How to Date a Henchman Read online

  Dr. Ross had a corner space in the back, but like in the meeting room there were no windows in his cubicle. He’d violated the gray of the upholstered cubicle half walls with a framed poster of Kentucky that simulated a view. Dr. Ross sat at his desk staring at his computer screen. He was halfway through a game of online Scrabble.

  “You and I should have a game sometime,” Gina said.

  Dr. Ross jumped, closed his browser and spun in his chair to face her. “Gina! Usually you wear heels. That tap. Loudly.”

  Gina shrugged, pleased she’d startled him. “Stealth is the new black. Mr. Sparks is here. I put him in the meeting room.”

  “I was beginning to hope he wasn’t coming and I wouldn’t have to schmooze.” Dr. Ross stood, stretched, then bent and pulled a memory stick from his computer. The computer beeped in protest as he tucked the memory stick into his pocket. “Wish me luck. I hate schmoozing.”

  “You’ll do fine. You’re the finest schmooze I know.” Gina grinned at her boss. Dr. Ross had the best social skills of all the scientists she worked with, which was probably why Mr. Sparks imported him all the way from Mississippi as lead scientist and general office manager for EnClo Corp. “Just to warn you, Mr. Sparks brought Mr. Burke with him.”

  “Who?”

  Gina shrugged again. “He arrived with Dr. Sparks. I assumed you’d know how he fit in.”

  “Not a clue. Not that it matters.” Dr. Ross tugged at the bottom of his brown jacket, then ran a hand over his balding head. Nervous gestures. “A tour and presentation isn’t any harder to give to an audience of two than an audience of one.”

  Envy lodged in Gina’s throat as she followed Dr. Ross to the door. Mr. Sparks and Burke would tour B2, and once again she’d be stuck upstairs, staring at her computer like an idiot. “You’ll do fine,” she said as she followed him back through the cubicle maze. The geneticist held the door out open for her, and Gina paused on the other side. “I’m making coffee. Want anything?”

  “French vanilla, please. Oh, and Gina? Don’t forget that Mr. Sparks isn’t officially affiliated with the company. He’s not even here today.”

  “I hadn’t forgotten.” Gina forced a smile. Apparently she was qualified to keep that secret, although a wriggling finger of guilt twisted in her gut because she’d told her mother about Mr. Sparks’s arrival. Moms didn’t count when it came to corporate espionage, right?

  They parted ways at the break room while the geneticist continued down the hall to introduce himself to their employer. The room was a haven of yellow Formica tables and stained white countertops. The aroma of burned toast lingered in the air, and the last person to use the coffeemaker hadn’t cleaned out the grounds. Scientists were slobs.

  Idly she wondered if Sparks was also a slobby scientist, and if he left stale coffee in the pot like everyone else she worked with. Whatever he was, Sparks was odd. A fuzzy-sock-wearing, carpet-loving businessman with a security fetish and the inability to tell when to end a handshake. As Gina rinsed the pot and prepped the coffeemaker, she thanked her lucky stars he didn’t visit the office often.

  Then there was Burke. Tall, rugged Burke in a tailored suit, accessorized with stubble. He looked like a thug and probably frightened small children when he smiled. And he had a nice butt. Maybe it was because she’d grown up on a farm, but men who looked like they could pick up tractors were more attractive to her than the suave type with Italian leather shoes. As far as she was concerned, Burke had “sexy” written all over his hard body. Even if he did drink tea.

  Bad luck he was a coworker. Sort of. As the coffeepot burbled and the kettle whistled in an acoustic battle of the beverages, Gina pulled three matching mugs from the shelf and set them on a tray with several spoons and a small bowl of sugar cubes. Burke was off-limits. Dating coworkers was never, ever a good idea, even if they didn’t work in the building.

  Too bad. Those dark eyes and tight tush would make some woman very, very happy…

  No. Bad. Mentally she smacked herself, then poured two cups of coffee and a cup of Earl Grey. The milk in the fridge passed the sniff test, so she found a small jug to match the mugs and filled it.

