Breaching His Defenses - Allyson Lindt (best short novels .TXT) š
- Author: Allyson Lindt
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The night before had been the perfect addition to her memories. Sexy guy who just happened to be an idol of hers, tons of fun, and wowā¦some sizzling mental souvenirs. The only regret she hadāand she didnāt usually do regretsāwas that she hadnāt been more up front about who she was. Sheād assumed he knew, but maybe she should have made sure.
She smoothed out the polo shirt with her company logo on it, grabbed her exhibitorās badge for the trade show and her purse, and left her hotel room behind her. Time to see more of Vegas, even if a lot of her view would be from the confines of a trade show booth.
It was her first time in the city of lights and though she was there for business, she was going to take every free chance she could to at least see the part of the strip their hotel and the convention center were on. When sheād wandered the shops the day before at Caesarās Palace, sheād spotted the perfect place for breakfast. Now it could also provide a few more minutes for her to drift in the memories of last night. She and Jared had had undeniable chemistry on stage, and he was bandwidth-choking hot.
Her body flushed at the memories. Sheād probably never do something like that again, which was all the more reason to relish the images seared in her mind.
The cafe looked like most sheād seen in her lifeātreats under glass, the smell of coffee in the air, and eclectic furniture. But it was nestled in the middle of a hotel and that made it awesome as far as she was concerned.
āMichaela.ā The staccato word cut through all the noise, like Styrofoam on Styrofoam. She hated her real name, and she only knew one person who refused to call her anything else. He insisted it was professional. Playtimeās over. Bossmanās in town.
She pasted on a smile and turned toward Hayden. He was attractive and as clean cut as sheād ever seen a person. Close-cropped, dark blond hair, broad shoulders, and doing a decent job of hiding he was almost forty. And his suit ensured heād blend in with all the retail store owners they were about to mingle withābeige, pressed, and plain.
He was the senior vice president of the team she worked for. She couldnāt imagine wanting to climb that high on the corporate ladder. Boring. His father owned NetSafe Systems, a company built on creating everything digital one could imagine for retail stores. Websites, shopping carts, point of sale software. Their group offered ethical hacks to companies with website security concerns.
Her job specificallyāand the best job ever, in her opinionāwas to try from every angle possible to break into a companyās website or network, and then tell them how to keep people like her from doing it again.
Which was the only reason she was okay with being reminded regularly to put on a polite face for the public. This was her dream job, and NSS was one of the two top firms in the country. Jaredās was the other. Okay, so it wasnāt his company, but stillā¦ Heat shimmered through her as more memories and fantasies teased her.
She would have liked a few more minutes alone with her thoughts, but she couldnāt completely brush off her boss. Especially on a business trip. She grabbed her food and crossed the short distance to the table heād secured.
āI hope you werenāt too bored last night,ā he asked as he toed out a spare chair for her.
She dropped into the wooden seat. Sometimes it felt like he asked too many questions, but most of the time she was pretty sure he was just making small talk. Not that the details of her night before mattered in the grand scope of work. She hadnāt missed anything, and she was awake and alert this morning. Besides, the question reminded her things had ended much better than sheād expected. āI kept myself occupied.ā
More memories flashed through her head. Jaredās hands on her legs, roughly shoving her skirt up. Heat flooded her skin and she tucked the pleasant thoughts aside before she could fall into them.
āGlad to hear it.ā
He riffled through the laptop bag resting next to his leg and pulled out a magazine. A whisper of relief flitted through her. Small talk was fine most days, but this morning she had other things on her mind.
All her other thoughts evaporated when she saw his reading material. Staring back at her from the cover were Jared and his two friends from the bar, the headline proclaiming them the corporate dream team that was Skriddie Bust Media.
She couldnāt pull her attention from the photo. The three had made their company a name. Vivian Graf was director of operations, Tate Foster was director of sales, and Jared Tippins rounded out the trio as director of technology. Her cheeks warmed, and a pleasant tingle crept through her. Sheād really hooked up with him.
āHey.ā Hayden had set down the magazine and was staring at her. āEarth to Michaela. Did you just check out?ā
āIām good.ā She swallowed, not able to push away the distracting fantasies tripping through her thoughts.
Sheād heard stories in collegeāand afterāof the legend that was Jared. A decade ago, heād been her ageātwenty three, when heād built one of the biggest, baddest-ass security systems corporate America had ever seen. Heād been some kind of genius savant back in his day, before heād traded it all for a suit and an impressive title.
