| |
Josie paced around her office with her hands tight on her hips. She was so angry that she could practically feel her hair turning redder. What did Nolan really think he’d gain out of this? Seeing her cry, beg, and whimper? She was done being the victim. The only reason she’d go back to him was to take that phone of his and throw it right into Lake Washington.
She grabbed the Nerf basketball that had somehow found its way into her office and tossed it at the computer screen that was currently displaying a picture of her sleeping on her back. It bounced off her boobs and into her pen holder. The bedazzled can teetered. She dove to save it, but not before a rainbow of colored pens, highlighters, and markers spilled across her office carpeting.
Spencer would have to show up right then in her doorway.
“Hi-lo.”
She sighed. “Hi-lo.”
He set his Mac on her desk and squatted to gather up the mess. She came around to help. Their knees bumped when she knelt beside him.
“He posted them on another site?”
“Yes. The creep.”
“Are you okay?” Spencer asked softly.
She looked into his puppy-dog eyes and felt some of her anger melt. “I’m better now.”
With him here, she remembered she wasn’t alone in this.
He glanced behind them and then shot a look at the ceiling. The door to her office was open, but they were below the level of the window walls. “This wasn’t how I wanted to see you again today,” he said.
“Me either.”
Things were different between them now. The attraction had been acted upon. Secrets had been shared.
They stared at one another until the urge to lean in couldn’t be ignored, but just before they could touch, the printer outside her office began to whir. Josie sprang to her feet. She fussed with the pen holder as Spencer picked up the rest of the markers. It was all very cordial until his hands settled on her waist as he circled around her to get a view of her computer.
“Where are they this time?” he asked.
She could feel the imprint of that touch even when it left her. “Photo Giraffe.”
His eyes heated when he saw the shot that was still up on the screen. “That’s good,” he said. He cleared his throat. “I mean, we can fix that.”
“No, Spencer.” She came to stand beside him. The photo was as graphic as ever, but the aura around it had changed. It wasn’t as embarrassing having him see it now as it was intimate. He’d seen her like that, in the flesh. Her gaze flicked toward the fireplace room, and her knees wobbled. He’d stripped her down and touched her... and she’d touched him back.
She dropped her voice so nobody could hear. “I can’t ask you to do that again.”
“You don’t have to. Photo Giraffe has a strict rule about nudity. All you need to do is flag the pages as having inappropriate content. They’ll take them down, but I can’t promise how quickly.” He snapped his fingers. “Although I do have a buddy who works over there who might be able to help.”
She swallowed hard. “Is this buddy a guy?”
“Well, yeah.”
Of course it was. Men dominated the software industry, but she would have felt more comfortable dealing with a woman for this particular issue.
“Josie, if you flag the pictures, somebody is going to look anyway.”
She didn’t like involving anyone else, but it was either draw one person’s attention to her “au naturel” photos or have countless perverts leer at them. Spencer’s friend could probably get them off the site the fastest.
She fisted her hands at her sides.
Protecting her modesty and reputation were still her top goals, but she was quickly adding others to her list. “And Nolan? What will happen to him?”
Spencer’s jaw hardened. “Let’s see.”
He grabbed her mouse and navigated to the site’s rules of use. She hadn’t even thought of that. When he opened it, all she saw was a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. He scrolled down until something caught his eye. “Did he post them all?”
“Yes.” Thank God she hadn’t seen any new ones that he’d been holding back.
“That shows it was intentional and not a mistake. They’ll probably suspend his account. He won’t be able to post anything here then.” Spencer winked at her. “I might just suggest that course of action, to help it along.”
He folded his arms over his chest, and Josie’s gaze couldn’t help but stray. She just wanted to lean into him. In his arms, all the thoughts that had been swirling in her head had stopped. The worry and the panic had left, and she’d found her first moments of peace in weeks. What would she have done if he hadn’t been here to help her with all of this?
“Nolan’s not going to stop, is he?” she said. “He’s going to keep blackmailing me, posting those awful pictures wherever he can.”