  Burke saw her through the window as she came down the hall and he stood to open the door to the meeting room. Gina murmured a quiet thank-you as she passed. She slid the tray onto the table without spilling anything, and as soon as her hands left the tray Dr. Ross snagged a coffee mug to huff the fragrant steam. “Thank you, Gina.”

  “You’re welcome. Is there anything else you need?” she asked. The room had gone silent as soon as she’d walked in, and a giant picture of a brain shimmered on the screen. Sparks watched her over steepled fingers.

  “We’ll call if we need you,” Burke said. He still stood by the door, holding it open.

  “Okay.” Gina backed out, and Burke closed the door as soon as she crossed the threshold. As she walked to the elevator, she caught a glimpse of the brain through the meeting room’s window before Burke’s broad shoulders hid it from view.

  Weird. Gina turned the key and rode the elevator back to her solitary desk on the main floor.

  Brains were new. Could EnClo Corp. have something to do with brains? Dr. Ross was a geneticist and several of the other employees had medical backgrounds. There were also two electrical engineers and a civil engineer on staff, though. They wouldn’t know much about biology. Perhaps the slide she’d seen was clip art.

  If only she could go on the tour… The soles of her feet itched with the desire to race downstairs. Instead Gina unlocked her computer with sharp taps against her keypad and completed the mandatory check of the CCTV monitors. Small televisions showed grainy images of the hallway into B1, the cubical farm, and pigeons cooing between pickup trucks in the parking lot.

  An irritable sigh bubbled up from inside her chest. Gina flipped through the papers in her In tray, but most of it was filing. Boring. The little plastic alien queen seemed to give her a reproachful look for her laziness. Apparently gestating hundreds of acidic babies made alien queens judgmental.

  Burke didn’t look like the type to have an In tray. Was he a consultant? He lacked the smarmy self-confidence radiated by most consultants, although he had to do something useful if Sparks brought him into a secured facility.

  Mr. Sparks also confused her. There was no good reason to let Dr. Ross front EnClo Corp. Most people were proud of their companies and liked having their work acknowledged. Gina’s eyes narrowed as she tapped a finger against her desk. She opened her browser and typed “Sparks” into Google. A pop band, energy drinks and the Girl Guides of Canada came up, but no business tycoons.

  Movement caught her eye. The CCTV camera overlooking the front gate showed a delivery van scaring the pigeons into flight as it drove into the parking lot. Gina minimized her browser window and watched as the van rolled to a stop outside the front door. The driver left the van idling as he sprang up the steps with a package under his arm.

  Moments later he pushed a package across the top of her desk. The courier was lantern jawed and almost as tall as Burke. Pale golden curls escaped from beneath his hat, and his uniform strained across his broad shoulders. He smiled as he approached the desk, and his teeth looked unnaturally white against his tanned sin.

  Well, hello. Gina smiled back and tried to ignore the excited little butterflies in her stomach. “You’re not my usual delivery man.”

  “It’s a special delivery today,” he replied. “For a Mr. Sparks?”

  Her smile froze. Nobody knew Sparks was in the building. Nobody knew he was in the country. “I’m sorry, there’s no Mr. Sparks here. You must have the wrong address.”

  A faint, puzzled frown marred the courier’s perfect face. “Are you sure? This is specifically addressed to a Mr. Sparks.”

  “There’s no Mr. Sparks here,” Gina said firmly. Unless Sparks sent a package to EnClo Corp. for himself? Which didn’t make sense—she’d been specifically told to keep his presence at the office a secret. If he was sending himself something, he’d have mentioned it, wouldn’t he?

  “Mr. Powers, then?”

  Gina shook her head. “Sorry.”

  “It’s a time-sensitive delivery, Miss…?” He hooked an elbow over the edge of the counter and smiled again, revealing two adorable dimples. With his curly blond hair and intense blue eyes, he probably reduced most receptionists to quivering piles of goo.

  Gina didn’t buy it. “Hall,” she said primly.

