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Josie worried the strap of her purse as she rode in Spencer’s Subaru. They were heading to the Mecca Café and Bar just off Mercer Street to meet Luke and Kylie. The place was a longstanding establishment in the South Queen Anne neighborhood. It served breakfast all day, along with booze. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but, at the moment, it sounded tempting.
The leather strap became shorter and shorter as she folded it into a series of back-and-forth loops. She wasn’t looking forward to this talk. She was happy that Kylie was coming. That would help, but she’d never wanted Luke to know about the pictures. Spencer was right: they had to report Nolan’s threats. They’d become a security problem for the company, but those pictures were intimate. Explicit.
Definitely not something you showed people at work.
She bit her lip. She and Spencer had worked so hard to keep anyone from seeing them—especially Spencer. She didn’t want him to get in trouble for this.
The parking situation wasn’t bad for a weeknight. The diner was old-fashioned, with a neon marquee-style sign blazing “Mecca” out front. Inside, the place was long and skinny, with a black-and-white checked floor, a bar with stools to the right, and booths on the left. They chose an empty booth about halfway back and waited.
“Breathe,” Spencer said. He caught her hand atop the table. She wasn’t fiddling with her purse anymore. It was tucked against the wall beside her hip, but she’d begun toying with a paper napkin instead. It was folded into precise squares with the edges crisp.
She dropped it and rubbed her temple. Her head was throbbing. “We should have gone to Luke before it got this bad. Kylie told me to, but then you showed up.”
“And led you astray?”
“No, you helped me.” She threaded her fingers through his. “I’m sorry for getting you into this mess.”
“You didn’t twist my arm. I made my own decisions.”
“Yes, but you’re in security. Don’t you have some unstated ethical code?”
The tic in his temple told her the answer to that. Her stomach churned, but he met her gaze directly. “That had nothing to do with my job. At that point, it was a domestic situation involving you and an ex. I’d do it all over again if I had to. For you.”
Tears stung her eyes, but then she heard the door to the bar open. It was Luke and Kylie. She blinked fast and sat up straighter.
Luke spotted them and started for their table. Kylie’s attention was caught by the collection of interesting items behind the bar: dolls, coasters with customer sketches on the back, and a sign proclaiming “Sniveling Prohibited by Law.” When she glanced their way, though, her eyes popped open. She veered off course and ran into Luke. He steadied her, but her gaze was locked on Spencer.
“Humina humina,” she said.
Spencer stood to shake Luke’s hand. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“It sounded serious.”
“It is,” Josie said quietly.
Kylie tore her gaze away from Spencer. Her forehead rumpled when she saw the origami napkin on the table. “Hey, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”
Josie smiled wanly. She didn’t know how.
“What do you want to drink?” Spencer asked. “The waitress already came by. I’ll have her add your tab to ours.”
Luke glanced at the offerings on tap. “I’ll take a Shock Top.”
“Kylie?”
“Forget the booze. I want a cinnamon roll.”
“Done.” Spencer went over to the bar to talk to their waitress as Kylie and Luke took off their jackets. They hung them on the coatrack beside the table and sat.
“Good golly, Miss Molly.” Kylie leaned across the table so Luke wouldn’t hear. “I knew he’d look better without that mop top, but I wasn’t expecting that.”
Josie smiled, but then looked down into her chai tea. He really had been a diamond in the rough, hadn’t he? Hopefully, he wouldn’t regret having gotten involved with her by the time the night was up.
Spencer returned with their orders and took the seat next to her in the booth. Underneath the table, he took her hand in his.
“So what’s this about?” Luke asked. Straight and to the point. All business. He’d sensed that this wasn’t a social call and had gone into defense mode.
Spencer took a deep breath. “Josie’s been having some problems with her ex.”
“Nolan?” Kylie’s good mood disappeared. “Is that still going on? Is he still sending you harassing messages?”
“Worse.” Josie’s hand was unsteady as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She glanced at Spencer, but this was her problem. Her story to tell. “He’s been posting pictures of me on the Internet... nude pictures.”