“Easy now. You have to ignore him. He’s doing this because he knows it will get to you.”
“And it is!” Josie saw heads turn outside in the main bay. Embarrassed, she picked up her day planner and thumbed through it. “I’m not an exhibitionist. I can’t stand the thought of those photos of me being out there, much less posted on the Internet.”
A funny look crossed Spencer’s face, but then he was taking her day planner away and catching her by the shoulders. He turned her back to her computer. “Start flagging them by clicking right here. I’ll contact Ivan.”
He pulled out his phone.
Josie hated going through the pictures one by one. Each shot emphasized Nolan’s betrayal, and the errors she’d made in trusting him. She worked her way through the various shots of her breasts, her butt, and even more private places before slamming her laptop closed. “Is there any way you can hack his phone and get rid of them for good?”
Spencer winced. It was Start ’er Up’s monthly birthday celebration day, and people were gathering around an assortment of cupcakes at the grab ’n go station. They were close enough that they might have heard...
His gaze landed on her jacket on the coatrack in the corner of her office. “Let’s go for a walk.”
A walk? Now?
“I can’t leave,” Josie said. “I have to make sure these pictures come down.”
“Ivan’s going to work on it now, but you know what they say about a watched website.” Refusing to let her say no, Spencer helped her find the arm holes of her jacket. “Come on. We’ve notified the site administrators. There’s nothing more we can do but wait.” He lifted her chin. “I have something I need to talk to you about anyway.”
She looked into his eyes, and her resistance dissolved. They’d made love yesterday, and it felt like something good. Or something that could be. Did she really want to jeopardize that by obsessing over her ex? If she had any brains at all, she’d be concentrating on the smart, sexy, protective guy in front of her. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to blow off some steam.”
“There ya go.” He caught her hand and led the way.
They walked by the cupcake crowd, and more than one person noticed them, including Kylie. Josie pulled her hand out of Spencer’s grip and tied the belt of her jacket, but not before her friend noticed. Kylie fumbled her cupcake, and it landed upside down in her palm.
Josie kept moving. She didn’t like broadcasting their relationship—if that’s what this was. Nolan had worked here, too, when they’d started going out.
Then again, Spencer was nothing like that doofus.
He held the front door open for her, and they headed for the waterfront that was only a couple blocks away. Josie was surprised to find the sky clear. She’d been so wrapped up in her dark world that she hadn’t realized how beautiful it was outside. Puffy clouds coasted against a baby-blue backdrop. The daylight on her skin felt so much more restorative than LED lights. She tilted her head back and breathed deeply.
“I’m sorry, Spencer,” she said. “I promised not to ask you to do another hack and then I turned around and did just that.”
“It’s okay. You’re frustrated.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. As much brightness as the sun brought, there wasn’t much heat. They’d walked another block before he continued. “You’re in a tight spot, but hacking isn’t something to take lightly. Not every site has security holes like Say Cheese.”
“It was bad?”
“They should call themselves Swiss Cheese.” He grinned, but then turned serious again. “Even if I could get into Photo Giraffe, it wouldn’t mean I’d be able to get to any pictures. And I’d have to be careful. If I were to leave any tracks, I could get caught. The authorities are gunning for black hats these days.”
“Black hats?”
“The bad guys—hackers that go after targets intending to do harm or steal data.”
“But that’s not you.”
“Photos are data.”
Josie bit her lip. “I mean... not usually.”
Her stomach knotted. He could get in real trouble for what he’d done to help her. He’d taken apart a major company’s website, one that refused to act ethically. They were probably out there looking for her Guard Dog too.
“What you did was right,” she said. “Those photos were posted without my permission, and so were other people’s.”
She glanced at him. She was actually curious about that. “Did you take down their pictures to be nice or to hide our connection?”
“Both. Although technically, I didn’t steal anything. I deleted it.”
But the originals were still out there on Nolan’s phone, hovering like Damocles’ sword.
They arrived at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Located on the north end of Seattle’s waterfront, it was the perfect place for a walk. The park was a rare green space in the downtown area, yet it had a futuristic feel to it. A concrete pathway crossed above busy Elliott Avenue and zigzagged its way down to a rocky beach, passing by weird and wonderful art along the way.
