Breaching His Defenses - Allyson Lindt (best short novels .TXT) 📗

Jared’s fingers twitched toward the slew of jumbled shot glasses on the shelf in front of him. He shouldn’t be browsing the gift shop of the hotel he was staying in; he should be on the same conference call as his best friend and business associate, helping to wrap up the biggest sale they’d had in their sights in months. He could have listened in. Just this once. Kept himself on mute and not said anything.

Compulsion won out, and he turned back to the shelf of shot glasses. His fingers flew across the rims and, within seconds, the entire section was a series of straight, neat lines.

He exhaled loudly. Okay, so maybe he couldn’t have listened quietly on the phone and kept his mouth shut.

And none of this junk would make a good souvenir for his sister. She’d asked for something simple, but everyone brought back tiny trinkets from Las Vegas. He was halfway to the gift shop exit when a tucked-away display caught his attention. The digital photo frames were tacky as hell, trimmed with gaudy, gold Greek temples, and was that supposed to be a crown of leaves? Alyssia’s entire desk was lined with photos. It was perfect.

Great. A line at the checkout. His toes tapped a tuneless beat inside his shoes as he waited for his turn to pay. At least waiting would give him something else to think about for a couple of seconds longer.

He couldn’t help checking his watch as he stepped from the store. He’d killed six minutes and fifty-four seconds.

Tate, Vivian, and he would be heading to dinner as soon as the call was done. His associates were staying in the same hotel. But until then, Jared’s schedule was open. Time to sequester myself in my room and get some work done. He’d get back to the proposal sitting in his briefcase for new call center hardware. Answer the emails with red exclamation points on them that had come in during his flight.

His gaze tripped around the lobby as he pulled out his phone and unlocked it. People came and went. The couple checking in, she with silver hair cropped short, he in jeans and a T-shirt and probably thirty years younger, spent more time gazing at each other than looking at anyone else. Even across the room their adoration was almost tangible.

Too bad it won’t last. People never took the time to figure out their own oddities before they hooked up with another person, but over the years, he’d managed to assemble a solid algorithm of what did and didn’t work for him when considering a personal relationship.

He didn’t expect perfection from a significant other, but there was no reason the relationship couldn’t be flawless. The math was there to support it, as long as the variables were right. In a way it was harsh, but it hadn’t let him down yet.

A twinge of envy echoed in his chest as he pulled his attention away from the loving couple, aka pending heartbreak. His eyes grew wide when his gaze landed on the woman whose black hair—complete with a Kool-Aid red streak down one side—just brushed her jaw.

Back to your hotel room. Work awaits. But the woman had his attention, and his feet refused to move. Even from this distance, she screamed chaos in a way that made his fingers twitch with the need to bring order. And at the same time, he couldn’t stop staring.

 Her hot pink T-shirt draped off one shoulder, exposing a strap of the black tank top underneath, and her messenger bag hugged her body enough to highlight perky breasts and round hips. Her lips moved as her gaze traveled the tablet in her hands. She glanced up occasionally when she swiped the screen, and then went back to whatever had her so engrossed.

Beautiful. The thought caught him off guard. It was true, her face was attractive and her bag enhanced every seductive curve, but something else had captivated him. He studied her a little longer as she shuffled at half-speed toward an unknown destination. It was the intensity she read her tablet with. Her gaze and focus were enthralling.

Being able to pay attention was an important quality in any individual. Not that he was keeping track. Even if his thoughts were taunting him with images of stripping her shirt off and exploring her bare skin. He had way too much work to do this trip to deal with something like base lust.

He turned toward the elevator.

He exhaled as he stepped into a waiting car. Don’t think about the call. You’ve got other work to do. Like making sure this sale and the next aren’t repeats of those in the past.

His eyes grew wide when the woman with the tablet stepped through the closing doors, only looking up long enough to push a number on the control panel. The elevator sealed them off from the rest of the world, and she continued to stare at the device in her hands.

What’s she reading that’s so fascinating? He inched a step closer and peered over her shoulder. The faint scent of citrus teased him and kicked his pulse up a notch. His mouth twisted in ambivalence when he saw what had her attention. “You know none of that’s accurate, right?”

He hid his wince. This was why he didn’t talk to anyone on sales calls except the technical people.

She spun, eyes almost as dark as the eyeliner rimming them taking a moment to focus on his face. Her confusion vanished in a smirk.

“Which bit of it?” Between words, she clacked something against her teeth. A barbell—she had her tongue pierced. There was absolutely nothing logical about the accessory. But knowing as much didn’t stop the blood from draining from his head and racing toward his lower extremities. She traced the metal ball along the back of her teeth, gaze never leaving his face.

His thoughts teased him with images of what it would be like to feel the piercing in other places, and his cock twitched in response. Down, boy. Don’t go there. “The entire article.” She hadn’t balked at his comment. Might as well push the subject.

She glanced at the device in her hands, as if she’d forgotten it was there, and then back at him.

Completely captivating gaze.

“I think you’re being a bit extreme.” She tapped her nails on the edge of the frame, attention locked on him. “You can’t tell me things like gateways, the NSA, and the deep web don’t exist.”

A shimmer of appreciation pinged inside him. She was reading tech and had been absorbed by it. Sexy. He couldn’t think of a better word for it. Except it didn’t make the information any more correct.

 “I’m not saying they don’t exist. Just not in that capacity. It’s a sensationalist article meant to strike an irrational fear into people.” He knew better than to unleash his unfiltered thoughts on the general public, but something about the challenge in her expression told him she didn’t mind. It wasn’t as though he was trying to extend the conversation. Or maybe he was just a little.

The car came to a stop, and the door slid open on what he assumed was her floor. Attention never leaving his face, she reached behind her and pressed the Door Open button. “That’s the point.”

He needed to cut this conversation short. Too bad his mouth didn’t agree. “To read something that’s wrong?”

She dropped her tablet into her messenger bag, eyes never leaving his for more than a few seconds. “Someone obviously thinks it’s true. Which means there’s value in being able to plainly state why it’s not possible, and knowing if it actually is.”

“But that’s why computers are fantastic. Only so many possibilities exist, and the things they mention in the article—” he nodded at her tablet, “—aren’t on the list.”

“Not yet, anyway. I love this place, you know?”

The circuits in his head tripped and stumbled, trying to keep up with the conversation. Time to regain control. “I’m not seeing the connection to the Wired article.”

“No connection. It’s my first time here, so I’m still awestruck. It’s amazing, right? All the lights, the people, the energy.”

Now he had enough information to switch tracks and fall back into the discussion. “It’s fixed odds, careless dreams, and when it’s light outside, really dirty.”

What was wrong with him? Besides the fact he couldn’t get a handle on this woman and his fantasy was still running rampant, having now stripped her down to her panties. Did she taste