by Jade Powers
With a sigh, Lauren let her menu drop. Meeting Lucas’ eyes she thought that he was way too innocent to work for McFarland. She said, “I have trust issues, but I need help. I’m in way over my head.”
“Yeah, I guessed the trust issues. That’s what happens when you work in top secret circles. Look, McFarland pays a few bills, but he doesn’t own my soul. He likes my work, and I like getting paid. If you’re looking for a soldier to fight your battles, I’m not that. But if you need something more delicate, I may be able to help.” Lucas put his hand over Lauren’s. Normally her first instinct would be to pull away, but the earnestness in his eyes, the way she felt connected to him when he touched her made it impossible to guard herself.
She was falling for the enemy.
Lauren let his hand warm hers. She said, “My coworker is missing. One of the tech players took him. Maybe your boss. Maybe mine. I just moved, so I don’t have much money to pay you, but I want to figure out what happened to him.”
“Wow, that is heavy stuff. No payment required,” Lucas lifted her hand and drew it to his lips, kissing her softly and watching her reaction with those blue eyes. It was so cheesy, and yet it was the right move for her. She always wanted to be romanced.
The tingle started in her lower belly, as he carefully lowered her hand back to the table. Words escaped her. When she could finally think again, Lauren said in gruff surprise, “Yeah, heavy.”
Lucas chuckled, a low rumble and asked, “Do you have enough trust to accompany me to my place of employment after we eat?”
“If you promise not to murder me most foully,” Lauren joked.
“I do so swear, although if you want to have a naughty evening, there are a few sins of which I am capable,” Lucas teased. He waggled his eyebrows for extra effect. Lauren couldn’t help but laugh. She realized it had been ages since she’d even so much as giggled.
At that moment the waiter stopped with pen and pad. Lauren ordered chicken alfredo with coke while Lucas ordered lasagna and a beer. For a moment it almost felt like a real date.
A basket of fresh rolls sat in the middle of the table with a plate of butter. Lucas snatched a roll with a grin, “I can’t wait any longer. I was waiting for you to dive in first, but bread is my weakness.”
“Isn’t it everyone’s?” Lauren asked. The emotional part of Lauren who hadn’t been on a date in three years wanted to keep the conversation neutral, ignore kidnappings and technology and mad companies and just focus on small-talk. The logical part wanted to get the day and the date over with.
The logical side won out. Lauren took her own roll and asked, “So, why are we going to McFarland’s offices?” Even to her own ears, she sounded a hint suspicious.
“Au Contraire. I have what one might call a ‘real’ job. Although I work for McFarland, I also clock in at Sunrise Medical as their IT guy.”
“I’d like to see your work, but I’m driving,” Lauren said. She had expected some push-back. Lucas agreed without debate.
Once business was out of the way, the afternoon actually went well. The chicken alfredo was a supreme pleasure and Lucas’ company pleasant. Lucas was hilarious and surprised two more laughs out of Lauren, mostly because he was such a goof. As the waiter was passing to another table, Lucas called out, “Waiter. Waiter. I need help.”
He winked at Lauren. She could only imagine what he was up to.
The waiter was a young fellow in his mid-twenties. “What can I get you?”
“Another date with this lovely woman,” Lucas said.
Lauren felt the heat rise to her face, but she smiled and refused to admit it.
The waiter cleared his throat and with no sense of humor at all said, “Is there anything that I can get for you, Sir?”
“Two crème brulees. One for the lady. One for me,” Lucas said. He tilted his head a little at Lauren as if expecting a challenge.
Lauren decided that if Lucas could surprise her, she could certainly surprise him. With a teasing grin, she said, “Actually I’d prefer the hot lava fudge brownie and ice cream.”
“Ohhhh... you play dirty,” Lucas said. To the waiter he said, “I changed my mind. I’ll have what she’s having.”
Lucas spent the next fifteen minutes over dessert telling Lauren all of his favorite books, his favorite songs, and why he hated alligators.
When they left the restaurant, Lauren said, “It’s a bit of a walk. I parked in the garage.”
