Be With Me in Silicon Valley: The Juliette Trilogy (The Princesses of Silicon Valley - Book 3) by Anita Claire

or trainer like to me.
    Wearing my running pants, shirt, and jacket, I add another layer with my fleece as we head over to Nate’s. He’s chosen to live close to downtown Palo Alto in a newer apartment complex not far from where he now works. The main room is a rectangle with a sliding glass door at the end. When I walk in, to my right is an open galley kitchen that’s empty except for a fancy Keurig coffee maker, a bag of beans, and an empty oversized mug in the sink. The dining room consists of a sturdy work table with a MacBook Pro and an office chair. The living area has a TV stand with a flat screen, and a second office chair in front of it. Following Nate into his bedroom, there’s a mattress on the floor with pillows, and sheets and blankets haphazardly twisted on top. A row of boxes line the walls, along with a couple of gym bags.
    “Homey,” I say with a playful smile.
    “I took your advice: traveled light.” He says with a grin as he tosses the bag he took to my place on the floor. “It should look homier soon. My sister helped me pick up a bedroom set and a couch, they’re supposed to be delivering it next week.”
    “Hey, I like your dining room table and chairs, they’re practical.” I say as I sit down on the edge of his mattress.
    Smirking as he changes into winter running clothes, he nods as he tells me. “I doubt I’ll be throwing any dinner parties, but I’ll be spending a lot of time sitting there researching and catching up on paperwork.”
    “And I thought only engineering guys were practical.”
    Shaking his head at me, he says, “After our run, do you want to come back here and watch the game, or should we go back to your place?”
    “My place, Cassie’s couch is much more comfortable than your office chair. Anyway, they never come back to Cassie’s after a game.”
    Nate packs some clean clothes in his bag, and then we head out.
    Rancho is a mad house, which is typical for the weekend. “It’s a big park, the parking lot and farm are busy. Once we get in the hills, there are a lot less people. Now for Rancho parking etiquette, just idle at the end of a row, within ten minutes someone will leave. If you drive around, you’ll never get a space.” I tell Nate.
    About five minutes after we choose a row to idle in, a white SUV idles behind us. It takes another five minutes before two guys come walking down the lane and get into their car. As the red taillights on their car come on, the women idling behind us starts maneuvering her car around us.
    “Oh, no she doesn’t,” I yell as I fly out of the car and stand in front of her car. Luckily, she left enough room for the guys to pull out and for Nate to navigate around her. As Nate pulls in, I yell, “You should know better. Don’t cut in line.”
    Nate grabs my arm and walks me out of the parking lot, “Shit, I thought you were going to beat her up.” He says in amazement.
    “Me? I’ve never hit anyone. But that woman really pissed me off. She was waiting behind us, so she knows the protocol. She just didn’t want to wait her turn. I bet she lives in Los Altos. The SUV-ers from Los Altos act so entitled.”
    “I thought you grew up in Los Altos.”
    “That’s how I know.”
    “Do you act this scrappy at work?” Nate asks.
    Luckily, Nate thinks my behavior is amusing and not psychotic. “Not yet, I’m so junior I haven’t yet learned enough of the ropes to say anything.”
    We start off running at a slow pace. As we warm up and feel each other out, our pace picks up.
    “Hey hotshot,” Nate says as I start picking the pace up a bit more. “Please don’t kill yourself out here. You might be only a little bit of a thing, but I still don’t want to have to carry you back to the car.”
    Flashing him my annoyed look, I yell, “I’m fine.”
    “Oh, I know you’re fine, how about you do this: run a little slower for me.” Shaking his head, he tries another tactic, “Juliette, how about you don’t kill yourself on