Looking Real Good

Just to clarify, what do you need from me?”
“Money,” he said simply. “I need you in charge of donations.”
“All right,” I said thoughtfully. My mind was already hopping to and from businesses I knew I’d be able to go to. “I have a couple of companies and businesses I can tap. I don’t see any reason why I won’t be able to come through for you.”
He clapped his hands together enthusiastically. “Excellent!”
I stood up and rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans. The soup kitchen was not an easy, breezy place. It was stuffy and warm, especially with so many bodies packed inside.
Rodney moved in for a grateful hug.
I let him wrap his arms around me and regretted it immediately. Rodney was a good man. I’d always thought so. But he also had a bit of a thing for me and he tended to get a little too comfortable too quickly when it came to things like this. I’d told him on rare occasions that things between us were strictly professional, and he’d agreed every time, but this hug lasted a little too long to be deemed professional.
I pulled away and patted him on the shoulder the way two buddies might when they met each other at a bar for beers and a game. I was about to excuse myself when my phone started buzzing in my back pocket. It made for an easy escape, so I ducked out of his office and slipped out of the emergency exit into the parking lot behind the soup kitchen.
There was a cool breeze blowing that chased away the lingering heat in my cheeks as I raised the phone to my ear. “Hello, this is Kayla Goodfellow for Good Fellow’s.”
My best friend Lisa’s voice filled the line. “Kayla, do you ever check your call display?”
I giggled and pressed the back of my hand to my head to wipe away sweat. “Not all the time, no. Sorry. What’s up?”
“Well,” Lisa said slowly.
I could tell she was building anticipation. “Yes?”
“I have a proposition for you. It would involve us working together. I know you’re super busy but I think this would be a good thing for all parties involved. Are you interested?”
“Am I interested? Of course, I’m interested in working with my best friend! Give me details.”
“Hear me out before you go all in, okay? We’d also be working with Lukas.”
Lukas. Lisa’s older brother, the billionaire extraordinaire, tech success CEO, cover of magazines, drop dead gorgeous Lukas?
I swallowed. “Oh?”

Chapter 3


Lukas
Polly, my assistant, nodded along to what I was telling her about the new software development launch. Her lips were pursed thoughtfully, and her eyes were slightly narrowed behind her dark-framed glasses, and she held a red-painted finger to her dimpled chin.
I paused a beat.
Polly cocked her head to the side. Her blonde curls bounced just above her shoulders. “Is that all, Mr. Holt?”
I sighed. “The next time I’m boring you, feel free to tell me you’re not interested, Polly. I never intend to bore you to death with my blabber, but I’ve been told I’m not good at picking up social cues that someone has lost interest in the subject matter.”
Polly giggled. “I’m not bored with you, sir. Or your subject matter. I just… well, I don’t really understand much of what you’re talking about when it comes to software and programming and coding.”
“Right.”
She put a hand on my arm. “I swear I was listening.”
Someone knocked softly on my office door. Polly released my arm and took a step back to stand beside my desk rather than behind it. She wrapped her arms around herself, and one of the buttons at the top of her silky pink blouse threatened to pop open as her breasts pulled at the fabric.
“Come in,” I said as I lowered myself into my chair.
Lisa opened my office door and stepped in. She smiled at Polly.
“Morning, Polly,” Lisa said cheerfully. Her attention turned to me and she put her weight on her right foot while she waited expectantly.
Clearly, I’d forgotten something. “Yes?”
“We’re meeting the non-profit director I told you about in the conference room in five minutes.”
Polly excused herself and closed the door behind her, leaving me and Lisa alone in my office.
“I hadn’t forgotten,” I lied smoothly.
“Sure you hadn’t.” Lisa paced behind my desk to stand in front of the windows. She looked down at the street before turning her gaze up to the sky. “You have the best views in Seattle, big brother. I’ll give you that.”
“I paid a hefty price for them.”
“Of your own volition. Nobody forced you to.”
“Never said they did.”
Lisa smiled at me over her shoulder. “I have to admit, your office is the nicest one I’ve ever been in. The only thing I’d remove to make it better is you.”
I chuckled. “Very funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
A lot of thought and consideration had gone into appointing this office of mine. To say I was a workaholic would be a gross understatement. I lived and breathed this job, so I spent more time within these four walls than I did anywhere else. On some occasions, I’d worked straight through the night writing my own code.
On the far wall to the right were all my coding computers. Six monitors, three on the bottom and three on top, all concaved inward around a sleek, glass-top black desk. Little lights flashed and blinked on computer towers and other devices tucked neatly into the storage unit under the lowest row of monitors.
The rest of the office was minimalist and clean. The floors were glossy, light gray marble. My business desk sat in the middle of the room upon a dark blue carpet. The desk was mahogany and had two matching guest chairs on the opposite side from where I sat. Three ceiling lights hung low over the desk, providing ambient light at night that wasn’t too bright and wasn’t too dark. The walls were white, though most of them couldn’t be seen because they were hidden behind floor-to-ceiling bookcases or filing