed with her. "You’re putting me in an awkward position."

"I’d love to put you in a comfortable position. A stimulating and enjoyable position. I know several."

He sighed. There was no way he could win this one.

"Oh, dear. I can see you have strong moral issues. I think we can get around those, eventually, but I’ll have to give you a little more time. I’ll stop pushing." She winked at him. "For now."

"I appreciate that. I’ll let you know later this afternoon what investments I recommend."

"Will you be delivering those recommendations personally?"

"I think a phone call is wiser"

"But sometimes a person needs to be foolish. I could give you a really, really good time." Without warning she reached between the lapels of his coat and palmed his crotch.

Muttering a curse, he leaped back.

"It’s such a shame to let that wonderful equipment go to waste, William." Smiling, she turned and walked through her office door.

As he walked quickly to his own office, sweat trickled past the earpiece of his glasses. If he’d been more of a ladies’ man in school, he might have the skills to handle this. Other guys, the more popular ones, had talked about aggressive women, but he’d never experienced one firsthand.

He hadn’t been the type that attracted them, apparently. Until now. To think he used to envy those Romeos who had girls swarming all over them. If this is how they’d felt, harassed and valued only for their penises, then he didn’t envy them anymore.

Amanda talked Gloria into letting her go home early, but only after agreeing to finish the billing at home. But although Gloria saddled her with more work, she also made Amanda promise to take a vibrator with her and use it to relax. Perversely, she picked the red one, tucked it in her backpack and headed off to the bus stop. Whenever someone looked at her on the way home, she imagined they’d noticed the telltale outline of the vibrator inside her nylon backpack.

But carrying home extra work and a vibrator so that she could duck out early was better than leaving on time and running the risk of meeting William on the way out. She couldn’t forget the spark in his green eyes when he’d told her something was going on between them. The look he’d given her had made her knees wobble.

Wobbly knees meant that he was right, and she needed to nip this attraction in the bud right now. The easiest tactic was avoiding any situation where she might run into him. Then, if she did encounter him, she would be polite but distant.

Too bad Chicago seemed to be going bonkers over Valentine’s Day, with every bit of lace and sentiment reminding her of William. No place was more bonkers than her floor of the apartment building. She ran the gauntlet of decorated doors and arrived at her own, which was now decorated with lace hearts and two almost-naked cupids, arrows at the ready.

Before this year, Valentine’s Day hadn’t held any special significance other than the obvious emphasis on love. Her unwise yearning for William, added to the threat of a stalker who was sending her objectionable cards, made her wish all the hearts and cupids would disappear. She thought of taking down the ones on her door, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. That would break Mavis’s heart.

And speaking of Mavis, here she came, right on schedule. She was wearing oven mitts and holding something with a foil top.

"I saw you coming from the bus stop, but you’re an hour early! Is everything okay?"

"Just fine." Amanda unlocked her door and walked in. "Dr. Tredway let me leave at four today."

Mavis followed her in and closed the door behind her, as if they were roomies. "Good. You need a break. And now you have time to eat the chicken alfredo I made for you."

"Mavis, you really don’t have to feed me." And because Mavis wasn’t much of a cook, Amanda would rather grab something at Geekland.

"I enjoy it. Besides, I’m practicing with my new microwave. I think this is a little overdone, so if it is, just say so and I’ll nuke you another one. Say, what’s that red pointy thing sticking out of your backpack?"

Damn. Amanda took off her backpack, and sure enough, all the jostling on the bus had caused the vibrator to shift and poke through the zippered opening. No wonder people had been staring.

She shoved it back inside and cast around madly for an explanation. She felt like she was trapped in the Steve Martin movie Parenthood. "It’s … a battery-operated curling iron."

"Can I see? I’ve been thinking I needed to do something different with my hair." "The batteries are dead."

"Then let me get you some! I have a whole drawerful of batteries. What size does it take?"

The doorbell rang, and Amanda would love to think she’d been saved by the bell, but somehow she doubted it. "Let me get that."

"Go ahead, but be sure to check the peephole. There are some wackos out there."

Didn’t she know it. At least her particular wacko hadn’t contacted her here, so she felt reasonably safe in the apartment building.

