Page 74 of Forgettable in Every Way

I led Simon to the guest bedroom and opened the door to reveal a decently sized room containing a queen-size platform bed with white bedding. I turned down the comforter and then helped Simon get Jack’s backpack off before he gently laid him on the bed. I watched how tenderly Simon tucked him in. It never got old. It was one of my favorite things, to be part of Jack’s bedtime routine every night. In that moment, it came over me how much I missed the cottage. I realized Jack and Simon didn’t belong here. I didn’t belong here in this cold, sterile environment.

I felt stunned, realizing how much Aspen Lake had felt like home to me this summer. Despite all that had happened there over the years, these last several weeks had made me see it in a different light. There, people loved me, and I loved them—and myself. I had even come to see my parents in a different light. Sure, they still had a lot of things to work out, but at least they were trying. I think I almost had them convinced to do couples’ therapy. And Mom was right ... that piano would look good at Simon’s. You know, if he wanted to make this a forever kind of thing.

As soon as Simon got Jack settled, he reached for my hand.

I gladly gave him mine and tugged him along to my office. Before I opened it, I turned toward him. “I don’t want you to be disappointed when you find out I’m not a spy or rock star.”

He pulled me closer. “Jules, I’m not going to be disappointed. Unless you tell me you’re running a secret drug cartel.”

I placed my hands on his taut chest and laughed. “Well ...,” I teased. “I hate to tell you but ... I’m not a drug lord.”

“I kind of figured.” He chuckled. “If you have too much caffeine, it does you in.”

This was true.

“Okay,” I breathed out. “Are you ready for this?”

“Are you?”

“Yes. I want to share everything with you.”

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.”

I rolled my eyes. The man had a one-track mind. I turned and punched the code into the keypad securing the room to disable the alarm. It was all very James Bond like, but necessary. I slowly opened the door to reveal a chorus of blinking lights emanating from my servers. When I flipped on the lights in the climate-controlled room, several gleaming monitors were exposed.

“Bloody hell,” Simon exclaimed. “Are you running MI6 from here?”

“I told you I wasn’t a spy.” I walked over to my desk and grabbed my tablet. I logged in and pulled up an electronic copy of my NDA.

Simon peeked over my shoulder. “You were being serious about the NDA?”

I handed him the tablet. “Most serious. After you read it, you can use your finger to sign it at the bottom.”

He took the tablet, and without reading a word, scrolled to the end of the document and signed it.

“Simon, you shouldn’t have done that,” I mildly scolded him. “You have no idea what you’ve just signed.”

He handed the tablet to me. “I trust you implicitly, darling.”

Touched, I took the tablet back. “I trust you too. It’s why I wanted to tell you.”

Simon sat at the edge of my desk and pulled me to him, wrapping his legs around me.

I placed my arms around his neck and peered into his heavenly, green eyes, dancing with anticipation. “Here it goes.” I took a deep breath. “When I came to LA for my internship, a cybersecurity company courted me. Let’s just say I have a certain talent for thinking like a hacker—the good and bad kind. Of course, I only want to use my powers for good.” I grinned.

Simon’s brow quirked.

“Yes, I’m a hacker. A white hat hacker,” I added. “A very good one. But that’s not all.”

Simon tilted his head like he didn’t recognize me.

“Is this too weird for you?”

“Not at all. I’m just bloody impressed.”

“Well.” I bit my lip. “Then you’re really going to love this. Um ... so ... while at the cybersecurity company, one of my coworkers found herself being blackmailed by an old lover. He started posting nude photos of her. Unfortunately, once something like that gets posted, it gets reposted. So, I developed a facial recognition program that scours the internet and will create a report of every site containing the damaging photos. Those reports can be given to law enforcement and other agencies, as well as lawyers. Once contacted, most sites take them down immediately, not wishing to be part of any legal battles. This has made me quite popular among the celebrity crowd.” The corporate crowd loved me too, as I still offered hacking services to help them bolster their security against cyberattacks.

Simon’s mouth fell open. “You are a rock star.”

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