Читать книгу A Dangerously Sexy Affair - Stefanie London - Страница 13

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“DAMN ALANA. DOES SHE not own a single pair of pants?” Quinn muttered under her breath as she walked into the Cobalt & Dane head office, tugging on the hem of another one of her friend’s dresses.

Thankfully, this little black number covered her more comfortably, although the hem was still above her knees. She’d thrown on a pair of white high-top sneakers and a denim jacket in the hopes of dressing the outfit down. However, judging by the raised eyebrows aimed in her direction, she’d failed.

“You can’t sit here.” Owen Fletcher, her colleague and friendly office pain in the ass, dropped down into her chair before she had a chance to dump her satchel there. “This desk belongs to a grumpy pink-haired lady who never wears skirts.”

Smirking, she sipped her giant latte. “That’s got to be the first time you’ve ever called me a lady.”

“Seriously, what’s with the dress? It’s...weird.” He scrunched up his nose as if she’d walked into the office wearing a trash can.

“Can’t I wear a dress without getting hassled?” She tugged on the hem again.

The tight fit was already bugging her, not to mention the fact that she’d had to go commando because she hadn’t brought a fresh pair of underwear with her. How did women dress this way? Give her a baggy top and a pair of jeans any day.

“Please come to work in a ‘Space Invaders’ T-shirt tomorrow.” Owen got out of her seat and held it out so she could sit down. “You’re messing with my view of the world.”

“Your view of the world?”

“Yes, the things I need to believe in order to know the universe is right. Taxi drivers are crazy, the Mets are the greatest team on earth and you dress like a teenage boy.”

“I guess I should feel honored that I feature in the world law according to Owen Fletcher.” She swung her chair around to face her desk. “Now go away. I have work to do.”

“No dress tomorrow, promise?” Owen raked a hand through his blond hair and grinned.

“Promise.” She shooed him away with one hand and typed her password into her laptop.

Already her inbox was filled to bursting with banal requests. Printer errors, missing cables, password resets and setup for the new hire. Ugh.

She couldn’t take this job much longer before she’d go nuts. The years she’d spent at university could not be wasted on constantly advising people to restart their computers.

“Quinn?” Her manager, Rhys, came out of his office and over to her desk.

“Morning, boss,” she said, pushing up from her chair. “Any chance you might be free to catch up today? There’s something I’d like to discuss.”

“Hold that thought. I have a special project for you to work on.” He motioned for her to follow him through the IT department. “Bring your laptop.”

Great. What’ll it be this time, a server upgrade? Someone broke a macro? A busted scanner?

She opened the cable lock that secured her laptop to the desk and tucked the device under her arm. Scooping up her coffee with her free hand, she hurried after him.

“So I was thinking about the position you applied for recently,” he said.

“Oh. Really?”

Rhys nodded to the receptionist as they walked past her and into an empty conference room where they usually met clients. “I know you were disappointed you didn’t get it.”

“No shit,” she muttered as she pulled up a chair and placed her laptop and coffee onto the table.

He held up a hand as he usually did when Quinn was about to start ranting. “We had a better candidate.”

“Did you really drag me out here to reinforce the idea I’m not good enough?” she asked, heavily ladling on the sarcasm.

He folded his arms over his chest and took the seat across from her. The wall clock ticked loudly in the pause, the sound grating on her nerves. She inspected the remains of her black polish and made a mental note to locate the bottle of remover she kept in the IT department cupboards.

A smile tugged at the corner of his full lips. “Now, if you could dial back the sulky-teenager act for a minute, I’d like to talk about the job I have for you.”

“A job?” She tried not to appear too excited at the possibility that they’d already realized she was promotion-worthy without her having to convince them.

“I want you to work a case with the new hire.”

If she’d been able to pop Rhys’s head with sheer mind power at that moment, she would have. “What?”

“We’ve assigned him to a case involving a leak at a game design company, and we thought it would also be a great opportunity for you to stretch your wings.” He folded his hands in front of him on top of the table.

“What exactly will ‘stretching my wings’ involve?” She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“It will mean playing nice in the sandpit, for one.” Rhys looked at her pointedly.

“And?” She kept her face neutral, undecided how she felt about this opportunity. It was what she wanted...kind of. However, being forced to work with the guy who’d gotten the job she deserved was not at all her cup of tea.

“Getting a positive outcome. We’re briefing the case this morning, so you’ll be up to speed on all the important details.”

“Can’t I work with one of the other guys? What about Jin or Owen?” She drummed her fingertips against her bare thigh. “Surely they’d do a better job with this case since they already know how we do things around here.”

“No.” Rhys turned his phone over in his hands and swiped at the screen. “This is the opportunity I’m giving you. Take it or leave it.”

“Since when do you play hardball?”

“Since you decided to argue with me. I like having you on my team, Quinn, but damn, you’re difficult sometimes.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Now, are you on board or not?”

She rolled the proposal around in her mind. Her gut told her she’d be stupid to turn it down. Rhys was trying to make things right and, given he was the head of IT, she’d still be working for him.

