Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (20 page)

“I can do it,” Krista replied almost
confidently.

Sean said nothing, which probably meant he
nodded, but when he handed Krista the egg, he held onto her hand
for an extended beat. She let him, feeling the warmth infuse her
body through that point of contact. She felt the familiar stirring
deep in her core that she’d thought was gone forever. She relished
it, savored it, and felt a longing to cry out when Sean reclaimed
his hand.

It was official—the weekend was warping her
mind.

“Okay teams, there is the finish,” The ref
said to the gathered regions. “You will have plenty of time, so be
careful, and most important, be safe. Each team will be monitored
for cheating, so just relax and have fun.”

“Oh, thank God, we can’t cheat. Now I can
relax.” Krista giggled.

Sean chuckled, still standing close. “Ready?”
His breath tickled her ear.

Krista gave in to impulse and leaned into
him, feeling his body against her bare arm. She felt his hand on
her back briefly, then his body heat disappeared. It was show
time.

“Okay Geegee, step forward three paces until
I say stop. Walk normally.”

She did as he said. She heard a raspy male
voice off to her right as another team worked their way in the same
direction.

“Stop. Now, one step to the left…No, wrong
left…Good. Four normal, but careful steps forward. Follow my voice.
Slower please, this is not a race. Good.”

They kept going. Krista zigzagged back and
forth, stepped over small things, and walked around big things.
Soon Sean realized she would follow his voice in a diagonal. That
made things ten times easier. She had steady hands and balance, so
her egg was not in danger as long as she followed Sean’s
directions. And that was as easy as eating a slice of chocolate
mousse. They reached the finish in no time.

“We made it. Good work,” Sean said, his voice
full of pride. After a beat he said, “You can take off the
blindfold now, Geegee.”

“Oh.”

When Krista could see again, she took stock
of the situation. She and Sean were the first to be done. The
closest team in their wake was still halfway through the
course.

“Wow,” Krista said, looking at Sean. He was
looking back, longing plain on his face.

“Stop it.” Trying to hide a flush, she looked
back at the struggling groups. “Either they are bad at this, or we
are exceptional.”

“You two are exceptional.”

Krista jumped and turned around, her egg
falling out of her hand. It was Tory with a clipboard. He was
wearing a bright red shirt, a hat to keep the sun off his face, and
a good-natured grin. “You have broken the record for fastest across
the line. Which was not remotely as exceptional, Krista, as your
and Donald’s team work. It also broke a record. We’ve taken a
picture of it for the books. First time anyone has gotten it
exact.”

“Well…” Krista hedged, “Not exact.
Close.”

Tory seemed to know she was trying to keep
the fact that she and Donald thought so much alike under wraps. He
gave a humored grin before he turned to Sean. “Before dinner,
please stop by my suite. I would like to speak with you regarding
some matters.”

Sean acquiesced.

Tory turned back to Krista. “Keep up the good
work. You are doing splendidly!”

“Thanks Tory.” Krista beamed.

“I thought you were impervious to
compliments,” Sean said, examining every inch of her face.

She shrugged. “That was before I was thrust
into a situation where everyone hated me and wished me ill.”

Sean got a look of pain, and started to say
something, but was interrupted by the next group getting across the
line. They were laughing and panting, but their egg was intact.
Krista had no idea where they were from, but it was a place without
a lot of Sunshine because they were pasty white. San Francisco? She
didn’t think Iceland was invited.

Dean and Bob had lost their egg and were
slowly walking in. Georgie and Donald were taking a long time, but
were working through it. Donald was giving the instructions and it
seemed they were extremely detailed based of the fact that Georgie
kept shouting at him to get on with it. They would make it, and
being that there was no time limit, L.A. would get a point for
them. The region was doing okay so far.

Chapter Fourteen

When everyone was in and the eggs, spoons,
and blindfolds were collected, they headed back to the hotel as a
big horde. It was then that Krista overheard a few guys say, “I
would have been first, too, if I had slept with my partner.”

Obviously the douche that said it meant to be
overheard. He wanted to put Krista down. He wanted to undermine
Sean. Krista, feeling Sean go a dangerous sort of fluid, spoke up
immediately.