"I’ll get you a napkin and fork so you can start eating this before it gets cold," Mavis said.

"Thanks, Mavis." Amanda checked the peephole and wasn’t surprised to see Chester standing there. He was holding something in a cellophane package. She opened the door.

"I saw you come home early, and I decided you need to put some meat on your bones." Chester shoved a package at her. "Here’s Ding-Dongs."

"Why, thanks. You didn’t have to do that."

"No problem. With my coupon, these were practically free. Don’t pay any attention to that expiration date. They only put that on there to make people think you have to buy right away. Those Ding-Dongs will be good until next Christmas." As he talked he kept glancing over her shoulder.

"Thanks for the Ding-Dongs, Chester." Amanda suspected she’d turned into an unknowing matchmaker. By befriending Amanda, Chester could have contact with Mavis and not seem to be seeking her out. Amanda took pity on him. "Would you like to come in for a minute?"

"Don’t mind if I do. I half expected that Mavis woman to be over here, pestering you."

"She brought me a chicken alfredo."

"In that I should make myself scarce. She’ll only start in about the door decorations if I give her the chance." But instead of leaving, Chester remained where he was. He was obviously dying to spar with Mavis again.

Amanda thought it was funny, but sweet, too. She was happy to help out. "Why don’t you come in, anyway? I don’t get home early very often. It gives us all a chance to talk."

"Maybe for a minute. But if she starts in on me, I’m outta here."

"I understand completely." As she stepped back to let Chester in she heard a buzzing sound.

"These batteries are tine," Mavis said, "but I can’t figure out how you curl your hair with this contraption."

Turning, Amanda discovered Mavis trying to wrap a section of her red hair around the humming red vibrator.

Chester made a weird choking sound, and when she glanced at him, his face was the color of the vibrator and his shoulders were quivering.

Laying the Ding-Dongs on the table next to the chicken alfredo, Amanda turned to Chester. She had to clear her throat a couple of times before she could speak. "Could you excuse Mavis and me for a minute?"

Eyes brimming, he nodded.

"I just don’t get it," Mavis said. "Must be a new salon technique, and I never bother with salons."

"Come on in my bedroom," Amanda said. "I’ll explain how it works." She wondered if this was how parents felt when they had to discuss the facts of life with a kid. She didn’t feel at all prepared to educate a seventy-two-year-old woman about sex toys, but it looked as if the job had fallen to her.

"That’s okay." Mavis shut off the vibrator and laid it on the table. "You can show me later. Eat your food before it’s stone-cold."

"But—" She peeked at Chester to see how he was holding up. He seemed to have gained some control of himself. She lifted her eyebrows, and he shrugged in response. With a little sigh of resignation, she sat down at the table and tried to avoid looking at the vibrator.

Chester sat across from her, and Mavis sat to her left. "Wait," Mavis said. "You don’t have anything to drink."

"That’s okay." Amanda peeled back the foil and stabbed at the crusty food with her fork. No doubt it would taste like packing peanuts, but she wanted to make the chicken alfredo all gone as quickly as possible. She’d never eaten a meal with a vibrator lying six inches from her plate, and she found it disconcerting.

"No, you need something. Milk." Mavis got up and hurried into the kitchen.

Chester gazed after her and shook his head. "Clueless," he murmured.

"It’s cute, in a way."

For a change, Chester didn’t leap in with some disparaging remark. "She could get herself in trouble someday."

Amanda recognized an opening when she heard it. "Maybe she needs someone around to keep that from happening."

Chester reared back in his seat. "Don’t look at me."

"Oh, I didn’t mean you." They both knew she meant exactly him, but he couldn’t admit that yet.

"Here you go, a nice big glass of milk." Mavis reappeared and set the glass next to Amanda’s dried-out microwave meal. Then she picked up the package of Ding-Dongs. "Chester Ambrose, you should be ashamed of yourself. These Ding-Dongs expired on October tenth."

"They’re perfectly good."

"Not for Amanda, they’re not." Mavis shoved the package across the table at him. "You eat ’em if you want. I doubt you have taste buds, anyway."

"At least I know what a hair curler is supposed to look like."