by Kadie Scott
“Get out of that cab this instant,” the woman demanded.
Every instinct in Drew’s body had him curling a protective arm around her shoulders. He could tell the words came from shock—and maybe a bit of horror—so he kept quiet.
“Cassandra.”
She winced. “We’d better get moving.”
They scooted out of the car and stood before a woman who was a taller, more angular version of her daughter, with the same pale hair, worn short, but dark eyes rather than blue.
Cassie drew herself up to her full five-foot height. “What are you doing here, Mother?”
Older-Cassie glanced between them. “Having dinner with friends. Are you going to introduce me to your…associate?”
Cassie’s shoulders slumped a bit. “Sorry. Mother, this is Drew Kerrigan. Drew, my mother, Susan Howard.”
Drew held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Howard. You must be proud of your daughter.”
She gave his hand a delicate shake. “I usually am.” She glanced at Cassie. “Maybe not as much at the moment.”
What could one say to that? Especially when her disapproving stare had the effect of reducing him to a teenager.
“Mother—”
Drew cleared his throat. No way was he letting Cassie take the fall. “I’m afraid that was mostly my fault, Mrs. Howard.”
“Oh?” Susan Howard stared at him. This woman must be who taught Cassie her bug-under-a-microscope skills.
“Oh?” Cassie echoed her mother.
What did he say now? He’d already blown any shot he had of impressing Cassie’s parent. “Cassie and I work together.”
Why that made a difference, he had no idea, but Mrs. Howard’s eyebrows flew up. She glanced at Cassie whose cheeks pinkened.
After what he could only describe as the longest awkward silence in the history of awkward silences, Mrs. Howard sighed and glanced at her watch. “I’d love to hear more about how working together ended up with you kissing my daughter in a taxi, but I’m running late.”
She pinned Cassie with a meaningful look, “We’ll talk later.” Then gave him a nod. “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” he called after her departing form.
What the heck just happened? He turned to find Cassie staring after her mother with a frustrated expression.
“Why do I get the impression you’re in trouble?” he asked.
Cassie blushed again, ignored his question, and started walking down the street. “I can’t believe my mother caught us making out.”
Neither could Drew.
The problem was, apparently even that embarrassing interruption had done nothing to cool his libido. He eyed a small alleyway as they passed it, picturing pulling her into the shadowed space and taking back up where they left off before being interrupted.
“I want to hold your hand.” The words escaped unbidden.
She glanced up, eyes wide. “We can’t.”
He gave a self-deprecating smile. “I know. But I want to.”
She grinned and cocked her head. “You don’t seem like the hand-holding type,” she teased.
“I’m not, normally.”
“But I’m special.” She gave a little wiggle, so he knew she was just joking.
“Yes.” Drew mentally smacked himself in the head. Apparently knowing she was joking didn’t stop him from making an ass of himself.
Cassie sobered. “Thanks. No one’s called me special before. Brilliant or quirky maybe, but not special.”
The vulnerability behind her eyes was his undoing. “Then they were idiots.”
“I always thought so.” They shared a smile. “For the record, I think you’re pretty special, too, Drew Kerrigan.”
“Thanks,” he accepted gruffly. What had he gotten himself into?
“And a damn good kisser.”
The tension snapped and Drew tossed his head back and laughed.
Luckily, the bar where they were headed sat farther down the block, so at least the incident with her mother hadn’t played out in front of the entire Data Minds team. He placed his hand at the small of her back, ostensibly escorting her through the crowds, the need to touch her his true motivation. She stiffened at first, but then sort of melted into his touch in a way that told him she liked his hands on her.
Before he was ready to let her go, they arrived at the bar. Cassie beat him to the door and swung it open.
“Maybe later we can talk about that penetration testing that needs to happen,” she flung over her shoulder, barely breaking stride to deliver the line as she walked inside.
Drew stopped walking and smothered a groan, not only at the goofy line, but at the not-remotely-goofy, X-rated images it produced for him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and forced his feet to move, keeping Cassie’s body directly in front of him until he could calm the hell down.
Loaded lines like that did not help.
A vibrating in his pocket alerted him to an incoming message. He pulled out the phone and checked the screen. The field office. This couldn’t be good. His boss wanted to talk to the team, which could only mean one thing.
He texted back the current situation, setting a time for later that night, shoved the phone back in his pocket, and glanced up. Right in time to catch Cassie staring his way with an expression that had him hot and hard and gritting his teeth.
Drew wasn’t sure which he was more frustrated about…the progress on his investigation or having to cancel all thoughts of taking Cassie home after drinks.
…
Drew did his best to appear confident and purposeful as he stared his boss down over a TV screen.
“What you’re saying is you’ve found nothing to substantiate the concerns that led us to this point?” his director asked.
“No. I’m saying we need more time to collect the necessary evidence.”
“You’re the best hacker I’ve ever come across, Kerrigan. If you haven’t found it by now, the evidence doesn’t exist.”
Drew leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I think that’s a possibility we have to consider. However, there are enough odd things in their systems that I feel it’s worth a little more time to be sure.”