“You mean you didn’t?” she asked the
forty-something tubby man with a puffy, red face and greasy hair.
“Must not’ve wanted it bad enough, huh?”

Puffy-face’s eyes went wide and everyone
laughed as Krista smoothly turned back around.

Krista caught Tory’s gaze out of the corner
of her eye, but when she turned to meet it, he had looked away. She
took that as a cue to work on her professionalism. She was the
youngest there and it showed. Although, if she got in trouble
because of it, she intended to use the defense: “He started
it!”

Next was a water balloon throw. Krista was
wearing white. She had on a pink bra. She was also poor at catching
without a glove. Needless to say, this one had her nervous.

~*~*~*~

Sean, wanting to give Krista a chance to
completely win over Georgie, took control of the pairings. He
paired those two together, gave himself Dean since Dean was the
hardest to control, and paired up Bob and Donald, who would both
probably be lost causes in this competition. Everyone stood in a
straight line, facing their partner. Then the balloon tosses
began.

Turned out Dean played softball. Sean played
baseball. The two of them barely had to talk and certainly had no
time to get chummy. Sean threw, Dean caught, and then returned the
balloon, etc. until they were done. They were the second ones
finished, right behind Jack and Tyler from San Francisco.

Another ten minutes saw most others out or
done. It left only one pair—Krista and Georgie. It was clear from
watching for any length of time that Georgie thought the whole
thing was a walk in the park. His lobs were right on, his catches
were perfect, and he was totally relaxed.

Krista’s efforts, however, were crap. She was
all over the place. Her throws were too high, too low, too
far—anything but right on. Her catches made everyone suck in their
breath that she’d drop it or clutch it too hard. And if it wasn’t
for the amount of fun she was having, everyone would’ve been
looking down on the girl that didn’t fit in.

Instead, everyone wore smiles.

“Re
lax,”
Sean said in a great
imitation of Marcus.

“Easy for you to say! You know how to play
this accursed sport.” Krista spat back with a giggle.

“If you had talked baseball with us you might
be faring better,” Georgie yelled across the field between
them.

“Those who play sports, play sports. Those
who can’t or don’t, are cheerleaders,” Donald said to her with a
smile.

“Okay, yes, I said that. But look—look at
this fantastic lobbbb…
oh
God, Geor…CATCH IT!”

Georgie lunged and just barely grabbed the
balloon in a soft catch. Everyone sighed in relief. Sean had no
idea he was so good at softball. It made the choice to pair them a
lucky one.

“Look at her. She’s straining!” someone
said.

Krista straightened up immediately, stopping
Georgie mid-windup. She turned to the speaker. “Yes, Phil, much
like you on the toilet. Don’t think I didn’t hear about your Monday
morning blowouts!”

Everyone started laughing. Phil, who hadn’t
impressed Sean at all when he’d met him, and who impressed him even
less when the manager tried to immediately turn his back on Krista
after moving, said sheepishly, “Sunday was taco night!”

There was a collective groan. Sean noticed
Tory, who was always watching, wearing a scowl. There was a lot of
sexual harassment going on this weekend, and Tory was both shocked
and worried. He didn’t realize the culture was so anti-female, and
he was legitimately worried Krista would sue. He also knew that if
push came to shove, Sean would back her, and even press her, along
that course. It was disgusting what he’d witnessed so far, and it
was hurting business. They were missing the largest pool of dollars
in the nation—those controlled by female spenders. It was the first
thing Sean set his sights on—besides getting Krista back.

“Now shut up, please, I am a chick and this
is hard for me,” Krista said loftily. She got more laughter.
Someone started an “air-ball” chant.

Georgie gave a perfect lob, right toward
Krista’s shaking, out-stretched hands.

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” She cut off her yell with a
laugh as she caught it.

There was another collective sigh and
clapping.

“Take
that!”
Krista yelled with
pride.

“Two more lobs.” The ref called.

“Party pooper,” Krista muttered darkly.

More laughs.