Hayden looked between her and the picture, and his eyebrows rose. āIāll do you a favor right now, not as your boss, but as a friend. Heās not your type, Michaela. Trust me. He likes his women with a digital voice and a square shell.ā
A cloud drifted across the vivid images painted across her thoughts. There was that. According to Hayden, Jared was the industryās version of a monkāmore interested in machines than dating. In fact, those were frequently the exact words Hayden used to describe him. Except, that didnāt mesh with the man sheād met the night before. āYouāre exaggerating.ā
He set the magazine down and locked a steady gaze on her. āIt doesnāt matter if I am or not. Iāll remind you once because Iād hate to see you destroy your career before it even startsākeep your distance from these guys.ā
She had a list of things that irritated Hayden, but she hadnāt ever expected to have to add āDonāt sleep with Jared Tippinsā to it. She tried to be subtle about inhaling deeply. It didnāt get rid of the memories, but it did mute her bodyās reaction. She wouldnāt blurt out sheād already crossed that line, but couldnāt hide all of her irritation at his professional advice. āIām pretty sure my contract doesnāt delve into who I can and canāt talk to.ā
āDoes conflict of interest mean anything to you?ā
Oh. That. Hayden had made it clear what he thought of corporate espionage, or any violation, real or perceived, of the non-disclosure agreement all employees signed. In fact, heād spelled it out for her during the later stages of her interview. After heād fired the guy whoād made hacking the Skriddie systems network a part of her technology test even though the interviewer told her she was still on NSS systems.
Hayden had reiterated his, and the companyās, zero tolerance policy about the ethics of spying on the competition. Heād also driven home that Skriddie would probably demand her head when they found out sheād committed such a serious transgression as breaching their security just to get a job, unless he smoothed things over first.
She turned her attention to her breakfast, keeping her tone casual. āYou want a dictionary definition of each word?ā
āYou kill me sometimes, you know? Slay me dead.ā He pointed at the magazine cover. āLook, Iām not trying to be a wet blanket. This is standard stuff.ā Concern edged his kind tone. āThey were furious when I told them what you did, and steering clear of them is going to make your life less stressful. I just want you to avoid any unpleasant situations.ā
She frowned at the reminder she might have pissed off someone at Skriddie and gave her full attention to her food. Six months, and sheād almost managed to put the entire thing out of her mind. Hoped the situation might just evaporate. Talk about a buzzkill. āI get it. Thanks.ā
āAre you ready for the panel this morning?ā
Good. A neutral topic. Dull as hell, but neutral. āIām set.ā She redirected her thoughts to work-related subjects. āI pulled anything that could be considered interestingāsorry, proprietaryāfrom the slides.ā
An unpleasant thought joined Haydenās warning. If Jared had known who she was last night, would he have had a different reaction to her? What if he was still angry about what sheād done?
Professional people didnāt hold grudges like that, right? He was way too mature to do something like resent her just because sheād found a teeny, tinyā¦okay, fairly significant hole in their security when she wasnāt even supposed to be on their network. Besides, at least sheād found it before someone else. And Hayden had made sure they knew about it. There should be some forgiveness for that, right?
Still, conflict of interest. Not that it was Haydenāsāor anyone elseāsābusiness who she did or didnāt sleep with.
Images and sensations teased back in response to her mental question. Jaredās breath on her skin, his teeth digging into her shoulder, his hands gripping her hips. No regrets. She just had to keep it quiet.
Jaredās sneakers thwapped against the rubber of the treadmill, the sound filling the hotel gym with a rhythmic pulse. The beat echoed in his skull and with images of the night before. Heād had enough impulsiveness to last him the next year, but it had been worth it.
The sensations from the bar still teased him. Her heady scent, the rainbow of sounds sheād made, and the carefree attitude always dancing behind her eyes.
āEver stop to wonder why youāre the only person in here at seven a.m.?ā Tateās jab shattered Jaredās rambling thoughts.
āNope. Never even considered it.ā He couldnāt help the tiny smile that slipped out. He owed Tate a thank you for ditching him the night before. Or maybe āgiving him some roomā was a more appropriate way to put it. He continued runningāno reason to interrupt his daily routineābut did set the speed slower so he could talk and jog at the same time.
āOf course not.ā Tate used a nearby wall for support and took a long swallow from his oversized coffee. āThen youād have to admit your routine is boring and predictable.ā
āPredictable and consistent,ā Jared corrected him. āUnlike, oh, say, abandoning your buddy in a bar after you suggested we drink all night.ā
Tate snorted. āRight. Because youāre so torn up about that.ā
Jared couldnāt suppress his grin. The expression had to be a dead giveaway about what happened. āIf youād rather have hit up the tables, you should have said so before we left.ā
āI have to do something to make sure they give me the room again next trip.ā
Jared doubted that. For as much money as Tate dropped on high-roller tables every time they were in town, he was pretty sure the guy had a lifetimeās worth of comp in the luxury suites. Once upon a time, the way Tate went through his fatherās money had been a sore spot between them. Now that Jared had his own cashāeven though he still couldnāt justify twenty-five hundred dollars a hand for pokerāit didnāt faze him the same way. āSo really, you should be thanking me.ā
Tate laughed. āI donāt think so. And for the record, if Iād known youād get that kind of response, Iād have gone up there myself. Next time, youāre forcing me onto stage and playing wingman.ā
āIāve never stopped you in the past.ā
āWhatever. Speaking of your velvet-voiced siren, did she spill anything good? It would serve Hayden right after the bullshit heās already pulling today. I ran into him in the lobby, and he spent fifteen minutes trying to get me to slip
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