Hell, she was probably better off avoiding anyone who played Heroes of Fallen Gods. Between her experiences with Kent and Aaron, she was convinced they were all assholes. Maybe she could find some Trekkies or something at the bar…as soon as she changed and washed off all remnants of Kent and everything that reminded her of Lohonas.
…
Cal sat in the bar nursing a beer and trying to ignore the babble of voices around him. He’d spent hours decoding the message hidden in the program descriptions. None of his software, even the stuff he’d designed himself, had been any help.
In the end, while going cross-eyed from staring at the program for so long, the word new had jumped out at him. As soon as he noticed it half a dozen times on the first page of the program, he saw it everywhere.
Meticulously, he pulled data from the program, feeding it into a spreadsheet. He wrote a fast and dirty program that would twist and poke at the words. From there, he found the cypher within thirty minutes, and he blew out a slow breath as he shoved away from the computer.
Takamaki’s message shone in terrifying simplicity across the screen. The buyer was instructed to come “prepared”—whatever that meant—to the screening of Silencing Gravity, where the item would be demonstrated. Takamaki’s people had done a great job making the message nice and vague. On the off chance some random con attendee with too much time on his hands decoded it, the words would just look like an advertising ploy.
Cal immediately sent the message to Trevor and Marron. Within fifteen minutes, his boss called and told him to enjoy the rest of his weekend. Apparently Marron’s confidence in Cal’s field readiness didn’t go so far as to knowingly send him into the heat of things. For a moment, Cal had considered arguing that he was ready. Then he remembered ConDamned was his vacation. And maybe part of this test was to see how willing he was to follow orders.
Instead of insisting on his ability to control his rage, Cal cracked his neck and said, “Sounds good. Keep me in the loop if you need me for anything.”
He’d thumbed off his phone and laid it on the desk, certain it would ring within minutes. But it just lay there, quiet, taunting.
Screw it. The team would take care of Takamaki from this point on, and he would do what he came here for. Though it hadn’t been part of the plan, he hunted up a number for Penelope Holloway…and stopped there. Even doing that much was wrong and he felt like an asshole of the first order for the invasion of her privacy.
He gave Megara a fleeting thought, but he was in no state to try hunting up his Heroes partner right now. All he’d end up doing was showing her a side of him that would confirm every one of her worries. A man with a tendency toward violence and lacking in the ability to tell a woman anything about his life was better off by himself.
So, he did what any self-loathing gamer with a penchant for cosplay would do: he painted himself up as a dark elf with purplish-blue skin, pointed ears, and a long, bleached wig. Blackout contacts, blackened aluminum chain mail, black leather pants, and bracers completed the look. Then he headed out for a drink.
Strange how a little change in makeup and clothes made the women stop fawning over him. Like this he was free to just be…and brood.
He barely needed to give off a fuck-you vibe—everyone left him alone.
The message had shaken him more than he wanted to admit. The screening was for a new cyberpunk thriller produced by one of Takamaki’s front companies, and it was invite-only. With the arms dealer planning to stage something in a place with this many people, it meant if TRAIT didn’t stop the deal straight off somebody here at ConDamned—likely a lot of somebodies—would die.
He itched with the need to do something, to help finish the job somehow, but he’d been neutered by Marron. It didn’t matter, though. Unless he found a way to take his mind off work, he’d wonder if he should have argued, should have put himself out there, insisted he wasn’t some wild dog that needed careful handling. But until they had the weapon and Takamaki in hand stress would be his constant companion. And that meant he couldn’t just be Cal, much less Lohonas. He never should have asked Megara to come here.
Part of him did consider the idea of hooking up for a distraction. Then he reminded himself of two facts. One: he hated stupid girls, and they seemed to be the ones who approached him. Two: he hated one-night stands; if he was going to have sex with someone she’d be someone worth seeing again. Which meant revisiting point one.
Nope, he would bury his nerves in beer. Or maybe something stronger. Yeah, something stronger sounded just about perfect.