  “Miss Hall. If this doesn’t get to Mr. Sparks today, I’m in trouble. Help me out?”

  Couriers weren’t usually persistent. Their schedules were too tight. Unease threaded down Gina’s spine. Moments ago Dr. Ross warned her against revealing Sparks’s location, and now someone was trying to pry it from her. Maybe he was a corporate spy, or worse—what if the delivery guy was an undercover cop, and Sparks had done something horrible?

  Unlikely. Undoubtedly Dr. Ross had asked her to keep Sparks’s location a secret for a good reason. Even if she didn’t know what that reason was, she trusted the geneticist’s judgment. “I’m sorry, but you have the wrong address. There’s nobody named Sparks or Powers here.”

  “You’re sure there is no Mr. Sparks? Or Mr. Powers?”

  The hint of steel in his voice convinced Gina she had done the right thing. “Positive. Who did you say that package was addressed to again? Mr. Sparks or Mr. Powers?”

  “Both.” He flashed an insincere smile. “If you’re sure they’re not here, I’d best be off. Good day, Miss Hall.” He picked up the box and left the building the way he’d come.

  Gina watched him on the CCTV monitors as he paused by his idling truck and looked back at the EnClo building. The shadow cast by his cap shielded his face. After a moment he climbed into the truck and drove away.

  * * *

  A cheery bing heralded the elevator’s arrival and Gina looked up from her desk as the doors whooshed open to disgorge Dr. Ross, Sparks and Burke. Dr. Ross looked like he’d gone through the wringer. Sparks had put his shoes back on.

  “What I’ve seen thus far is very pleasing, Dr. Ross,” Sparks said. “Very pleasing. I expect the program to remain on schedule as we move into Phase Two.”

  Dr. Ross nodded so vigorously his bifocals slid down his nose. “Provided we have no setbacks, we should be able to start Phase Three within the year.”

  “Phase Three.” Mr. Sparks paused, glanced at Gina, then turned his back to the reception desk. Gina had to strain to hear him. “It must be handled with the utmost tact. Mistakes now will severely impede our future success.” Sparks jabbed a finger at Dr. Ross, who shrank before him. “You know the price of failure.”

  “I won’t fail.” Dr. Ross sounded uncharacteristically meek.

  “Mr. Sparks?” Gina used the small pause in the conversation to take some of the pressure off Dr. Ross. She didn’t like to see anyone intimidated, let alone the man who signed her checks.

  “What?” He turned toward her with a scowl on his face. “What do you want?”

  Her temper flared. “A courier tried to deliver a package here for you or a Mr. Powers. As far as I know you’re not supposed to be here, so I sent him away,” she said politely.

  Sparks stilled. Behind him, Burke curled his hands into meaty fists. “Someone was here, asking for me?” Sparks’s voice was calm and sharp as razor wire.

  Gina nodded, the unease she’d felt with the courier returning with a shiver of butterfly wings. “I didn’t tell him you were here or that you were affiliated with the company.”

  “At least she’s that smart,” Sparks muttered. “Burke? Review the security feed and see if you can figure out who our mysterious courier is.” At Burke’s crisp nod, Sparks started toward EnClo’s front doors, then paused. “Where are you parked, Dr. Ross?”

  Dr. Ross’s forehead wrinkled as he pushed his bifocals up his nose. “Ah…around the side?”

  “Excellent. Burke and I carpooled. You’ll drive me back to my hotel. And we’ll go out the back door.”

  “Out back? But…I need my jacket. If you can wait a moment…” Dr. Ross trailed off as Mr. Sparks turned to glare at him. Even with too-short pants and a willowy frame, Sparks somehow became the most dangerous man in the room. The hair on the back of Gina’s neck rose.

  Dr. Ross hesitated before following Sparks around the elevators and through the locked doors to the back of the office. The tension in the room left with him, draining out the front door to inflict itself upon the pigeons.

  Burke caught her eye and smiled. The nervous butterflies invading her guts redoubled their attack. “Don’t mind him,” he said.

