He had an idea where this story was going, and he already hated this guy with a fierce passion. It was totally irrational, possibly unhinged. But he had no qualms about finding this guy and teaching him a lesson.
“What happened?” The tremble in his hands as stroked her hair belied the calmness he’d forced into his voice.
“He filmed us.” She buried her face into his shoulder. “Having sex. He set up a webcam and didn’t tell me. And he sent the video feed to all his friends.”
Flames licked at him. What kind of son of a bitch did something like that? She must have felt so violated. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from roaring in her defense.
“Then...” She hiccupped. “One of his friends turned up at my work. He said he’d send the recording to my mom if I didn’t sleep with him. He tried to force me...but my boss found us before it got too far.”
Shudders racked her small frame, and he hugged her so tight he thought he might break her in two. “No one will ever do that to you again. Do you hear me?”
Wetness spread over his skin as she cried. No wonder she’d been prickly as hell. Who could possibly trust another human being after that? He didn’t want to imagine her terror because it would be the end of him.
But he would keep his word. For as long as Quinn would have him around, he would not let anything happen to her.
12
OVER THE COURSE of the next week, Quinn and Aiden fell into a routine. They’d work at Third Planet Studios during the day, leave separately and meet at Gustoso for dinner. Then they’d go back to her place and spend the night pleasuring one another.
Zach had given her a few sullen looks when she rolled into work late, but otherwise he’d behaved himself and no one else seemed to care. But she and Aiden had made no further progress on the assignment, and today they had to face the music with Rhys. Very early.
Quinn couldn’t remember the last time she’d voluntarily arrived at work at 7:30 a.m. Scratch that; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been voluntarily awake that early. But after another glorious night with Aiden, her body was singing like a bluebird in a children’s cartoon.
Her footsteps matched Aiden’s as they walked through the lobby of the Cobalt & Dane offices. They were meeting Rhys to get him up to speed on their first two weeks at Third Planet Studios now that Aiden had completed the follow-up from the staff interviews.
The elevator dinged at their floor and Quinn stepped out first, almost walking straight into Owen.
“I see hell has officially frozen over...unless my watch has stopped and it’s actually ten o’clock.” He leaned against the reception desk, a cocky grin on his face.
“I have a meeting.” She brought the giant coffee cup to her lips.
Aiden nodded at Owen and walked past them as if he hadn’t been entering the office with Quinn. He didn’t even look back or give her a signal that they would catch up later.
Hang on, you both agreed to keep it on the down low. Don’t go getting pissed because he’s sticking to the script.
“Does he have a meeting, too?” Owen’s lips spread into a cheeky grin, a blond brow arching as he waited for her response.
“Probably. We are working on the same assignment.” Her attempt at indifference failed hard when heat crawled up her cheeks. And Owen, damn him, didn’t miss a thing.
“Just a coincidence that you both got coffee from Valentina’s?” His eyes tracked every minuscule movement on her face.
There were definite downsides to working with a bunch of ex-cops. Keeping a secret was hard, and evasion wasn’t nearly as effective on them as it was on other people.
“I like Valentina’s. They don’t charge for a shot of vanilla.” She sipped again and shrugged.
“Yeah, and it’s a good five blocks out of the way. Precious time for a girl who needs her sleep, especially when you could have gone downstairs to the Brunswick Café if you wanted a free shot of vanilla.” He folded his arms across his chest, smugness radiating from his every pore. “Like you usually do.”
“What’s with the Spanish Inquisition?” she snapped. “I wanted a coffee and we walked to work together. Not exactly worthy of a headline.”
Even her carefully worded responses couldn’t outmaneuver Owen’s dogged curiosity. Once he set his sights on something there was no stopping him.
But she had to try, because having the office know she’d slept with the boss’s best friend was not part of her career plan.
“Did you bump into him before or after you decided to go to Valentina’s?”
“Before,” she said through gritted teeth. He had her backed into a corner, and the only thing she could do now was keep her mouth shut.
“Did you bump into him last night, too?”
“Back off.” Her hand tightened around the coffee cup and the lid popped off from the pressure. Thankfully, she’d drunk enough that the liquid didn’t spill over the edge. “Look what you made me do!”
He bent down and retrieved her lid, handing it to her before laying a hand on her shoulder. “Nothing to be ashamed of, Quinn. I’m happy for you—he’s a real-life guy. Not some ‘World of Warcraft’ dark elf bullshit.”
“I don’t pick up guys on ‘World of Warcraft.’” The steam coming out of her ears could have powered a train. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“I won’t tell. Promise.” He sauntered off and threw her a mischievous grin over one shoulder.
Owen was a damn gossip, and she had no idea if she could trust him to keep it quiet. But he hadn’t spilled the beans when their friend Max had fallen for a client, so maybe he’d stay true to his word.
She’d have to steer totally clear of Aiden while they were at work from now on. The last thing she needed was anyone else figuring out what they’d gotten up to.
