Fortune's Prince Charming Read online

  Nope. She was strictly off-limits because, hypnotic eyes and short, flirty skirts aside, she was way too young for him. When he’d been hired on at Robinson Tech back in February, the entire office had celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday. That meant he was nine years her senior.

  If the age gap wasn’t enough reason to steer clear, all he had to do was remind himself that she was the boss’s daughter. He knew better than to go there. Been there, done that back when he’d lived in Miami. He’d learned his lesson and he certainly didn’t intend to make the same mistake again. Especially given that his brother was married to Zoe’s sister Rachel. That could get very messy.

  “What can I do for you, Zoe?” he asked as she entered his office. Today she looked even cuter than usual. Her skirt did a great job showing off her toned legs. Not that he noticed, because he kept his gaze glued to her eyes so that it didn’t slip into forbidden territory.

  “It’s your lucky day, Joaquin,” she said as she planted herself in the chair across from his desk. Her eyes sparkled and her broad smile was contagious.

  “Is that so?” he asked. “Enlighten me.”

  She sat forward on the chair and leaned in conspiratorially.

  “Out of all the people in the office, I’ve chosen you to help me with a project.”

  Her smile showcased perfect white teeth. She cocked a brow as though she was about to present him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

  The phrase “he who speaks first loses” came to mind. So, Joaquin arched a brow right back at her, leaned back in his chair and waited for her to give him the lowdown.

  “So, you know the FX350, that new tablet that my father talked about at the staff meeting last week?”

  Joaquin nodded.

  “We are pushing up the launch date and I need someone to build a brand-new website for it.”

  He waited for her to laugh or at least crack a smile to indicate she was joking, but she didn’t.

  Okay. Well. This was interesting. He certainly wasn’t above helping out with the project, but his pay grade didn’t make that a very good use of his time for the company. Not to mention, Robinson Tech had a design department and he didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

  He was trying to think of a way to say that without sounding pompous, but before he could find the words another big smile slowly spread over Zoe’s face.

  “Gotcha,” she said. “I’m just kidding. I wish you could’ve seen your expression, though. It was priceless. I know that’s not your department. Though you’re more than welcome to be part of the web-site design project, if you’d like.”

  “You’re quite the practical joker, aren’t you?” he said.

  Zoe shrugged. “As I said, you’re welcome to join us. If you do, then it wasn’t a joke at all. However, I did come to ask for your advice on something.”

  She was adorable and outgoing and sometimes she flitted from subject to subject so fast, he almost got whiplash. Like right now. But he really didn’t mind.

  “About what?”

  Out in the hall the faint hum and purr of the copy machine provided the soundtrack to two coworkers discussing a sports match—sounded as if it might’ve been soccer, but Joaquin wasn’t familiar enough with the local team to be sure.

  “Do you mind if I close the door?” Zoe asked.

  That probably wasn’t a good idea, but Zoe was already on her feet. The door clicked shut, blocking out the extraneous office noise, and they were alone.

  They’d be fine for a few minutes.

  He had a meeting with Zoe’s dad, Gerald, at three. No one was late to a meeting with the boss. He’d have to go soon, anyway. On his best days Gerald Robinson was gruff. Joaquin didn’t want to know what he’d be like if someone kept him waiting because he was flirting with his daughter.

  So that meant he could give Zoe fifteen minutes max.

  Ten actually. He’d need a few minutes to gather his thoughts and notes before he made his way to Gerald’s office.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

  Zoe stared at her hands for a moment. Suddenly uncharacteristically somber.

  “You’ve been here...what, three months now?”

  “Something like that. I started in February.”

  Last December he’d moved from Miami to Horseback Hollow, Texas, a quaint little town just outside Lubbock. All but one of his brothers and his sister had moved there to be close to their father, who had relocated to work at the Redman Flight School. His dad had been mourning the loss of his wife, Joaquin’s mother, and thought the change of scenery would be good for him. Horseback Hollow had agreed with his father so well that Joaquin had decided to leave Miami and give small-town living a try, as well.

  Sometimes the grind of South Florida was just too much. Plus, he had accumulated too much excess baggage living there for so long. All he wanted to do was to lighten his load. But even though Horseback Hollow had been a good fit for his father and siblings—his dad was in love again, and his brothers and sister had met and married their future spouses there—the laid-back pace was way too slow for him.

  He’d wanted to make a new start, but after being there only a couple of weeks he’d felt as if he was stuck in a different kind of rut in the small Texas town. When his brother Matteo’s wife, Rachel, offered to put in a good word for him at Robinson Tech, Joaquin had jumped at the chance to move to Austin when Gerald Robinson, the man himself, had offered to bring him on to consult on a temporary project.

  “Since you’ve been here,” Zoe said, “you’ve worked pretty closely with my dad and you’ve had a chance to get to know him.” Her words trailed off.

  “I haven’t worked directly with him that much. But your dad is a computer genius and I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work for Robinson.”

