“Who are you?” Connor yelled.
“I’m a friend of hers,” Mark said. “And she’s with me today. You’re out of luck.”
Connor ran to Mark with his arm swinging toward Mark’s face. Mark ducked, grabbed Connor’s arm and twisted it behind him, slamming his head down onto the hood of the red sports car.
“I don’t think you want to do that,” Mark said, getting closer to Connor’s face.
Just as I’d opened the door and gotten out of the car to protect Mark, a van pulled up and four huge men hopped out, approaching Mark and Connor.
“Is there a problem here, sir?” the biggest of the men asked.
I couldn’t believe my ears. “Sir?” I looked at Mark with my mouth opened then stared at all of the men. They had muscles upon muscles and appeared to be military in their mannerisms. They were dressed in black pants and black polo shirts that had a logo of a hat on the shirt, with the name ‘Madcap’ under the logo. I recognized one of them as the man in black who was following me at the beach the day before, and another as the man in the bank with the white shirts and jeans. Taking a step backward, I just watched them, more out of curiosity than fear. This was weirder than I’d ever imagined. Why would Madcap men follow me on a walk to the beach and stand in our lobby at the bank?
“I’d like this man arrested for attempted assault,” Mark said, nodding toward Connor. “Tell Larry to keep him for a while, because I don’t want to be bothered today.”
“Right, sir,” the beach stalker said. He took Connor’s arm and led him to the van.
Mark straightened up, smiled as he held the car door while I got in, then walked around to the driver’s side. As soon as he sat in his seat, he stared at my mouth, hanging open so far, I was sure bugs were burrowing into my gums.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“What was that? Who were they?” I pointed toward the black van. “That one guy was the one following me yesterday at the beach and another guy was the man at the bank who I was sure was a bank robber.” I leaned in closer. “What’s going on and I want a real answer.”
“All in due time.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’re adorable, by the way.”
My hand flew to the hot spot on my cheek where he kissed me. “I don’t like that answer and kisses aren’t going to do it, buddy. Who are they and who are you? You are friends with a chaser. You lied to me!”
“No, I’m Mark Dallas, games programmer for Madcap.” He sighed. “We went over this yesterday and last night. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember that part, silly. That’s not what I’m referring to. All I remember after our little innocent field trip was arriving at the restaurant last night and seeing the roses on the table. Then you handed me a glass of wine and that was it. I’m talking about—”
He just laughed, then leaned in for a kiss, which was very hot. He was hot, and intrigued me. I knew I should’ve gotten out of the car and walked out of the relationship that I was barely involved in, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I was suddenly very attracted to him, and, at the same time, wanted to hit him for it. What game was he playing, and what type of person had bodyguards? But most of all, why were they following me?
“Who’s Larry?” I asked, moving from his lips.
He backed away from my face then pulled out of the parking lot. “The Chief of Police of Devon.”
Surely this wasn’t reality. “You know him by first name?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“No. That’s not normal.” I looked behind us to see if we were being followed, but saw no one, so I turned back around. “Do the Madcap thugs follow all programmers around?”
“Only the really extra-special important ones,” he said with a wink and a grin.
“Oh, so you’re extra-special and important to Madcap?”
He shrugged, with major nonchalance covering his face. “You could say that.”
“I’d love to hear more.” I crossed my arms, not buying whatever he was dishing out.
“In due time. First, I really want you to send your résumé to Madcap.”
“You keep telling me that, but…” I lowered my eyes with a sigh. “I don’t have a résumé.”
“Why not?”
I looked out the window. “I was saving up for a computer and a printer so I could write one. It’ll take me some time.”
“Well, you’re going to write one today, then. We’ll go to my place and get it done. I’m really good with résumés.”
I tilted my head in his direction. “You are? Why is that?”
“No reason.”
He pulled into the parking lot of a nice restaurant and turned off the car.
I opened my door, but he stopped me. “No, I want to help you get out,” he said. “I don’t want you falling over or something.”
Silly man. He thought of me as helpless. I was far from helpless. “I don’t think I’ll fall over.”
“After seeing you leaning against the wall in that shower, it can happen. Just wait for me.”
“Fine.” I hated the thought of someone taking care of me, especially someone as good-looking as Mark.
As soon as he got out of the car, I opened my door and stepped out, holding onto the car for support. I was lightheaded, but didn’t want Mr. Model to know it.
He ran to my side and held onto my waist as I bent over so I could function. I closed my eyes for a moment, then tried to act as if nothing had happened.
He leaned closer to my ear. “See?”
“See what?”
Slamming the car door shut, he put his arm around my waist, so I returned the favor just to stay upright. My head was a mess.
“You almost passed out.” He helped me walk toward the diner door.
“Did not. Now I want to know all about you and I don’t want you to hold anything back.”
“You know enough,” Mark said, holding the door to the restaurant open for me.
“You don’t have to hold the door for me,” I murmured as I went through. “No one’s ever done that for me.”
“I think I do need to do that for you,” he said. “You deserve to be treated well, and I mean it.”