“Who’s going to cover my job while I’m on this case?”

He shrugged. “We’ll get a temp in.”

“Will you let them sit at my desk?” She shuddered at the thought of someone touching her things.

“Yes. Where else would they sit?”

Crossing one leg over the other, she leaned back in her chair. “Do I get a raise?”

“We’ll talk about it if the assignment goes well.”

“Do I get an office?”

Rhys laughed as if she’d asked for a life-size statue made of marshmallows to be erected in her honor. “No office. What you get is the opportunity to do something different, which I believe is what you’ve been hounding me for. Do it well and then you can negotiate with me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He stifled a smile as he checked the clock. “You’re not going to chase the new guy away?”

“If he’s chased away so easily, he probably isn’t a good fit for our team,” she said. “So, when do I start?”

“Right now.” Rhys motioned to the conference room door as Jin, one of the senior security consultants, held the door open for the person behind him.

“Hey, Quinn, glad you could join us.”

She opened her mouth to respond but the words evaporated right off her tongue as the new hire walked through the open door.

The intensity of his blue gaze hit her immediately, followed by the sharp cut of his jaw, the tangle of dark hair and broad shoulders. Magic hands...hands that had been on her all night long.

Jin closed the door behind them. “This is Aiden Odell, our newest team member.”

* * *

AIDEN THANKED HIS lucky stars the FBI had trained him to be calm in a crisis. And finding out Quinn was his new colleague definitely counted as a crisis. Not only because he’d been pissed that she’d sneaked out without so much as a “so long, thanks for the laughs,” but also that she’d now see him as a liar and a fraud.

In his defense, he’d tried to come clean but she’d shut him up with her “this is just sex” spiel. Though, judging by the daggers she was shooting at him now, she must have forgotten that little nugget of information.

“Quinn Dellinger is our IT support guru, but given her unique skill set, we’ve assigned her to this case,” Jin said, motioning for Aiden to take a seat at the conference table. “She studied game design at university and has strong ties with the gaming community.”

“Nice to meet you,” Aiden said, sticking out his hand.

She let it hang there for an excruciatingly awkward moment, only accepting the gesture when Jin cleared his throat. “You, too,” she finally said.

“I believe you’ve already met Rhys?” Jin continued and Aiden nodded. “For your benefit, Quinn, Aiden will be working in the security consultant pool with myself, Owen and the others. But he’s mainly going to focus on the information and cybersecurity jobs, so he’ll be reporting to Rhys.”

Quinn looked as though she’d eaten something sour. But Jin proceeded as if nothing was wrong and ran them through the assignment with Third Planet Studios. There wasn’t a whole lot of extra information than the briefing Aiden had been given when he accepted the position at Cobalt & Dane, but the extra run-through was welcome since his brain was still clogged with memories of Quinn’s naked body.

She sat across the table from him, scowling, and the sexy little stone in her nose glinted in the light from the window behind her. Her brown-and-pink hair was piled on top of her head, a few strands escaping messily at the sides. What would happen if he withdrew the pin holding her hair in place? He already knew how silky and soft it would feel against his palms, or swishing over his chest as she rode him, her small breasts bouncing with each thrust—

“Aiden?” Jin peered at him from the head of the table. “Did we lose you there for a minute?”

You can’t blow it on day one, dumb ass. Pay attention to the job, not the girl.

“Just thinking about the case.”

Jin nodded. “It would be great if you could give Quinn a quick intro to your background before we dive into the approach I’ve put together.”

He swallowed, trying to ignore how intently Quinn was staring at him. No doubt she was eager to hear what he did for a living, since it was clear he wasn’t a game designer, as he’d told her.

“I’ve been with the FBI since I graduated. I started out in their police force, primarily working in the New York headquarters.” He sucked in a breath, trying not to let the memories get to him. “Then, two years ago, I moved into the Cyber Security Action team. I worked on a number of high-profile cases there, including taking down a prominent financial crime ring.”

“Why did you leave the police side of things?” Quinn asked, her tone more than a little accusatory.

“I no longer met the physical requirements for the job.” He touched his ear. “I was involved in a shoot-out inside a building, and I suffered acoustic trauma in my left ear. I failed the audiometer test.”

She uncrossed her arms and fiddled with the hem of her dress. “Oh.”

“I’m partially deaf in one ear and...it’s permanent.”

He remembered delivering the news to his father. Rather than asking how Aiden was coping with the change, his dad had immediately set about ordering the FBI to provide him a new job somewhere. Anywhere.

The perks of your father being the head of Intelligence. Too bad he’d never put that kind of effort into being a good dad.

“But my injury won’t affect my job here,” Aiden said. “I do my best work with computers and one-on-one interviews.”

Quinn shifted in her seat. Not many people knew about his hearing problem outside his family and the people he’d worked with at the FBI. Certainly no one he’d taken to bed. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of it, but he didn’t draw attention to it, either. He didn’t want sympathy, and he certainly didn’t want people thinking he was weak.

