Nerd Girl(37)

I turned my focus back to work. He did offer to help, after all. I had done some initial thinking on what Catherine had asked me to do, but I needed to bounce off my ideas on someone and get some feedback. Ryan listened attentively and agreed with some of my suggestions, respectfully disagreeing with others. He told me he knew both Stephanie and Catherine well, especially what their hot buttons were. He obviously had the skill of diplomacy when it came to giving feedback. I took it all into consideration and ended up making modifications to my original plan.

“Whatever you end up putting on the scorecard, be sure you’re able to speak to it. Take this as an opportunity to learn the business and what your subsidiaries are doing. If you just compile the information for others, that’s all you become, the compiler. Then you become forgettable. People will remember you if you can speak intelligently to everything on this single slide.” He stopped talking and then looked at me apologetically. “Sorry, I’m being a little condescending and managerial right now, aren’t I?”

“No, you’re fine. I like all of your suggestions.”

He looked at me wearily, like he didn’t believe what I was saying.

“Really, go on,” I said with encouragement.

He continued on his monologue. I enjoyed hearing him talk. It brought me back to the evening at Betty’s, when I listened to him talk about his family and his time in San Francisco. I could see the wheels turning in his head and he was able to process so many different ideas, numbers, metrics, and concepts all at the same time. In my limited career, I observed that the most talented executives, purely from a business perspective, were those that could process the macro level information and simplify it down to actionable decisions or conclusions. I got lost a few times in his more experienced view of what a good scorecard should communicate about the business, but he read his audience well and adapted to my level of understanding.

I had always found smart men incredibly sexy. He could be skinny and geeky with bad hair, but his intelligence would win me over. My ex-boyfriend, Matt, was a skinny computer science guy and it was the same with him. I loved the idea of learning from someone else. As the cliché went, “knowledge is power,” and I found commanding knowledge and confidence extremely attractive; I valued that over a nice body, nice hair, or nice pecs. I was in awe that I was standing here in front of a man who possessed the whole package. Here was Ryan, with his nice, lean, toned and muscular body, his sexy smile and charm, his kind and warm blue eyes, and the brain of an executive genius to match. Could he be any more perfect?

We switched positions and Ryan now stood facing the whiteboard and I was seated at the table. I took the opportunity to check out his ass; I just couldn’t help it. Ryan looked hot in a pair of old Levi’s, faded and weathered in all the right places, and a navy blue t-shirt, which showed off his chiseled biceps and late summer tan. He was downright yummy.

When he turned back around, he stopped. I blushed. Busted. He chuckled but was gentleman enough not to comment. “Also, make sure you track ROI, return on investment, for each campaign. This is critical. That will be the first thing any executive will ask you.”

I watched his lips, biting my own as I imagined what his mouth would feel like on mine.

“There are a lot of corporate systems that can help you get this data,” he continued.

Focus, Julia. Focus. Stop thinking about those lips!

He gave me the list of people and teams that could point me in the right direction. “And you already know how to get the email campaign metrics,” he said, still focusing on the scorecard layout drawn on the whiteboard.

This last comment distracted me from his hotness. “How did you know that? I don’t think I ever told you about my previous job,” I said with surprise.

He froze and momentarily cringed. “You caught me,” he confessed. “I … uh, read your LinkedIn profile last night.” He looked like a kid that just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I giggled. “Funny you mention that, because there’s a lot of stuff on you out there, too,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Like what?” he asked. He didn’t seem fazed by my admission that I was stalking him online last night, too. Apparently, we’d both been doing some research.

“You mean you’ve never checked?” I was astonished.

“No,” he said simply.

“Seriously?” I was shocked.

“Bing me; now I’m curious.”

“Okay, scoot over.” I went to the Bing search engine and typed in “Ryan McGraw+ Megasoft” into the search box.