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showing movies.
    Nick considered the idea, but knew that most of the kids were in no physical condition to play war games, even the indoor-friendly variety. At Accendo, they’d had the games for an office Christmas party and had nearly destroyed the tenth-floor conference room. He didn’t see why he couldn’t help the kids create a game or an app, though, one that could be sold to raise money for the hospital. Something G-rated but fun.
    “We might be able to do a virtual game. You should think about what you might want to do.”
    “Yeah?” Chuck perked up.
    Nick suddenly realized that he’d just suggested to a twelve-year-old that they create a new video game. He didn’t commit himself to projects like that. Milton did the charity work. Milton made promises to kids so sick that they might not make it through the year. The woman had him out of control.
    “Well . . .” He hesitated, but even he was helpless against the hopeful expression on Chuck’s face.
    “Sure,” he muttered. “Why not? But no blood and guts if the little ones are playing.” He could get the developers to help build it. They’d have a blast, and he’d pay them for their work, though he was sure some—if not all—would volunteer just for the chance to spend time making a video game.
    “Man, Emily is going to want rainbows and unicorns.”
    Nick nodded. The kid had a point. “You’re probably right on that one.”
    Chuck sighed heavily. “Girls.”
    Nick didn’t glance back at Blake this time, but he felt her gaze on the back of his neck. Women .

    He had amazing shoulders, Blake decided, her eyes on his back as he helped Chuck tie knots at another table. He’d always liked knots, she knew. She’d been to his apartment, back when he and Roland and Milton were just millionaires, and had been surprised when she’d found out that he’d turned his dining room into a workroom. In addition to several computers he’d built and a few more in states of disrepair, he’d constructed small machines that did God knew what, and he’d tied knots, dozens and dozens of them, and had laid them out on a table. Milton had explained that knots were one of Nick’s things, that he used them when designing security codes.
    Blake didn’t know what knots had to do with software code, but she’d accepted the explanation. All three of the men had quirks. Milton couldn’t keep still and was always making things disappear. Nick preferred control and calm and found knots fascinating. And Roland . . . Roland liked secrets. He collected them. She knew he had one of Keenan’s. Something that had infuriated Keenan—who had always been jealous of Roland, of the wealth and privilege that Keenan felt he’d deserved. Yes, she’d come to expect oddness in brilliant people like her friends, even if she didn’t always understand it.
    She’d hoped Nick would come to the hospital today, but she deliberately hadn’t let him know that she’d be here. He’d have avoided the place, most likely, just like he did most confrontation. Anything to avoid messy emotional scenes. As he’d said before, he liked his life simple, uncomplicated, and structured.
    Well, tough shit. She wasn’t asking him to complicate his life that much—she was just asking for his help getting laid. Surely if he was willing to fuck those insipid twits that he dated, he could fuck her.
    “You okay, Miss Blake?”
    Emily was staring at her, and Blake realized she was scowling at the picture of the dog in front of her. She shook herself a little to clear her head of thoughts about Nick Cord.
    “I’m fine, sweetie,” she said to the girl with the slightly protruding front teeth and the bald head. “I was thinking about something else.”
    The girl shrugged and went back to drawing her picture of Joey.

    Thirty minutes later, Blake helped the kids get back to their rooms and tidied up the mess they’d made in the entertainment room. She secured the iPads in a small cupboard near the