Okay. This is it. This one’s for all the marbles.” I stop, cocking my head to the side. There’s nobody around to hear me at this time of night. I’m talking to myself again. Very worrying.

With my pen poised over the clipboard, I hit the start button on the video camera, then the green square on the computer screen.

“Here goes. Attempt one thousand at running the drone without the battery overheating.”

I watch the drone fly in circles two feet below the ceiling. The minutes tick away. Twenty-five seconds to go before we hit the threshold where the temperature has always spiked and fried the circuits.

“Come on, baby. Come on. You can do this. Just stay cool. Stay cool.” I’m chewing my lip hard enough for it to hurt as my eyes keep darting back and forth from the hovering drone to the clock. The seventh minute mark hits and I hold my breath.

Please, please, please….

The first sizzle tells me it’s over and my heart sinks as fast as the drone. It hits the metal table with a sickening sound. The familiar smell of burning fills the room.

“Son of a bitch!” I groan, slamming the clipboard down. Nervous energy makes me pace the floor like a caged animal before I drop into a chair and stare at the ceiling. I’ve tried every tweak I can think of.

I drop my head into my hands and closing my eyes, hold it for a minute. What am I supposed to do now? A sense of hopelessness settles over me. It’s been weeks I’ve been trying to tackle this issue and I’m not any further ahead than I was on day one. To top it all, the big cheese has sent down a missive through Ryland, my immediate boss— the drone has to be ready to be shown to the public in two weeks!

The air in Ryland’s office turned blue when he gave me that juicy bit of information.

“What am I missing?” I mutter, springing up and walking to the table where all the stats are spread out. Two weeks until we go to demo and I have no idea how to stop this drone from crashing and burning in less than seven minutes. I switch on the extractor fans and go back over the data from the last ten tests. There has to be something I’m missing. I bet it’ll end up being the stupidest possible oversight, too. I must be overthinking it. I must be.

I roll my head on my neck to work out the kinks. My jaw hurts. I’ve been clenching my teeth for most of the day. That’s what I do when I’m stressed out. I rub my fingertips along the hinge of my jaw. Is it called a hinge? I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore, evidently. According to some people, I never have.

What would my Dad think if he saw me standing here, floundering, giving myself a jaw massage? That he was right. As always. The jerk. My jaw tightens again and I know I shouldn’t think about him if I want to think straight.

Click.

I jump at the familiar, but unexpected, sound of the security locks behind me. Who else is here at nearly midnight? I thought I was the only crazy one. Must be Ryland. I turn around. Of course, it is. I’m glad he’s here. If anybody will understand the frustration plaguing me, it’s him.

“Ryland?” I say, dropping into the big leather chair behind the table. “You’re still here?”

“You certainly are perceptive,” he says dryly. Perching on the edge of my desk, he loosens the tie I can’t believe he’s still wearing at this time of night.

I lean back in the chair until I’m practically reclined and heave a sigh. “You really should talk to your boss about the hours he expects you to keep.”

He shrugs. “Well, he expects it of himself too.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m surprised. He’s sort of a dick.”

His wince tells me I’ve gone too far. “Now, now. Your personal problems with Lincoln are no concern of mine. We’ve discussed this before.”

“I know, I know. I’m just tired and frustrated. I don’t even know the guy. I guess arrogant bullies just rub me up the wrong way.”

“That’s right. You don’t know him. He’s not a bad guy. Sure, he’s a slave driver, but look at what he’s built with his bare hands.” He leans forward with the cocky smile I’ve learned to like. “And he signs your paychecks.”

“He does not. I get direct deposit.”

“Same difference.” His attention falls on the drone, still sitting where it crashed on the table. He scowls and looks at me sideways. “Still checking out at seven minutes, huh?”

“Afraid so,” I mutter, and start massaging my jaw again, as stress threatens to overtake me.

“If there’s anybody who can figure this out, I know it’s you. I wouldn’t have handed this project to you if I didn’t have ultimate faith in you.”

“You’re doing it, you know.”

“Doing what?”

