He scowled at Minh, who was already standing up from the table.
“I think you should stay.” He practically barked it at her.
She frowned at him. “I don’t think there’s anything more I can do at this point.” The words were pleasant enough, but it was clear that she was pissed too. Probably feeding off his attitude. She turned to go, her back all rigid and tense, just like her personality.
You’re being too harsh. He sighed. “Wait.”
She turned back to him, one eyebrow raised.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
That eyebrow went higher as if to say, Yes, you did.
Damn. “Look. I think we need to hash this out a bit more. Do you have just ten more minutes? I promise it won’t take long. I’ve got to get back to work, anyway.”
“What kind of work do you do here, anyway?”
She said it like she thought he didn’t do anything. “Well, apart from trying to get people to invest in the company and buy our movie and see our movie and pay us to place their product in our movie…I do most of the programming for our animation software.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Why do you need to make it? Can’t you just buy it, like word processing software?”
“You can. Some versions of it, anyway. But for what we’re trying to do, it’s better to have our own. The key is in the math. It’s our version of the secret sauce.”
“Chris is a fucking genius mathematician.” Shen grabbed a chair and sat too. “He’s got some great shit going on, here. Different. Game-changing. It’s why I left my old job and joined up with him.”
Minh looked impressed. It shouldn’t have made a difference, but he felt his chest swelling with pride. Maybe having someone be able to truly see him wasn’t all bad.
“What is it that you do better than the others?” she asked.
For a brief second, he was on the verge of telling her. I program ways to make visual cues trigger other sensory experiences. He wanted to tell her. Wanted her to keep looking at him with that admiration and pride. But he was already too vulnerable to her. Too invested.
No reason for you to think all women are scary.
Daria’s words mocked him from the corners of his mind. It pissed him off and turned him around.
I’m not scared.
But still, he shrugged and looked away. “It’s too technical to explain,” was the short, vague excuse he offered. He ignored her look of anger and changed the subject. “Anyway. I think we need someone else to weigh in. Do you mind playing that piece for Shen? The one you just played for me?”
She glared at him.
“Please?”
She sighed and opened up her violin case again, but Shen held up a hand. “Wait. I want to get Luis and Vinnie in here, too, if we’re making a decision.”
Before Chris could stop him and tell him that they weren’t making a decision, at least not yet, Shen was hollering out the door. “Vin! Luis! Get up here!”
Shit. He hadn’t intended for it to go like this. But, he supposed, now was as good a time as any. If the guys went for it, then he’d bow to their wishes.
But he didn’t have to like it.
Vinnie and Luis stepped into the room. They must have just arrived in the past few minutes, because Vinnie was still wearing his motorcycle boots. He usually changed shoes after he came in. The boots made him look even tougher than usual, with his thick muscles and buzz cut. He wasn’t a particularly tall guy, but he was broad and strong and scared the shit out of most people with his looks alone.
Luis was a slender, nervous Mexican guy with a caffeine addiction. And he was a brilliant illustrator.
Chris made brief introductions, watching as Minh smiled pleasantly and shook everyone’s hand. Nothing like the way she was with him. There was no snarling or bristling or any of that—just sedate, polite exchanges.
For some perverse reason, it made him feel proud that she was only like that with him.
After the introductions, all four men sat and looked at Minh expectantly.
“Now or never,” Chris told her.
She gave him a look, but lifted the violin from the case and put it to her chin. And played.
When she was finished, the room was quiet. The guys were giving each other looks, but no one said anything. It was clear that no one wanted to speak while Minh was still in the room. Time to let her leave so he and the guys could talk about the piece. Chris stood. “Thanks for playing it. Listen, I think…why don’t I talk to the guys, and we’ll let you know.”
She didn’t fight him on it. This time, though, it wasn’t as though she was retreating. Her chin was high and her expression relaxed. Confident. She’d done a good job, and she knew it. So instead, she shrugged and smiled, then got up and let him walk her downstairs.
But the moment he closed the door behind her, he found himself surrounded by three guys.
Vinnie was the first to speak. “Damn, Reichert. That girl is sexy.”