“CTS.” Clare picked up her chiming cellphone as she drove her shiny red Miata. It was the first real toy she had bought herself with her new found wealth.
“CG, it’s Kyle Martin.”
“Hey, Kyle, what’s up?” she asked her old college buddy.
“We got a major snafu and just can’t spot it. We’ve been looking for most of the morning—“
“And been looking at it so long, you wouldn’t be able to see it if it bit you.” Clare’s husky chuckle flowed over the connection.
“Wanna help out two old computer lab buddies?”
“Where’re you at?”
Once given the address, she realized she was fairly close, in an older, restored building in Los Angeles. “Give me ten minutes.”
”Our office is on the ninth floor, left of the elevator.”
“I’ll be there.”
Ringing off, Kyle grinned. “You can bet CG will find it within a few minutes.”
“What does CG stand for?” JC asked.
Jim chuckled. “Computer Geek. CG was one of those nerdy, geeks of geeks in college. Knows a computers inside and out, from hardware, to software, to programming.”
“Maybe I should have hired this CG,” JC suggested.
Within ten minutes, a fragile looking girl in low rider jeans and a pink, baby teeshirt entered the cluttered office. She had long, dark honey blonde hair and big brown eyes. She looked maybe eighteen.
“Geeze, you guys keep this office like you did your dorm room!” she announced with a laugh.
“CG!” Kyle greeted her with an enthusiastic hug.
JC was speechless. This lovely delicate girl was a geek of geeks?
“Lucky you caught me. I was headed out of town.”
“Must be nice,” grunted Kyle.
She had attained what these guys were striving for – independence. She stuck out her tongue playfully at his pretend jealousy. “It is.”
Jim greeted her by waving at the screen. “We’re glad we caught you and didn’t have to guilt you in to coming back to save us. Have at it, kid.”
Taking a seat in front of the monitor, Clare scanned the screen and clicked on keys. She concentrated on the codes and symbols flashing before her. “You guys make too much money,” she murmured teasingly.
Kyle laughed. “How do you know?”
“Because I have been able to out code you since I was sixteen and in braces.”
“Do you do websites, Miss CG?”
Clare turned to look towards the stranger when he spoke. “It’s Miss Gatlin or Clare, Mr. Chasez.”
Her sweet smile made his knees weak. “Call me JC, Clare.”
“And, no, I really don’t do a lot of this stuff nowadays. Fixing problems, consulting, and teaching are my focus. I don’t do many websites.” Then she returned her eyes to the monitor. “There it is!”
Kyle and Jim looked over her shoulder, staring in disbelief at the elemental mistake that had stymied their progress all morning.
“Fuck,” Kyle muttered.
Leaning over her shoulder, Jim typed in a few characters, hit save, and the site came up like magic.
Pushing back from the desk, Clare rose. “My work here is done,” she said, pretending to dust off her hands.
“You fixed it?” That fast?” JC demanded incredulously.
“Yessir.” Clare grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
“Wait!” he called to her. “I need to pay you.”
“No, you don’t.”
He followed her out the door. “Clare, you did me a service—“
“Let’s say I did it for the guys, for old time’s sake.”
“But—“
Clare turned on him at the elevator, her smile wicked. “Kiss me.”
Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly…
She reached a hand around the back of his neck. Pulling his head down, their lips met in a soft kiss. “Mmm..I wanted to know what your lips were like ever since that close up of them in the Girlfriend video.”
JC’s lips turned up at the corners. “Really now?…”
“Really.”
“In that case…” His hands settled on her hipbones as he tugged her tightly against him. His mouth settled over hers, kissing her more fully. His tongue slid between her welcoming lips, tasting the alluring, heated sweetness of her mouth. The fact he hadn’t been with a woman for some time was evident in the way his body reacted swiftly to the feel of her softness. He swelled and grew hard against her belly. It was madness, sweet reckless insanity. “Clare—“ he growled huskily, dragging his lips across her cheek.
Gaining some coherent brain cells, Clare stepped away and punched the down button of the elevator. “Paid in full – and then some, Mr. Chasez,” she said with a wink and a jaunty wave before she disappeared behind the elevator doors.
“Clare…” JC whispered to the empty corridor. He stood there for a long moment before he gathered sanity enough to go back into the office.
“Did she take something for her time?” Jim asked JC when he returned.
“Huh?...Oh, yeah, not enough though,” he answered. Not enough, not nearly enough. He’d love to pay her some more.
“Yeah, she’s worth like two hundred bucks an hour – on a cheap day.” Kyle grinned.
“Poor CG is a total techno nerd,” Jim sighed, sad for his friend. “She doesn’t seem to get out much.”
That floored JC. A girl like that – he couldn’t see the woman he had just played tonsil hockey with as a loner surrounded by computer equipment.
“Say, JC, don’t suppose we could invite her along with the posse sometime,” Jim hinted thoughtfully.
“Sure.” Hell yeah! “She’s welcome anytime.”
“Like the club on Friday night?” Kyle suggested.
JC had rented out a small club for one night. He was thanking everyone in his circle for all they had done for him. The website. His solo recording that was on going. And just friends for their patience and support. He appreciated everyone’s effort on his behalf. He was generous to the people in his life. “Do you think she’d want to come? There won’t be a lot of women there.”
“Makes for better pickin’s for her,” Jim laughed. Being happily partnered, he wanted that for Clare.
Kyle agreed. “Yeah, and don’t worry about her being intimidated by the crowd. One thing CG has never been is a coward.”
It would only be two days before JC could see the woman who looked like an angelic schoolgirl and kissed like a she-devil.