by Lexi Blake
But someone had noticed.
“Was hers gone through? I thought it was only mine.”
Jessica stared at her for a long moment as though trying to discern whether or not she was lying. “Well, I suppose you were flustered at the time. No. From what security was able to tell, the two lockers our attacker was interested in were yours and Madison’s. I should have been able to immediately find out who the fucker was, but something happened to my CCTV cams. They managed to go out on that floor for ten whole minutes. The outage affected the floor above and below. Security tells me they can’t even be sure who went up or down the stairs. I’ve got a list of people who were still in the building, but it seems like an odd coincidence.”
“Yes.” She couldn’t disagree with her. “Whoever was in that locker room obviously took out the cameras.”
“See, that doesn’t sound like someone looking to steal some AirPods or trying to slip a twenty into his pocket. That seems more serious to me, Noelle.”
She felt like she was walking through a field covered in land mines. “I can see why it would, but I have no idea why anyone would go through my locker, much less Madison’s. I thought it was cleaned out after the accident.”
“It was. Every place Madison Wallace touched has been thoroughly cleaned out. I wouldn’t want to be accused of holding anything back from the investigators.” Jessica sighed. “I’m going to tell you something in confidence, Noelle, and I need you to understand that it should stay between us.”
Yep. She was close to one exploding in her face. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
Jessica ignored her. “Madison was a corporate spy. She was working with someone on the outside to steal our research here. I was too kind to her. I got close, and she even stole some of my own research, and I believe she was planning to pass it off as her own.”
This was new information, though certainly not the first time Jessica had accused another researcher of attempting to steal her work. It made Noelle real damn happy Jessica wasn’t a chemist and didn’t do any research in that area. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You can see why we’ve kept pretty quiet about her death,” Jessica replied. “It’s being investigated thoroughly by the authorities because I suspect Madison was trying to auction off my research and got into trouble.”
“You don’t think it was an accident?”
Jessica shrugged as though they were talking about something meaningless and not a potential murder. “I think Madison was sloppy, so it could have been exactly that, but we have to make sure there wasn’t foul play. Did she send you anything before she died? There’s some evidence that she knew we were onto her and that she might have tried to smuggle the research out in different ways.”
Noelle shook her head. “Oh, Madison and I were not friends. In any way. She was a bully and I was one of her favorite victims, but that was the extent of our relationship.”
Jessica frowned. “Why would she bully you?”
“There was a wealth she chose from. The cane and crutches. The extra five pounds I carry at all times. She didn’t like the way I dress.”
Jessica shrugged. “You could stand to wear some more color, but I’m sorry about the rest of it. She was always nice to me. I thought that was how she was to everyone. I can be naïve at times. I want to see the best in people.”
Yes, she could see how this Jessica could be dangerous. She seemed friendly.
Jessica’s tone went low, almost sympathetic. “She was probably jealous of you.”
“I don’t see why she would be.”
“Because she knew you’re going to make bank for this company. She might work on flashier projects, but everyone knows it’s minds like yours who bring in investors, who fuel the other projects. You might not change the world with the helium project, but you’re going to make it easier for doctors to use the diagnostic machines they need, to pay for that use. You’re making a real difference,” she said.
Yep, now she remembered why she’d been excited in the beginning. She’d seen only this side of her boss. “Thank you. I’m grateful to have the backing of Genedyne. But to your question, no. She didn’t send me anything. Our lockers were across from each other. Maybe they got confused.”
She doubted it. But she also didn’t understand why anyone would think Madison might leave her something.
But she might have been setting her up to take a fall.
That thought sent a chill through her, and she had the sudden and deep desire to talk to Hutch. Her father would immediately panic and make a move to protect her at all costs. If she talked to Cara, she would probably be told she was being paranoid.
Hutch would talk to her. Well, he would have talked to her. This was about the case, though. Perhaps he would have to talk to her, and she could come to some understanding of why he’d gotten upset.
You know why he got upset. He got upset because he felt what you did, and he wanted to go with it. He wanted to go all in, and you couldn’t trust it.
She still couldn’t. This wasn’t a feeling she could trust. She was in danger and he was safe. He was pretty much her perfect man, and she hadn’t even realized what she wanted until she’d met him.
No one fell for a person this quickly. It never worked.
“I need you to let me know if anything else happens,” Jessica was saying. “We need to keep everything quiet because the last thing we want is publicity. You understand that we need our investors to know we’re a solid company.”
“Of course.” She needed to think about everything that had been said. There was something more going on here. “We are a solid company.”
Jessica’s smile went bright, and she stood again. “We are. All right. You can meet with legal tomorrow. Why don’t you head home and get some rest? I’m excited about this new experiment.” She turned to the door. “Are you sure you want the geeky one? Don’t get me wrong. He’s cute, but his brother is divine.”
She followed Jessica’s gaze and then her heart skipped a beat because Hutch was standing in the outer lab talking to Kyle. He was wearing jeans and sneakers and a T-shirt that said something snarky, she was sure. His hair was a bit long and he brushed it back, showing off those ridiculously strong arms of his.