Luke’s jaw turned hard.
“The bastard,” Kylie hissed.
“He took them while she was sleeping,” Spencer said. “She didn’t even know he had them.”
“Where are they now?” Luke asked, his tone eerily controlled.
“Nowhere... At least, not that I’m aware of,” Josie said. “The photo-sharing site took them down at my request, but now he’s threatening to email them out to all my friends and business acquaintances.”
“Why?” Kylie was not in control. Slashes of color lit her cheeks, and her eyes flashed fire. “Retribution? He wasn’t this upset when you broke things off with him. What’s changed?”
“He knows he can use them as leverage.”
Kylie’s fierce gaze swung to Spencer, and he instinctively sat back against the booth cushions.
Luke knocked his heavy beer glass against the table. “What’s he want?”
“You’re not getting back together with him,” Kylie said. She jabbed a finger toward Spencer. “This guy is so much better for you.”
Even with the heavy weight inside her chest, Josie’s heart lightened at the approval. Spencer’s hard grip gentled, and she rubbed her thumb against the back of his hand. “That’s what Nolan had been saying he wanted—for us to get back together—until his call tonight.”
“Play it for them,” Spencer said.
“You recorded him?” Luke asked.
“He left a voicemail.”
His frown turned into a smirk. “Perfect.”
Josie didn’t want to hear Nolan’s threats again—she pretty much had them memorized—but she reached for her purse. Once they heard his rant, they’d understand the bind she was in. She put her phone on speaker. She turned down the volume so the whole bar wouldn’t hear, and braced herself as the message played.
When it ended, silence hung heavy at the table.
“I’m so sorry, Luke,” she said, her throat thick.
His gaze flicked up. “Why are you sorry?”
“I put Start ’er Up at risk. It wasn’t a hack this time—it was me.”
His brow furrowed. “Of course it’s a hack.”
Josie went still. She didn’t understand... unless he was talking about that part about Say Cheese. Her breaths went short. Spencer! He couldn’t blame—
Wait. A memory nagged at her, and suddenly everything clicked. “Social engineering. Spencer told me about that. Nolan’s trying to manipulate me to get into Start ’er Up.”
Nolan knew she had contacts with people he wanted to know, people who could help his company. The startup he was involved with had been a member of the accelerator until the market for their product had turned out to be smaller than expected. Cash flow had become a problem, but he knew she could influence funding decisions with her opinions. Had he taken those pictures, intending to do this all along? Was that why he’d pursued her in the first place?
She pressed a hand against her stomach. Not even her tea could soothe the anger and dread mixing in her belly. “He knows I’m the weak link.”
“No,” Spencer and Kylie said in chorus.
It was Luke who got everyone’s attention, though.
“Weak?”
Josie made herself meet his gaze. “He thinks he can get back into Start ’er Up through me.”
“And he hasn’t. You’ve withstood his repeated attempts to control you.” Luke sat back and draped his arm along the booth behind Kylie. “Now, I’m going to assume he’s wrong about that hack against Say Cheese...”
Josie and Spencer froze, but Luke’s attention was on Kylie. He tugged on her hair. She gave Spencer a narrow-eyed look from across the table.
“You dog,” she muttered.
“I know that the authorities are looking into that,” Luke said.
Spencer didn’t react visibly, but his leg began to bounce beneath the table.
“But not very hard,” his boss added dryly. Luke gave his girlfriend a measured look. Kylie leaned over to kiss his cheek, and his broad shoulders relaxed. “The point is you avoided his power play by following the rules with Photo Giraffe, and you came to me, the head of Afire security, when this new attack came to light.” He pointed at her phone. “Best of all, you have a recording.”
Spencer sat up straighter. “Can you use that? I mean, legally?”
“Sure. In the state of Washington, both parties need to be aware if a conversation is being recorded. He knew that. It’s voicemail.” Luke cocked his head. “It’s also extortion. Start ’er Up’s services are company-proprietary, as are Josie’s knowledge and connections. Our legal team will have a field day with this.”
The legal team?
