Page 14 of Crude Heir

I’ll leave the window open in case the software comes back online and lets me save. If there’s a chance I won’t lose everything, I’m willing to wait it out. I’ve had some fitful sleep the last couple of weeks. I’ll just check when I wake up again.

With the decision made, I stand up and stretch, listening for the creaks and groans my tired body makes. I need to be more cognizant of the time. I’ve needed to get up for the past hour, but I kept putting it off.

With a determined breath, I make my way to the bed, pulling back the covers, then I pick up the laptop and carry it over to set it in the middle of the bedspread. I chuckle softly to myself again as a fleeting moment of my daydreams sneak into real life.

This is as close as I’ll get to climbing in bed with Derrick Stockton.

Chapter 6

Derrick

Her eyes pop open as soon as she sees the notification, and she loses all signs of sleep.

“Damn it!” she says out loud. It’s nice to knowLittle Nikkiisn’t always sweet. She glances at the lower right-hand corner then clicks on the link to export the data from the payment software.

“That’s not going to happen.” I flip over to the permissions and shut her down.

A few seconds later, the spreadsheet comes up, but it’s only the outline on the screen. The sheet flickers as the system tries to push the information into the format she requested. “No, no, no,” she says, with all the enthusiasm of a sports fan watching their favorite team drop the ball right before scoring the winning touchdown.

Her cheeks turn pink. “Derrick, you…” I raise an eyebrow, waiting to see what she comes up with. Even now, I can only imagine her covered in hearts, little birds flying around her like some cartoon princess. “Argh! Screw you and the megabyte you rode in on.”

My laughter bursts out at the curse from that sweet mouth. Seems Nikki has a temper after all.

I hesitate, thinking about next steps. Do I close the link? It takes less than a second to scrap that idea and decide to engage. The temptation to see this side of her is too much. I switch to the messenger and type out the beginning of the conversation.

I was hoping to catch you before the system kicked you out.

She clenches her jaw, glaring at the screen.Too late,she replies, hitting the Enter key so hard I can hear the slam through the microphone. I’m liking this side of her.

Let’s see, what can I tell her that she can’t readily verify?

Trouble on the West Coast. The system locked up on them so I’m going to have to reset the server and do some troubleshooting on the back end.

That should be enough to get her to understand this isn’t going to happen tonight. I actually let her go on a lot longer than I’d originally planned to. I can chalk that up to the bank heist I have going on in the game. I look up in time to see a car rear-end the hijacked ambulance, sending it over the side of a mountain and burst into flames.

Nicole cocks her head.Oh.

Let’s see what she’ll say if questioned.Did you get to clear out the invoices you needed?

She bites the corner of her lip, causing the other side to form a little loop. Whatever she uses on her lips leaves them with a light, glossy sheen. What would she taste like if I sucked on that full lip? The thought flashes through my head, bringing me up short. This is supposed to be a hunting expedition, and here I am wondering what it would be like to taste her.

I got a lot done,she types out then hesitates before she hits enter. So, she isn’t exactly comfortable with the lie. She leans in and immediately follows up on the message.I was in the middle of reviewing overall cost on an AFE, but the download got stuck.

Why would she be doing that when she claimed she was trying to kick out work for a check run?You may end up losing that.

Her shoulders slump.

That’s the issue they’re dealing with.

Her lids fan down, and her eyes go unfocused for a moment before she goes back to typing.Well, at least it was one AFE I lost and not everything.

I’m not an accountant, but what she’s doing doesn’t look right. Snippets from the conversation with Addler echo in my head.Shit like this happens all the time. You just don’t hear about a lot of them because the company doesn’t want the bad press.

Is she up to something underhanded?It’s fate, Nicole.You’re supposed to go to bed.

She smiles at the screen. Damn, she looks pretty. What’s going through her mind? She shakes her head, losing the expression before going back to typing.I suppose you’re right.What about you? How long are you going to be stuck fixing this?

She looks tired yet determined. Is she planning on staying up to keep doing what she’s trying to hide? Well, I’m not going to give her the chance.It’ll be at least a few hours.

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