Josie tilted her head back to look at the Eagle, a looming, pointy red character. Maybe she was too practical, but it looked more like a starfish learning to walk than an eagle to her.
“Hey, Josie?”
She looked away from the tall piece of art to the tall man beside her.
“What is our connection?” he asked.
Her footsteps froze. She didn’t know why the question caught her off guard, but it did.
Spencer watched her steadily, waiting.
She didn’t know the answer. She’d acted on impulse yesterday. She’d just been so surprised to find out her puppy-dog security guy was also her Guard Dog protector. The cute guy who had trouble talking to her had turned ferocious enough to defend her.
“I like you,” she said.
His shoulders relaxed.
“I like you, too. A lot.”
The smell of salt water was in the air, and a ferry’s horn blew as it left the dock.
Josie pushed back a strand of hair that the wind had caught. Since they were asking questions... “You left kind of fast last night, after we finished our pizza.”
He ducked his head. “I know. I didn’t want to assume, and I didn’t want to jinx anything. You know, in case it was a one-time deal, which I’m definitely hoping it wasn’t.”
She blushed. She hoped it wasn’t either, but she was more than a little gun-shy these days. She was having problems shaking her last bad relationship. She didn’t want to rush into anything, but being with Spencer felt good. Right. Safe.
He tucked her hair behind her ear when the wind refused to let it go.
“I didn’t know if you’d gotten carried away because you were so relieved,” he said, “or if I was assuming a lot if I asked you over. I didn’t want to get too greedy or too pushy or too needy. And my place is kind of messy right now.”
She smiled. “So you did think about it a little.”
She’d thought about it too, and had been just as awkward. She hadn’t planned to have sex with him. It had just happened.
And there’d been absolutely no awkwardness then.
The wind ruffled his hair. She moved in closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. He was out in only a hoodie and jeans. The fall weather was mild today, but the breeze coming off the water had a nip.
He settled his hands on her hips. “You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe you want to be with a guy like me.”
“A guy like you?”
“A computer geek. We don’t have that kind of luck.”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re the hottest geek I know.”
“Isn’t that an oxymoron?”
“Not when you’re also sweet, goofy, and charming.” She slid her hand under his sweatshirt to his flat stomach. It was warm and rippled. “And really good at sex.”
He jerked as if he’d been goosed, and his hold on her hips tightened. “Well, if you’re into that kind of thing...”
His mouth came down hot and hard on hers. Goosebumps rose all the way down Josie’s back when he spread his palm against the base of her spine to pull her in.
She shivered in delight. It hadn’t been a fluke; their bodies felt good against one another’s. Her breasts were cushioned against his upper abs and their thighs rubbed intimately. She felt his cock stiffening against her belly as the kiss went on, getting hotter, searching deeper...
“Mommy, what are they doing?”
They broke apart when a mother with a stroller hurried past. “They’re trying to warm each other up,” she said.
Josie hid her face against Spencer’s chest.
The toddler leaned out of his stroller to stare back at them. “They don’t look cold.”
“The kid’s right about that,” Spencer said against her temple.
“Shush,” Mom said. “Drink your juice.”
Josie pulled back from Spencer. She was toasty, all right. Her thighs felt hot and her belly was trembling, but they were out in the middle of the path, right by one of the biggest attractions of the complex.
And one of the most photographed.
“Let’s go down to the beach,” Spencer said.
Josie tucked up against him when he swung his arm around her shoulders. The path really wasn’t that busy. Tourism dropped off after summer left, and it was well past the lunch hour for locals. Other than an elderly couple evaluating the art and a guy obviously trying to get his step count in for the day, most of the activity was going on down at the piers. Restaurants, an aquarium, a Ferris wheel, lazy harbor seals, and bay cruises brought visitors year-round.
The elderly couple turned toward the northernmost pier, while Josie and Spencer headed down to Pocket Beach. The beach wasn’t well known, but it ran a good length down the shoreline to another connecting park. They climbed over a fallen log and found a quiet spot halfway down the rock-covered beach.