So he’d learned to cope, always taking a seat first—as he’d done with Quinn last night—so he could use his good ear. In groups or in noisy venues, he relied on his other senses for context. He read lips, analyzed gestures, listened to pitch and tone if the words themselves were hard to make out. For the most part, he could be around someone every day and he or she wouldn’t realize anything was wrong with him.

But even his father hadn’t been able to bend the FBI Police’s hearing rules. The audiometer test was an unforgiving SOB.

“Thanks, Aiden.” Jin nodded and fired up the large screen at the head of the room.

An hour later they were all up to speed with the plan for the Third Planet Studios assignment. Quinn would go undercover as a game designer—since she was the only one on the team who’d actually studied game design and had enough knowledge to pass muster with the employees—and Aiden would go in as himself. He would rattle the cage by interviewing staff and asking questions. Meanwhile, Quinn would keep her ear to the ground to observe the fallout.

They would work together. Closely.

“Is this your first time going undercover?” Aiden asked Quinn as they wrapped up the meeting.

“Yeah.” She pushed up from her chair and snapped her laptop closed. “I’m not all that adept at lying. Maybe you could give me a few tips?”

Rhys walked toward the door with Jin. “Excellent idea, Quinn,” he said, clearly missing the intended sting in her words. “Take Aiden for a coffee and get to know one another. I’m sure he could give you a few pointers.”

A blush flared across her cheeks, lighting up her porcelain skin. Her jaw clenched, the muscle twitching enough that he could tell she was grinding her teeth. “I’ve got a meeting scheduled with Addison about the new password requirements.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Rhys paused in the doorway for a moment. “Unless you’re having second thoughts?”

She steadied herself. “I’m not.”

Rhys and Jin left them alone in the room, and the air stilled. Tension rippled across his skin, heightening his senses. Firing up his brain. This was the calm before the storm.

“You...liar,” she spat, her eyes flashing. “I can’t believe I fell for your bullshit story. Game designer, my ass. Did you know I worked here? Were you following me?”

“Whoa.” Aiden held up a hand. “For starters, I tried to give you the truth last night, and you stopped me because it was ‘just sex.’ Second, I wasn’t following you. I’m not a goddamn stalker.”

“I stopped you,” she scoffed. “I thought you were going to lay down ground rules, not tell me you’d been pretending to be someone else. You didn’t try that hard to set the record straight.”

“When we stopped outside the hotel room, I was going to tell you.”

“So you say.” She tugged her denim jacket closer around her small frame. “How can I believe anything that comes out of your mouth?”

“You weren’t exactly up-front about where you worked, if memory serves me correctly.” He walked around the table to cut the distance between them.

“Keeping my private details to myself is not the same as lying.” Her fists clenched at her sides. “You flat out lied to me. Did you think you’d have a better chance with me if I thought you were a gamer?”

“No.” He shook his head, a dull ache spreading out from his temples as the ringing in his ears from his tinnitus started up. “That’s not why I lied.”

“Enlighten me, then.” Her small pink lips pressed into a flat line.

This was going downhill. Fast.

You can lie to protect a life and you can lie to protect your country, but you cannot lie for personal gain.

His father’s words swirled around in his head. He was the only man Aiden had ever met who managed to break the gray areas of life into fragments of black and white, assigning rules here and there so that he always had a framework for making decisions. The habit had stayed with Aiden, and while his moral code might not match everyone else’s, he stuck to it.

No matter what.

“I was there doing research for this assignment. I wanted to see if anyone was talking about Third Planet Studios or the leak about their new engine.” He rubbed at his temple. “I had a suspicion that Alana Peterson might have been involved since she has such a grudge against them.”

Quinn reeled as if he’d slapped her. “So you approached me because Alana’s my friend. You acted like you had no idea who she was.”

“I was doing my job.”

“Your job started today, not last night.” There was a slight shake in her hands as she fiddled with a button on her jacket. “Did you sleep with me to get information?”

The horror on her face made his stomach churn. He was a lot of things, but he didn’t use women in that way. If Quinn had given any indication that she knew what was going on with Third Planet Studios, he would have kept talking to her until he got what he needed. But he wouldn’t have slept with her to do it.

“That was all real, I promise. I was attracted to you. I wanted to sleep with you. And you seemed pretty into it, as well.”

“I can’t believe this.” Her fingers fluttered at her throat as if searching for something that wasn’t there. “You tricked me.”

“I didn’t trick you into staying the night.” He ground the words out. “You were there because you wanted to be.”

She swallowed and sucked in a deep breath. “You’re right. I did want to be there. But it sure as hell won’t happen again. If we’re going to work together, you can keep your hands to yourself.”

“Fine.” He held his hands up, palms facing her. “Does that mean we have a truce?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll work with you on this one assignment because I want something out of it. But I don’t trust you, and the second it’s over, I’m going to steer clear of you.”

“At least you’re honest,” he muttered.

“It’s more than I can say for you.” She tucked her laptop under her arm and headed for the door. “Come on, I’ve been told to take you for coffee.”