TJ walked in the warehouse’s office where his team had been conducting the beta tests. It smelled distinctly of rubber, and TJ was not a fan. He’d been informed the candidate had requested an eight o’clock wakeup call, and he wanted to be here to greet him.

The next step was convincing him to do the implant at the base of his skull. It was a wireless connection that would enable the user to log into the game automatically each time they went to bed. TJ dropped into one of the padded chairs around the conference table. The procedure was fairly non-invasive and the implant had cost him more than he wanted to think about, but if it worked … he smiled. It would be ground breaking.

Members of the local team milled about as if unsure whether to talk to him or not. The silence suited him fine. Gary had made sure the tank made it on the jet with TJ, and they were unloading it now and bringing it here.

The manager walked out in his fitted suit and greasy man-bun, smiling. “She should be out any minute.”

“She?” TJ stood.

“Yes. Beth Davis. She’s the ‘perfectly compatible’ candidate. Her alarm went off a few minutes ago and I helped unhook her from the machine.” His cheeks turned pink, and TJ imagined the man getting a little bit handsy with their candidate.

He balled his hand into a fist, then forced himself to relax. “Make sure you are 100% professional with her. I don’t want any lawsuits for improper behavior.” Or for her to decide not to do the implant because his low-level team members had been perverts. Maybe he should invite her to New York to do the implant. Put her up in one of his suites where he could keep track of her.

The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He could keep her safe and keep her from being harassed by being the one to watch over her.

As he was working out all the details in his mind, an auburn haired beauty walked down the hall toward him, wearing nothing but tight yoga pants and a sports bra. He swallowed and directed his gaze to her face.

“Are you Beth?”

She paused before entering the office, twisting a sweatshirt in her hands and looking around, unsure. “Yes?”

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“I’m TJ Carothers. I’m the founder of Insomnia Online.” TJ held out his hand and she shifted the sweatshirt to her left hand and shook his outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

He cleared his throat. “I flew in last night after the initial reports. How are you enjoying Hundred Day Horde?”

She blinked a couple of times, and TJ shifted nervously. He wasn’t usually a nervous person, but this woman had a strange effect on him. Usually, if he encountered a problem, he threw money at it and it went away. And Usually, if he told someone he was the founder of a multi-million dollar company, they did more than just blink at him.

“I’m not a huge fan of zombies, but it was fun.”

“Good. Good.” It wasn’t often that he was tongue tied. It felt weird to talk to her in front of all these people, but it felt even weirder to pull her into a private room. He wouldn’t have hesitated if she was a man, wouldn’t have even given it a second thought, but after talking to Man-bun and getting the impression he had been a little inappropriate, he wanted to make sure to keep everything professional.

Another man joined them and smiled at her.

“Are you Nyx? I’m Maverick.”

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you for saving me.”

TJ sized up the newcomer. Objectively, and as a secure, heterosexual man, TJ could admit that he wasn’t hideous. But he didn’t care for the way she’d so willingly thrown her arms around him.

He lightly patted her back and stepped away.

“Sorry. Maverick saved my bacon last night.” Beth tucked some auburn hair behind her ear.

It made TJ wonder if she’d used the clone feature, and how accurate it had been. “Well, we have some good news. Beth, you were perfectly compatible with the game.” He smiled at her, letting that sink in.

Again, she blinked at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means, if you're amenable, I’d like to fly you to New York on my private jet and pay you to continue playing so we can figure out what makes you such a perfect candidate.” TJ looked at Maverick, his jaw twitching and his dark brows drawn. Had he used the clone feature? “And you, as well. In fact, all the people who were very compatible.”

“Does that mean I qualified for the highest tier of reimbursement?” Beth asked.

TJ looked to Man-bun, who’d been standing silently behind him. “Yes. You get $1000.”

Finally, Beth turned a dazzling smile on TJ. “And how much does this New York thing pay? I still have classes.”

“We can arrange with the college to pause your classes. We’ll pay for your room and board, and we’ll figure out a salary for you over breakfast. How does that sound?”

Maverick stepped closer to Beth. “Sounds good to me.”