lamp on your thingie.”
“Zip drive,” he said through his teeth. “It was a zip drive, princess. A very expensive one. And I didn’t yell—I nearly cried!”
“You’re doing it again.”
His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I tend to talk loud when I get—Never mind. Christ! How the hell do you always get me so off track?”
“You were picking on me.”
“I was not picking on you.” He stopped, drew a deep, ragged breath. “Forget the zip drive, okay? Just answer the phone. Nothing else.”
She thought of his disastrous files, which she had started to organize. She could have the office fully operational in no time. “But—”
“No buts.”
He hadn’t fired her.
This man was not nearly as tough as he thought he was, which made her smile. She would fix his office, and he’d see just how valuable she could be.
He’d need her then…and she liked the sound of that.
“Now—” he pointed to the phone “—there are two lines, and the first one—”
“Thank you, Joe,” she interrupted softly, laying her hand over his.
He yanked his hand back and scowled. “Pay attention. Our phones are ringing off the hook right now because of the merger. A lot of our customers—”
“Customers?”
“We design and sell software. We also provide the tech support.”
“That’s what Tim, Andy and Vince do?”
He nodded. “Among other things. Just find out who it is they need to speak to. Put them on Hold, then use the intercom in our offices and we’ll pick up.” He pointed to another series of buttons, but Caitlin’s mind began to wander. She lifted her head and encountered the most expressive light blue eyes she’d ever seen. “Do you wear contacts?” she wondered out loud.
“Caitlin.” His nostrils flared. “You’re not paying attention.”
Paying attention was hard when he was so darn magnificent. He stood there, leaning over her, wearing that fierce expression—his jaw all tight and his sexy mouth hard—and suddenly, she wanted to kiss him.
Bad idea, she decided, and ducked her head. “I’m sorry. I’m listening now.”
Vince came out of his office, took one look at Joseph’s tense face and changed directions from the kitchen to Caitlin’s desk. “Joe,” he said quietly, “Tim needs you. He’s having trouble with a control panel and wanted me to let you know.”
“He’ll have to wait a minute.” Joe rubbed his temples. “I’m training Caitlin.”
Caitlin’s stomach tightened uncomfortably with the now familiar feeling of stress. She hated it.
“I’ll help her,” Vince suggested, tactfully slipping in between Joe and Caitlin and giving her a shy smile. “After all, I’m the one who trained the last hundred secretaries you scared off. What’s one more?”
There was her hero, Caitlin thought. Too bad his smile didn’t stop her heart like Joseph’s did.
“Good luck,” muttered the modern-day pirate as he escaped scot-free.
“Don’t worry about him.” Vince grinned, which went a long way to relieve Caitlin’s tension. “He doesn’t have much patience. He’s far too focused.”
“Well, I hope he focuses somewhere else this morning while I organize this place. It’s a disaster.”
“Um…maybe you shouldn’t.”
He was worried and it made her smile. “I can do this. You’ll see.”
“But Joe—”
“Doesn’t know how good I am.” She patted his hand. “You’ll see,” she repeated.
* * *
TIM AND ANDY came through a short time later, looking for fun, as they always did on their break.
Tim toed the controlled mess she had on the office floor, and whistled slowly. “What’d Joe say about this?”
Caitlin had to smile. “After complaining about how late I was, and then my clothes, he sort of ran out of steam. I’m sure he’ll get to it the next time he happens by, but I’m hoping to file all this away by then.”
Tim looked nervous. “Maybe I should help you,” he suggested. “No use riling him up.”
He was afraid she’d get herself fired, and it was so sweet she smiled in spite of her own nerves. Besides, she refused to put Joe in a position where his men had divided loyalties. She’d caused enough trouble. “I’ve got it covered,” she assured him.
“What’s wrong with your clothes?” Andy wanted to know, looking her over in frank appreciation. “They look plenty good to me.”
“He said I needed more,” Caitlin told him. Both Tim and Andy protested loudly, only to fall completely silent when Joe came into the front office.
He took one look at them hanging around the reception desk, and his jaw went impossibly tight.
Caitlin imagined he’d have quite a headache if he kept it up. “I’ve got the phone down pat, boss,” she said sweetly.
“Terrific.” Joe glanced pointedly at the two techs, and they scattered, each offering muttered excuses.
Caitlin’s stomach growled, loudly, into the silent office.
Joe raised an eyebrow. “Hungry again?”
“My stomach’s funny that way. You’d think since I ate so much yesterday, it’d still be satisfied.”
He frowned. “You haven’t eaten since yesterday?”
That wasn’t quite what she’d meant to say, but now that she thought about it, she’d only snacked last night on the last of a stale bag of pretzels. She’d never gotten to dinner.
Then, this morning, she’d skipped breakfast because of her missing car, not to mention an empty fridge. What with bus hopping, she’d been too upset to eat anything, not that she’d had much choice by then.
Joe sighed at her silence, took her arm and pulled her up out of her chair. They headed for the door. “Come on,” he said gruffly.
“Where?”
“To feed you, dammit.” They were in the hallway, walking at his pace, which was nearly a run for Caitlin in her heels, when her stomach growled again.
Joseph’s own stomach tightened as he remembered all too well what hunger felt like. “How