“And what about Cassie Howard? Are these odd things pointing to her, as you suspected?”
“No. Not yet.” He hid a grimace. Even conceding the possibility still existed made him feel disloyal to her. The woman intrigued him, frustrated him, played along with him, and understood him like no one else did. He could be entirely himself with her, which was…nice.
“Any other suspects?” his director asked.
“We’ve been taking a closer look at the three partners.”
“Why?”
“Call it a gut feeling, sir. If they are using competitor information, it’s highly unlikely they’d be doing so without knowledge.”
He received a long, hard stare but refused to shift in his seat like an errant schoolboy being brought to task by the principal. Besides, his director had nothing on Cassie’s mother in the assessing looks department.
“What does the rest of your team think?”
“They trust my judgment.” If his boss had to ask, that wasn’t a good sign. “I’ve had the team following the partners in their off hours.”
Mild curiosity stared back at him. “And?”
“We have nothing concrete, but some of their behavior is raising a red flag.”
“Like what?” their director asked.
Drew shrugged. “Meetings in hotels, which could be clients, or could be something else. We’re working to identify the other parties. Use of computers in places like libraries, that one is more concerning.”
“Work with the library and apply those hacking skills. Do what you can.”
“Yes, sir.” Drew nodded.
“A few more weeks, Kerrigan. That’s all I’m giving you before I pull the plug and we call this one a dead end.”
“Yes, sir,” he repeated, doing his best to imbue his response wit
h confidence.
They hung up on the call, and Drew sat for a long while, working through next steps. With only two weeks to do it, he needed to decide where to focus the teams’ efforts. Obviously, he’d continue to search the Data Minds systems. He hadn’t ruled Cassie out, but he now had major doubts that she was the mastermind. A pawn maybe, but that didn’t add up, either.
He was navigating a dogfight in this situation. No matter where he flew, the air was full of missiles ready to blast him. Decision made—and God, he hoped it was the right one—he left the conference room to talk to his team.
“I suggest we focus our investigation away from Ms. Howard and on the partners,” he said. “Particularly on Lou Markinson. If you have a major objection or concern, or a better idea, now’s the time to raise it.”
No one spoke. At least his team still had faith in him.
“Investigate all three partners, but dig on Lou.”
“Have we ruled Cassie Howard out?” his surveillance specialist asked.
“Not until we have hard data that says this is all someone else.”
“If we do rule her out, why don’t we ask her for help?”
Not a bad idea—the more his gut unclenched the more he was sure Cassie wasn’t the bad guy here, so having her help was feasible—except the second he told Cassie about the investigation, it’d be over between them. Maybe if he broke it to her gently? “Give me a few more days to be doubly sure. Then we’ll see about bringing her in.”
Plan in place, they broke up for the night and he headed back to his apartment, mind turning over his two assignments: finish the mission, win Cassie over.
Chapter Nine
Cassie let herself into her apartment, set her laptop bag on the floor by the door, dropped her keys in the blue glass bowl on the foyer table, and sighed.
She’d hoped for a night of hot, steamy, blow her pantyhose off sex. Instead she’d got, “Something came up. See you later, Cassie.”
Hot and cold didn’t begin to describe Drew Kerrigan. More like frozen tundra meets active volcano. Both could be deadly. If she were a computer, the man would’ve fried her circuits weeks ago. As it stood, he’d at least managed to scramble both her brain and her body.
With another sigh, she bent over and retrieved her bag. Might as well get some work done instead, because she had nothing better to do at eight in the evening on a lonely Wednesday night in New York City.
She was tempted to do something crazy, but after years of being a good little nerd, crazy didn’t come naturally to her. Therefore, thirty minutes later, she sat propped up in bed, her navy and white striped comforter folded down and her computer propped on her pajama-clad legs. Her teeth were brushed, face scrubbed clean, and breath minty fresh. For the first time since starting work at Data Minds, she unenthusiastically got started on work.
Yeah. I’m a wild woman.
Almost as soon as she logged on, a message popped up on her screen via her personal instant messenger.
You’re home late.
Drew. Cassie frowned even as her heart tripped over itself in its eagerness to respond.
How would you know? she typed back, determined to play it cool, unsure of which temperature he’d be blowing now.
You’re usually online earlier.
Jeez. She was perfectly aware she had zero life outside of work, but way to rub it in. Again, how would you know?
I did ask if you were ready for your own personal spy…
After the up and down of today’s rodeo with the man, she wasn’t in the mood for his weird brand of flirting. That’s not funny.
Sorry.
Cassie continued to hold on to her righteous indignation. Did you need something?
You.
Oh. Heat flushed through her. Oh my. There went righteous indignation down the drain, along with her sense of self-preservation. Seemed he was back to volcano mode, and her body was happy to leap into the fire with him. Amazing how a layer of technology between them got the man opening up more.
“Drew Kerrigan, you are driving me bat guano loco,” she muttered.
Hello?
