“You are pretty adamant for someone who hated my guts until this morning.” He was still all kinds of confused. Nothing was adding up in his head, and for someone who considered himself a man who was normally pretty fast on the uptake, that rattled him to the core. “What changed?”
“We have a deal, remember? Do you plan on keeping it?”
“Of course. I gave you my word. That promise is gold. I won’t break it unless you do.”
“See…” Jorja jabbed one finger into his chest. “You,” another finger jabbed against his ribs, “are not an asshole.” Did she even know she was telling him off? He didn’t think so. “Get used to it,” Jorja told him seriously. “And start believing it, because it’s true.”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“My father treated my mom like Gillian does you. It sucked hearing my mom cry in the shower after every phone call at least a couple of times a week.”
“Ahh.” He understood now. At least he thought he did. Standing up for him was her redemption for what she couldn’t fix when she was a child. Jorja, it seemed, would always pick who she saw as the underdog and be the one to fight in their corner. Wasn’t that what he’d taught the boys to do? He already knew it was, so why did it sting his heart that Jorja’s reasons weren’t… more?
“Don’t.” She stroked the side of his face. “Don’t try to say I would do that for anyone else. I have never in my life wanted to be the focus of attention. I’m always going to be the one in the background, helping where people can’t see. If you think making a scene is something I want, need, or force to happen for just anyone, you are dead wrong. I spoke up because you didn’t. You needed someone in your corner…”
Gunnar stopped her in her tracks the only way he could think of. He kissed her, and his whole world crumbled around him. The walls which protected his heart—shattered. The fences he’d built to keep everyone at arm’s length—destroyed. Everything he thought he understood of himself—crumbled. For the first time in longer than he could remember, a scalding heat sparked to life, flamed into fire, and escaped from the depths of his soul, warming him fromthe inside out. In that instant, his world changed. He knew it. He craved it. He would stop at nothing to ensure it came true. This woman, Jorja, would be forever his. His forever woman. As he deepened the kiss, he knew, even if it took a lifetime, he’d convince her that she was his and he was hers.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Hours later,Jorja stared at the screen but didn’t really see a darn thing on it. It could have been some version of Chinese rather than codes she should have been able to decipher in her sleep. Concentrating after not so Jerk-God after all Gunnar McKinley had kissed you senseless was virtually impossible. Who knew?
Me. I know now.
“George?”
“Hmmh?”
“George?”
“Yes?”
“Jorja?” Remi calling her full name finally snapped her out of the trance-like thing she had going on. “Do you want me to check why your computer is beeping?”
“What?”
“It’s been beeping for five minutes straight,” Remi muttered. “Either shut it off, or I’m going to throw something at either you or the screen. And if we have to order another computer because a repetitive sound made me crazy, Gunnar will lose his shit.”
“Gunnar?”
“He’s not here. Hah, how did I know his name would snap you out of it?” he teased her.
She resisted the urge to fan her hands in front of her face against the heat she could feel building there. “Stop it. It’s annoying when you do that.”
“Hell no,” Remi continued. “My brother has the same dazed look on his face as you’re wearing right now. So, no there’s not a chance in hell I’m not going to let this get past me without teasing you for at least a few minutes.”
Why had she thought he was the nice brother again? Jorja stabbed at the keyboard with one finger and hit the space bar. Maybe if she looked like she was concentrating, then he’d go back to work too. The screen moved from the rolling rows of code she could swear was there the last time she’d actually noticed what was on the screen and a swirling circle appeared in the center of it. “Shit.” If she’d put them back hours, Remi was going to be so fricking pissed.
Remi laughed his ass off at her as she held her breath and crossed her fingers. “Thank God,” she whispered quietly in her head, because apparently the space bar was somehow not a fuck-up. She was so relieved. Relieved and elated, she reached behind her and smacked at Remi when she recognized the list in front of her. “I got it back.” She tugged at his t-shirt. “Look, look.” She skimmed the list, and her heart sank when she noticed three more names had been crossed off it.
Remi stood next to her and read over her shoulder. “Holy hell, you did it. Awesome job, George.”
His praise pleased her. Unless you counted herself, nobody typically patted her on the back for finding a way into a site which was meant to be invitation only. Even her clients didn’t know what her job entailed. “Thank you.”
“I’m gonna call the guys.” He picked up his phone andtapped out a message. “They’ll probably be here in a minute.” Remi sat back down and opened another search engine. “I’m going to run those names through my databases, because Gunnar is going to want them when he gets here.”
“Mind if I watch?” Curiosity was a killer for her when there was a program running which she wasn’t familiar with. As she watched Remi filling out the inquiry boxes, her fingers itched.
What I wouldn’t give to play around with that for a couple of days.
