Chapter Seven

Allison wanted to laugh aloud. Sloan Cartland, the playboy from the District, stood in her kitchen with a panicked look on his face. It was the first thing since the power went out, that had any real humor.

She wanted to enjoy his discomfort—take advantage of it. If Mitchell wasn’t in the next room, she might have done just that. Sloan was smart enough to know she wouldn’t let anything happen to her nephew. However, for just a moment…

“Are you really asking if we can survive without power?”

“Can we?”

“Well…I’m not sure. If we run out of wood to burn and food to eat…” She shrugged. “Our bodies might not be found until spring.”

He swung the flashlight beam directly into her eyes, preventing her from seeing the look on his face, but his deep chuckle put her stomach in a slow roll.

“Okay, that was a bit dramatic.” She could tell he was smiling now. “We’d have enough wood to heat the house if we don’t have to thaw you out, too. But I was serious when I asked if you were prepared.”

Allison grew up in this house. Caroline and Ed had remodeled with a lot of upgrades, including better insulation. They’d be fine.

She sighed, pushed the light out of her face, and gave in to his need for assurance. “The fireplace is designed to heat the entire house, but it will be warmest in the main room. The refrigerated food can be moved to the back porch in a cooler, or outside for that matter. The frozen food should be okay until morning. If the power’s not back on by then, we can move it into the snow, too.”

“What about water?”

“We’ll have cold water unless the pipes freeze. Actually, the biggest problem would be broken pipes. We can avoid that by keeping a trickle running through the faucets.”

“So you’re telling me we should be fine?” His question still indicated a hint of uncertainty.

“If we don’t kill each other first.”

“Very funny.”

“Look, Sloan, I don’t know what you want to hear. A power outage isn’t a crisis, at least not yet. The real emergency is not being able to work on that trace program. Every minute counts. The longer we wait, the more damage the hacker can do. For the time being, we just need something to occupy our time.”

“I can think of a few things we could do to keep busy.” The uncertainty in his voice was gone, and now it dropped to a low seductive timbre.

The comment brought that kiss front and center, along with the reminder to make sure he didn’t breach her personal firewall. “Not happening.”

An eyebrow rose at her warning as though he wanted to take up the challenge. Instead, he switched off the flashlight and darkness settled over the kitchen. The warm glow from the fireplace beckoned. “At least Mitch doesn’t seem to mind.” His observation reminded her they had her nephew to chaperone them through the night.

“Until the batteries on his tablet die.”

“True.” He chuckled again. The sound slid down her spine with a heat that rivaled the burning logs in the fireplace. His shoulders relaxed and he seemed to accept the situation faster than she expected.

In fact, he’d taken in stride almost everything that had happened so far. Maybe he wasn’t quite the spoiled, rich boy she thought he was after all. She put that thought aside. Finding redeeming qualities about Sloan wasn’t helping neutralize her attraction, especially when he stood in her kitchen as though he belonged here.

They walked into the great room. The fire crackled warmly, giving a cozy feel to the whole stranded-in-a-blizzard thing. She’d forgotten how safe she always felt when she was home. Although she’d lived back east for almost a year, her apartment near the District hadn’t yet found a place in her heart.

Allison and Sloan sat on the couch with Mitchell settled comfortably between them playing his Warrior Code game. Staring into the firelight felt a bit too intimate. She was almost relieved when Mitchell broke the silence.

“Damn.”

She stared at her nephew. “What did you just say?”

“I mean, darn.” Mitchell rephrased his expletive.

Sloan chuckled. “What happened?” He looked over at the miniature screen.

“I don’t know the next code word to get past the Guardian.”

“You’re supposed to get your clues along the way.” Allison had developed the game for Mitchell’s Christmas gift. She hoped the action would keep a nine-year-old engaged, but this game was also balanced with enough cerebral challenges to stimulate the mind. Mitchell was her beta tester. If all went well, she’d promote the game at this summer’s gaming convention.

“Well, it’s been a little distracting around here tonight, ya know.” His voice held a combination of excuses and accusations.

“Maybe it’s time to put it away.” Sloan offered the hesitant suggestion. “Don’t kids spend too much time on those things anyway?”

“How do you know?” Mitchell glanced up at Sloan with a curious expression. “Do you have kids?”

“Uh, no.” Sloan’s gaze slid sideways as if embarrassed by the question.

At least none that you know of. Allison had heard the rampant office gossip about his conquests.

She came to her nephew’s rescue, if for no other reason than to keep her edge against Sloan. “I designed this game specifically for Mitchell, and kids his age. It requires more finesse than many of the others on the market today.”

“When I was a kid, you couldn’t carry around a video arcade in your backpack.”

“Really?” Mitchell looked as if he didn’t believe such a statement. “How did you play games?”

“We had units that connected to the TV, but I liked the bigger games at the corner hangout. When I was your age, I mostly played soccer.”

Allison smothered a grin. Somehow, she could see Sloan as the type who’d been chauffeured around by a soccer mom.

“No snide remarks over there.” He glanced at her, as though he’d read her thoughts. “I have a good friend who happens to play for the World Soccer League. We played for the same varsity team.”

“I’m impressed.”

Mitchell set the tablet in his lap. “I play baseball in the spring, but the season’s really short here. Dad says the best players come from the south because they can play almost year-round.”

Allison knew Mitchell loved baseball, but his true passions were solitary activities like hiking, fishing, and his computer games, of course. He was smaller than most of the kids in his class, and his red hair was the target of hurtful teasing, so he tended to keep to himself more often than not. She directed his attention back to the game. “What code words have you used already?”

Mitchell turned on the screen and pressed a button twice. “Umm. Courage, truth, respect. I’m only up to level four.”