A cruise ship was ported for the day at the cruise terminal to the north. The Seattle tourist district with all its piers was to the south, followed by the industrial ports. Josie looked out across the water. It glowed under the sun today, with seagulls flying overhead. Bainbridge Island, the destination of that ferry, was on the other side of Elliott Bay, and beyond that were the Olympic Mountains.
She leaned against Spencer when his arms wrapped around her from behind. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve been a complete basket case ever since we met.”
“No, you haven’t.”
“I don’t like it when things get out of my control.” She threaded her fingers through his over her stomach. “It’s my job to make sure that things go smoothly. First there was the Afire hack, and now this thing with my crummy ex-boyfriend.”
“Neither of those are your fault.”
“I know, but things aren’t back to normal, and I don’t know what to do to make them that way.”
“That’s not your responsibility.”
“It sort of is. I’m the dependable one, everyone’s girl Friday. I’m supposed to fix problems, not be the one who has them.”
He bent his head down close to hers. “Who says?”
He wasn’t getting it, but why would he? “It’s how I fit in here. You joke about being a geek, but Afire is your natural habitat. I have to work at it. I don’t code, but I’ve found a way to use my skills. I finally feel like everyone accepts me. With Nolan out there with those pictures, though, I’m afraid I’m about to fall off my high wire.”
“Why?”
“People will see me,” she said, her voice rising. “I won’t be the nice, efficient program manager anymore; I’ll be the naked woman.”
He caught her hand and made her stop toying with the belt of her jacket. “The woman with a life outside of work, you mean? One that includes sex?”
She closed her eyes. Oh, she didn’t even want to think about it.
He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I don’t think you’re giving your coworkers enough credit.”
She shrugged. She knew how things would be if that happened. All the bugged-out eyes, all the hushed talk and laughter, all the hits to the website... “It’s the software industry. Women have a hard enough time here.”
“Maybe, but what you don’t realize is that we consider you ours. You’re not a pinup girl or an untouchable celebrity. When the people at Afire and Start ’er Up learn what Nolan did—”
He stopped when she inhaled sharply.
“I mean, if they learn what Nolan did to you, there’ll be nothing but torches and pitchforks. I promise you, that guy will be in even worse trouble than he is now.”
Josie rested against Spencer’s chest. She could hear his heart beating. It nearly doubled the cadence of the waves lapping against the shore. “Because my Guard Dog is after him?”
“Damn straight.” Spencer tilted his head from side to side until a kink popped. “I want to take that guy in my teeth and shake him like a rag doll.”
It was an image.
“But we came out here to forget about him,” he said gruffly.
His hands went to her belt and he untied it altogether. He opened her jacket and slid his hands inside.
“Spencer!”
He didn’t stop. He covered her breasts, lifting their weight, as his mouth went to the side of her neck.
Pleasure unfurled inside Josie, but she looked nervously around the beach. There was movement everywhere. Waves lapping in, a seagull flying low across the water, and the roar of in-line skates up on the walking path—but nobody else was down on the beach with them.
And what he was doing was so distracting...
Her eyelids grew heavy, and she leaned more heavily against his warm body.
“I really wish I’d asked you to stay over,” he said. He pressed his lips against her pulse before moving down to her collarbone. He pushed aside the neckline of her top and kissed her right where her neck and shoulder met.
A shiver went through her, and he hummed with success. “It’s all I thought about all night. Without you there, I had to go back to studying.”
He found her nipples beneath the layers of her clothing and flicked them.
“Oh, God.” Josie gasped. He was a really good student.
He played with her body until she was squirming. Still, snaps of twigs and tooting of horns had her on guard.
“Maybe we could find someplace more private,” she whispered. “Let’s go back to Start ’er Up.”
“No,” he said sharply. His hands gentled, and he started gathering her long tunic upward. “We need to spend more time away from that place. If we’re going to give this a go, we have to concentrate on us.”
She was having a hard time thinking of anything else.
