The Desire Variable | Rewrite

⸻ TWO ⸻

I stare at the man standing by the door, my brain malfunctioning so hard I can't even think of closing my gaping mouth.

That's the elevator guy! He's right there, still dashing, all tall and sexy. He doesn't notice me right away, since I'm standing to the side, so I use this opportunity to observe his features.

There's no way two humans conceived the level of perfection that is his face. He has a sharp jaw, covered with a three-day-old stubble. His short, dark hair is a little messy, as if he only took the time to run his fingers through it this morning. The thick lines of his eyebrows are resting under a flat forehead, and underneath them, two narrow eyes. Between those, the bridge of a straight, perfectly balanced nose, and lower, a pair of lavish lips, a shade darker than his skin, with a touch of pink.

He has a pair of reading glasses tucked into the collar of his shirt now, and I somehow crave to see him with those on. The man has something clever about him, but with those on, he must look like a nerdy genius.

His sharp gaze quickly scans the room, and I nearly avert mine when it reaches me, embarrassed to have been caught staring. Thank God I'm not drooling, but close call. My presence perplexes him for a second, his brows frowning over his inquisitive eyes, but he dismisses me and returns his attention to the guys.

"Oliver, you told me Andy arrived?"

Oh, wow. Oh, shit. This is the boss. He is the boss. The guy I lusted after in the elevator is my new boss. Creating fantasies of your superior as soon as you meet him has got to be the worst way to start a new job.

Dakota smiles, visibly entertained by this whole gender confusion. "Yes, she has."

He processes her words, and something lights up in his eyes when he understands. Next thing I know, his attention is back on me, seeing me in an entirely new light. Under his authoritative stare, I regret hiding my gender from the company. Something like this might actually piss off some people. But coding is a man's world. The whole world is, really, but application and software development is even more so. It's only normal that I kept this whole gender thing undefined, so the odds would be in my favor.

Now that they have seen me, they can't fire me for the sole reason that I lack Y chromosomes. Not without risking the motherload of all lawsuits.

When he's done examining me, I embarrassingly wave with a faint, "Hi."

"You're not an Andrew."

I bite the inside of my cheek at his icy tone, suppressing my urge to give him a lesson in manners. "No, I'm an Andrea."

His jaw clenches slightly, and after an instant, he turns to the oldest of the guys. "You owe me ten bucks. She doesn't have a beard."

"Actually--"

As soon as I realize what he's about to say, I panic and let out a loud, forced laugh, determined not to let him repeat my stupid joke. Not a third time, and not in front of that man. "Haha! Yeah, no! No beards here!"