When she got that promotion, it wouldn’t be because she’d slept her way there. Maybe this was the reminder she needed to get her eye back on the prize. Her feelings for Aiden didn’t matter here, and she couldn’t let them interfere with her goal.
“Hey, Quinn.” Rhys came up beside her, his satchel slung over one shoulder. “Ready for our meeting?”
“Sure am,” she replied as she fell into step beside him.
They reached his office door, and she hovered as he dug the key out of his bag. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” she said.
He held the door open and ushered her inside. “What is it?”
“I was wondering...” Her fingers traced the waffle-cut design on the coffee cup’s heat-protection sleeve. “Was there any other reason I didn’t get the job than lack of experience?”
Surely Rhys would have known about Aiden’s connection to Logan. Would he tell her the truth?
“What makes you ask that?” He detached his laptop from the docking station on his desk and stacked two manila folders on top of it.
“I guess I want to go a long way here and I need to know if there’s anything else standing in my way.”
“Quinn, you’re smart and capable. I have no doubt you’ll do great things with your career.”
“But?”
“Some hiring decisions aren’t about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are rules that we have to follow with Human Resources. Sometimes we advertise a position that we already have a preferred candidate for.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Logan requested Aiden for that position and, objectively, he was the best candidate for the role. So we hired him.”
“Was that before or after I interviewed for the job?”
Rhys’s dark eyes narrowed. “Before. But we interview each candidate with the intention of assessing their suitability. I still wanted to give you the chance to show you’re interested in moving up. It’s a good thing, Quinn, even if we weren
’t able to give you a job right away.”
“But you knew I wouldn’t match up to him.”
“I knew you didn’t have the same experience. But you got a spot on this assignment because of it.” They stepped out into the hallway and Rhys shut the door behind them. “Look, Logan and Aiden are friends. I didn’t have much say in the matter.”
She followed him toward the meeting room. “I get it.”
His nose crinkled and he lowered his voice. “It’s a hard lesson to learn, but some people use their connections to get through life. Personally, I prefer hard work to get to the top. But then again, maybe I’m old-fashioned.”
The way he said it made her stomach churn. It was clear he didn’t appreciate being forced to hire Aiden—despite admitting that the other man did have the skillset for the job. How would he feel if he found out she was sleeping with Aiden? Would he think that was her way of using who she knew to get to the top?
“He seems to be doing a good job so far,” she said, wanting to defend him.
“I have no doubt.” Rhys patted her on the shoulder. “But I’m sure when you get to where you want to be, it’ll be because you made it there on your own steam. And I’ll be proud of you for that.”
She nodded, forcing a tight smile across her lips. If she wanted that promotion, she’d need to make damn sure that no word of her and Aiden’s extracurricular activities made it to the team. There was no way in hell she’d let anyone question whether or not she deserved to be promoted.
* * *
AIDEN FELT AS if he’d been dodging land mines ever since he arrived at the office. First the knowing smirk from Owen Fletcher in the reception area. Then Jin had dropped Logan’s name casually into conversation in a way that made him suspect their friendship wasn’t a secret. Now the Third Planet meeting was about to start, and Quinn was studiously ignoring him.
Needless to say, their happy post-sex bubble had been well and truly burst.
“Thanks for coming, guys,” Rhys said as they all took a seat at the table. “How’s the assignment progressing so far?”
Aiden opened his mouth to start going through the report he’d prepared, but Quinn beat him to it.
“We have one employee exhibiting suspicious behavior. A few days ago I overheard him on the phone talking to someone about confidential information.” She squared her small shoulders.
“What confidential information?” Rhys asked, dropping down into the chair at the head of the table.
“We don’t know yet. He seemed hesitant to provide it to whoever was on the line because of Aiden.” Her gaze flicked across the table to him but didn’t linger. “Then he said he would get it...whatever it is.”
“That could be information about the design engine.” Rhys paused his typing and scratched his head.
“Yes.” She bobbed her head. “There’s something else. One of the staff members has been harassing female employees.”
Rhys raised an eyebrow. “Has he been harassing you?”
“Uh...” Her lower lip sank under the weight of her teeth. “Kind of.”
He blew out a breath. “Yes or no, Quinn?”
“No.” Her gaze dropped to the table’s surface where she idly tapped her fingers in an erratic beat. “Not exactly.”
“Why did you bring it up then?”
“Well, we should do something about it. One of the other junior designers came to me and said he’d been giving her a hard time. He made an intern leave. She filed a complaint against him but she dropped it because he threatened her.” Quinn blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “He’s Walt’s nephew. We can’t ignore that.”
“Sexual harassment is outside the scope of this assignment.” Rhys looked up from his computer. “Bring me something to tie him to the information leaks and then we’ll investigate further.”