Thank goodness the fabric of her top was wrinkle-proof, because he scrunched it all the way up until his hands disappeared beneath it. He switched to the other side of her neck. When his teeth grazed against the cord of muscle there, her head lolled to the side. How could one side be so much more sensitive than the other?
He undid her bra, and then his hands were on her flesh. Cool, firm, and full of intent. Out in the open as they were, the stimulation was startling and dangerously sexy. Her nipples swelled, going stiff and achy as he rolled them between his fingers. An ache settled deep in Josie’s belly, and her thighs clenched.
Noise from the closest pier made her look at it sharply. She flinched when she saw people using binocular machines, the permanent kind where you dropped in a quarter and were allowed a limited time to look. “Spencer, people up there are watching.”
He stopped, holding her protectively, but then chuckled in her ear. “They’re looking at the big white head.”
Her eyes popped open, but then she realized he meant the piece of art along the lower level of the path that led to the waterfront district. Not the hard ridge riding against her lower back...
Still, the fear of being caught had an edge. “What if they look this way?” she said.
“Maybe you’d better hide us with your jacket.”
She grabbed both sides and hid his hands from prying eyes as well as she could. Maybe she could keep convincing people they were trying to keep warm.
Because her body certainly felt like it was going up in flames.
The idea that she could stop him barely registered in the back of her mind. She’d said she wasn’t an exhibitionist, but what he was doing felt like a challenge, a hurdle that she had to overcome. Those nude photos had paralyzed her with fear, blocking her from moving on with her own life.
One of his hands glided down her stomach, and she writhed in anticipation. A bay cruise motored on by, hopefully far enough off shore. His fingertips skimmed beneath the waistband of her leggings. One dipped into her bellybutton, and bolts of pleasure shot straight down to her core.
“One of these days I’ll get you naked all the way,” he said.
Her hips rolled forward when his hand burrowed deep into her leggings. It was a tight fit. His wrist pressed flat against her belly, yet his fingers had room to wiggle.
“Ahhh.” She dropped one side of her jacket to catch his forearm.
He nipped at her earlobe. “What if there are fishermen down here?”
Her breath caught, and she frantically searched the shoreline. She couldn’t see around the bend. Could other people be down here? His hand pushed deeper, under her panties, and she let out a groan. It wafted out over the water, and she caught the side of the jacket she’d dropped. She used it to hide as much of his actions as she could.
“You’re terrible,” she said.
“And you’re wet.”
He’d found his destination. His fingers delved into her folds, and her entire body shuddered. He slid a knee between hers, and he pushed her legs open wider. She rolled her head against his chest, and her hair snagged on his sweatshirt. His fingers explored deeper, gliding along the seam between her lower lips. One found her opening and slid right in.
She creamed around that pumping finger and had to clench her teeth when he added a second. Without conscious thought, her body began to move. Her hips pressed hard into his hand, and her back arched. His hold on her tightened, binding her in place until she could only submit to the pleasure.
“Wh—what about you?” She gasped as his fingers plunged.
“You can return the favor later... like when you invite me over to your place.”
There was no way she could ignore the hard bulge pressing into the small of her back. She rubbed her bottom against him. “Want to come over tonight?”
He let out a groan. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Josie turned her head to meet his kiss.
His hold on her became more aggressive, masterful. He scissored his fingers inside her, and she clenched her teeth to stop herself from crying out. Still, a whine escaped, enough to startle a bird that had landed on shore.
He added his thumb to her clit. Her body twisted, and her breaths went ragged. She held on to the edges of her jacket like a woman clinging to the edge.
“Ohhh, Spencer. It’s too... Just... Yessss.”
Her peach top was bunched up high, and her leggings were stretched impossibly wide. She ground against his hand, and her boots dug into the rocky sand. His fingers pushed deep, and her body exploded with sensation. She let go of her jacket and caught his thighs to hold on as her body bowed. His devilish fingers kept the pleasure on a taut note until she sagged in completion.
He kissed the side of her neck and nuzzled his face against her hair. “Feel better?” he asked.