“I’m young and feisty. I’m sure I’ll manage,” Lucas said. After they climbed down the stairs to the sidewalk below, Lucas pushed the crook of his arm out, inviting Lauren to slip her hand inside.
“We’re still pretending to be on a date?” Lauren asked.
“Pretending? You’re killing me. I haven’t been on a date in months. Computer nerds get no love. I am honestly attracted to you. No joke,” Lucas waited for Lauren like a gentleman, his arm out and a silly grin on his face. He beamed at her when she put her hand through his arm.
It was a shame how much Lauren liked Lucas. A bigger shame how much fun he was. Had he been some guy off the street, she would have given him a second, third, and fourth date at the least. Hell, she might have fallen in love. Too bad he was in the tech game. As it was, she was hard-pressed to hold her ground and not smile like an idiot every time he spoke.
They walked to her car. No problem...even if it felt weird having a man in her car. Technically it wasn’t the safest thing in the world to do, but then Lauren was desperate. She said, “Okay, tell me where this office of yours is. Just a warning, if things get scary, I’m dumping and ditching you.”
“Me? Scary? I protest,” Lucas said. He turned out to be a good navigator. His place of employment was a three story brick building filled with professional offices. The parking lot was empty except for a silver Saturn four door, almost new. Lauren pulled into the space nearest the door. “Are you sure this is okay? The place looks deserted.”
“Not to worry. I have keys,” Lucas pulled a keychain out of his pocket and swung it in a circle on his finger.
“If that flies off and cracks my window, you have to pay for repairs,” Lauren said, feeling a little grumpy because following a stranger into an abandoned building ranked high in her Top Ten Stupid Moves, right up there with giving a serial killer your home address.
Lucas stopped the keys in midair and with a twinkle in his eye said, “You’re going to make a good mother someday.”
Lauren’s stomach did a flip-flop. A few years ago she and Drake had almost had an accident just like that. Lauren was adamant that she didn’t want the baby. She told him she would give it up for adoption, that her career was too important. Drake was equally insistent upon keeping it.
She miscarried, but Drake assumed she had aborted the baby. When he dumped her based on that assumption, she set him straight, but the relationship was over. She was too angry and indignant to forgive him. They barely exchanged words after that. Lauren still wondered if her bitter fears of bringing a child into the world had somehow soured her womb.
Would she make a good mother someday? Lauren wondered. She answered lightly, “Ha. You wish,”
She thrust the door open. The warm, moist Miami air blasted her face.
Lucas was smart enough to register the momentary glimmer of pain that crossed Lauren’s face before she soldiered up with the mask of strength and her quick reply. Lucas unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. He locked the door behind them.
“So what is at your work that we can’t find anywhere else?” Lauren looked around the place. The front desk was a receptionist’s area. It was all very pleasant with blue and green carpet and wood panel, elegant in a way that many businesses were not.
“Back to my office, please. Maybe someday I’ll get a real date if you ever learn to trust me,” Lucas teased. He removed his jacket while he walked. His shirt was white to a sheen and crisp. Lauren could appreciate a man who knew how to dress.
On the way, he grabbed a chair from one
of the cubicles and rolled it in front. Lauren followed him to the back into a server room fitted with two server racks. An executive chair and an oak desk faced the door, reminding Lauren of Sven and Drake. They would never have their backs to a door. Apparently, neither would Lucas.
“You get me the location of my colleague, and I’ll go on a dozen dates with you,” Lauren said “Deal,” Lucas said. He pushed the chair to a spot just behind his own giant chair. Running his hand through his hair he said, “Fair warning. This is going to take a while, could be hours, could be days.”
“What are you doing?”
“I have a back door into one of the local university servers. I’m going to use the university’s servers to hack SpaceTech,” Lucas said, looking very pleased with himself.
“Wait a minute. I don’t want you to hack my company. Why not hack McFarland?”
“McFarland is the conductor of the orchestra. He doesn’t have a company per se, and he doesn’t get his hands dirty, but we’ll see what we can gather from him, too. Drake’s company, Advanced Innovative Technologies, is off the list. We’re both assuming he didn’t kidnap his own employee?” Lucas asked. He typed while he talked.