A bright flush spread out over her cheeks at the boss’s reprimand. She glanced at Aiden as if to ask him to step in and support her concerns. But Rhys was right; this wasn’t part of the assignment. However, he’d definitely be keeping an eye on Zachary J. Levitt, that was for sure. Slimy bastard wouldn’t lay a hand on Quinn, assignment or no assignment.
“How have the interviews wrapped up?” Rhys’s tone confirmed the harassment discussion was over. “Did you talk to the guy on the phone person? Tell me we have a name.”
“Christopher Mayer. He’s been with the company two years, recently promoted to game designer. His record is clean other than one disciplinary infraction for emailing sensitive information...hence why he was on my list for the first round of interviews.” His fingers toyed with the edge of the notes he’d prepared before leaving Third Planet yesterday. “I followed up again with him this week, and he claims he was sending work to his home computer. The email log supports that. It was only a scope document for a new project, Galactic Warrior. The email did not contain any financials or code. No reference to the engine, either.”
“How long ago did that happen?”
“About three months.”
Across the table Quinn paled noticeably. Where bright pink had dotted her cheeks before, now there was nothing by a pallid wash of white.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Maybe too much coffee.”
The sound of Rhys’s fingers flying across the keys of his laptop filled the silence.
Something was definitely up with Quinn. First she’d jumped over him to have the first say in this meeting, despite knowing he was in charge of the assignment. Now she looked as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Dig up what you can on Mayer and check into the guy who’s been harassing staff,” Rhys said. “I don’t want us to take our eye off the prize, but if this guy is shady in one area, he might be shady in others.”
“Got it.” Aiden nodded.
Rhys packed up his computer and was out of the room before Quinn had moved a muscle. She could have passed for one of those statue-impersonation street performers.
“Earth to Quinn.” He waved a hand in front of her face. “Want to share a cab to Third Planet?”
“No.” The word seemed to come out without her lips moving, and then all of a sudden the spell was broken. Her eyes darted around the room and her tongue swiped along her lower lip. “I uhh... I’m going to walk, actually. I need to clear my head.”
“Okay.” He pushed up from his chair and rolled it back under the desk. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Owen catching us coming out of the elevator together, does it?”
“What?” Her face was vacant for a moment, then she blinked. “No, it’s not that.”
“Then what’s wrong? You spaced out.”
“It’s nothing. We agreed to keep things professional in the office, didn’t we?”
That was true, but it was hard to keep things professional when every time she walked past him the scent of strawberry shower gel assaulted his senses. The memory of it foaming on her skin while he rubbed her down wouldn’t leave his brain.
“Yeah, we did.” He tried to subtly adjust the front of his pants so she wouldn’t see that all she had to do was come within three feet of him to give him a raging hard-on.
“Good.” Her fingers thrust up into her hair, pushing the long strands out of her face. She’d left it down today after they’d showered, and it flowed around her shoulders like pink-and-brown silk. “Anyway, I’ll see you later.”
She took off before he had the chance to ask any more questions. A bad feeling roiled in his gut. Something from that meeting had freaked her out, and he was going to find out what it was.
13
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!
Quinn grabbed her backpack and hurried out of the office. The problems were piling up, and her frayed nerves were settling in for the long haul. Owen knew she’d sl
ept with Aiden, and after chatting with Rhys it was clear that she’d be persona non grata if he found out about it.
But she’d have to deal with that later. Right now she had to figure out if Hawaiian shirt guy—aka Christopher—was leaking information to Alana. Her best friend. A person she trusted.
Alana had gone to the cocktail party to speak to someone from Third Planet Studios. She’d even admitted that a couple of months ago she’d gotten a “sneak peek” at the plans for their latest “Galactic Warrior” game. Quinn had assumed she meant an early press release, not confidential information accessed via an inside person. But the timing and the content of the email Aiden had found pointed to a different conclusion.
She jabbed at the elevator call button and sagged in relief when the doors opened immediately. Fingers trembling, she hesitated for a moment before dialing Alana’s number.
“Quinn? How are you? I thought you’d dropped off the face of the earth. WoW is not the same without you.”
The elevator doors pinged and she hurried toward the exit, desperate to put some space between her and work. “Have you been stealing information from Third Planet Studios?”
The pause seemed to drag on forever.
“Excuse me?” Alana eventually laughed on the other end of the line, though it sounded a little forced. “I haven’t stolen anything.”
“Be straight with me,” she pleaded. “Are you or are you not getting access to confidential information at Third Planet Studios?”
Outside the weather was ironically beautiful. The cool temperatures had been broken by a glowing sun, and a warm breeze trickled across her skin as a bird chirped. A fucking bird.
Too bad there was a dark, thunderous cloud hanging over her head.
A clicking noise in the background told her Alana was tapping her nails against something. “This doesn’t sound like a personal question, Quinn. Why are you asking me this?”
“Because my boss gave me a second chance at that promotion.”
“That’s fantastic—”
A Dangerously Sexy Affair Page 13