There wasn’t a stressed muscle in her body, and her mind...? She watched two seagulls chase one another through the sky. Weightless...
But he was still hot and hard. Hungry. Crooking her elbow, she slid her hand behind her back to cover his erection.
He let out a groan and rocked against her, but then pulled away. “Uh, not right now.”
“But Spencer...”
He let out a rough laugh. “I don’t think people on the pier would need binoculars to notice that.”
The people on the pier... the dog walkers on the path... the invisible fishermen who might appear at any moment...
Reality pierced the moment, and Josie grabbed her jacket again. She wrapped it around herself like a tortilla around a burrito, and Spencer chuckled.
“Never thought I’d say this, but you gotta let me get my hands out of your pants.”
He carefully disengaged. He pulled her panties back into place, and Josie flushed beet red when she realized how damp and sticky they were. The elastic of her leggings snapped back snugly against her when he pulled his hand out. He smoothed the material against her belly. Deep inside, her muscles fluttered.
“I can’t believe we just did that,” she whispered. Or more correctly, that she’d let him do that—out in public—but her body felt a thousand times lighter, and her worries had flown into the wind like shredded pieces of paper.
“You can’t believe it,” he said.
It took him longer to sort out her bra, and she finally had to push him away when she heard voices coming off the main walkway and down to the beach. The clasps still weren’t hooked, but she tugged down her top and belted up her jacket. She was finger-combing her hair back into place when a family came around the corner.
Tourists. They’d just missed seeing a sight.
Spencer took a step that placed him behind her. Josie smiled nervously at the family as they began heading back.
“That was hot,” he said against her hair.
“Do you want to go to my place now?” she whispered. There was no way she could go back to work—not like this—and she had hours of PTO going to waste.
His face lit up, but then he hesitated. “Oh, damn.” Lines formed on his forehead. “There’s nothing I’d like more, but I forgot I need to do something for Luke first.”
“A security thing?”
His gaze slid away from hers. “Yeah.”
“For Start ’er Up? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No. That was just... Don’t worry about it. I need to secure something in storage.”
He was being evasive, and Josie got the hint. She was poking into confidential company information. They both worked for Afire, but there were things he couldn’t tell her. “What about after that?”
“I’m there.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
He grabbed her hand, and they started back up the zigzagging walkway.
The hike back to Start ’er Up was uphill, and it took longer than the trip down. Josie let go of Spencer’s hand when they got within sight of the building. She smoothed her hair and pulled the belt of her jacket snug, but underneath it, her bra was still loose. She planned to tidy up in the ladies’ room, gather her things, and then go straight home to a warm bath. Maybe have some wine.
Spencer was right. She’d gotten so tangled up inside that she couldn’t think straight. An afternoon off wasn’t too much to ask to take care of herself. She had no meetings, and all she’d do if she sat in her office was worry about those stupid pictures on Photo Giraffe.
She needed to come at this Nolan problem with a clearer head. There had to be a way to stop him before he did something else, because she didn’t want to think about him anymore. A new man had entered her life. She’d much rather think about Spencer.
His gaze skimmed over her as he caught the handle to Start ’er Up’s front door.
“Do I look okay?” she asked.
“Silly rabbit.”
He swiped his badge and held the door open for her. Josie followed, badging in too.
Most people were back at their desks now, and the cupcake assortment was seriously depleted. The sports app developers were at the whiteboard, and the telecommunications team had taken over the fireplace room. Nobody seemed to notice them until Josie spotted Kylie heading their way.
She and Spencer stopped in their tracks, but Kylie only pointed at him.
“You,” she said. “With me. Now.”
She crooked her finger at Spencer, and Josie saw her opportunity for escape. She didn’t want to talk about her relationship with him yet, not even to her best friend. It was too new. She felt the evidence of what they’d just done. Too raw.
“Do I have to?” Spencer asked under his breath.
“I can’t rescue you from this,” she said.
“Don’t leave me.”
She shook her head. She was saving herself. “I’ll text you my address.”
“Josie!”
“Good luck.”