He shrugs and his broad shoulders hunch slightly. “With my history…can you blame him for passingmeover?”
“Yes. That wasyearsago.”
“I put a man in the hospital, Cam. I went to jail. How do you think that looks to a potential employer? Royce only hired me because you vouched for me. Don’t botherdenyingit.”
“You served your time. That has to be worth something.” I’m reaching, I know. But Lucas doesn’t deserve to continue to pay for a single mistake. Neither do I, but I long ago gave up hope of reconciling with myfamily.
Lucas shakes his head. “Maybe not, but employers are always going to see my past before my skills. I’m ready for a fresh start. Even so, I don’t know that anyone’s going to make me an offer once they do a background check. I never expected TechLock to call. Or Software Associates. OrJilba.”
“You deserve every one of those interviews. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. Hell, I can’t even talk to my father anymore. My mother only contacts me on my birthday, and she always tells me how much of a disappointmentIam.”
With a snort, Lucas reaches over and pats my hand. “Honey, I’ve done more to disappoint my mama than almost anyone in this bar.” He chuckles. “You should have seen her face when I came out. I was shaking like a leaf in ahurricane.”
“You never told me that story.” His easy admission soothes my raw nerves, and I try for asmile.
“She came home from church and caught me buck-ass naked with Paulie Tyrell sucking my dick. Kind of hard to pretend to be straight after that.” Lucas grins, and a faraway look settles in his eyes. “Mama tanned my hide. Not for being gay, but for skipping church and lying to her. Didn’t speak to me for a week. Longest seven days of my life. I never kept a damn thing from heragain.”
Memories of my own personal hell float to the surface. My father’s cold fury, my mother’s tears.Not now.“I wish I’dknownher.”
“She was the sweetest woman you’d ever meet—unless someone tried to hassle me. Then, she’d rival the toughest soldier on the battlefield.” Lucas catches the eye of the bartender again, winks, and then reluctantly returns his gazetome.
Catching the hint, I push away from the table and sling my bag across my chest. “I’ve got to get home. If I want to have any sort of a weekend, I’ve got to find out why Oversight keepscrashing.”
He reaches for my arm. “Letmehelp.”
When I hesitate, his voice turns pleading. “Honey, I’m dying spending my days crawling through ducts filled with cobwebs and layers of dust so thick, the dust bunnies have mutated into horses. I need to get my hands back intothecode.”
Tears burn the corners of my eyes, and I blink hard to keep them from spilling over. I hate that exhaustion has turned me into an emotional wreck, but between late nights talking—or having insanely hot FaceTime sex—with West and Oversight’s rapidly multiplying bugs, I’m stretched so thin I fear I’ll snapintwo.
“I’ll send you the card reader module. Find out what’s eating up all the systemresources,okay?”
Relief softens his shoulders, and he stands and wraps his arms around me. I sink against his bulk, so happy to have my friend back, I don’t even care how hard I have to work to replace his programming skills or how strange the office is going to feelwithouthim.
“Now let me go,” I say as I give his shoulder a light shove. “That bartender of yours looks like he’s about to go off shift. Maybe you should offer to buy him a drink. Don’t even think of starting the debugging untiltomorrow.”
Lucas turns his gaze to the bar. “Oh, honey. That fabulous man needs much more than a singledrink.”
* * *
Drunk coding isn’t smart,but at least by the end of the night, I’ve managed to track down one of the bugs causing Oversight to go belly up at regular intervals. “There you go, baby,” I croon as I check in the latest code changes. “Be nice to mama,willyou?”
If only she’d listen to me. Another fault flickers across the screen, and I curse. The clock ticks past midnight as I make myself a cup of coffee and then cast a longing stare towards my bedroom. I don’t flop into my recliner—I fall—and once I’ve rubbed my gritty eyes, I launch the debuggeragain.
The buzzing phone doesn’t register until the device dances off the table and hits the floor with a thud. “Dammit.”
I’m getting worried. Let me knowyou’reokay.
Three other unread messages wait forme.Shit.
Can’t wait until tomorrow, angel. Missed you tonight. I triedCall of Dutyand got my asskicked.
Sorry for the late change in plans, but can you meet me at my dojo at ten? I can’t get away earlier, and I’d like to show yousomething.
You stillalive?
Once the call connects, I launch into a heartfelt apology. Though I’m so tired, I’m not sure I’m capable of conveying any emotion. “I’ve been debugging for the past four hours. Didn’t even hear my phone vibrate until just now. I’m sosorry,West.”
The strain in his tone belies his next words, “My job last night, yours tonight. Don’t worry, angel. It’s my turn to ask for a favor, though. Do you mind meeting me atthedojo?”
