Hope that he could make things right and spend more time with her sent him after her because he was getting nowhere staying away from her.

He stood in Margaret’s backyard with a present in his hands, looking up at the second-story veranda and Sarah working on her computer. Classic rock rang out from her phone. Led Zeppelin. Nice.

Lost in total concentration staring at the computer screen and typing a mile a minute, she didn’t notice him. He couldn’t help staring at her beautiful face.

He wasn’t used to missing anyone. He always went after what he wanted. But he’d stalled out with Sarah because he’d never had to work this hard to get a woman’s attention. But he thought Sarah was special and he wanted her and he meant to show her how much.

Completely engrossed in what she was doing, he didn’t think she noticed him walking up the back steps and standing a few feet behind her, watching her work. In addition to the laptop on the table in front of her, two more sat at her bare feet on the floor. Just inside the French doors, he spotted one on the bed and two on the dresser. All the computers looked like they were running something. He had no idea what, but they were all busy flashing this and that on the screens. Files and papers sat neatly organized on the table. She glanced at some of the papers as she typed.

Sarah wasn’t typing a letter or proposal of any kind, but some kind of strange code language. Most of the words were recognizable, but there were other abbreviations and symbols that didn’t make any sense. She typed so fast, he couldn’t believe she actually knew what all the strange characters, words, and symbols meant. Amazing.

And he wanted to know more. About her job. About her.

He wanted more of the truth to erase who he’d been told she was, because he really liked the glimpses she gave him of the woman who intrigued him like no one had in a long time.

* * *

“Are you just going to stand there all day staring at me, or are you going to say hello?”

After their last encounter and the days that had passed, it surprised her he’d come at all.

Stupidly, she’d spent the last week missing him.

That was the plain truth.

She thought about their kiss and couldn’t help but want to feel his arms around her again.

But here she sat, typing on her computer, trying not to let him see just how much his mere presence affected her.

“Hello.” His deep voice held a trace of uncertainty about his welcome. “Are you really busy?”

She hit Save on the computer and turned to face him with a raised eyebrow before she surveyed the six laptops surrounding her. All different projects she’d been working on for months. She’d only brought three with her, but some problems had come up and Abby had sent her another computer by overnight delivery almost every other day for the past week.