  Zoe raised a finger. “That’s precisely my point. He is so smart. Sometimes too smart for his own good. How can I put this delicately? Because I adore my father, I just want what’s best for him.”

  “Right,” Joaquin said. “Everyone knows you and your father are close.”

  “Joaquin, will you please help me help my father improve his image? He’s not exactly a diplomat or even a people person for that matter, and it’s really starting to take its toll.”

  Oh, hell, no. That was a recipe for disaster if he’d ever heard one. He was a computer geek, for God’s sake. Gerald probably knew more about diplomacy than he did. Well, that was stretching it, but not by much.

  “Just the other day,” Zoe continued, “I called a Robinson client who works with the South by Southwest Festival to see if I could interview him for that lifestyle blog I do for Robinson Tech. I was going to tie it into the calendar software program we have and, you know, have the event on the calendar. But you know what happened?”

  Joaquin shook his head. “What happened?”

  “The guy hung up on me. Before he did, he asked if this was Gerald Robinson’s company and when I said it was, he called my dad a bunch of names I won’t repeat and said he didn’t want anything to do with anything that Gerald Robinson was involved with and he would be taking his business elsewhere. The he hung up on me. I mean, my dad has even started offending clients. So someone needs to stage an intervention. And quick.”

  “You want me to help you stage an intervention for your father?”

  Gerald Robinson was a gruff, cranky old genius who certainly wouldn’t appreciate a temporarily contracted employee butting in where he didn’t belong. That was the quickest way to get him a first-class ticket out of there. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.

  Yet one look at Zoe’s earnest face and he knew this time she was not kidding. He’d have to find a way to let her down easily.

  He smiled and shook his head. “You must have me confused with someone else, Zoe. I�
�m the guy who’s good with computers, not people. In fact, I could probably borrow some of those tips you’re trying to gather up for your father. This is a delicate issue. You, his daughter, might be able to go there, but the rest of us need to tread carefully. If I got involved, I guarantee you it wouldn’t be pretty.”

  She didn’t say anything. Just stared at her hands in her lap. He hated disappointing her, but this was way out of his league.

  “That website you were talking about a minute ago?” he said. “I’d rather do that. It’s more my speed than making over your father’s image.”

  She looked up and blinked as if her mind was changing gears.

  “Are you saying you’ll help me with the website?”

  “Wait. What? No.”

  “But you just said you’d rather do that, and I was only half joking when I brought up the new site a minute ago. Phil in design is swamped and I could really use some help. Otherwise, I’ll have to outsource the job. I can write the content, but all that technical HTML stuff is like a foreign language to me. Will you help me, Joaquin? Please?”

  She wrinkled her nose and gave him a tentative smile that almost seemed as if she was holding her breath waiting for his answer.

  The woman was a force of nature. He wasn’t quite sure what she’d just done there, and he obviously didn’t know what he was doing when he heard himself saying, “Sure, I’ll help you with the website. Why don’t we schedule a meeting?”

  He thought he saw a flicker of surprise in Zoe’s eyes. “Oh, thank you. Does tomorrow at three o’clock work for you?”

  He called up the calendar on his phone. “I can spare a half hour.”

  “Well, we will just have to make the most of that time, then.”

  She smiled at him as she stood and smoothed her skirt. Before he could stop himself, his gaze followed the path her hands were tracing. When he realized what he was doing, his gaze skidded back up to her face so fast, if there’d been a music to accompany the moment it would’ve sounded like a needle scratching across a vinyl record.

  Had she just played him? The treacherous waters of possibly hosting an intervention to teach Gerald Robinson manners had certainly made the thought of designing a website for the FX350 seem like a child’s birthday party in comparison.

  The victorious glint in her eyes tempted him to backpedal, but he didn’t. And when the unspoken window of opportunity to back out closed, he knew he’d need to be careful.

  He had to admit he was attracted to her. He’d have to be dead or barely breathing not to be. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, but he was not going to cross that line. He could exercise some self-control for the duration of their thirty-minute meeting.

  “So, your place or mine?” The flirtatious note was back in her voice.

  But before he could answer, someone knocked and opened the door. “Sorry to bother you— Oh!” Steffi-Anne Bunting, the office manager, stuck her blond head in but stopped midsentence when she saw Zoe standing there.

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between Zoe and him.

  “Do you need something, Steffi-Anne?” Joaquin asked.

  “I was just, uh—” She pointed at a clipboard in her hand. “I just noticed that we don’t have your RSVP for the executive office trip to Cowboy Country. We leave this Thursday afternoon and we need a final head count. May I put you down as a yes?”

  Steffi-Anne was another one who tended to pop into his office regularly. She could’ve emailed him about this. But since she was here now... “Actually, I sent my regrets last week. Didn’t you get it?”

  “Yes,” Steffi-Anne said, “I got it, but—”

  “You’re not going?” Zoe cried. “You have to go.”

  Joaquin shook his head. “This is a team-building thing. I’m a temporary employee. I didn’t think it was appropriate.”

