“You did good in there.” It was the next day and Seth smiled from the limo seat across from me. He’d brought me along for a meeting with a small computer chip company he occasionally worked with.

“I didn’t do very much. Just took notes.”

“Your idea about the tracking system was a good one. And even if it hadn’t been, I was pleased you were able to speak up.”

I thought that over for a moment as I ran my hand across the black leather of the bench seat. “It was because I knew that you were running the show. That you were the one who had the responsibility to get the message across, not me. I—I don’t want you to think I’m hopeless. I can talk to people; I just freeze up when… when…”

“Hey.” Seth crossed the divide and sat next to me. “I don’t think you’re hopeless. You’re doing a great job so far. You’ve done all the things Justine and I have given you with no training. You just jumped right in and did them.”

“Because they involved writing. E-mailing. That kind of thing.”

“Not all of them. Some involved more.”

Did Seth really believe in me as much as he claimed to? That thought was somehow uplifting and discouraging at the same time. The better his opinion of me, the worse I’d hurt when I let him down.

Time to change the subject. “Nice limo.”

He rolled his eyes at me, not at all fooled by my out-of-the-blue comment. “I like it.”

“Really? It seems kind of tame for the great Seth Spencer, he of a gazillion gadgets and high-tech toys.”

“Tame?” Seth’s grin had gone slightly predatory. The man seemed to love a challenge. “I’ll show you tame.”

He opened a panel on the door and pulled out a large remote. It had at least two dozen buttons on it, each with a little symbol. “Knock yourself out,” he said, handing it to me.

I studied the remote, but aside from a few obvious symbols like music notes, I was lost. “I don’t know what these all do.”

“Try them and find out. You’re good at pressing buttons—that’s how you got this job in the first place.” Seth’s sexy little smirk made my heartbeat speed up.

I pressed the music notes first, and a pop song filled the limo. The next button made a narrow mini fridge pop out of the floor of the limo. Another one made the overhead light turn into a mirror ball. I pressed that one again pretty quickly—it was dizzying.

Studying the remote for anything else familiar, I pressed a button that had a circle inside of a square on it. Immediately, a panel on the little shelf opened up and two square packets popped up like toast. Seth reached past me and grabbed them, but not before I saw what they were—condoms.

“Sorry,” he said, pocketing them quickly. Good god, was he actually blushing? But as I stared at him, astonished, he broke into his trademark grin. I should’ve known he’d never be caught off guard for long. Pulling one back out, he offered it to me. “Unless you need one?”

“I’m good,” I said, turning my head away. But now I was thinking about Seth… in this limo… doing all kinds of naughty things. Suddenly, the inch or two of space between us felt very close. I could almost feel the heat from his skin.

“Erin? It never hurts to have a spare.” He was studying me, gauging my reaction. Could he tell how little experience I had with condoms? Outside of health class in high school, I’d never even touched one. Why did his smirk make it look like he knew that?

“I’m good,” I managed to say.

“All right, I’ll be good too.” The condom disappeared with a wave of his hand. “And now that you think I’m a total perv, time to see a different side of me.”

I blinked at him, trying to figure out what he meant. In just a few days, I’d already seen so many sides of him. The arrogant, perpetually amused playboy. The concerned coach trying to coax me out of my shell. A masseuse. A hell of a good dancer. The constant throughout all of that was his cocky grin. I’d rarely seen him without it.

Seth tapped a tiny earpiece I hadn’t even noticed he was wearing. When he spoke, it wasn’t to me, but to the driver up front. “Since we’re passing right by it…” His voice trailed off and presumably the driver knew what he meant, because at the end of the next block, the limo made a right turn.

Two minutes later, we pulled up in front of a palatial, three-story building. Were those columns made of marble? They gleamed in the sunlight. Landscaped bushes and flower beds lined the walkway to the door.

Squinting out the tinted window, I read the lettering above the huge double doors.

It was a nursing home.

* * *

“Erin, meet Nana. Nana, this is Erin, my new assistant.”

I smiled at the slender, stately-looking woman. Seth’s grandmother’s living space was rather apartment-like with plenty of room for her to maneuver her motorized wheelchair.

On the way into the upscale nursing home, Seth had told me about his grandmother’s horribly debilitating arthritis. Or at least he’d tried to tell me. Every few feet, we’d been interrupted by yet another gray or white-headed old lady who knew Seth by name. Apparently his charm with females knew no age limit.

“So nice to meet you, Mrs. Spencer.”

“Please call me Jeanne. Or Nana if you’d prefer, Erin.”

“You can call her Newbie.” Seth was right at home at his grandmother’s place judging by the way he’d headed straight for the fridge. “Do either of you want something to drink?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” I wasn’t sure why I was being so formal. Seth’s grandmother carried herself with dignity, but she wasn’t intimidating the way some rich people were.

“I’m good too,” she said.

Seth returned with a soda for him and a bottle of water for me. Hmm. Not sure why he asked if he wasn’t going to listen to my answer. “What’s new? Besides Newbie, here.”

Nana raised her eyebrow at her grandson as he and I sat on a sofa.

“Nothing much. You just missed the organ recital.”

