Sweet Surrender (Sugar Rush #3)(5)

"As always, let me know if there's anything I can do to help," she said.

Luke nodded. "Thanks. Right now I need the latest budget reports, please."



       
         
       
        

"Of course."

She left his office and returned to her desk. Over the past two years, she'd invariably become involved in Luke's personal life by sheer virtue of being his assistant. She knew about their family history-the death of their mother in a car accident twelve years ago, the subsequent hospitalization of their younger sister, the scandal of Luke's paternity suit that had been proven false, the corporate vultures who had circled Sugar Rush before Luke pulled the company out of a hole and launched its global success.

The fact that he trusted her so much, to the point of confiding in her about family troubles, only strengthened her loyalty to both him and Sugar Rush.

Kate brought him the reports, then called down to the kitchen for the green protein smoothie and bowl of nuts-reiterating that there should be no hazelnuts since Mr. Stone didn't care for them.

The elevator at the end of the corridor swished open. A man strode toward her, his attention focused on a clipboard he held in one hand. Kate's pulse leapt into a nervous, happy rhythm.

Dressed in a tan, off-the-rack suit that fit his lean, slender body well, if not to tailored perfection, Miles Norwood was like a harvest-thick, curly, wheat-colored hair brushed away from his high forehead, bronzed skin, and beautiful brown eyes that Kate longed to see fix on her with warm pleasure. But in the few months since he'd been contracted as an independent data consultant at Sugar Rush, Miles had never looked at her with anything more than vague indifference.

"Hello, Kate."

She loved the sound of her name in his voice, soft and yet crisply professional. It was totally different from the way Tyler Stone had said her name. Tyler's "Kate" had been short and abrupt, like he was crunching into a piece of hard peppermint candy.

She shook her head, irritated at the unexpected thought of the youngest Stone brother.

"How may I help you, Miles?" she asked.

He scratched his chin and looked at the clipboard again. "I was running some new predictive analytics during my lunch break. I think they might help with operational efficiency of the gumdrop sector."

"Efficiency, hmm?" Kate smiled, even though Miles still wasn't looking at her. "Now you're speaking my language."

He frowned at his clipboard. She suppressed a sigh. She'd always attributed his indifference to the fact that his brilliant mind was filled with data crunching and analytics-of course, a man like him couldn't be bothered with the trivialities of small talk-but even the nerdiest of nerds at Sugar Rush made an effort to carry on a polite conversation with her while they waited to see Luke.

Still, it was a flaw she could overlook, given what she knew of him. An MIT graduate, Miles had started his own consulting company shortly after graduating and was now a highly in-demand data analyst who'd worked with numerous companies. Kate had been the one to scrutinize his track record and check his references before Luke hired him for a six-month contract at Sugar Rush. 

She'd also harbored a crush on him for all the months he'd been working there, which had led to exactly nothing since he was dating a pretty girl named Melanie. Kate had seen the two of them from afar when Melanie came to Sugar Rush to join Miles for lunch. His sun-streaked hair glowed as he bent his head close to hers, wholly attentive and focused on her between bites of his salad.

In addition to her knowledge of his work and high regard at Sugar Rush, those personal glimpses had told Kate everything she needed to know about Miles Norwood. He was the type of man who concentrated his undivided attention on whatever task he needed to complete … or on whichever woman held his heart.

She let her gaze roam over his straight nose, beautiful mouth, and high cheekbones that put Adonis to shame. In appearance Miles was also the opposite of Tyler, who was big like his brothers and had strong, hard features that were more suited to an outdoorsman than a spoiled rich boy.

Tyler also had a tousled mess of dark hair that probably hadn't been trimmed in months. And that dusting of stubble on his jaw was a clear sign of disrespect to his family's company, not to mention that he wore faded jeans and a worn T-shirt to work.

And why the freaking frack was she thinking about Tyler again?

" … appointment?" Miles said.

Kate broke out of her daydream. Her cheeks grew hot. "I beg your pardon?"

Miles tilted his head toward Luke's closed door. "Is he available for a short appointment?"