Page 29 of Mountain Security

And the thought struck him that this beautiful, accomplished woman, really had no idea how incredible she was.

Alex thought of how easy he’d always had things. He’d grown up in a solid middle-class family. His mother and father were good people—a teacher and a pilot. They’d always made him and his two sisters feel loved and … yes, corny as it sounded, special.

When they retired, they’d left London and bought a small piece of land—afarm, they liked to call it, though as far as Alex could tell the only animals were some chickens and a pet rabbit they’d bought to make sure his sisters’ kids were always asking to visit.

He didn’t yet know everything about Yvette’s background, but he knew her childhood had been nothing like his. And he wanted so badly to kiss her, but something, some instinct, held him back.

You will lose her if you’re not careful.

And he’d never felt this uncertain before. Encounters with women had always come easy to him—a quick, physical attraction, a short chat to confirm the feeling was mutual, and that they were both looking for the same thing, and then the obvious romp in the sheets. He had never once been led astray by his feelings. Until now.

By now, Yvette was looking at him strangely.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I brought you coffee,” he said, pulling the small styrofoam cup out of the paper bag in his hand. She looked at the cup like it was the most amazing gift anyone had ever given her.

“Cappuccino with extra foam, no sugar,” he recited.

“How do you—Adeline told you, didn’t she?”

Alex nodded, then took a sip out of his Black Americano.

“What are you doing here, Alex?” she asked, tugging at a curl that had somehow managed to escape her ponytail.

I came to see you.

“I came to check on some of the controls I put in place.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Don’t worry. The cameras are in place. The moment somebody comes to get the keylogger, we’ll know.”

She nodded, looking satisfied, and went back to her desk.

Over the next hours, he typed away at the computer, testing different things—he didn’t like the fact that he still didn’t know how somebody had managed to access those files in the first place—but, mainly, he watched her work.

She was focused, and she was tireless. Finally, though, she looked up, pinching the bridge of her nose in that universal sign for exhaustion.

Alex found his backpack and pulled out the sandwiches he’d made before leaving home. He offered her a choice of ham and cheese or tuna salad.

“I didn’t have any snails,” he said, grinning.

Her full lips quivered, then curled into a smile, which became a laugh. “I wondered if you were vegetarian,” she said, when she could speak again.

God, he loved the sound of her laugh. His hands itched to touch those little freckles on her nose, to push back that curl that kept falling over her eyes.

“Not vegetarian. I’m just notFrench,” he said simply. He saw her eye the tuna sandwich and pulled it closer to her.

“Try it. It’s my mom’s recipe.”

“You made this? For me?” she asked, picking the sandwich up reverently. Once again, it seemed to Alex that Yvette wasn’t used to being given anything.

She should be used to it.

If we were together, I wouldn’t let a day go by without showing her how amazing she is.

Yvette took a healthy bite of the sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “This isgood,” she finally said.

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