“I don’t date, I have a list of acceptable companions when I need a plus one for events.” Mom didn’t need to know about my extracurricular activities.
“That, my boy, is exactly my point. I didn’t say yes to your father the first or even the second time he asked me out. And while he had his faults, he took care of us the best he knew how. He was a good man.” She paused, lost in a memory, before she continued. “A girl…a woman who makes you work for it, is one worth your time, and one I’d like to meet.”
I had so many things I wanted to say but at that moment, the nurse came in with her discharge papers, so my chance was gone.
Was that why I was so drawn to Mira? She made me work for it? She didn’t roll over like the rest of my employees when management walked into the room. She’d taken me head-on. Hell, even with her submission, she’d been slow to give it. The things she let me do Saturday, I wouldn’t have gotten away withwhen we started. With each layer she allowed me to peel away, I wanted more. I wanted her not only in the shadows but in the light of day as well.
And maybe it would even get my mom back to Seattle, where she belonged. All I knew was I missed her and needed to get back home.
Chapter 27
Mira
“You headed home?” I asked, standing in Micah’s doorway, holding his latest findings in my hands. I’d been right. Hale had only asked me to work on the Stevenson project. Micah kept tabs on who was testing what software at all times. While it wasn’t abnormal to have two people attacking one piece, someone needed to know about it. It was usually a test to see if those two analysts were paying attention or if one of them could get inside without being detected.
“Yeah, just need to finish this,” he said, swiveling back toward his computer. “I’m right behind you.”
I shrugged. “You sure?” We’d all been burning the overtime, but we were so close. The trap was set, and right now we didn’t know if Stevenson was connected to the accounting mishap.
“Unless you want to tell me what you’ve decided.” He wagged his brows, his smirk widening. I’d called him when I’d gotten home last night while I waited for my take-out and given him a run-down of my day. Reid leaving like he did had come up, and so had lunch and him asking me out. Immediately, I wanted to take it back, but while Micah could get everyone to drop theirsecrets, he, himself, was a vault. So I knew other than maybe Noah, he wouldn’t tell another living soul.
“Nope.” I shook my head and turned, heading toward the elevator before he could push more. Why had I told him Sebastian Reid had asked me out? Why had I hesitated giving him an answer. I hadn’t said no, not really, but I’d told him I was involved. While it wasn’t a lie.
Your Master stupid.
I was a mess, and it didn’t help that I was falling for both men. Falling for my master was against the rules, and I didn’t know how long I could keep it from him, but when I was with Sebastian, he made me feel special, and we’d only been on the one date. It wasn’t even really a date, but I’d never connected with someone like I had that night, and the way he opened up, I wasn’t sure that was something he was accustomed to doing. Then there was the lunch in his office yesterday. Unexpected. But at the same time, so him.
Sighing, I pushed the button on the elevator. It was a long night, and I just wanted to go home. Sebastian had been gone the last two days and would get back tomorrow. We were hoping to have this done. We were so damn close.
The elevator arrived with a soft chime. I stepped inside, rubbing my neck, tempted to go back to Sebastian’s office, but I promised him I’d be out of here by eight when he called an hour ago. He’d kept the phone calls mostly business, but he’d asked me out again and if I’d eaten. We’d already talked twice today.
His mom had been released and he was helping her get settled at home along with hiring a nurse, that she openly and loudly complained about. I’d like to meet her one day.
The doors were almost closed when a hand shot between them.
It took all I had in me not to roll my eyes. The best part of the reassignment, well, other than working with Sebastian, was not working with the man standing in front of me.
Stan Mercer.
He’d been making the analysts’ lives hell, which was hard to figure out the reason, since we hadn’t taken on any new clients. No new clients meant not a lot of stuff to analyze.
“Long day?” he asked, as he stepped in. He looked like hell, his tie loosened, his hair a mess. He smelled worse. Had he been drinking?
“Something like that.” I shifted my bag on my shoulder, raising my hand over my mouth, hoping it looked like I was stifling a yawn, but in truth I was trying to cover my nose. The hum of the elevator filled the silence between us. I could feel him watching me. God, he was a creep.
“Burning the candle at both ends? Huh?” He chuckled, sending ice through me. “Reid keeping you… busy.”
“I do my job,“ I muttered. “Not that you’d know anything about that.”
I fixed my eyes on the floor numbers as they headed to the garage. This all started because he refused to do his job and give the information that Sebastian needed, but at the same time, if he had, we might not know about the leak and the missing funds.
His smile sharped. “Oh, I think you do your job very well. Maybe see to all three of their needs?”
The elevator wasn’t moving fast enough. Where was this going? I was going to be sick.
“Tell me, does your boss know about your late-night hobbies?”
I gritted my teeth for a moment before I forced a smile. What the hell was he talking about?