“Those are impressive code words for a children’s game.” Sloan seemed surprised.

“There’s more to fighting bad guys than just beating them up.” She tried not to come off as defensive, but was sure she failed. “That’s the point of this game.”

“So what’s the next code word?” Mitchell glanced up at her.

Allison shook her head. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not giving any hints. You’ll just have to retrace your steps and find it yourself. Cheating has no part in Bushido.”

“Bushido?” Mitchell and Sloan asked at the same time.

“The Samurai warrior’s code.” Allison ruffled her nephew’s hair. “It’s what the game is based on.”

****

Sloan began to realize that Allison had more layers than the onion they’d had for dinner. After that quick little kiss in the office, he knew she tasted better, too. “You know about Bushido?”

“I studied martial arts for a few years and picked up several books on the philosophy. The Japanese history of sacrifice and dedication is fascinating.”

“Which martial arts?”

“Judo and Jiujitsu.”

Sloan had spent time studying martial arts too, and was partial to Aikido. “You already knew about the explanation I gave Mitch tonight.” He referred to their dinner conversation.

She nodded. “I did. It was clever to use that approach to teach American history to him.”

Sloan shrugged. “Seemed to me like he’d understand that logical approach.”

“Hey, I’m right here.” Mitch looked between the two of them.

“Sorry, kid.” Sloan ruffled the boy’s hair.

“And I’m not a kid.”

“Mitchell,” Allison said sharply. “Mind your manners.”

“Fine.” Mitch slid off the couch and sat on the floor next to the fire. “Now you guys can have your adult conversation.”

Sloan chuckled. Then he glanced at the kid’s aunt and felt a kindred energy arc through the space between himself and Allison.

Firelight flattered her fair skin and cast shadows that accentuated her high cheekbones and straight nose. Full, sensual lips curved into a smile as she watched her nephew play his game.

Women seldom surprised him. They mostly fell into two categories: those who wanted to have a good time and those who wanted a commitment from his bank account. It was rare when a woman didn’t calculate to gain his attention. He couldn’t remember any woman as fascinating as Allison, and wondered what it was about her that kept him so interested.

He’d thought her brush-offs were an act, a way to play hard to get. He realized now she wasn’t being coy. Her cyborg behavior was a defense mechanism against getting too close to people. Had she been hurt in a relationship? Was that why she shut herself off? It surprised him how much he wanted to ease the loneliness that sometimes seemed to engulf her.

He studied her face—the curve of her neck. Her baggy sweatshirt didn’t completely hide the swell of her breasts and slim waist. Long, slender hands lay clasped in her lap. What would those sexy, capable hands feel like sliding through his hair? A yearning warmed him from the inside. She was only an arm’s length away. All he had to do was reach out. Touch her soft skin. Stroke her dark, silky hair.

Without warning, she turned. Her unguarded expression shone with a gentle look that also spoke of innocence.

Sloan felt sucker punched. The unexpectedness shook him to the core.

He went after women who knew the stakes—who had experience. But with Allison he was playing with fire. He wasn’t ready to be tied down and she came with enough strings to wrap him up like a mummy. She was out of his league and didn’t even know it.

He thought back on his actions since coming to her house. The near misses blasted through his memory like warning shots across a ship’s bow. Guilt lodged in his throat.

Her eyes glowed and her lips started to curve upward at the corners, but she turned away and gave the smile to her nephew.

Sloan swallowed the guilt. Only an arm’s length away, and for a moment it didn’t matter that they were coworkers. It didn’t matter that he wanted to wrap himself around her, take the sweetness she had to offer—drown in the pleasure she would bring. It didn’t matter that his charred flesh would rot in hell…

But it did matter.

His martial arts training taught him of Bushido, too. Marked by centuries of dedication, sacrifice, and loyalty. The Samurai’s code—death before dishonor.

The seduction of Allison Richards would have no honor.

****

Drew Getty bit his upper lip, then refreshed his monitor screen.

This couldn’t be right. Allison Richards was supposed to be permanently offline. She shouldn’t be cleaning up the last mess he’d left on Northstar’s servers. If the IP address he’d pinged was correct—and he knew he hadn’t made a mistake—then she was actively working in Idaho.

What the hell happened to the guy he’d sent to kidnap her? Maybe he shouldn’t have insisted on radio silence. If his man was somehow delayed, it would put a huge crimp in the schedule. If she joined her doofus coworker, Tom, in Los Angeles, that spirit of competition he’d seen at the gaming convention last year would kick in. He’d be back to square one. The Allison Richards he’d gone up against was dogged. Persistent. That was her pride.

Drew couldn’t let that happen. No, the nerd diva was going down. He’d show her. He’d show them all. The time for subtlety was over. The final pieces were prepped and ready for release before his brother’s first hearing in two days. Then the details, or in this instance, the lack of details about the case would go viral—spammed over the Internet for everyone to see. The judge would be anxious to throw the case out of court to avoid embarrassment. No prosecutor would go to trial after this publicity blowup.

Drew pinched the bridge of his nose and focused. He had the heavy artillery to prove Allison was a traitor, and he would use it. By sending that note when he had, hinting that she was in danger and arranging it so she was unreachable, it made her look even more guilty.

He thought about the fact she was online at her home in Idaho. He could still make the plan work. He’d force the next transmission to ping from her IP in Idaho, leaving a trail even that goof, Tom, could follow. He didn’t need to hear from his man. If Allison couldn’t be captured in Idaho, then Northstar would be forced to bring her to California. That’s when he’d strike. Once she accessed the FBI’s files, securing his brother’s release would be easy.

Drew took a breath to settle his nerves. He had to trust the hired help to do what he himself couldn’t. It would be okay. Soon Allison Richards would be captured and he’d possess the last piece of intel he needed.