He waved the bartender over but a girl slid onto the stool next to Cal and the bartender stopped for her first. Typical.
“What is the strongest decent-tasting vodka drink you know how to make?” Penelope? Her voice startled him and his fingers slipped in the condensation on his mug. Only his quick reflexes kept the beer from sloshing all over him.
She turned his way. Same dark brown waves—this time done up with leaves pinning them to her head—same button nose, same sensual golden-brown eyes. Somehow good fortune had decided to shine on him for the moment and brought her to his side again.
Penelope leaned on the bar and pursed her lips as she looked at him. Her gaze didn’t rake over him like other women’s—she stayed fixed on his eyes like she could pin him in his seat. He’d never felt so happy to be trapped. “For a minute there, I figured you had on some ridiculous gauntlets or something, but I guess you just have butterfingers.” She winked, breaking the spell she’d cast on him. “Cursed by a sorcerer with a flair for the ridiculous?”
His lips twitched into what felt like a very non-broody non-dark-elf smile, and he fought his way back to seriousness. “Unlikely. I would have killed him before the incantation left his lips. I rather think it was shock at the way in which you so boldly invaded the space I’d clearly defined as my own. Few would have the nerve to attempt such a maneuver.”
“Yes, well, not so long ago I sent a human aggressor into the fetal position with nothing more than a single move of hand-to-hand combat. I’m feeling rather full of myself right now. Pardon me if I don’t consider a dark elf who can’t decide between a scowl and a smile to be much of a threat.”
Oh, he already liked her a lot more than was wise. “I think I’ll choose to alternate between the two in order to keep you on your toes.”
“And here I thought you wanted to drive me off.”
“Perhaps.” He shrugged, noting the way her eyes lingered on his shoulders. “Or maybe I was just waiting for someone brave enough to stick around.” The bartender returned with her drink—something crimson and steaming. She’d said vodka, so he shouldn’t react to it too badly after the beer. The bartender set the glass down, and Cal tipped his head toward it. “I’ll take one as well, and put them both on my tab.”
The bartender was gone before Penelope managed to get a word out. Her mouth snapped shut a second later. She held up her glass, stared deep into the contents for a moment, then turned and met his gaze. “I appreciate the drink, but I hope you aren’t expecting anything for it.”
Huh? “Only the pleasure of your maddening company for as long as it takes you to drink it.”
She regarded him over the top of the glass, something like a challenge dancing in the depths of her eyes. The glass slowly tipped up, her lips molding against it, and she kept tipping. Her throat worked as the liquid poured through it. When she placed the glass back on the bar, it was empty. She ran her tongue along her lip, catching the drops of red that lingered. “And now?”
If she was this much of a spitfire all the time, he was doomed—in the very best way possible. Assuming she liked him, too…and that she didn’t have a boyfriend. He’d deal with the latter issue if and when it came up because, at the moment, she wasn’t acting like a woman with a man waiting for her.
He jerked his head to the side in a half-assed shrug—two could play her game. “And now you either walk away, let me buy you another drink, or stick around to
talk just because you find me charming. Your choice.” He took a sip from his own glass and turned to examine the bottles lining the far side of the bar. And watch her in the mirror behind them.
Her lips curled up and then she pressed them together in a way that was simultaneously innocent and sexy as hell. “If I let you buy me another one I’ll have to drink it much slower. You could be stuck talking to me for hours. Positive you don’t want to take your chances with someone that’s more of a sure thing?”
This was so much better than a stalker-ific phone call could have ever turned out.
Cal tilted his head toward her and forced himself to frown when all he wanted to do was completely break character and grin like an idiot. “I don’t know about that.” He waved at the bartender and pointed at her empty glass when he finally got the man’s attention. “Seems like you just confirmed you are most definitely a sure thing as far as conversation goes.”