I throw a withering look his way that he knows has absolutely no bite to it. “Telling me what you think I want to hear, so you can squeeze more and more work out of me. Bolstering my confidence, so I’ll have the big breakthrough which reflects well on you.”

He throws back his head and laughs, reminding me once again, why of the two of them, I prefer him over his best friend, and the Big Guy. Bossman. The one that everyone is soooooo in awe of. I have a few other names for him, but I know better than to let them fly in front of Ryland. How could two men practically grow up together but end up so vastly different?

“As much as it tickles me to think of your work reflecting well on me, you would do well to remember that it’s your position in the company which sort of hinges on this. That is to say, your upward mobility. Not to mention that lovely bonus waiting for you.”

“Right now, I’d give anything just to make that damn drone upwardly mobile.” The bonus is not important to me. If it were money I wanted, I could have just worked for my father. Or just looked for a rich husband like my stepsister.

“It’s already upwardly mobile. The trick is making it stay that way.” He walks over, picks it up, and turns it over in his large hands. Holding it, he faces me. “I know you can figure this out, Sam. I have faith in you. That’s not smoke up your ass, either. I mean that.”

“I know you do. I wonder if El Capitan will feel the same way when he finds out I’m still bombing.”

“You have the chance to find out for yourself.” He grins.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I came down here to tell you that he asked to see us.”

“And you left him waiting all this time, while the two of us sat here talking?” I jump out of my chair like it’s on fire.

“Whew,” he teases. “For somebody who claims she doesn’t like Lincoln, she sure hops up like she can’t wait to see him.”

That irritates me. “Shut up.”

He grins. “I’m just saying.”

“And I’m just saying you really need to start getting more sleep if you think you’re being funny right now.” Lincoln Cage is everything I hate about men, wrapped up in one tall, dark, smug, sexy package. Mr. Ultra-Masculine. God, I can’t stand him.

If I were on Dr. Freud’s couch, he’d have some pretty clear ideas on why I feel the way I do. He’d wrap me up with a neat little bow and call it daddy issues. Lincoln Cage is a younger, hotter version of my dad. Unfortunately, he also happens to be more brilliant than my stepfather. Much as I hate to, I have to respect his achievements. Ryland is right about all the incredible things Lincoln has done in the short time he’s been in this industry.

“What does he want from us?” I ask as I try to match my stride to Ryland’s looping long one out of the engineering department and down the hall to the elevator which will take us up to his office. I’ve never been up there. I’ve never ranked high enough.

“A report on our progress. We had a bit of an emergency meeting today and he wanted something from me by close of business, but I knew you’d be burning the midnight oil and wanted to wait until your latest tests were complete.”

“Emergency meeting?”

“It’s a long story.” He waves it off. “Anyway, he’ll want to know how this issue is progressing.”

“What you’re telling me is, I have to present a report to the CEO of the company, and I have roughly the next half-minute to prepare it.”

“Something like that. Yes.”

I have to lean against the wall of the elevator car for strength. “Great. Just so we’re clear.”

“Fair warning,” he adds, glancing my way. “He’s had a really, really bad day.”

There are only two things keeping my mouth shut right now. First, the fact that Ryland went to bat for me when it came time to hire a young woman as his Senior Engineer. Without him, I wouldn’t have a job in the first place. Second, the fact that he and Lincoln are so close, he’s obviously going to feel sorry for his best friend.

So, instead of informing him that Lincoln Cage can stuff his bad day where the sun doesn’t shine, I simply reply, “Oh. Well. I wonder how that feels.”

“No smartass remarks.”

“You don’t have much faith in me, do you?” I eye him up and wonder just what he thinks of me.

“Oh, I have faith enough,” he assures me with a grin. “But maybe because we’re far too much alike. I see a lot of me in you so let me warn you, your quick-witted jabs won’t be appreciated in this situation.”

“I’ll play nice,” I promise, leaving out the part where Lincoln had better hope he plays nice, too. I’ve never been good at rolling over for a belly rub, no matter who I’m up against or how much leverage they have on me.