  “It’s completely appropriate,” Steffi-Anne countered with a slightly condescending tone. “That’s why you were invited. That’s why I’m following up.”

  The truth was he just wasn’t good at this rah-rah, team-building bull. It made him uncomfortable. No, uncomfortable wasn’t a strong enough word. It made him feel like a caged animal. And all he wanted to do when he felt backed into a corner was get the hell out.

  He looked at the two attractive women standing in his office and knew that he should’ve loved the fact that they both seemed to take extra interest in him. There was a time not so long ago when he would’ve dated both of them. At the same time, as a matter of fact. He would’ve reveled in the game of juggling them both, along with various other women he might’ve kept up in the air right along with them.

  Not anymore, though.

  He’d learned the hard way that office romances usually led to disaster, and he knew damn good and well that toying with emotions was the fastest way to earn an express ticket to hell.

  “I’m sure you’ll have a great time at Cowboy Country, but I have a lot of work to get done and a very short amount of time to accomplish it. So, thanks, but I’ll have to decline.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Steffi-Anne’s smile was out of context with the edge in her voice.

  “Stop pushing him,” Zoe said. “If he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t have to.”

  Clutching the clipboard to her chest, Steffi-Anne put her free hand on her thin hip. “Look, Mr. Robinson wants every employee in the executive office to go on this Cowboy Country retreat. If it makes you feel any better, Joaquin, it’s for work. It’s not for fun. Heaven forbid anyone ever force you to have fun. I think you’ll want to clear your schedule.”

  His gaze snared Zoe’s. Despite the way she’d defended him, there seemed to be something hopeful in her eyes. She’d be there, of course. Suddenly, the thought of attending the retreat seemed a lot more palatable.

  Chapter Two

  The next afternoon Zoe positioned two cappuccinos, red plastic stirrers and various packets of sugar and artificial sweetener on the corner of her desk. She turned the cups just so, then walked over to her office door and looked at them from the angle of someone just entering the room.

  “That looks too posed,” she murmured under her breath as she walked back to her desk.

  Well, of course it did. “It is posed. Just be cool and casual about it.”

  She picked up one of the paper cups and took a sip, making sure to leave a bright red lipstick imprint before setting it closer to her computer keyboard. That way it would look less formal. Not as if she was waiting for Joaquin to drink her coffee.

  For good measure she returned the other cup and the condiments to the beverage carrier on the credenza behind her desk.

  What if he didn’t like cappuccino? What if it looked too presumptuous that she’d bought him a coffee? What if she drove herself crazy with all this second-guessing?

  She placed her hand on her breastbone. Her heart was thudding. She took in a steadying deep breath—going in through her nose, releasing it through her mouth.

  This wasn’t a date, and it wasn’t as if she was delivering a coffee to his office out of the blue. He was helping her with the website. It was a nice gesture. Of course it didn’t seem presumptuous.

  If he didn’t like coffee, she would simply give it to someone else.

  “What are you looking at?” The sound of Joaquin’s deep voice made her jump. He was standing behind her, following her gaze with his own.

  She turned to him with a sudden feeling of clarity. “You want to know the truth?”

  “Of course.”

  “I got you a cappuccino when I went out to get myself one, and I just realized I have no idea if you even like coffee. Do you?”

  “I love it,” he said. “And, actually, I could use a shot of caffeine right now.”

  Zoe gestured toward the credenza. “Well, there
you go. At your service.”

  As Joaquin helped himself to the lone cup in the holder, Zoe made a mental note that he didn’t add any sweeteners to his coffee.

  Good to know. For future reference.

  “Thanks for this.”

  Joaquin took a long sip of his drink, set it on her desk and then proceeded to move one of her office chairs around to the other side of the desk so the two of them would be sitting side by side. She couldn’t help but notice how his biceps flexed and bunched under the short sleeve of his white polo shirt. The light color showcased the deep, bronzy tan of his skin and she had a sudden mental picture of him on South Beach in Miami in a pair of board shorts and nothing else. She’d gone there for spring break when she was in college. Too bad she hadn’t known him then.

  It made her wonder about his life before coming to Robinson Tech. Had he dated a lot of women or did he have someone special?

  “Shall we get started?” Joaquin gestured for her to sit. After she slid into her seat, he settled in next to her. He was close enough that she could smell the soap he’d used and the subtle herbal scent of his aftershave. She propped her elbow on the chair’s armrest and leaned closer, breathing in a little deeper, savoring the scent of him as he pulled the wireless keyboard toward him.

  Obviously he was oblivious because he was all business. With a few keystrokes he’d called up the page they needed and had signed in to a screen that looked utterly foreign to Zoe.

  She centered herself in her chair, prepared to act like the consummate professional and not some lovesick puppy fawning all over him. That was the opposite of the tactics Steffi-Anne used. Zoe knew the woman had it bad for Joaquin. She and every other female in the office. But where Zoe tended to go all starry and wistful around him, Steffi-Anne became a dominatrix.