by Lexi Blake
Tag nodded. “Charlie and I will be down shortly. I’m going to finish up with Hutch.”
Adam snorted. “He’s going to ask if you wore a condom.”
Well, at least Kyle hadn’t told that story. “I did.”
He’d gone through all three Kyle had given him. He’d mentally put box of condoms on his shopping list as he’d lain beside her the night before. That was one errand he didn’t need to run now.
The door closed behind Adam, and Ian sat back.
“You are also one of my more careful employees,” Ian said with a sigh. “I know you have your reputation, but in this case I don’t think you would have slept with the client because you found her hot. You slept with her because you felt something for her.”
“I did.” There wasn’t a point in lying to Ian if he wasn’t going to lie to himself. “I felt more for Noelle in a day than I’ve felt…in my life. She didn’t feel the same way about me and so we’re moving on.”
Tag’s eyes narrowed. “Moving on?”
Hutch nodded. “Yes. She made it clear that if the mood strikes her, I might be welcome back in her bed, but she’s not interested in a relationship.”
“Maybe she’s not in a good place for one,” Tag said pointedly.
Hutch huffed. “Yes, I remember saying it. I know. Karma’s rough.”
“So you’re moving on,” Tag reiterated.
He wasn’t sure where Tag was going, but he needed to make it clear to the boss that there wouldn’t be trouble. “Yes. I’m not going to bother her again. We can have a professional relationship. Moving on.”
“You do that a lot, you know.”
Hutch shook his head. “I do not need some session with you. I have Kai for that.”
The corners of Ian’s lips curled up in a hint of a smile. “But you don’t see Kai until next week, and you’ll have ruined everything by then. You like her.”
Hutch sighed and sat back. “I do. I screwed up with her, and I wonder if that’s why she’s not interested. Maybe a bit of revenge.”
Tag seemed to think about it for a moment. “I doubt that young woman is capable of revenge, but she might be incredibly capable of questioning her own feelings. She’s an intellectual.”
“She’s super smart. You know, I’m not exactly a dummy.” He’d worked hard for his graduate degree. He still studied. He still kept up with new tech and science.
“That’s not what I meant. You’re smart, but I wouldn’t call you an intellectual. After all, you hang out with Boomer.”
Boomer was a nice guy, but he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box. “You think she wouldn’t like my friends?”
“No. I’m saying she’s got a different mindset than you, and that can be a good thing for a couple later on. In the beginning, it can be rough. You trust your instincts. You’ve pretty much never had anything but your instincts to trust.”
He hadn’t had a functional family until he’d joined McKay-Taggart. He’d been on his own for much of his young life. “That’s a fair assessment.”
“But Noelle was raised by two loving parents who divorced and then questioned their every feeling for each other,” Tag explained. “From what Remy tells me it wasn’t exactly an amicable divorce. Then there was the car accident and numerous surgeries. Her trauma was different than yours. She might be more cautious about relationships than you are.”
“I moved too fast.” Yeah, he got that now, but damn it, she’d been there with him.
Tag shrugged. “So slow things down and show her who you are.”
This was not the advice he’d expected from Ian. “I thought you would tell me not to fuck the fucking client.”
He hadn’t been there when Ian had told Adam those words, but they were pretty legendary around the building.
Now Tag smiled, a genuine expression of pure amusement. “Yeah, if I did that there would be way less kid drama.” He leaned in. “Charlie is usually right about these things. I know your history has taught you that if someone rejects you, it’s time to walk away. But sometimes the right one is worth fighting for. You’re a good man, Hutch. You are solid and true. Do you think she’s worth risking some heartache for? By the way, the heartache will come one way or another. Even in a good marriage. Even in a marriage that works in every way. There are little hurts and heartaches because we’re human.”
“Are you and Charlotte…” He couldn’t even stand the thought.
Ian shook his head. “We’re the parents of five kids. Sometimes we have to focus on them and put our marriage in that second-tier spot. I know that intellectually. The rest of me gets jealous even of my kids, who I adore. Don’t worry. I have plans to show Charlie she’s still my sub. What I’m saying is you already made a decision about Noelle.”
“And she made one about me.”
“Did she?” Tag asked. “You said she still wanted to sleep with you.”
She’d made herself plain. “She wants to use me as stress relief or something.”
Big Tag’s head fell back and he groaned. “God, I should have let Theo take this one.” He looked Hutch’s way. “Dude, this is not the time to clutch your pearls. You’ve trained for this moment. You’ve seduced woman after woman after woman, and many of them in places that go against all standards for comfortable fucking. This is your time, Hutch. Wrap that well-trained dick of yours and get on the field because it’s go time.”
He was confused. “You’re telling me I should have sex with her.”
“I’m telling you to fuck her until she can’t possibly fuck another man because you make her so happy, she wouldn’t think of it. She’s smart, but women think with their nether regions, too. Make her pussy happy. Don’t be a super douche outside the bedroom. Be better, hotter, cooler than her training Dom.”
The idea of her having a training Dom at all was enough to make his fists clench. He wasn’t used to this feeling. “I offered to train her privately.”
