Page 23 of Just Curious

“You keep that external drive safe. It’s possible you’ve been infected with a virus, and I may need to sweep your hard drive completely clean to get rid of it.”

“But I have anti-virus software on it,” she protested. “How could that be?”

Jackson huffed, “Those programs are only good for the most well-known problems and need to be updated constantly to stay ahead of hackers. Did you do an antivirus scan?”

“No.”

“Alright, we can try that first. But don’t hold your breath that it will help. Sometimes I suspect those companies of releasing viruses just to stay in business.” He took in how comfy Willa looked on Casey’s lap and wondered why it pleased him so much.Shouldn’t I be a little jealous?He felt none of the green-eyed monster. Instead he only saw two people he loved, learning to love each other. “So, Willa, I was just talking to my mom, and I wondered if you could go up to Castroville with me for a little birthday celebration for my dad. Casey, unfortunately, is busy then with clients.”

Giving him a beaming smile, she answered, “I’d love to go. When is it?”

When he gave her the date, however, her face fell. “Oh no. I can’t leave town then. I have three days of local book signings scheduled. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Too much advertising has already been done to be able to change them. I’m so sorry.”

“Well, that’s what happens when the two of you are busy, and in such demand,” he said sadly. “I’ll have to make the trip by myself this time. At least you’ll both be here for each other… if you want to get together.”

Casey’s eyes lit up as he asked, “You guys wouldn’t mind?” He looked first at Jackson and then at Willa, who smiled sweetly back at him.

With a great show of looking put-upon, Jackson droned, “Of course, I’ll be lonely and miserable all by myself, but it’ll be a great opportunity for the two of you to… um…bond.” His eyes narrowed at Casey when Casey let out a tiny snicker at Jackson’s choice of words.

Turning to Willa, he asked, “Have you been doing research for your books on any porn sites lately?”

She laughed and said, “Once in a while. Why?”

“They’re a known source for picking up computer viruses and malware. What about emails? Have you clicked on any that came from an unknown source?”

“I don’t think so.” She got a faraway look on her face and then amended her statement. “Oh wait. This afternoon when we got back, I went through the ton of emails that had piled up as usual, and something kind of odd did happen.”

She had Jackson’s full attention as he asked, “What was it?”

“Well, an email came from a blogger who had a weird request.” Jackson’s eyebrows shot up, and Casey gave her a reassuring squeeze. “She wanted a photo of my book cover in a large jpeg format. Usually, the bloggers just want a smaller one for the web, but I never want to discourage free advertising, so I tried to load the photo into the form they sent.”

“What happened then?” asked Casey. Jackson already had a knowing look on his face.

“Nothing. I clicked on the button to upload the photo, and absolutely nothing happened. I thought maybe my image was too big for them after all. So, then I sent them an email asking about it and got an automatic out-of-office response that they’d get back to me on Monday.”

Casey also looked less than amused and offered, “Better check any online bank accounts you have, Willa. And change all of your passwords as soon as possible.”

She put her hands over her face and groaned, “Oh, ugh,” into them. “I feel like a huge dumbass.”

“It’s not your fault,” Jackson assured her. “We’ll get this fixed. I’m just glad you had everything backed up externally.”

“Yeah, thanks,” she sighed. With her tummy growling, Willa asked, “Would you guys like to eat in or go out? I’m famished, and I’m sick of looking at my computer.”

Jackson offered his opinion quickly. “I’d rather stay here. I don’t feel much like driving anywhere.” He noticed the relieved faces of his friends and said, “I’ll go get the menus.”

“You need a chef,” chuckled Casey as Jackson sat back down. “I should loan you Phillipe when I’m out of town. Then you wouldn’t have to look at menus. Or cook.”

He looked questioningly at Willa who smiled and shrugged. “Cooking isn’t exactly one of my skill sets. But I’m good at other things.”

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and he let out a tiny groan. “You certainly are.” Narrowing his eyes, Casey asked, “Why would you do research for your books by looking at porn anyway?”

“Oh, you know… to see if certain, um…positionsare feasible. Most of it is so fake andnotsexy, it’s a waste of time looking at it for any inspiration, but I just want to make sure the characters can get their bodies into particular situations reasonably comfortably. In my early days of writing, I bought Barbie and Ken dolls to experiment with before I thought of watching porn.” She saw the incredulous look on the guys’ faces and burst out laughing. “What?”

“You pervy doll lady, you,” teased Jackson.

“Yeah, well, it didn’t work. Their arms and legs only move so far and are really stiff, so after putting them into a few compromising positions that were boring, I threw Ken and Barbie into the donation basket. I needed more flexible dolls, but when I couldn’t find any, I turned to porn. At least the actors have real bodies. I guess I would have known that about Ken and Barbie if I’d ever played with them as a kid, but I always thought dolls were boring and a little creepy.”

They all agreed on a seafood feast that would be delivered in forty-five minutes. Jackson went to get everyone a beer, and when he came back, it was to find Willa and Casey embroiled in a passionate liplock. Rather than interrupting them, he set down the beers and watched with pleasure. His feelings still confounded him a little, but he couldn’t deny them.

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