Why was there an organ in a nursing home? Seems like a piano would be more practical. “We didn’t see an organ on the way in,” I said, trying to keep up my end of the conversation. “Is there a chapel here?”

Nana and Seth laughed. It was such an infectious sound, I almost joined in, even though I didn’t know what the joke was.

“My bad,” Nana said. “That’s an old inside joke. An organ recital is when all the old folks talk about their aches and pains.”

Now I did laugh. Seth’s grandmother didn’t look like him except they were both tall. Well, it was hard to tell with Nana in the wheelchair, but she looked to be a little taller than my five foot five. And maybe their eyes were similar. Nana’s weren’t as blue as Seth’s but they had a lively sparkle like his did.

We made small talk for a few more minutes, and then Nana turned to me. “Would you like a tour, Erin?”

For some reason, Seth looked sheepish. “She doesn’t need the tour.”

“Nonsense, of course she does. It’s not often you bring your friends to visit me.”

“I’m an employee,” I said quickly. As if someone like me could ever be friends with someone like Seth.

“Well, he doesn’t usually bring his employees here, either.”

“Erin’s a special case,” Seth said. “I’m taking a more hands-on approach to her training.” His sexy wink over Nana’s head was not necessary—I knew I was already blushing from his words. He definitely had taken hands-on approach. With little trouble, I recalled the way it had felt to be in his arms. The way we’d danced so easily together. A third memory surfaced and likely made my red face even redder—the way he’d made me visualize him his underwear yesterday. His description—plus my own naughty imagination—had really gotten to me yesterday afternoon. And it had made it very hard to sleep last night.

“Come on, dear, I’ll show you around.”

I stood up and headed for the front door, but Nana called me back. “The tour’s in here.” Using the controls on the arm of her wheelchair, she rolled over to a table by the entryway. “Do you wear glasses?”

“Just for reading.”

“If you have them with you, put them in here.” She pointed to a sleek black box about a foot long. I fished my glasses out of my purse then followed Nana’s instructions, opening the box and setting the glasses in a little compartment inside the device. “Close the lid, and press the blue button.”

I did as she asked, and the little box began to vibrate and make noises. It almost sounded like a whirlpool. Or maybe a dishwasher. “Is that water in there?”

“It’s a cleaning solution,” Seth said, coming up behind me.

More sounds, a few clanking noises, and then the box stilled. A moment later, the lid popped open. I reached for my glasses. To my surprise, they’d been dried. I put them on and looked around. “Wow. These are super clean. That machine is amazing.”

Nana chuckled. “That’s the general consensus. That’s why I leave my door open most the time—everyone wants to come in here to use it.”

“Where did you get it?” I was still staring at the device curiously. I’d never seen anything quite like it.”

“Why, Seth made it for me, of course. He’s invented all sorts of things to make my life easier. Come see some of the others.

Astonished, I met Seth’s eyes over his grandmother’s head. He’d made things for her? But almost everything he made was for having fun. I hadn’t known he’d used his creativity to invent things like that.

Nana showed me the game table Seth had made so that she and her friends could have an easier time. The center of table rotated at the touch of a button located along the side of the table. Nana demonstrated how an overhead light could be lowered and raised. While she explained the other features of the table. Seth leaned against the back of the couch, looking perfectly comfortable and confident… but every once in a while, I thought I caught a touch of embarrassment on his face, especially when Nana was praising his inventions. Interesting. I’d never seen him look anything except cocky.

Nana showed me some of the upgrades he’d made to her wheelchair, and then some of the accommodations so that she could use her little kitchenette easier.

When the tour was done, Seth said we had to get back to the office.

“It was nice meeting you, Erin. I hope you’ll stop by again.” She said the words to me, but made eye contact with Seth. “Next time, we can go to the little bowling alley in the rec room downstairs, and I’ll show you the device Seth made that allows me to roll the ball on my own.”

“I’d like that.” And it was true—Nana was a lovely woman.

“I’ll stop by Saturday morning,” Seth said, giving his grandmother a kiss on the forehead.

“Come by for lunch. At ten, I’ve got a hair appointment and I’ll be stuck under the dryer half the morning.” She turned to me. “Too bad I don’t have hair as full and beautiful as yours. Then I wouldn’t have to sit under that blasted machine for hours at a time.”

Seth looked curious as we halted by the doorway. “Is that one of those half-sphere things that fits over your eyes?”

“Yes. Just like a personal torture chamber.”

“But it wouldn’t have to be…” Seth was staring past both of us, his eyes unfocused. “It could extend over the eyes… there could be a screen, speakers… it would be perfect for virtual reality…”

Nana laughed. “You’d better get him out of here, Erin. I know that look. In a minute he’s going to find a computer and start making notes and then you’ll be here all night.”

I grinned, but hesitated a moment longer. The look of utter concentration on Seth’s face was intense. I doubted he’d notice if Nana stood up and danced a jig. However, his lack of awareness gave me a welcome excuse to touch him.

I looped my arm around his broad bicep and pulled him into the hall. He was distracted. His mind was clearly a million miles away. But his body was here, and it felt pretty damn good next to mine.

It made me really wonder what would happen at our next three o’clock training session.