Lauren’s imagination of hacking was quite different from reality. Lucas wasn’t trying to log into anyone’s servers at the moment. He was opening a program Lauren had never seen before. She was watching him so intently that she missed the question.
When Lauren didn’t answer Lucas’ question on AIT, he paused, “Lauren?”
“Hmmhmm?” Lauren asked, staring at the screen.
“Drake wouldn’t kidnap his own employee?”
“Of course not.” Lauren said.
Whipping the cursor across the screen, Lucas said, “SpaceTech is the logical place to start. They have the manpower, the technology, and the questionable morals. No offense...”
“Fine, but when they’re absolved, will you have another target?” Lauren asked.
Lucas swiveled back in his chair, a wide grin on his face, “There is always another target.”
Lauren studied Lucas while he typed. He swaggered a lot, but he also smiled. He definitely wasn’t her type. She needed someone a bit more responsible. Like Drake? Her subconscious whispered. Drake, the ultimate in responsibility, the man who treated her like a used Kleenex, acting like she was dirty while he threw her away.
To hell with it. Lucas was handsome, funny, and available. If she wanted to date him, she would.
“Are you thinking how much you want to kiss me?” Lucas asked.
“You wish.” Lauren couldn’t help it. She threw the insults even when kissing Lucas was exactly what she wanted.
“I do, actually. Look, right now the computer has to crunch passwords. It should be another ten or fifteen minutes, but it could also be a week. There’s a couch upstairs. We could pass the time?” Lucas had a puppy-grin on his face. He was teasing her...and she liked it.
Lucas would never expect Lauren to say yes, not at this point. Lauren liked to be underestimated. With a saucy grin equal to his, Lauren said, “Sure, why not?”
“I...uh...you mean it?”
Lauren laughed. She couldn’t help it. He looked so thrown. She said, “Surely you’ve managed to pester a girl into kissing you before?”
Blushing from the roots of his hair to his chin, Lucas stammered, “No.”
“Why do you suppose that is?” Lauren asked. She held out her hand, an impish smile on her face. Lauren had been a party girl in college. Not during finals and nothing that impeded her studies, but she could dance when the mood struck.
Lucas swallowed, “Because I annoyed them into fleeing.”
“Glad we got that settled. Be less annoying, and let’s go. Unless you need to babysit that screen.” Lauren lifted an eyebrow. The computer was crunching something. The program was unfamiliar, but the gist of it seemed to be a count down toward unlocking a string of letters and numbers.
Lucas took her hand, leading her to the elevator. With a three-story building, he could as easily have taken the stairs, but it seemed that for this kind of liaison a quiet trip by elevator was just the thing.
He hit the button to the second floor, and glanced at Lauren, waiting to see what she would do.
Lauren didn’t do much of anything. She asked, “Do you think it’s okay to leave the computer unattended?”
Lucas shrugged, “The door is locked. No one’s coming in but you and me.”
“Okay.”
Lauren suddenly felt as if she had shed a part of her personality, as if deep down she had been holding back, and only at this moment did that lock unclick and the metal rods release to open her soul. Even while she held his hand, Lauren couldn’t figure out how Lucas could touch that part of her she always held in reserve.
Before Lucas could hit the button, Lauren checked the corners. No cameras. Taking his hand even as Lucas reached for the controls, Lauren grinned at Lucas. “There was always something I’ve wanted to try.”
Lucas definitely wasn’t ready for Lauren.
She drew closer to him with her best come-on smile, tilting her chin in an open invitation. One that he didn’t take. Lauren couldn’t believe she had to do it all herself. When Lucas didn’t kiss her, she pushed him to the back of the elevator. Fortunately, he allowed it. After all, he was a foot taller than her and had fine muscles. He could have stopped her at any time.
When he bumped into the back of the elevator, Lauren said, “Kiss me.”
Her voice husky, like smoky cheese and red wine with a hint of chocolate, tantalized Lucas.
Bracing herself, Lauren lifted her head.
Lauren thought she was in control of the situation. It turned out she wasn’t ready. Not for Lucas. Not for his kiss.