Krista was completely herself. The crisis of
wanting to do well, of working with Georgie, of heading toward a
common goal with a team that hated her, all disappeared and it was
just Krista, trying to catch a balloon. It was refreshing. The guys
around her, regardless of what rumors they believed, loved her
right then. They thought she was a gas. They laughed at her jokes
and shared her moments of pride. She did what she’d always done
best—she held them all at a personal level and stripped away the
titles.

Krista focused on Georgie, bent like she was
bowling, swung her arm, and gave the balloon a giant lob. The toss
went too high with not enough projection—it would be short. Georgie
wasn’t allowed to step forward, and if he did, they would lose. If
he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to reach. The crowd held their
breath.

Georgie poised on the balls of his feet,
balanced just right to reach as far as he possibly could, his hands
straining toward the falling balloon…
and he caught it!
He
closed one hand around the blue orb, had a moment of swaying where
he almost lost his balance, and stuck it! It was an amazing
catch.

“Oh thank God!” Krista breathed in relief.
She turned to the guy to her right. “I thought I was going to screw
the pooch on that one!”

“It was a great catch,” Bill from Chicago
said, nodding.

Krista and Georgie each took a step back.
This was the final throw. If Krista caught it, they would get the
point.

“Ready?” Georgie called.

“Okay—no,
wait
.” Krista did a dance
like a boxer right before a fight. She shook out her hands and
returned to the ready position. “Okay, go. Easy, Georgina! Be nice
to me!”

“Just hold out your hands like I showed you
and cushion it when it comes. No sweat.”

Krista groaned loudly. Everyone around her
was smiling. Everyone around Georgie was engaged, looking like they
were the ones doing the throw.

Georgie gave her up a nice, big lob.

Krista started repeating, “Oh crap, oh crap,
oh CRAP!”

The balloon fell into her hands, bounced
once, wobbled violently—everyone sucked in their breath—then
settled.

“I did it!” Krista shouted with glee.

She turned to Sean, her smile jubilant.

“You would think we won the Super Bowl!”
Georgie said as he walked up.

Krista gave him a big hug.

“I’ve never made it through one of these. It
is BIGGER than the Super Bowl!” Krista laughed.

Georgie and Krista started walking back to
the hotel after the crowd, everyone collectively in a good mood.
Sean fell in beside them immediately.

“That was big time Krista! Nice work,”
Georgie said.

“Thanks Georgie. Seriously couldn’t have done
it without you. You’re a pro. But I’ll tell you—I probably wouldn’t
have seen it to the end if I wasn’t so worried about it splashing
on me and exposing my pink bra.”

“I’m married, Krista, don’t tell me those
things. Question for ya—why do Sean and Marcus call you
Geegee?”

“When I found her…” Sean began.

“
Met
me, Sean. All you had to do was
open your eyes in the copy annex to find me.”

Sean looked from Krista to Georgie, and then
said, “Like I said, when I found her…” Sean grinned and Georgie
laughed. “She was the only Researcher that actually
worked
.
The Research department where we used to work had a bunch of
antisocial, incompetent employees, not to mention boring and fairly
hideous. Anyway, after she joined my team, Marcus started calling
her Geek Girl, for obvious reasons. It was Geegee for short.”

“And we started calling
him
Captain,”
Krista joined, “because he wasn’t technically our boss, but we were
supposed to do whatever he said—at work, obviously.”

“Nice slip up.” Georgie chuckled. “So is it
true? You two were…or are…an item?”

Krista looked at Sean. He looked around.
There were a couple people in earshot, but they were arguing about
football. “We were for a short time at the end of her employment at
the last company. There has been nothing between us since. She made
the move and got this position on her own. I got mine on my
own.”

~*~*~*~

Krista felt a stab of pain and looked away to
hide it in case it showed on her face. To hide her discomfort, she
said, “Don’t lie—you got your position by sleeping your way to the
top. I hope you thanked Emily for sharing Tory!”

Georgie laughed as Sean snorted.

“Well,” Georgie said, “You two are holding up
well. I’ve had to work with an ex before. It was torture. You guys
work really well together. I’m surprised.”