Josie pushed her chai tea away. It wasn’t helping. Things just kept getting worse and worse.
“Where’s he storing these photos?” Kylie asked.
“On his phone, as far as we know,” Spencer answered.
The two of them shared a long look, one that made the hair on the back of Josie’s neck stand on end.
Kylie stood. “I’m going to get a cappuccino.”
At eleven o’clock at night?
Josie squeezed Spencer’s hand, but he calmly took a sip of his fully leaded coffee.
She turned to Luke. “What do I do now? Nolan said he’s going to send those pictures out if I don’t do what he wants.”
“You need to stall him on that.” Luke stared into his beer, deep in thought, stroking the side of the glass up and down with his thumb. After a moment, he nodded and leaned forward. “Okay, call him back tonight and tell him you’re giving in.”
“But—”
“You’ll be lying, Josie,” he said with a soft smile. “Schedule a time to meet tomorrow, the later the better. I need to get some things in place, but here’s how everything is going to go down.”
* * *
Josie didn’t know if she felt better or worse when they left the bar. Luke’s plan relied heavily upon her, but Mata Hari she was not.
At least she and Spencer weren’t alone in this anymore. Luke had been more than understanding, and Kylie had been properly outraged. There was strength in numbers. Josie just hoped that things went as planned. If after all this, those photos landed in Afire inboxes... or got splashed across social media...
“Hey.” Spencer held the door to his Forester open for her. “Everything’s going to be okay. No-good Nolan made a mistake. This will all be over soon.”
“I know.” She just hated being played as a dupe. She prided herself on keeping things orderly and under control. She hated that her ex thought he could get access to Afire’s resources through her.
Spencer rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. “Let’s go back to your place and call him. You’ll feel better once we kick things into motion.”
She’d feel better if she could just kick Nolan, period, but she supposed Luke’s plan would have to do.
She got into the SUV and put on her seatbelt as Spencer took his place behind the wheel. Traffic was sparse when he pulled out and began the drive back to her place. She watched the passing street lights illuminate his handsome face. His happy-go-lucky smile was nowhere to be seen, and the muscles connecting his neck to his shoulders looked taut.
This wasn’t close to the night she’d envisioned for the two of them.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asked when they came to a stop light.
She began worrying her purse strap again. “Of course.”
“How did you— I mean, why— Nolan. What made you want to be with that lughead?”
She sighed and leaned her head against the headrest. A cloud blotted out the moon, and the wind had picked up. She’d been asking herself that a lot lately.
“He wasn’t like this when I first met him... or maybe I just didn’t see it. His company was one in a class of startups we let into Start ’er Up twice a year. He was the salesman for his company’s product, and he was different from the normal tech crowd. Do you know what I mean?”
Spencer let out a snort. “Oh, I know.”
“He was friendly and outgoing, the life of the party.”
“You mean he was a schmoozer.”
She winced. She knew that was a sore spot for many in the tech world. Society seemed to value extroverts who loved to talk over deep thinkers who were less gregarious.
“I’m not so different from you, Spencer,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’m geeky in my own way. I like structure and schedules. I work with people and form connections, but I’m about as far from a party girl as you can get. I was flattered when he started paying attention to me.”
Looking back, that had made her an easy target. It was clear now what he’d really wanted all along.
“Hey,” Spencer said. “He was lucky you gave him the time of day.”
The hard knot in her stomach loosened a little.
“Well, dating him seemed fun until I found out he was all about the show. Deep conversations were out of the question. He always wanted to go out. He needed the attention. It was exhausting to me.”
Even in the dim light, she could see the muscles in Spencer’s neck flexing.
“It wasn’t working, so I ended the relationship.” She shrugged. “He didn’t seem to mind at the time.”
“Until he figured out you were more valuable to him than he thought.”
“His company’s business plan wasn’t that strong, but they thought they were going to take over the market.” Josie bit her lip. Her recommendation to the board had been not to invite them for a longer residency anyway. “They acted like they didn’t need any further assistance.”
So Nolan tried to blackmail her for it, using their personal relationship as the leverage.