She ducked her head and giggled. As soon as her new drink arrived, she raised the glass and clinked it against his. “You have no idea. All right. Make the call. Out or in character? This halfway thing is killing me.”
“Out. There are enough fake people here to last a lifetime. Tonight, costumes or no, I could use a little happy reality.” The unhappy reality of Takamaki flashed through his mind, but he forced it away. He was off duty for the moment, and he was more than content to replace thoughts of terrorists with some one-on-one time with the adorable brunette.
“In that case…Penelope Holloway. Or Pen, whichever you prefer.”
“I alr…” In his effort to push away the negative thoughts, he almost blurted out that he already knew her name. Which would have been really awkward since she gave no sign she recognized him from earlier. “Er, I’m Cal Burrows.”
A tiny line appeared between her eyebrows as they pulled together, but it disappeared soon enough. “Okay, Cal, so what kind of geek are you? What do you do for a living? Married? Girlfriend? Spill so we can move onto something more interesting.”
And just like that, the idea of reality flew out the window. He couldn’t tell her what he did. “Gamer, film, and some comics. Not really into the anime thing. No woman in my life. As far as my career…I’m in coding.” Veiled truth worked, right? “Your turn. Same questions.”
“We match in general terms as far as geek squads. I also have a bit of a love affair with books, so I work at a university library. I’m their go-to computer nerd. And at the moment, my only romantic entanglements exist in those same books.” Her jaw tightened for a second after she stopped talking. If he hadn’t been watching so close, he would have missed it, along with the tiny shudder that seemed to shake off whatever had caused it.
Obviously there were man troubles in her past. How could anyone make a woman like this as jaded as she seemed in that brief moment? He wanted to find whomever had done it and have a couple minutes with him away from any witnesses.
Though Cal had told Pen they’d just talk, he really wished he could press his lips to the muscle that still twitched along her jaw. And the little furrow every time it showed up between her brows. And her lips every time she didn’t smile.
If he didn’t put the brakes on his runaway thought train, he was going to do something stupid and push her away. She’d already made it clear she was willing to walk. He wouldn’t drive her to leaving just because everything about her set his nerve endings on fire. He remembered what the casual touch of her finger had done to him, and he wanted it again far more than he should. Definitely time to keep talking.
“So, which fictional romantic entanglement has your attention at the moment?”
Pen frowned at him as if her thoughts had been a million miles away on some planet where English wasn’t the common tongue.
He brushed back a curl that had fallen from her pins but pulled his fingers away rather than letting them linger like he wanted. “In other words, what are you reading right now?”
“Uh…you’ve probably never heard of it.” A red flush crept up her neck and began to stain her cheeks.
Interesting. “Try me.”
The flush deepened to crimson that shone purple in the glow of the bar lights. “Fine. It’s a paranormal romance called Incubus Unchained. Happy?”
Who was he to judge? He cosplayed an incubus upon occasion—it just had a tendency to gain him more attention than he liked. But he was enjoying her blushing too much to just let it go. “Depends. Does it have a half-naked couple on the cover?”
She swallowed hard and looked anywhere but at him. “No. Just a half-naked incubus.”
Yep, sounded like his costume. “Well, it’s no bodice-ripper, but I’m a fan of anything that makes you blush like that. I can’t imagine a woman looking cuter than you do right now.” Like he’d flipped a switch, her embarrassed smile disappeared and the blush turned into something a little less friendly. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and nudged her drink toward him. “You called me cute.”
Huh? “That’s because you are cute.”
A look of frustration took over her features and she crossed her arms over her chest in a way that seemed a mix of anger and trying to hide. “Thanks, but if you want a puppy, I’m sure there are furries somewhere in the mix on the con floor.”
His jaw dropped open and Cal blinked at her. What the hell? When he’d said he’d let her walk, he never fathomed it might be because of this. He reached out and his hand slid down her arm to circle her wrist. “I didn’t mean it like that. At all.”
“Sorry, but cute isn’t a compliment.”