I studied his face. Who was this man and why was he so kind to me? There seemed to be more than what met the eye to what Mark knew. What had I told him the night before?
We walked into the restaurant and up to the host. The man raked his eyes down over me and whistled. “You’re adorable. You taken?”
“Yes,” Mark said, before I could say a word. “If you don’t stop what you’re doing, you’ll be unemployed.”
“You think you’re all that?” the man asked.
“Yep.” Mark tightened his arm on my waist.
Reaching up, he snapped his fingers and a man came running. “Is there a problem here?”
“Yes,” Mark said. “Your host is flirting and isn’t a very nice man. I want an apology for both my date and for me.”
“Yes, Mr. Dallas.” The older man turned to the host. “Apologize or you’re gone.”
He put his hand on his waist. “Why?”
“Do you know who this is?” the older man whispered.
As the host shook his head, the older man leaned toward his ear, covered his mouth, and said something to the host.
The host’s face lost its color as he faced Mark and me. “I’m so sorry. Please accept my apology. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know.”
“It’s fine,” Mark said. “We want to be seated out of the way, please.”
“Certainly.” The man grabbed two menus and we followed him. “I’m truly sorry. If I’d known you were someone of your caliber, I’d have greeted you differently.”
“Why?” I asked the man.
He turned toward me. “Don’t you know?”
“No, because someone won’t tell me much of anything.” I shot Mark a dirty look, making him chuckle.
The man glanced toward Mark, then smiled. “An
d I won’t, either.” He took us to a booth in the back. “Enjoy your meal.”
We both sat down on adjacent sides of the table, the corner of the table separating us. The waiter came to our table, kneeling beside me and away from Mark. “I’m your waiter and my name’s Kevin. Would you like anything to drink? And I mean anything.” He pulled his card from his pocket and wrote something on the back. “My number’s on there, too, if you think of anything after you leave here.”
It was the most glaring and obnoxious flirtation behavior I’d ever seen.
“Sweetheart,” Mark said, moving close to my face. “Want anything to drink?”
“Sure. I’ll just have wa—”
“The buffet and a cup of coffee,” Mark said. He looked over at Kevin, who moved his hand to my knee. I pried it off me and moved my chair closer to Mark.
“Make that two,” Mark said.
I grabbed Mark’s arm. “But…”
Mark glanced at me and smiled, then turned to the waiter. “Make it tea for her and coffee for me with the buffets. You’re right, honey. We have to think of the baby.”
“Baby?” I mouthed, my face turned away from the waiter.
Mark nodded and smiled, glaring at me.
Kevin stood up. “Oh, I see. Yes, I’ll get you those things.” He held out his hand. “Can I have my card back, please?”
I almost laughed, but handed the card back to the guy. What a loser.
“Thank you.” Kevin walked away and my head hit the table with a thud.
“Good morning sickness fake out,” Mark whispered into my ear.
I lifted my head and faced him. “Psycho. I can’t believe you said that!”
“I couldn’t believe that guy’s come on lines, with me right here. You’d think the manager would have warned him about who I am.”
“His hand was on my knee, but it’s okay. He’s gone now. Who are you to get that type of attention, anyway?”
“No one you need to worry about. I’m more upset about Kevin. What a scummy man.”
“Jealous?”
“You bet.” He took my arm and helped me to my feet. “How do you feel?”
“Like hurling. How did you know I don’t like coffee?” I asked while we walked to the buffet.
“From last night. You told me.”
I sighed and put my hand on my hip. “How did that conversation even come up?”
“I tried to get you to drink coffee in the restaurant.”
None of it made sense to me. “And why were you trying to get me to drink coffee?”
He leaned closer to me and handed me a plate, then took one for himself as we walked down the buffet line. “You were drunk, remember?”
As we put things on our plates, I just stared at him. “You thought coffee would work?”
“Yep.”
Just as we both returned to the table and sat down, two beautiful blonde women entered the restaurant. As they got closer to our table, they both smiled at Mark.
“Hello, Mr. Dallas,” one of them said.
“Hello.” Mark nodded, then turned back to me.
“Hi, Mark,” the other one said, then reached down and touched his hand. He gave her a dirty look, pulled his hand away, then turned back and faced me with a grin.
“Who are they?” I asked, watching them saunter away in their high heels and short skirts.
“They work…with me.”
“They work at Madcap?” I whispered. “They’re not programmers are they? I didn’t meet all the programmers, did I?”
“Oh, no. They’re definitely not programmers. Now, tell me about your school work.”
I couldn’t just let that pass. “Wait just a minute here. Two beautiful women flirt with you and you want to talk to me about my boring schoolwork?”
“Yes, actually, I do.”
“But they’re beautiful and obviously have a thing for you. I completely understand if you’d rather be with them. I can call a taxi.” I pulled out my wallet and opened it up, but to my surprise, it was completely empty. “What happened to all my money?”
“It’s in the front of your purse.”
I furrowed my eyebrows and glared at him. “How do you know that? Were you going to rob me?”