Tag pointed his way. “Ah, you were a jealous asshole. That’s cool. I get that. Shove it to the side because it’s not going to help your case. You two had a fight about this?”
“I don’t know that I would call it a fight.” He’d gone into retreat mode pretty damn quick.
“Good. Then when you see her tonight, tell her you want what’s best for her and you moved too fast. Tell her it’s great to be friends. Then be the best boyfriend she’s ever had. She’ll figure it out if you give her time and don’t let your butt hurt too much.”
“So lie to her?”
Tag’s eyes rolled. “It’s not lying. You’re going to be friends with her. You’re also going to be sneaky and slip in under all those careful walls she’s built. This is a mission, brother.”
He was getting hyped up. What Tag was saying made sense. Noelle was guarded, and he hadn’t taken that into account. “Okay. A mission.”
“You are going to get in there and convince that woman that against all odds and all her very real concerns, she should jump into a relationship with you. Because you’re Hutch and you can not only fix her computer, you can fix her pussy.”
“Uh, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her pussy, actually.” It was kind of his favorite pussy of all time, and he already missed it.
“Oh, yes there was,” Tag corrected. “It was empty, and you are the horndog who can fill it.”
He groaned and let his head hit the desk as Tag continued on like a BDSM coach facing the Super Bowl of submission or something.
But Tag was right about one thing. He was giving up too easily.
Noelle was worth the work.
And he couldn’t leave her alone with Kyle. He might have to protect her from his own partner.
* * * *
“You feeling okay?” Pete asked.
She looked up from the latest data and saw that hours had passed. It was almost time to go home. She’d been able to lose herself in an experiment and the gold mine of data she’d gotten from it. She’d briefly forgotten about the horrible
morning with Hutch. But she wasn’t about to get into that with Pete. He’d done enough for her in the last few days. “I’m great. How about you?”
He stared pointedly at the black crutches she was using today. Her cane was often a neon blinking sign that said I’m different, but the heavy crutches really got the point across. “You sure about that?”
“I tweaked my back. I’ll be fine in a day or two.” She hoped she was okay by Thursday night. She hated the thought of joining her class like that.
Like what? Like herself? The cane and crutches and chair were a part of her. People would either accept her or they wouldn’t.
Hutch had seemed to accept her. He’d been the kind of Dom her aunt talked about. The lifestyle, according to Lisa, was open to all types of people, and no one would blink at her cane. It wasn’t like a trendy nightclub where only pretty people were welcome.
That wasn’t supposed to be true at Sanctum.
Hutch seemed to think she was pretty.
Seemed? He’d told her time and time again the night before that he thought she was gorgeous.
She had to stop thinking about that man. He’d made it plain this morning that they were over since she wasn’t willing to drop her whole world because they’d spent a night in bed together.
The best night. A night she was never going to forget.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Pete sat down beside her. “I spent some time with the legal department.”
“I’ve got a meeting this afternoon.” It was only to be expected. She had to file paperwork about the incident with several of the departments. She’d already talked to security and then HR. She hoped Jessica herself forgot about wanting to speak to her.
“You know they’re going to want you to sign away your rights to sue,” Pete pointed out.
The legal department of Genedyne worked a lot of overtime. “I thought I did that when I hired on.”
“She’ll want more. She’ll want you to say you took the chance, and she’s not responsible for anything.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know that I can blame her for this. I don’t think we should change the gym protocols or anything. It would suck to have to key into the locker room from the gym. And honestly, whoever it was likely would have found a way. I’m not sure it was about me. I think I might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
She didn’t truly think that, but she and Hutch had decided to play it this way. She didn’t want to draw more attention to herself by being the chick with all the conspiracy theories.
Especially since she was starting to believe at least one of them was true.
Whoever had been in the locker room had only looked through two lockers. Hers and Madison’s. What was the connection? She was missing something, but she couldn’t figure out what. All the pieces were there, but she couldn’t make them fit yet.
“Well, it’s definitely her responsibility that the security cameras were out,” Pete mused. “I find that very convenient.”
She did, too, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point. Hutch might be able to tell if someone deliberately turned them off or if they failed, like she was being told.
“Well, I was glad I was there to let that man of yours through,” Pete admitted. “I think he would have kicked the door in if I hadn’t. Why was his brother up in the executive offices earlier? That was his brother, right? I met him last night.”
“Kyle, yes.” She understood the story she was supposed to tell. “He’s recently out of the military and came up here to look for work. Jessica took a liking to him.”
“You mean Jessica got a look at him,” Pete corrected.
She gave him a faint smile. “Yes. I’m afraid she did.”
She couldn’t laugh about it after the stories Hutch had told her.
Except they weren’t stories. They were his life. He’d had to survive all of it. He’d survived a lot in his life, and he still seemed open and happy. Until she’d told him she was taking that class. Then he’d looked hurt, and he’d shut down to the point that they’d barely spoken again.
Would he even be there this evening? Or would he leave her with Kyle and go on about his life?
“Well, I can’t blame her. He’s hot. Have you warned him that women can be sexual harassers, too?” Pete asked.