  Gina smiled back in spite of herself. “Mr. Sparks, you mean?”

  “He’s odd, but he’s good at what he does, and he means well,” Burke said.

  “I suppose.” She glanced at the CCTV monitor overlooking the back entrance but Sparks and Dr. Ross had already left the building and disappeared between the rows of pickup trucks in the parking lot. “Let me set up the monitors for you.” She turned her attention back to her computer as Burke moved around the desk to stand behind her chair. If Sparks felt dangerous and unpredictable, Burke felt solid.

  “Nice alien.” Burke nodded at the black alien queen by the In-Out tray.

  “Thanks.” Gina felt a warm flush of pride and was pleased that he’d noticed her toy. “I’m a big fan of the movies.”

  “Sarah Connor or Ripley?”

  “Pardon?” Gina’s fingers stilled on her keypad as she glanced at Burke, confused

  “In a fight. Who do you think would win, Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies or Ellen Ripley from Alien?”

  Gina snorted. “Ripley, of course. She’s supered up with Alien DNA, whereas Sarah Connor’s only power is her incredible mullet and various overgrown toasters from the future.”

  “I don’t think Kyle Reese can be considered a toaster…”

  “He’s a metaphorical toaster. Here—this is the guy.” Gina tapped at a monitor to her left as the courier truck pulled up to EnClo Corp’s front door. The time stamp read 14:23.

  Burke put a hand on the back of her chair as he leaned forward for a better view. They were inches from each other. Hyperawareness of his nearness made it hard to concentrate on anything but the rough stubble on his chin, the angular lines of his face, the way his fingers brushed her back and how his body folded around hers. The space between them became intimate.

  As the courier moved through the building, Gina switched feeds to track his progress. They watched in silence as he stood in front of the desk, then turned and left. None of the cameras caught his full profile, snatching only silhouettes that hinted at the man beneath.

  Burke sighed as the van drove off. “I think we need to adjust those camera angles.”

  Gina bit her lip. She’d mentioned the problem to Dr. Ross before, but he hadn’t bothered to fix it. Now it was too late. “Do you recognize him?”

  “Maybe.” Burke didn’t lift his hand from the back of her chair. “Probably not. Why are you alone up here?”

  “You said Mr. Sparks designed the security system, so I’m sure there’s a reason. Besides,” Gina said, “I’m not exactly helpless.” His concern provoked a smile, even if it was a little patronizing. She was as competent as anyone when it came to pushing a panic button.

  Burke arched an eyebrow. “Then let’s hope I’m mistaken about his identity.”

  “Why? Who is he?”

  He let go of her chair and crossed his arms. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “You can’t expect me to just forget about it after a comment like that.” Gina looked up at him and he hastily averted his eyes. A little thrill ran through her as she realized she’d just caught Burke peeking down her blouse—and that she didn’t mind.

  “Then I’ll ask you nicely. Please forget about it.” Burke managed a small smile. “If the courier is a problem, I’ll take care of it. But I don’t think there’ll be a problem. He’s probably just…some guy.”

  “What if he does come back? What am I supposed to do then?” Gina bit her lip. Corporate espionage apparently involved risks beyond paper cuts and a four o’clock meeting on a Friday. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to hit the panic button fast enough after all…

  “You’ll tell him Mr. Sparks isn’t here, and then you’ll call me.” As if on cue, Burke’s phone rang. His smile vanished as he fished it out of his pocket and peeked at the call display. “Excuse me.”

  Gina nodded, and he left the curve of her desk to stand by the front doors. Straining her hearing only caught the sibilant S’s and rumbling consonants of his conversation. He glanced up, caught her watching and turned his back to her. A moment later he snapped the cell phone shut and shoved the phone into his suit jacket. “I have to go.”

  “Will I be seeing you again before you leave?” Gina asked. It spilled out before she could stop herself, and she felt herself flush. “Here. At EnClo, I mean. Will you and Mr. Sparks be back this week?”