On the other hand, Byron and his boss might be the bad guys here, and Emma had just lost her friend. She and Jason both needed a distraction.
“Your mom still married to that guy… Chuck?” he asked.
“Yeah. Good memory.” Emma’s shoulders relaxed even as she made a face. “He still annoys me, but he treats her well.” At Jason’s urging, she talked about what her family was doing, her sister’s psychiatry practice, and her own move to LA thirteen years ago. “They were glad I moved back west after school.”
“They’re still in Tucson?”
“My mom and Chuck are. Lara’s in Scottsdale. She and her wife have two kids, the whole fairy tale.” Emma gave a self-deprecating laugh. “At least one of us is giving my mom what she wants.”
Couldn’t he relate? “Same for me, with Byron. Not that my halmuhni doesn’t ask me if I’m dating someone every time I see her. My mom too.”
“I hear you.” Emma absently rubbed the top of her computer and checked her cheap sports watch. “So, you’re not dating anyone?”
“You think I would’ve kissed you if I was?” And, goddammit, now he was thinking about their earlier kiss, but also the whole goatfuck from college again.
She shrugged, her gaze slowly coming up to meet his. “It’s sadly common.”
He scowled, not sure why he was so irritated. “I’m not dating anyone right now.”
“By choice or circumstance?” A light breeze ruffled her blond wig, making it sparkle in the twinkling lights overhead.
“Kind of both.” He rubbed the back of his neck and kept his awareness widened, searching for anyone giving them too much attention, anyone who looked out of place. “I’d like to meet someone, maybe start a family eventually.” He gave a little half-shrug as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Just hasn’t happened yet. What about you?”
“Single. Mainly by choice at this point.”
“By choice?”
She stared over his shoulder. “I haven’t tried to develop anything serious in a long time. When I’m working on a story, I can’t talk about it. I have to protect my sources, my fellow journalists, and myself. Eventually, the last-minute cancellations, late-night texts, and vague explanations either convinced them I was cheating, or that I cared more about work than about the relationship.” Her pretty mouth twisted. “Which, I guess I did. If I can’t ever let my guard down, they’re not getting the best of me anyway.”
He wanted to dig into that, but the sudden tension in her body made him back off.
“People deserve better,” she said.
If only Lauren had felt that way. He hadn’t been in love with her yet. That’s not what had hurt. It was her manipulation, that sense of déjà vu at being used, and his inability to recognize a woman’s mercenary intentions sooner that stung. “In my experience, there are plenty of people willing to start a relationship built on lies for reasons that aren’t nearly as honorable as yours.”
One of the things about Emma he’d been so drawn to in college—besides her wit and beauty—was that she hadn’t seemed to want anything from him. Had, in fact, turned him down the first time he asked her out.
“I’m sorry. That sucks,” she said.
He shrugged, tired of thinking about it. “How did Warner get on your radar?”
She glanced at her computer screen and then dug in her massive tote bag. “Someone tipped me off, put me in touch with Viktor.” With a flourish, she produced a power cord and a portable charger.
“It would probably be quicker to ask what youdon’thave in that bag,” he said.
She laughed lightly. “Probably.”
“Steele has a tech expert too. It’s scary the things she can get into, though she keeps it on the straight and narrow these days, only hacking companies who’ve agreed to have their systems tested. Or to help the team.”
“And you trust her?”
“Absolutely.” Jason didn’t hesitate. In addition to giving Steele a leg up in the industry, the woman had been instrumental in helping save Todd’s fiancée last year. “You might have heard of her. Valerie Sanchez Kramer?”
Emma’s eyebrows rose. “Is she the Valerie Sanchez who was in the news a few years ago? The whole espionage thing?”
He nodded. “One of our guys was tracking her when she went on the run. They ended up getting married.”
Emma’s smile made him want…so many things. “Really?” she asked, her voice incredulous. “That’s wild. And now she works for Steele?”
