The Geek Tycoon Read Online Free Page B

specialty beer I requested.”
    “Which brings up another question. Why did you ask Bert for the specialty beer?”
    He panicked. Thanks to the beer and the topic of conversation she’d nearly coaxed the truth from him a moment ago. If she kept digging she was liable to unearth his secret – that she was his sun, moon and stars. He’d unwisely invited her for pizza tonight because he was an idiot who craved more time with her even though it would lead to absolutely nothing.
    He gave her the simplest answer he could think of. “I thought you’d like it.”
    “I do, but why did you want to please me?”
    Normally he wasn’t good at bullshitting, but he’d give it a shot. “Isn’t that obvious? You have the contacts to get our app in front of the right people. We can create the most amazing product the world has ever seen, but without the right exposure it’ll go nowhere. You’re our ticket to somewhere.”
    “Oh.”
    He’d thought that was a pretty good speech, but it seemed to have disappointed her. “Besides, we’ve been friends for a long time. That’s something to celebrate.”
    Her jaw firmed. “Yes, it is.” She raised her mug. “To friendship.”
    “To friendship.” He touched his mug to hers and drank. He’d dodged a bullet. Even a dim bulb like Blake Pearson could recognize that Charlotte didn’t belong with a nerd like him. If she ever figured out that he craved her more than the air he breathed, she’d likely pity him. And once that happened, his entire existence would become a living hell.
    After their toast he decided to drop the loaded subject of touching coworkers and fortunately Charlotte didn’t bring it up again, either. He divided the pizza into the right ventricle and the left ventricle and they munched and drank while they compared notes on the latest superhero movies. He had the passing thought that they could go to the next big release together but that might not be a great idea. The more time she spent with him outside the office, the more likely she’d tweak to his emotional investment.
    She put the last slice of pizza on her plate. “You used to be all about seeing a movie in the theater on opening day. Are you still?”
    “If it’s one I’m excited about, you bet.” He topped off their beer. “How about you?”
    “Definitely. There’s no comparison between seeing an action movie at home and seeing it on the big screen.”
    “I’m with you. I’ve installed a top-of-the-line system and it’s not the same. But at least I can re-watch the older stuff.”
    “Which is great, too. When I really love something, I buy it because I know I’ll want to see it again.”
    “And again and again?” When they were kids he’d been astounded at how many times she’d been willing to sit through the same movie. He was good for twice through and by then he’d have the whole thing memorized so there was no point in seeing it again. He could run it in his head.
    She laughed. “Yeah, I’m still a devoted re-watcher. In fact, that’s why I recently invested in a whole new system.”
    “Oh, yeah? What did you get?” He listened as she described components almost identical to his. “Sweet.”
    “I’m sure it will be.”
    “What do you mean by will be ? You don’t have it yet?”
    “I do. I just haven’t finished setting everything up.” She popped the last bite of pizza into her mouth.
    “Hm.” He had trouble imagining such a thing. He’d had his system up and running within an hour. “When did you get it?”
    “Two weeks ago.”
    “ Two weeks ?”
    “I know, I know.” She took a long swallow of beer and set down her mug. “I was determined to hook everything up myself but the directions weren’t written by an English speaker so the process was slow. After I finally finished and turned it on . . . it didn’t work.”
    “Didn’t work how?”
    “No sound, no picture, just some blinking lights.”
    “When was that?”
    “Last weekend.”
    Tony stared at her