The eight old guys in front of me have no clue what the fuck I’m talking about. I’m used to that, but it’s particularly frustrating when they’re all your bosses.

“This is the magical part,” I say, gesturing at the slide on the screen. “This here is the battery. It’s going to increase storage capacity tenfold.”

One of the members, a pale man with jowls down to his belly button, clears his throat. “Wouldn’t that be bad for business? If they can store energy, they won’t need more panels?”

I try not to cringe. It’s incredible how out of touch these men are with their own business. They clearly barely even understand how solar panels work.

“Batteries are an essential part of the solar panel network,” I say to him. “On days that aren’t sunny, and at night, the batteries kick in to provide much needed power. Consumers are able to still get the benefits of solar without having the sun shining perfectly all day long.”

The man nods a bit, although I can tell he’s not buying it completely. I turn back to my slide, explaining more of how the storage system is going to revolutionize the whole industry, but I can tell by the glazed-over expressions on their faces that this isn’t working as I intended. I had hoped that they would see how miraculous all this technology is, and vote unanimously to dump even more funding into Riley’s pet project.

Instead, they look bored. I’m losing them and I know it.

I stop talking and turn to the group. I fold my hands in front of me and take a breath, looking from face to face. “Gentlemen, the technology that I’m describing is revolutionary. It’s life-changing. It’s brilliant.”

Another board member raises his hand. This one’s an older woman with sharp eyes and a tight brown bun on the top of her head. “Forgive me, Aaron, but we’ve heard all of this before. What makes this different?”

I nod slowly, understanding. The solar industry has been full of incredible, world-changing leaps for years, but they never seem to pan out. They need to see how this is different.

“I could show you all, but I have a better idea. Please, if you’d be so kind as to give me a moment.”

Without waiting for permission, I leave the room and practically sprint through the office. I dodge people walking casually along, doing their jobs, and I get more than one ugly look. It doesn’t matter, considering everything hinges on this moment.

I find Riley in her cube again. She looks up like she wants to throw me off a bridge. “Come with me,” I say, a little out of breath.

“What?” she asks, cocking her head. “Did you run here?”

“The board meeting. I need you.” I’m practically panting. Shit, I need to run more often.

She stares at me before understanding blooms. “You want me to talk to the board right now?”

“Please,” I say. “It’s important.”

“Hell no. No way, Aaron. I’m not prepared!”

“Trust me, you need to do this. I’m losing them.”

Maybe it’s my expression, or maybe it’s just the fact that I ran here like a moron, but she stands up and walks with me. I hurry the pace along, although we’re not running, and I explain to her what she needs to do.

We stop outside of the door. “Can you do this?” I ask her.

She shakes her head. “No fucking way.”

I push open the door. “Good. Let’s go.”

“You were incredible.” I laugh as I pop open a bottle of champagne and Riley gives me a surprisingly open grin.

“Thanks,” she says. “I just did what you told me and answered their questions.”

“But you got the dinosaurs to actually listen,” I say, laughing again. I pour two glasses and hand her one, forgetting for a second that she’s pregnant. She arches an eyebrow at me and I groan. “Shit, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She puts the glass down on my desk. I hesitate a second. “Go ahead.”

I down my glass with a grin. “Listen, I know it seems like that wasn’t a huge deal. But you seriously turned that around for us.”

She waves me away a little bit. “Come on, it’s not that big of a deal. I just answered their questions and explained what they weren’t understanding.”

“Riley, seriously.” I come around my desk and sit in the chair next to her. “Those guys, they don’t want to listen to anything new. Just getting them to hear you is a huge win. You really can’t see how huge this is.”

I love the way she smiles at me, like she’s happy despite herself. I hope I can help her with that, make her see that she has a lot to be happy about, a lot more than she probably realizes.

“I guess I just figured out how to dumb it all down.”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” I say, leaning back in my chair. “I mean, you designed a lot of this stuff.”

“Sure,” she says, shrugging. “I guess I understand it better than most.”

“So it makes sense that you can explain it better.”

She shrugs a little. “Yeah, okay, so what? You want to drag me to a bunch of conferences now?”

I give her a look and her eyes go wide. “Oh, hell no,” she says.

“We already have the designs,” I point out.

“There’s still so much work to be done on them!”

“All of which can be handled by our engineering team.”

“Aaron, no, they’re a bunch of—”

“Careful,” I say, smirking at her. “You don’t want to insult your coworkers, do you?”

She glares at me but she doesn’t finish that sentence.

I laugh again and get up. I refill my glass and sip it while watching her glare at me in sullen silence.

“Look, I’m not making anything happen yet, okay?”

“You really make it hard to help you, you know that?”

“I know that,” I say, smiling huge. “I just can’t help myself.”

“What, not be an asshole?”

“No.” I lean toward her. “I just can’t help but want to try and be around you all the time.”

She blushes slightly and looks away. “Cut it out. We’re at work.”

“No kidding.” I sit back down at my desk. “You know what the best thing is after a major win like that?”

“What, champagne?”

“No. I find that sex is the best after an adrenaline rush.” I cock my head as she gapes at me. “How about we clear off this desk?”

“I’m leaving,” she says, standing.

“Go ahead, walk out,” I respond. “I’m already happy with your work.”

She grumbles a little bit and heads over to the door. She looks back over her shoulder and hesitates. “Seriously, Aaron. You’re not going to pull me from engineering, are you? I mean, can you do that?”

“Maybe I can, maybe I can’t.”

She stands there a second before shaking her head. “Asshole,” she mutters, and she leaves the room.

Truth is, I don’t know what I can and can’t do. I have Mitchell’s trust for the moment, but who knows how long that’ll last. I think he’ll give me her if I ask, but do I really want to piss her off even more than I already have?

Still, the prospect of making her mine is too tempting. I reach out for my phone while pouring a second glass of champagne.