I’m thinking. What did you type back to a man who decided to declare desire over an instant message? Of course, Drew would approach her this way. Unless her hopeful heart had mistaken what he meant by needing her.
About me wanting you?
Couldn’t get any clearer than that. For once her heart got it right. She shifted her legs, trying to relieve the sweet ache her stirred up senses were inciting. From words on a screen. What would she do if he touched her? Cassie buried her face in her hands. Strike that question. She knew exactly what would happen if he touched her. Instant meltdown of all her systems.
Slowly, she lowered her hands to the keyboard. I’m not sure what to think, honestly.
Me, neither.
Huh? She rolled her eyes. She really needed to see his face to be able to interpret his brief responses. You don’t know what to think, either?
About us? No. It’s complicated.
Cassie stared at the screen and shook her head. Her prince charming was confused, too. In a bizarre way, she got what he was saying. Although his admission didn’t clear anything up. The opposite, in fact. Why was his honesty completely…adorable?
I can’t stop thinking about you, but I know I shouldn’t.
Her heart was being put through its paces, speeding up and slowing down in the same instant. Why shouldn’t you?
She needed to know.
Work relationships complicate things. There’s a reason companies often put a “no romance” rule in their guidelines.
She thought the same thing, but somehow that excuse seemed puny right now.
Do you remember the first day we met and you muttered that funny phrase about pheromones?
You heard that? How mortifying.
Yes. I found it adorable.
At least he gave her that much. Her pride smarted a little less. Thanks.
And true.
Did she need to turn her air conditioner up?
Just being around you sets my synapses on fire.
Cassie half-groaned, half-laughed. He did not just type that. The question was, did she give in and commit to the ride, or did she ask the operator to let her off?
Logic came to her rescue, along with her mother’s voice in her head reminding her that an affair with someone she worked with was a bad idea. If she and Drew were both unsure, better to play safe. Decision made, she ignored the disappointment that dropped to the bottom of her stomach.
I’m logging off now, Drew.
She hit all the appropriate buttons to disconnect, then shut the lid. Two seconds later her phone buzzed, indicating a text message. Drew’s name popped up on the screen.
Unable to help herself, she checked the text. Don’t go. No more cheesy lines. I promise.
Cassie bit her lip. Every other normal guy would know to give her space. Not Drew. His brain might be one of the sexiest things about him, but he’d skipped the “how to approach women” phase of his development.
Her phone buzzed with another incoming text. If you tell me to leave you alone, I will. But don’t. Please.
And his totally backward approach was totally working on her. Cassie sighed and snuggled down. I’m still here. What do you want to talk about?
She held her breath, waiting for his response, giddy as a teenager with her first crush. Every vestige of her weariness from earlier blown away.
What are you doing?
Huh. A bit standard. She’d had no idea what to expect. Something more… “Guess we have to start somewhere?” she mumbled as she typed.
Lying in bed, texting you.
Tell me what you’re wearing.
Ohmygod. Cassie bolted upright in bed. Was he…? He couldn’t be…? Was he…sexting her? Or trying to, at least? She grinned even as nerves bubbled up inside her. That was more like it. But she’d never sexted before. What do I write? Do I lie?
She went with the tru
th. My Darth Vader pajamas…black shorts with stars on them and a T-shirt with his helmet.
I’d like to see that.
Ummmm… Did he want a sexy picture of her in her geeked out PJs? No way could she pull off sexy.
You asked for it. She knelt up in bed and snapped a picture of her from the neck down, and, before she could rethink, hit send.
That’s better than Leia in her gold bikini.
The man liked Star Wars. She’d been right that first day. I don’t know about that. What about you?
What about me?
Where are you?
Also in bed.
Do I get a picture, too? Cassie closed her eyes, secretly shocked at her racy behavior, but opened them when his text buzzed.
That’s probably not a good idea.
Why?
Because I sleep naked.
An instant vision of Drew in bed naked, and her there with him, popped into her head and every part of her body leaped to eager, pulsing life. I am such a goner.
Another incoming text. Maybe this whole plan wasn’t such a good idea.
Frustration joined the slow burn of desire. He was backing off again? Her whiplash was going to get whiplash. Before she could text back, he sent another message.
It’s giving me too many ideas… And you’re not here.
Oh. Before she could respond, another text came through. Your turn to suggest a subject. Something not guaranteed to have me up all night.
A neutral topic. Did such a thing exist? What’s your favorite Star Wars movie?
A fan, are you?
She grinned at the reference. Yes, Yoda. A fan, am I.
My mom always said I’d only fall for a girl who loved Star Wars as much as I do.
Her jaw dropped. Did he just say he was falling for her…?
Well, I did dress up as Leia in the gold bikini in college once, she quickly typed back. God, why had she told him that? Did she want him to fall in love with her?
I would love to have seen that. Do you still have it?
Not happening. She shook her head. I did it on a dare.
Remind me to use dares against you some time.
Tension relieved, she flopped back and laughed.
I’ll see you tomorrow?
Cassie was tempted to come back with some sassy, innuendo-laden comment, but drew a complete blank. Okay.
