It's All Geek to Me (Nerds & Geeks Book 3) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Authors: Vicki Lewis Thompson
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Chapter One
F razer Krause was in hell . Blindfolded and holding a donkey tail, he’d been spun in a circle by Dulcie Hilgendorf’s brother-in-law, a guy with a shaved head, tattoos and a dark sense of humor. He’d whipped Frazer around enough times to make him stagger like a drunk. He wasn’t sure he could stay upright, let alone find the damn donkey.
Ah, but he had help. Dulcie’s extended family – twenty-three counting the kids – shouted out hot or cold as he held the donkey tail in front of him and took a few steps. He’d tried to get out of playing this ridiculous game but apparently there was a rule in the Hilgendorf family. Dulcie’s father had informed him at dinner that at birthday parties everybody played.
Because this was the twenty-first century, Frazer had assumed that would mean gathering around the Xbox or the Wii. He’d have been so down with that. Unfortunately the Hilgendorfs believed in good old-fashioned fun, aka Pin the Tail on the effing Donkey.
He didn’t trust the hot and cold shouts because everyone was giggling like maniacs regardless of which way he turned, especially Dulcie. She was practically busting a gut. He could pick out her laugh from the others because he heard it every weekday in the office.
Usually Dulcie’s bright laughter made him smile. Not tonight, when he’d been trapped into a game he’d hated even at the age of six. Worse yet, he was the genius who’d put himself in this position.
He was the hardware expert for the tech startup BMUS, an acronym for Beam Me Up Scotty, and Dulcie was the company’s receptionist. BMUS was beta testing its first app, a powerhouse of info on fresh produce, and although Dulcie wasn’t particularly tech savvy, she loved her smartphone. She also loved all kinds of food, which made her the perfect candidate to give the app a trial run.
The plan had seemed so simple – he’d follow Dulcie around for the weekend while she used the app to assess the nutritional value of every fruit and veggie she encountered. They’d start with Friday night’s family dinner and birthday party for her seven-year-old niece, Anna. What could go wrong?
The evening had started out innocently enough. She’d introduced him as her coworker who was monitoring her use of the new app. She’d dutifully used it throughout the meal and the various features had made quite a hit.
So had he, apparently. The family assumed he and Dulcie were seriously involved because she didn’t bring a guy to a family event unless he was what Grandma Betsy called husband material.
“You fit the profile,” Grandma Betsy had told him during dinner. “She digs smart guys.”
Dulcie had known her family for twenty-seven years. She must have anticipated how they’d react to him showing up, so a forewarning would have been nice. She’d worked with him five days a week for more than half a year, which should have been enough time to figure out that he wouldn’t be thrilled about being blindfolded and spun in a circle by a guy who looked like a Kung Fu master.
Yet here he was. When this was all over, he and Dulcie would have a talk. In the meantime, the only way to end his immediate torture was attaching the Velcro end of the donkey tail to something. He was so spatially disoriented that he had no clue where the donkey was, but he could find Dulcie, no problem. And she was wearing a fuzzy red sweater that would bond well with Velcro.
Her laughter gave him the general direction and once he drew nearer he caught the scent of her floral perfume. As she shrieked cold, cold, cold he visualized where her shoulder would be given that she was about five-four. He stuck the donkey tail there, but instead of encountering firm muscle he felt extreme pliability.
The guests were in hysterics as he pulled off the blindfold to gaze at a red-faced Dulcie with tears of helpless laughter in her gray eyes and a donkey tail dangling from her left breast.
He gulped. “Sorry. Aimed for your
F razer Krause was in hell . Blindfolded and holding a donkey tail, he’d been spun in a circle by Dulcie Hilgendorf’s brother-in-law, a guy with a shaved head, tattoos and a dark sense of humor. He’d whipped Frazer around enough times to make him stagger like a drunk. He wasn’t sure he could stay upright, let alone find the damn donkey.
Ah, but he had help. Dulcie’s extended family – twenty-three counting the kids – shouted out hot or cold as he held the donkey tail in front of him and took a few steps. He’d tried to get out of playing this ridiculous game but apparently there was a rule in the Hilgendorf family. Dulcie’s father had informed him at dinner that at birthday parties everybody played.
Because this was the twenty-first century, Frazer had assumed that would mean gathering around the Xbox or the Wii. He’d have been so down with that. Unfortunately the Hilgendorfs believed in good old-fashioned fun, aka Pin the Tail on the effing Donkey.
He didn’t trust the hot and cold shouts because everyone was giggling like maniacs regardless of which way he turned, especially Dulcie. She was practically busting a gut. He could pick out her laugh from the others because he heard it every weekday in the office.
Usually Dulcie’s bright laughter made him smile. Not tonight, when he’d been trapped into a game he’d hated even at the age of six. Worse yet, he was the genius who’d put himself in this position.
He was the hardware expert for the tech startup BMUS, an acronym for Beam Me Up Scotty, and Dulcie was the company’s receptionist. BMUS was beta testing its first app, a powerhouse of info on fresh produce, and although Dulcie wasn’t particularly tech savvy, she loved her smartphone. She also loved all kinds of food, which made her the perfect candidate to give the app a trial run.
The plan had seemed so simple – he’d follow Dulcie around for the weekend while she used the app to assess the nutritional value of every fruit and veggie she encountered. They’d start with Friday night’s family dinner and birthday party for her seven-year-old niece, Anna. What could go wrong?
The evening had started out innocently enough. She’d introduced him as her coworker who was monitoring her use of the new app. She’d dutifully used it throughout the meal and the various features had made quite a hit.
So had he, apparently. The family assumed he and Dulcie were seriously involved because she didn’t bring a guy to a family event unless he was what Grandma Betsy called husband material.
“You fit the profile,” Grandma Betsy had told him during dinner. “She digs smart guys.”
Dulcie had known her family for twenty-seven years. She must have anticipated how they’d react to him showing up, so a forewarning would have been nice. She’d worked with him five days a week for more than half a year, which should have been enough time to figure out that he wouldn’t be thrilled about being blindfolded and spun in a circle by a guy who looked like a Kung Fu master.
Yet here he was. When this was all over, he and Dulcie would have a talk. In the meantime, the only way to end his immediate torture was attaching the Velcro end of the donkey tail to something. He was so spatially disoriented that he had no clue where the donkey was, but he could find Dulcie, no problem. And she was wearing a fuzzy red sweater that would bond well with Velcro.
Her laughter gave him the general direction and once he drew nearer he caught the scent of her floral perfume. As she shrieked cold, cold, cold he visualized where her shoulder would be given that she was about five-four. He stuck the donkey tail there, but instead of encountering firm muscle he felt extreme pliability.
The guests were in hysterics as he pulled off the blindfold to gaze at a red-faced Dulcie with tears of helpless laughter in her gray eyes and a donkey tail dangling from her left breast.
He gulped. “Sorry. Aimed for your
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