Mark laughed then lifted his coffee cup and took a sip. “No. You left about a hundred-dollar tip for the waiter last night, but I took it off the table and put it back in your purse. I’d tipped the guy already.”
“I what? That’s all the money I had for—” I shut my mouth. Mark didn’t need to know any of that.
“For what?”
“Nothing.” I took a bite of waffle and turned the other way. Never again, I kept telling myself. Alcohol wasn’t good for me and wasn’t my friend.
I felt Mark’s fingers under my chin, then he moved my face in front of his. “What was that money for?”
I lowered my eyes. “Food and gas for the rest of the month.”
“But it’s the second of May! You’re going to eat and fill your gas tank on a hundred dollars for the rest of the month?”
I smiled, looking at his face. “Sure. That’s a lot, actually.”
Mark shook his head. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Go ahead.” I ate some of the waffle and wiped my mouth on my napkin.
“How much money do you make a year?”
I sighed. “In a good year—”
“In a good year? You don’t make the same amount every year?”
“No, I’m hourly. I make minimum wage.”
“What? That’s less than twenty grand a year?”
Twenty grand. I wished. “Well, usually less than that, because I don’t always get full-time hours.”
He leaned up closer to me. “Starting salary for kids just out of college at Madcap is over fifty grand, and all extra schooling is paid for. That’s a salary too, so if they need to take time off for school, they aren’t docked any pay.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at him. “No…they wouldn’t hire me. I don’t have gaming experience. My background is in cryptology and other things.”
He smiled. “I know for a fact they’d hire you in a heartbeat. What kind of cryptology background do you have?”
“Well, I wrote my thesis early, discussing the latest techniques and some upgrades.”
“Upgrades?”
“Yeah, but that’s boring. So what’s your background in?”
“What kind of upgrades?” he asked again.
I sighed. No one in their right mind would be interested in any of this. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy for details. I wrote it all in a book and it comes out next year through a private backer. That’s all I’m allowed to say.”
“Has this ‘private backer’ approached you to work for them?”
I glanced around the room. “No, and I probably shouldn’t be talking about this.”
“I wonder why they haven’t approached you.”
I lowered my eyes. “I don’t think they can find me, actually, which is a good thing.”
“Why can’t they find you?”
I faced him again. “No reason. So what’s your background in?”
He paused as he stared at me, trying to get into my head, but it wasn’t working. “I have a bachelor’s in computers and an MBA. Why can’t they find you?”
“Because I choose to remain hidden. That’s all you need to know.”
“I see.” He looked down at my plate. “Do you want more to eat?”
“No. And I’m paying for this. I don’t like owing anyone anything.”
“No.” He got Kevin’s attention and handed him his credit card.
I pulled out my wallet. “You can’t afford this. You’re going to have a huge bill by the end of the month and I’m going to feel really guilty.”
Mark just showed off his dimples with a smile, pushed my wallet back into my purse, and took my hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
Kevin returned with the receipt, and Mark filled it out with the tip
. As we stood to leave, Kevin stopped me and whispered into my ear. “If you ever need to get away from him, give me a call.”
He pressed the same business card into my hand, but I handed it back to him. “Sorry, but he’s the father and won’t let me leave him.”
“Oh, I see. Come back to see me sometime.”
Mark pulled me to his side as the man walked away. “Having fun?”
“Oh yeah. You’re quite a tyrant and won’t let me leave you because of the baby.”
“Very funny.” We left the restaurant while the two women called Mark’s name and blew him kisses.
“Would you rather be with them?” I asked, pointing over my shoulder. “I can get a cab…or go home with Kevin.”
“No. They have no brains. What you see is what you get with them. As a matter of fact, I’m going to have a chat with their bosses on Monday and teach them proper etiquette out in the real world.”
“You can’t do that…can you?”
He clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he faced me. “Watch me.”
I got into the sports car with Mark’s help and watched him get into his seat. He was one amazing man.
“So, you like brains?” I asked, just making small talk.
“Absolutely. And you’re the brightest person I’ve ever met—and the prettiest.” He winked, then pulled out of the parking lot, heading down the street. “Considering Kevin thinks you’re carrying my child, I think I’ll keep you.”
“Do I have a say in the matter?”
He shrugged his right shoulder. “If you want to. Do you ever see yourself married with kids?”
I looked out the side window and watched the palm trees breeze by. “I have no idea. Right now, I’m concentrating on getting out of school and what happens after that.”
“After you get a job, do you see marriage and kids in your future?” He was being very nosey.
“I guess so.” I looked over at him. “How about you? Why aren’t you married?”
“Well, that’s a tough answer. I guess I’m married to my work, but that’s about to change.”
He stared at me with a strange grin, forcing my eyebrows up in terror. “What’s that mean?”
“Oh, nothing.” From the smirk on his face, he had something up his sleeve, for sure.
“What are your plans here?” I asked, crossing my arms. “What am I to you?”
Saved By The Glass Slipper Page 4