She should never have gotten involved with him. She had a rule about not dating coworkers, but she’d thought it was okay, because they technically weren’t colleagues.
She and Spencer were.
Maybe rules weren’t one size fits all.
The parking spot on the side street was still open when they returned, and the walk back to her apartment was quiet. Downtown Seattle always had a buzz about it, but Queen Anne was an older residential neighborhood. Most people were already in bed, getting ready to face another day.
She didn’t know if she was ready to face hers.
She unlocked her apartment, and Spencer followed her inside. He locked the door behind them, answering that question.
The knot inside her chest loosened another notch.
“Call him now,” he said softly. “Get it over with.”
“It’s late.”
He rolled his eyes. “And you need to be considerate because...?”
Right. This wasn’t a negotiation they were having. It was war.
She’d removed Nolan’s number from her address book a long time ago, so she jabbed the return call button. His voice was groggy when he answered.
She was glad Luke had prepared her. If she had a plan, she could follow it.
“Nolan? It’s Josie. Please don’t send out those pictures.” She tried to keep her anger out of her voice. She was the scared, weak link, after all. She locked her gaze with Spencer’s, taking strength from him.
“Finally returning my calls, Jo Jo?”
She gritted her teeth. She’d always hated that nickname. “I’ll give you what you want. I’ll make the introductions.”
“I knew you’d come to your senses.”
Her fingers bit into the phone. “Can... can we meet tomorrow after lunch to talk about it? And you can give the pictures back to me?”
The sound he made was rude. “We can meet, but don’t press your luck.”
“At the waterfront? The lunch tables outside of Ivar’s?”
“I’m not waiting that long. Starbucks tomorrow at nine. The one by Afire.”
“But...” Josie felt panic rising. Luke had asked for more time than that. She searched for a reason to delay. “I have meetings in the morning.”
“More important than this?”
Damn him.
“I can send those pretty pics out right now,” he said, “if you’re just going to play me along.”
“No, don’t. I can make tomorrow morning work.”
“I knew you could. See you then, baby.” He chuckled low in his throat. “I’ll be dreaming of you all night long.”
She yanked the phone away from her ear, unable to have him even that close to her. “The creep.”
“Slimeball,” Spencer agreed. He pulled off his jacket and threw it at an easy chair. He took a series of long, slow breaths before the hardness in his eyes turned gentle. He walked back over to her and undid her coat. “I’m happy you dumped him and embraced your fondness for geeks.”
She rested her head against his chest. “Spencer, you’re not a geek.”
“I own it. I’m the King of the Geeks.” He stroked his fingertips down her back. “And you own me.”
The knot inside her finally turned loose. How had she gotten lucky enough to find him, her beautiful Guard Dog?
He turned out the living room light and tugged her toward the bedroom. They both groaned when they found the room just as they’d left it, in shambles.
“Stay here,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
He moved the sock drawer off the bed and put it out of the way on the floor. Her jogging bras and swimsuits went next, but he hesitated when it came to the underwear drawer. “Need any of these?”
Her lips twitched. “No.”
“No? Good.” He waggled his eyebrows. “That’s a good answer.”
He set it aside and found the sweater drawer. He didn’t even ask about it, but his eyes lit up when he came across her lingerie. “These?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Please?”
“Maybe another time.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Heat slowly unfurled inside her. Being with him was so easy. She knew he’d never hurt her. It allowed her to open up and explore her sexuality like she never had.
They were exploring everything together.
He cleared the bed and held out his hand. “Come here.”
She moved into his arms. His kiss was gentle at first, soothing, but it slowly turned into something more possessive. She leaned into him when one hand fisted in her hair and the other clutched at her waist.
The knot that had been in her belly turned into a different kind of ache entirely. He needed this as much as she did. He wanted to claim her, and she needed to show him that no other man out there mattered.
He broke the kiss to pull his sweatshirt over his head, and she touched him reflexively. He was chiseled now, with hard pecs and abs like a washboard.
Her nipples beaded, and her belly trembled just looking at him.