He might not be as showy as Kyle, but she’d seen him naked and knew how demanding the man could be in the best of ways.
His eyes caught hers, and a stunning smile crossed his face.
“Nope. He’s the one I want,” she said, wishing that she could actually have him. But she wasn’t stupid. They came from completely different worlds. Maybe somewhere down the road they would find themselves at Sanctum and she would be ready for someone like him.
Of course, he would have moved on by then.
Jessica waved him in. “Well, I suppose I should be grateful for that. Kyle, I’m going back up to the office. I’ve got a date tonight, so you can knock off early. Bentley can take me upstairs.”
Hutch walked straight up to Noelle, his eyes warm on hers. “Hey, baby. I missed you all day. I hope you don’t mind me coming by. I wanted to head home with you.”
She would have said something, but his hands were on her and then those lush lips of his were covering her own, and he wasn’t holding back. The night before rushed into her brain in vivid clarity, and every hormone in her body flared to life. By the time he stepped back, she was completely breathless.
“Okay, maybe I get it.” Jessica winked her way before turning. “Don’t forget that report.”
The door closed and Hutch’s face fell.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I thought I should…” he began.
It was for their cover. Of course. It was all for their cover, and at least now she knew he wasn’t going to leave her high and dry. “It’s okay. I understand. She was watching.”
“Pretty much everyone is watching,” Kyle said with a frown. “So could we not fight again?”
Hutch gave her a sad smile. “We’re not going to fight at all. Noelle,
I’m sorry for how I acted this morning. I…turns out I’m fond of you and far more capable of feeling jealousy than I thought I was. I moved too fast, and I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends.”
Wasn’t that exactly what she wanted? So why did the idea of being friends with him feel like a letdown? “Of course. I would like that a lot.”
“Good. Then maybe the third time will be the charm.”
Third time? She supposed it was. “Friends then.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Kyle said under his breath.
Hutch gave her a nod. “Friends. Now kiss me again, friend, because we’ve got a fake relationship to maintain. Let’s head back to your place and I’ll cook us all some supper and we can talk about what we learned today.”
She glanced over and most of her techs were staring into the room as though they couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing. Didn’t think she could get a date, huh? Well, she mostly couldn’t, but she’d gotten Hutch. She wished there had been a way to keep him. She brushed her lips against his and then put her laptop in her bag.
Hutch picked it up. “I’ll take this. And I think I saw some chocolate chips in your pantry. Any way I could convince you to make some cookies? I’ve got a sweet tooth.”
What else are you offering me, Noelle? Or was that sugar all I get from you?
She forced herself to smile. “I would love to. And thanks for making dinner. I appreciate it. I have a lot to tell you.”
When he handed her the braces, she took them and he fell into step beside her with the ease of a man used to measuring his gait, to adapting to the people around him.
Could he adapt to her?
He moved ahead to get the door for her, and she wondered if being friends with Hutch wouldn’t be even worse for her heart than being nothing at all.
Chapter Nine
Hours later, Hutch set the glass of wine in front of Noelle and looked to Cara, who had shown up shortly after dinner and who might be the damn reason he didn’t get cookies tonight. “You two need anything else?”
Cara was sitting across from Noelle on the couch and shook her head. “No, just some privacy, please.”
She did not like him. Noelle looked his way, though, her cheeks a bit flushed.
“Sorry.”
He leaned over and laid a kiss on her forehead. “It’s not a problem. I’m going to take that bottle of Scotch I bought and sit out on the balcony with my brother. He had a big day.”
That flush on her face had deepened, likely going from being embarrassed to a little aroused. He should be pissed that Cara had shown up, but it gave him a chance to kiss her. He’d had to pull back when the three of them were alone, had to play the nice guy instead of the ruthless Dom who’d found his sub and meant to make her his.
She nodded his way. “Thanks for dinner. It was delicious, and I’ll get those cookies going as soon as possible.”
He winked. “I look forward to some more of your sugar, baby.”
Yep, it was definitely one of the two—arousal or embarrassment—because the blush rushed down her neck, spreading almost to the tops of her breasts. “You’re a terrible man.”
Arousal won. She’d said the words with the sweetest smile that let him know she wasn’t thinking about cookies.
Nope. Tag had been right. This was far from over. Their chemistry was off the charts and still quite alive, despite Noelle’s trepidation. She didn’t think she could trust this crazy first-sight thing, so he was going to give her a whole lot more time to make the right decision. This war wouldn’t be won by him retreating.
Not that Cara looked like she was willing to come down on the side of quickie commitment. That woman was still staring a hole through him as he grabbed the Scotch and two glasses and walked to the balcony.
“He should be careful out there. I heard someone is now throwing clothes off their balcony,” Cara huffed. “There was a pair of underwear in the oak tree. What is this place coming to?”
He managed to not snort as he heard Noelle sputter. He quickly slid the balcony door closed and joined Kyle, who was leaning against the balcony railing.
