Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Will, the senior director of the algorithm-engineering team, was currently at the whiteboard doing manual calculations, and I was combing through layers of code, trying to find an error that had been eluding the team.
I raised my hand. “I think I found it!”
Will came over and crouched to look over my shoulder. I pointed. “It looks like there’s a duplicate data name. If you run the math again but use this variable, we’ll know for sure, but I think this is the issue that’s causing the problem.”
“It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” He stood and patted my shoulder. “Good job. I raked over that code five times and missed it.”
“Beginner’s luck.”
Will smiled. “Now you’re just patronizing me. But thanks. My ego appreciates it. As does my wife, who is going to be very happy if I don’t have to work all weekend. We’re both in our forties with a colicky two-month-old. She needs a break.”
He’d returned to the whiteboard and begun replacing numbers and re-rerunning the math when Jagger walked in. Everyone turned.
The boss raised his hand. “Keep doing what you’re doing. I’m just checking on how things are going.”
“Better now,” Will said. “Thanks to Sutton.” He shook his head and chuckled. “She might rival the processor speed in your head, boss. I haven’t seen anyone fly through equations like she does in a while.”
Jagger lifted a brow and looked to me. It had been four days since I’d seen him. Though I felt certain he’d seen me, through the cameras, at least.
I shook my head. “Will is being kind.”
“I doubt it.” He lifted his chin to the board. “I’m just going to watch. Don’t let me interrupt the flow.”
Jagger stayed in the back of the room while everyone went back to work. The team didn’t seem half as distracted by his presence as I felt. I glanced over my shoulder a few times, and his stare always met mine.
After a while, he slipped into the chair next to me. “You’ve been putting in long hours,” he whispered.
“Are you watching the cameras again?” I lowered my voice. “Did I just figure out you’re also a voyeur?”
He grinned and leaned closer. “That’s never been my thing…yet.” His hot breath tickled my neck and set my body on fire. Actually, who was I kidding? Just him sitting this close was enough to do that. His breath on my skin was a bonus. “The card you use to swipe into and out of the building every day leaves a trail.”
“And you were following that trail, looking for…”
Jagger took a deep breath. “Thought I asked you not to wear that perfume.”
I grinned. “You did.”
He chuckled. It was a deep rumble that vibrated, and I felt it between my legs.
Will finished plugging new numbers into the mile-long equation on the board and stepped back. “My brain is melting. Anyone want to work through this one?”
I raised my hand. “I’d love to.”
He smiled and capped the dry-erase marker, setting it on the edge of the board. “You got it.”
I got up, but Jagger stopped me. “Hang on a moment. Will seems to think I’ve lost my touch. What do you say we have a friendly competition?”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed to the board. “I’ll take a picture and work through it with pen and paper over here while you use the whiteboard.”
I grinned. “I’m in.”
It took almost two hours for me to finish. Capping the marker, I raised my hands in the air. “Done!”
Will and the team laughed and applauded while Jagger folded his arms over his chest. “And did the result match what the algorithm produced?”
I nodded.
Will walked to the front of the room. “She not only found the error, she proved the updated algorithm works.”
I smiled, and Jagger narrowed his eyes at me.
“You two should’ve made a bet,” Will said. “The boss and I used to wager on IPO stock picks—me using a full day’s math and him shooting from the hip—but I got tired of bringing him his morning coffee while wearing an apron that said I’m the boss’s bitch.”
Jagger chuckled. “I almost forgot about that. I think I still have that thing in a cabinet in my office, if you want to go another round.”
Will shook his head. “No thanks.”
Jagger leaned back in his chair and looked over at me. “What would you have wanted to win if we’d bet?”
A thought not suitable for mixed company went through my head. I shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just for fun.”
Will pointed to me. “Don’t forget you get bragging rights. Kicking that man’s ass would be at the top of my resume.”
Jagger rubbed his lip with his thumb. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you better than bragging rights. You let me know what you’d like as your prize, and I’ll see what I can do.”