“I think he’s going in with his eyes open,” she replied. She glanced over, and her whole staff seemed to be standing at attention. Her science geeks who usually were hunched over their laptops or peering at their ongoing experiments were standing tall.
“This the new data?” Pete looked at her screen. “Damn. That’s an excellent save ratio. That’s ten percent more than standard now.”
She nodded, her eyes on the room outside. This part of the lab was separated by floor-to ceiling glass walls. It was all very modern and allowed her to see over the whole space without being distracted by chatter. “Yes. It’s promising.”
She was about to turn her attention back to him and start the discussion of how to replicate those results with other devices when she caught sight of why her techs looked like a bunch of deer in the presence of a lion.
Lioness.
Jessica Layne strode through the lab, her chic, icy blonde bob barely moving, as though her hair knew to behave or else. She wore a designer sheath that showed off how toned she was and heels that brought her to the same height as most of the taller men around her.
She ignored all the techs gawking at her and seemed to be looking for someone.
Noelle.
And Jessica wasn’t alone. Kyle walked behind her, his shoulders straight and eyes taking in everything. He had a Bluetooth device in his ear.
Well, that hadn’t taken long. Jessica was normally accompanied by a bodyguard or two. Noelle noted that her normal bodyguard was standing right outside the lab. She wondered if he minded being replaced by the brand-new guy.
Kyle nodded her way as Jessica reached the door. He moved in front of his new boss, opening it for her, and she breezed in.
“Hello, Noelle.” Jessica glanced around the lab as though taking stock. “I was hoping you had time for a brief chat. Peter, you are not needed here.”
Yep, that was her boss. Always a charmer.
“Of course.” Pete slid his bag over his shoulder and gave Noelle a look that told her he wished her good luck. “See you tomorrow.”
The door closed with Kyle on the other side.
So they were alone. It was disconcerting, and she realized how much she’d longed to avoid this. She’d never wanted to be a rock star like Madison, who’d partied with the big boss and got a bunch of shout-outs on socials from her. Nope. Noelle had been more than happy to keep her head down and play with her helium.
“Ms. Layne,” she replied.
“Please, call me Jessica. We’re all friends here at Genedyne.” She moved in and looked down at the laptop and then back up at Noelle. “Are those numbers right?”
She didn’t need to get ahead of herself. “It’s the first data we’ve got with the new procedures. I need to replicate it about a hundred times before I can write it up.”
Jessica was back to staring at the data. “I’m going to need you to forward your protocols to me. You can start writing it up now. I know you won’t publish it until we’ve got all the backing data, but I want to get ahead of this. There are a couple of people working on something similar, and I want the patent first.”
Of course she did because whoever got that patent controlled the tech and reaped the benefits. Jessica would make sure that was Genedyne. Noelle would get the credit and a nice bonus, but more importantly she would get the reputation she needed to move into a slower-paced university setting. She didn’t like how cutthroat the corporate world could be. “Sure. I’ve got enough notes that I can write up something pretty comprehensive this week.”
“I want it by Monday.” Jessica stood back up. “This is impressive, Noelle. I know it’s not as showy as some work being done here, but th
is is a moneymaker, and I like a moneymaker. You make this work and there’s real potential for you to move up and fast.”
She’d moved up as high as she wanted to at Genedyne. People who found themselves in executive offices soon learned all that luxury came at a price. Still, she wasn’t about to tell her boss she was using this highly sought-after job to find one many people would consider lesser. “That would be great, but I want to make sure everything is solid first.”
Jessica leaned against Noelle’s desk. “Of course. We can’t cut corners, but we do need to ensure that we’re first in line.” She gestured back to the door. “I think your boyfriend’s brother should be out of your hair soon. He said he was staying at your place.”
“Yes. He and Hutch came back from Louisiana with me. Hutch already has a job, but Kyle was looking. I take it you hired him.”
“Oh, on the spot. He’s exactly what I’m looking for in a bodyguard,” Jessica replied. “I’ve got an interview with Rolling Stone next week. They’re writing an article about the new goddesses of the tech world. Kyle will look good in the background. He won’t actually start getting paid for two weeks, but after that I’ll show him around, help him look for a place.”
She bet Jessica would. “Good. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”
“So, I heard something went wrong last night in the locker room.” Jessica’s gaze focused on her, eyes going steely. “Any idea who wanted to hurt you?”
The question came as a surprise since she hadn’t told the security team she thought the attack was anything but a botched robbery attempt. She’d been specific in telling them she thought it was a random thing. “I don’t think anyone wanted to hurt me. I think whoever it was wanted to rifle through the lockers. I know some people keep things in there like their handbags and jewelry. Some people store wireless earbuds and personal equipment.”
“I specifically tell people not to keep any valuables in there,” Jessica shot back. “I’ll have to reiterate that. So you didn’t think it was odd that the only other locker that appeared to be touched was Madison’s?”
Why had Jessica read the reports? Also, Noelle hadn’t mentioned that she’d recognized that the locker that was open was Madison’s. She’d left that out, only talking about her own.