Nothing could prepare her for the tenderness in his lips, the way he brushed along her mouth, teasing and inviting. Pulling her taut to his body, Lucas bent deeper, his tongue exploring the seam of her mouth, inviting her in for a hot and steamy dessert.
Accepting the invitation, Lauren slid her hands up his shirt, her fingers stealing across silky skin, tickling his ribs until he laughed into her mouth. He tasted like peppermint. His hands slowly unbuttoned her blouse, certain and gentle, with a respect that made Lauren want to weep. It had been years since a man had touched her, years since she’d gotten anything more than a high-five from one of the guys.
Her swooning daydreams about Drake seemed pathetic when compared to this sun god. Lucas was everything Drake wasn’t, the light to Drake’s darkness, the hope that filled the empty despair Drake had planted in Lauren’s heart. Not that she hadn’t dated. Not that she hadn’t tried to move forward. But for the first time, she realized that she could move forward. For the first time she realized that she actually wanted someone else.
That knowledge urged Lauren on. While Lucas kissed her, she fumbled with his jeans. He pulled back for just a moment and asked, “Are you sure?”
Lucas was the firework to her work cubicle, the chocolate to her kidney beans. He was everything her Mama warned her against, and everything she wanted in spite of herself.
Drawing Lucas closer, Lauren pressed herself to him, “You damn well bet I am.”
It was magic, as if every wish upon a star had come true. With the two of them completely nude and the floor a pile of clothes, Lauren didn’t feel shame or embarrassment or awkwardness or any of those things she had felt the first time she and her high school sweetheart had made love, nor that reserved distance she always experienced with Drake.
This kind of sex was something else.
Lucas slid his hand down her body to her sweet spot, he played her like a lute, bringing forth the high notes until she couldn’t breathe. When she couldn’t handle any more, Lauren tugged his hand away and whispered, “Now.”
Lucas made it good, that up and down crazy part of coupling. When he blasted inside her it felt like a rocket had launched and she was in the heavens floating far from all of the problems below. Her heart was rac
ing, her body was thrumming, and her soul was curled up in a corner preening itself. Lauren had finally gotten something right.
They both started laughing before either could think of a word to say. Lucas picked up her clothes. Handing them to Lauren, he nuzzled her hair and asked, “Was it as good for you?”
“Better.” Lauren said.
Lucas had dimples. He smiled non-stop while they gathered their clothes. He pulled on his shirt in one smooth maneuver. “I can’t believe we just did that. Let’s go to third floor, the bathrooms are just across the hall from the elevator. We can clean up there.”
Lauren’s body felt satisfied and somehow the particulars of where to clean up didn’t matter so much. Probably just as well that Lucas was keeping track of things like windows. It wouldn’t do to flash anyone. Still, the world had shifted into a languid and calm serenity, all kitten fuzz and pajama bottoms, and this man, damn his smile, was smack dab in the middle of the whole thing.
The elevator had one of those silver hand bars at waist level running around the inside of the elevator, which really made no sense, unless you’d just had red hot sex and couldn’t balance. When the doors closed to go to third and the elevator lurched, Lauren grabbed that bar for all she was worth. The universe had tilted, and looking at Lucas, Lauren would swear that she felt slightly drunk and completely smitten.
She washed herself in the bathroom. The bathroom was two-stall with a brown tile floor that looked spotless. It boasted two sinks, equally spotless. It was the kind of bathroom that might get used once a week, built more because of architecture, a bathroom to every floor and all that, but it was truly underutilized. Maybe the third floor was full of upper-level corporate types who wouldn’t take a crap in public, even if it was in the anonymity of their own floor.
Lauren appreciated the quiet cleanliness. She hung her clothes from the hook on the stall and pulled three of the paper towels out, soaking them in warm water. As she washed up, she started to giggle. The most surprising thing of all was that the giggle was full of warm humor. There was no hysteria or fear inside it, just pure joy.
After dressing, Lauren met Lucas on the couch. Somehow they ended up cuddling. It had been a long time since Lauren had felt comfortable with anyone. Lucas told her his story, how he went too far on a hack on the D.O.D. and got a visit from some scary people.