She wanted to feel all that heat and hardness against her. Skin to bare skin. She tugged off her top, and he unhooked her bra. She shrugged it off her shoulders, but gasped when he pulled her close.
“Tonight is about us,” he said. “We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”
She nodded. She could put the world off for as long as he wanted.
She kissed his chest, and he began working the tab of her jeans. They loosened, but things got infinitely more serious when his hands disappeared into the gaping back of her pants and under her panties.
He squeezed her bottom, and she shivered. His mouth went to her neck, and a moan erupted from deep within her when he pushed his hand even deeper between her legs and two fingers entered her from behind.
“I like how fast you get wet,” he said, his voice raspy against her ear.
That had never happened before with anyone other than him.
She undid his jeans and tucked her hand into his briefs. “And I like that you’re always hard for me.”
“Always,” he said. His mouth covered hers hungrily, and his tongue pushed deep. “It’s embarrassing.”
Their clothes became too confining, and, for the first time ever, they stripped down to nothing. Spencer pushed back the covers on the bed. It stood cockeyed in the middle of the room.
Like it was on display.
Josie sat down and lay back against the pillows. Spencer crawled on after her, coming right up over her. He looked down at her as he hovered above her, propped up on arms roped with muscle. He was breathtakingly handsome now, but it was his puppy-dog eyes that got to her. Deep, dark, and full of heat.
His hips dropped until their bellies touched. She felt his weight pressing her into the mattress, and the head of his cock nestled at the V of her legs. She spread them open and pulled her knees back toward her chest.
The intimacy was sharp, and her belly clenched in anticipation.
Then his hard cock was tucked against her, the tip penetrating her, and his length pushed in deep.
Josie’s cry of pleasure filled the room. Her nipples tightened almost painfully, and her toes pointed hard.
He settled in to a slow, determined pace, as if he could ride her forever.
“Oh God, Spencer.” She clutched his muscled back. “You’re too good for me.”
For a moment, his hips stopped plunging. “You’re sweet, Strawberry, but I’m the one who’s leveling up.”
She rolled her hips, trying to make him finish the thrust, and he slowly sank into her until he could go no further.
His groan was low and deep. “Like high point scorer level.”
Josie writhed beneath him. Diamond in the rough—ha. She knew the truth. He’d always been cute and smart. He was funny, attentive, protective, and really good... Ah, make that really, really good in bed.
He found his rhythm again, only he dropped onto his elbows. His chest dragged against her breasts with every thrust in and every pull back.
Sensation speared inside her.
Out in the middle of the room, the bed swayed and the mattress bounced.
Who else would have helped her rearrange her room? Who else would have gone against his moral code to hack a website to protect her modesty? Who else would be at her side tomorrow?
She felt herself sliding. She’d grown more attached to him every day.
His long cock bumped inside her, setting off sparks of energy. She wrapped her leg around his hip and rubbed her toes against the back of his thigh.
“Ahh,” he said on an exhale. “Do that again.”
She did, and his body pushed more heavily against hers. Josie gasped at the thrill of being pinned. Being caught. Being so completely filled. She arched in pleasure, and her head rolled on the pillow.
“Love me, Spencer.” Her breath hitched at the slip. “Make love to me.”
His tidy haircut was mussed as he looked down at her. His eyes were glazed, but his smile was devilish. “I thought that’s what I was doing.”
And that’s when she fell for him, head over heels.
The orgasm rolled through her, sweet and slow. Not wanting to go without him, she dug her toes into the back of his thigh again. He shuddered, and then they were both tumbling together.
Her arms went tight around him, and his hands fisted in the pillow.
When he finally relaxed atop of her, Josie felt like mush. Their breaths worked opposite of each other’s as their bodies sealed tight. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck.
She loved him.
That was all there was to it.
The desperation turned to peacefulness. The worries and fear faded.
She protested when he rolled off her and onto his side, but he kept her in his arms. She felt safe there, protected and confident that they could overcome anything.
Sleep came silently and swiftly.
The darkness swept her under, restoring her and wiping her mind clean. Tomorrow could wait.