“On what planet? No. Don’t answer that. Just let me finish. I sincerely didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Fine. Tell me how cute works on Planet Burrows.” She didn’t quite face him again, but her fingers toyed with the stem of her glass.
“Okay.” She obviously hated the word, so he was going to have to tread lightly if he didn’t want to set her off. Once again, he wanted to beat whatever idiot had made her so angry. He still needed to be careful if he didn’t want to end up with a “stalker” label. “I saw these girls this morning. Maybe you noticed them? The Suckerpunch gang?”
“They were gorgeous and oozed sex all over. Not exactly easy to forget.”
He begged to differ. “Sure, they had a specific set of features that are supposed to fit some universal definition of what men find appealing. Only, they didn’t appeal to me.”
She rolled her eyes in a way that made the stupid word they were arguing about spring to mind again. “Please.”
“In fairness, I can appreciate their looks, sure, but women who worry about being ‘hot’ don’t usually have much else going for them. I don’t like that. I prefer the kind of girl who looks as good in a pair of sweats as she does all dolled up, the kind who has interests outside of diets and exercise and shopping. Generally speaking, those women are ‘cute.’ And ‘adorable.’ And I find that kind of woman borderline irresistible.”
She blinked at him, slowly, like he was some sort of alien. The tension left her body and she relaxed against the bar.
“So. That’s it. If my thinking you’re cute makes you want to go, I will wish you well and hope you have a great time this weekend.” And don’t get caught up in the Takamaki crap. Damn. For a while there, with Pen, he’d managed to not think about it. He really didn’t want her to leave. He couldn’t keep her safe if she took off. “But if you’re okay with a guy who thinks you might be the whole package, even if that package includes the descriptor ‘cute,’ then I hope you’ll stick around.”
Cal held his breath and waited, watching as some sort of internal war raged behind Penelope’s eyes.
She propped her feet on the rung and swung back toward him, rescuing her drink from its place by his hand. “I’m not sure I believe that isn’t just a line—and I still hate the word—but I’m willing to stick around and see what else you have in that crazy head of yours.”
Time to aim for safer territory. “Okay then, ne
w topic. Star Wars or Star Trek?”
With a snort, she shook her head, another curl breaking free from the leaves to caress her cheek and neck and shoulder. Focus on her face, damn it! “Neither. Firefly all the way.”
Suddenly she had all his attention. “Solid choice, but why?”
“Without getting into the new Star Wars crap-of-a-trilogy, both it and Star Trek are too…big to be real. It makes everything that happens in them feel contrived, from the fighting to the romance. Firefly was about a ragtag group of people who didn’t even necessarily believe in the same thing, but they bonded together to stay alive. There isn’t this huge noble purpose to everything they do, but they’re noble nonetheless. And the love stories? Each one’s unique, but all things that felt genuine. Plus, the women were strong from the beginning. It wasn’t some bullshit add-in after introducing them as damsels-in-distress or sex-objects.”
“And they’re ‘big damn heroes,’ right?”
Her eyes had their twinkle back. “Ain’t they just?” She took a swallow of her drink then leaned close, her loose curl brushing against his skin, the contact electric. Her breath feathered over his ear, brushing the hair of the wig against his skin until he shivered. “I should warn you. A man who quotes that show has found a direct path to me falling for him.”
Oh, fuck caution. “Then it’s only fair I warn you that since the moment we both hit the lobby button in the damn elevator earlier, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
She froze, her mouth dropping open slightly almost as if inviting him to kiss her. Then her lips moved, though it took a second for her voice to catch up. “Is it really stupid if I say I thought it was you?”
He didn’t answer, didn’t know how to answer.
Her fingers abandoned her drink and drifted toward his on the bar. By the way she bit her lip either she was still adorably nervous or she didn’t realize she was doing it. “I have to admit, I’ve thought about you more often than I should today, too. I just never figured I had a chance with a guy like you when there were all the bombshells walking around.”
Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) Page 4