“Hey, I have good news and bad news.” Hutch set the bottle on the table.
“Oh, I always want the bad news first.” Kyle stared down at the street before.
It did not surprise Hutch in the least that Kyle was a bad-news-first kind of guy. “Cara apparently hates the two of us, me in particular.”
“That’s not bad news.”
Hutch had more. “And our downstairs detective is probably working undercover with the feds.”
That got Kyle to turn around. “Are you serious? Shouldn’t that have been the lead, man? You’ve had hours to tell me that and you spent it cooking and seducing a woman you’ve already been to bed with?”
Well, he had to seduce her if he wanted to get back into bed with her. There was a logical reason he hadn’t mentioned what Tag had uncovered to Noelle. “Taylor’s investigating someone, and I can’t be sure it’s not Noelle.”
Kyle’s arms crossed his chest. “If that woman is…” He sighed and shook his head. “No. I’m not going to say that. She could be bad. Anyone can be. She could simply be excellent at covering and a good actress. I’m impressed with you, Hutch. I would have thought you would be that guy who told her because you have feelings for her. I didn’t suspect you would know how to play the game so well.”
Oh, he knew how to play the game, and he knew when someone had no idea any games were being played at all. “Noelle is innocent. I didn’t tell her because I don’t want her to worry about some federal investigation that might or might not be real. Now don’t you want the good news?”
Kyle huffed, a predatory sound. “The Scotch, I assume.”
Hutch poured out two fingers each. He’d started as a beer guy, but his appreciation for a 12-year single malt, as many things in his life, had been taught to him by Big Tag. He’d choked it down the first time and had only tried it again because Tag had seemed so pleased to share it with him.
He was right back to Ian being the father he’d never had. Now he had to navigate this tricky situation for the man. He had to start to get a real handle on who Kyle Hawthorne was.
“Of course.” Hutch passed him a glass. “This is an excellent Scotch.”
Kyle took a long swig. “Yeah, I hear that from my stepdad a lot. He’s all about the Scotch. I can’t tell the difference between Scotch and whiskey. Or bourbon, for that matter. It’s all one long burn to my belly. So, you are a naïve idiot when it comes to women. Crazy doctors aside, of course.”
Most of the military guys saw him that way. He was the funny one, the one who looked younger than he really was, the computer geek. “I’m not naïve. What I am is pretty damn good at figuring out who will hurt me and who won’t. I learned that while I lived on the streets, and then I learned it in prison. I learned it when I was on a CIA team.”
“Then you should know that you can’t be sure of anyone.”
“Of course I can. You’re sure about your family, right? No one could ever say anything to you that would make you doubt your mom?”
Kyle sank down to the sofa. “Of course not, but they’re my family. I’ve known them all my life. This isn’t the same thing at all. My mother and my brother are above any suspicion.”
Hutch noted that he’d left an important person off that list. “You don’t trust your stepfather?”
Kyle shook his head. “Not true. I trust him in a lot of ways. I trust him with my mother, with my brother. With my life. But Sean’s a hard guy still in a lot of ways. I don’t think he trusts me entirely, and that means I can’t totally trust him.”
“Why do you think he doesn’t trust you?”
“That’s a longer story than I’m willing to get into with you because despite your penchant to go deep as fast as you can possibly go, I don’t swim that way. I don’t know you, Hutch.”
He found it interesting what Kyle wasn’t saying. He
trusted Sean with everything but his secrets. He wanted to press but he was good at this, was good at sensing when to take a step back. This was as far as Kyle was willing to go on this subject. “No problem. I’m cool not talking at all. When Cara gets through telling Noelle whatever important information she needs to tell her, we can all head our separate ways for the night.”
Kyle sat for a moment before reaching out and refilling his glass. “What game are you playing with her?”
“Game?”
“Yeah, with Noelle.”
Hutch shook his head. “I’m not playing a game. I’m into her. Way into her. I had all day to think about it and while we moved too fast, I don’t see why we can’t be together at the end of this. So I’m showing off my boyfriend skills.”
A brow arched over Kyle’s eyes. “Are you serious? Because that sounds…”
He honestly didn’t care what anyone thought. Another lesson he’d learned from Tag. The most badass thing he could do was be himself with zero apologies. “It sounds like what, Kyle?”
Kyle seemed to realize he was about to say something offensive and backed off. “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound… Whatever.”
He was not letting Kyle off the hook so easily. “Are you trying to tell me I’m not being masculine?”
Kyle shrugged. “I’m trying to figure out a way to express that without fucking up too badly.”
He could only imagine how a guy like Kyle would handle the situation. “I suppose you would club her over the head and drag her back to your cave.”
“Nope. First of all, I wouldn’t have decided that she was mine after a single night. Second, if she’d turned me down, I would have walked away with some dignity,” Kyle replied.
“Then you haven’t met a woman you truly care about yet.” Hutch wasn’t going to argue about the value of dignity. Or the meaning of the word. He wasn’t sure how fighting for the woman he wanted meant he lost his dignity.
