Auggie Anderson sat back in his chair while the laptop he'd just finished repairing rebooted itself. It was an easy fix, but a rush job, due to be picked up tomorrow morning. Between in-home installations and repair jobs, he'd been kept busy the last few days.

But not so busy as to forget his in-home emergency job last week. He'd been thinking about Annie Walker ever since, wondering if he should call her or stop by to see if – oh, hell, who was he kidding? He just wanted to see her big smile and dimples again.

He'd thought that telling her to give him a call when she got back from her trip was smooth, but he now was regretting it. He should have asked her out for the next day, or that night.

The front door to his shop opened, and he closed his eyes, hoping it wasn't another computer repair customer. He heard Carl, one of his employees, greet the customer.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Annie smiled at the young, eager man as he approached her. "Yes, can you tell me if Auggie's here?"

The young man, clad in jeans and a bright green polo shirt, with a nametag reading "Carl," nodded, "Yeah, Aug's here, but I'm more than capable of helping."

"Carl!"

Annie looked around the shoulder of the overeager employee to see Auggie stand up from behind a desk at the back of the store. He wore the same type of outfit she'd seen him in last week – loose tee and jeans. Carl forgotten, she stepped around him to walk toward the back of the store. "Hey, Auggie."

"Hi," Auggie replied, coming around his workstation to meet her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carl's eyes on Annie's backside as she walked. "Hey, Carl, if you want to head on out, I'll close up."

His head jerked up at his boss' words, and Carl nodded and headed to the break room. Their audience summarily dismissed, Auggie turned his attention back to the smiling blonde in front of him. "So, what are you doing here?"

Whatever Annie expected her reception to be, that wasn't it. She blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"That came out wrong," Auggie said, walking up to her and motioning to a couple of folding chairs in the corner. Once they were both seated next to each other, he said, "I'm just surprised to see you. Weren't you supposed to be soaking in mineral springs by now?"

"You remembered that?" Annie asked.

Auggie nodded, though he wanted to add that he remembered everything about that day. What she wore. What she smelled like. What she said, what he said -

"Well, you're right," Annie said, interrupting his train of thought. "I was supposed to be in Iceland this week, but I had to postpone the trip."

"Oh no, it's your computer again, isn't it?" Auggie asked, his face falling with disappointment. He'd so hoped she came to just visit. "Were you able to save your work? Or is that why you're here? The dinosaur finally give up the ghost?"

Annie stopped him with a raised hand. "No, my computer's fine. Actually, it's a good thing, and since you're partly responsible for it, I thought I'd share the news with you."

"How's that?" Auggie asked, a bit perplexed.

"Well, after you left last week, I got my work done and sent it off, and my client was so impressed, I've been given another project to work on," Annie said, not able to keep her excitement out of her voice.

"So that's good?" Auggie asked.

"It's wonderful!" Annie exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her. "I was offered a permanent contract, which is what I've been wanting for a long time. Freelance is fun and freeing, but one regular customer makes my life much more stable."

"Okay, I'm happy for you," Auggie said with a wide smile. "Really."

"Thanks," Annie said, returning his smile with an equally bright one of her own. "So, I thought I'd stop in, and we could talk about that new system you wanted me to get."

"Sure," Auggie said, his previous disappointment easing a bit. "Then you are willing to give up the dinosaur?"

"Now, what did I say about making fun of my computer?" she asked, raising an arched eyebrow.

Auggie laughed, "No, I promised not to make fun of your computer skills."

"Semantics," Annie shot back. "But you're right. Last week was kind of a wake up call. I can't afford to have it happen again."

Auggie nodded in agreement. "Why don't I show you what's available? And then I can make a customized system for you?"

A question was on the tip of Annie's tongue about the cost of such a thing, but she held it back. She knew she could just go to the local department store and buy one of those computers-in-a-box she'd seen there. She probably could even set it up herself, but if she were honest with herself, she didn't want to.

Beyond the fact that she needed a better system for her work, she really just wanted to talk with Auggie more, and she couldn't think of another way to do so. So, with a nod of acquiescence, she followed Auggie as he stood and walked to the front of the store.

An hour later, Annie's head was full. Sufficiently full of so much computer lingo and tech speak that her mind began to wander. And, considering the view in front of her, it wandered to the muscled body, wavy hair and bespectacled face of Auggie Anderson.

Though she only understand about 25% of what he was saying, the way he said it – with enthusiasm and intelligence – kept her listening and nodding and agreeing to whatever he said. She knew she was interested in the man for more than his computer skills, but given her completely unsuccessful history in the field of love, she was hesitant to act on her interest.

"I can come over tomorrow afternoon to install this for you, if you're free."

Thankfully, Annie had pulled her eyes off of his chest and was looking into his eyes at his last sentence and was able to answer. "Yes, that's fine. The sooner, the better."

Auggie had to bite back a self-satisfied smirk at her words. He knew during his entire speech and explanations that she was only half-listening to him. He felt the same tingle along his skin that he had last week when she was staring at him while he fixed her computer at her home. He could have called her on it again, but he didn't. He rather enjoyed her unabashed interest, and selfishly allowed the unspoken attraction and tension between them to build.

"I can even take away your old system. Unless, of course, you're in need of an oversized paperweight?"

Annie tilted her head at him, "Auggie."

Raising his hands in defense, he said, "Sorry, sorry." The move, though, put his watch in his eyeline, and he noted time had gotten past him, and he should have closed up half an hour ago.

"Oh, wow, I didn't notice the time."

"It's 6. Guess you've got somewhere to go, huh?" Annie asked.

"No, I don't. I usually close by 5:30, though."

Annie nodded, "Okay, I'll get going, then."

She was a few feet away from him and almost at the front door when Auggie found his voice again. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"