“Yup.” Scott steered her toward an open door emanating an eerie atmosphere. Not even whispered conversations, interrupted the clack of fingers on keyboards. Tension filled the room and no one looked up from their computers.
Seven people sat at a round table that almost filled the room. Cords and laptops ran to every outlet, and empty pizza boxes were piled in the corner, with one still sitting in the middle of the group. She suspected the building cleaning staff had been by recently, or the trash would have overflowed with Mountain Dew cans.
Despite the almost tangible stress and the mess, the setting energized Rae. She loved what she did for a living, but if she could spin her skills into landing something like a director of finance position for a video game company, she’d take it in an instant. Too bad jobs like that were few and far between.
Rae recognized some of the bowed heads, worshiping the gods of overtime. Jordan—Chloe’s boyfriend and Cord’s head of art and character design—sat at the far side of room, the largest screen almost blocking him from view. Chloe was next to him, pen in her mouth, brow furrowed. The fact Rae and Chloe were sisters would have been more obvious, but Chloe dyed her hair black and loved her heavy eyeliner, which made her fair skin appear even paler. Unlike Rae who didn’t work to hide her dirty-blond hair or avoid the sun at all costs.
Rae’s traveling gaze skittered to a stop when she saw him. Butterflies whirred to life in her chest, and her heart skipped a beat. Zach, bent at the waist, arm on the back of a developer’s chair, pointed at something.
The cover of Forbes hadn’t done Zach justice. Blond hair pulled into a ponytail that hung just past his collar and perfectly pressed slacks and a button-down shirt covered a slender, sturdy frame. He looked better than he should. Not that she should care. Their shared past was just that—in the past. Except seeing him again, even after so long, summoned more fond memories. The way they could spend hours, and weekends, and holidays together, and still never get tired of each other. She resisted the urge to shake her head to rid herself of the memories. That was then.
“Look who I found.” Scott’s announcement sounded unnaturally loud. Several people jumped, and everyone turned toward them. Except Jordan, headphones on, volume apparently cranked up.
Zach’s gaze met Rae’s for the briefest second, and her breath caught in her throat. Something unreadable flashed across his face—surprise? Hope? Irritation? Just as quickly, a neutral smile appeared, and he turned back to the developer.
“You made it.” Chloe bounded from her chair and crossed the room. She hugged Rae then pressed a key into her palm. “I’m really sorry. Make yourself at home. Keep in mind there’s probably nothing but Dew in the fridge, and with any luck, the head slave drivers won’t keep us here too late.” She turned to Scott. “Kidding, of course.”
“Of course.” He sounded more amused than annoyed.
Chloe returned to her seat and nudged Jordan, who looked up long enough to wave. Rae exchanged a few more hellos, including a polite hi directed at Zach. With a promise to Scott they’d catch up when he was only neck-deep in work instead of in over his head, she turned away.
She only made it a few steps, when Scott’s call made her pause.
“Rae, wait up.”
She whirled back to face him, and her gaze landed on Zach. He watched them, curiosity in his eyes. Rae pulled her attention away first, not wanting to read too much into his expression. “What’s up?” she asked Scott.
“How have you been?”
The question was polite enough. Friendly conversation, a kind inquiry. But it was such a benign greeting compared to the bear hug, and a sharp contrast to the business demeanor, that it made her frown. “I’ve been okay. Working, living, seeing the world.” She would have turned it back on him, but she had a pretty good idea, at least on the surface, how he was.
“Are you going to be in town long enough we can actually catch up, instead of this superficial bullshit?”
Her smile returned full-force. That was the Scott she knew. The man she missed. “I have a feeling my schedule is more open than yours. What’d you have in mind?”
“We do breakfast Sunday mornings. Brunch, more like it. We’re thinking Silver Lake up in Park City this weekend. Join us.”
“Us.” She wasn’t asking, she already knew he meant Zach.
“Not an answer.” Scott reached for her hand, and squeezed her fingers. “Does it even matter anymore?”
Why did people keep asking her that today? No one cared before now. Or maybe everyone always had, and it was time for her to grow up a little and move on. “I don’t want to interrupt your plans, but if you’re both okay with it, it sounds great.”
“Excuse me.” A male voice interrupted from behind.
She turned, and found herself face to face with a FedEx delivery guy. She jumped in surprise. Her hand flew to her hammering heart, and she choked on a nervous laugh.
The man glanced up from his clipboard, and handed Scott an envelope. “This one’s for you specifically.”