Page 23 of Dragon's Code

He always knows when to change the subject. “I need some new clothes. I didn’t pack much. I just needed to get out of my house.”

“Shopping it is. What about a show or gambling?”

“I’ll end up counting cards and get us a meeting with a pit boss, but that could be fun if we wanted to add a little spice to our vacation.”

He laughs, and I enjoy the husky sound of it. “You always do make things interesting. You remember Hell Week when we were Freshmen?”

I grin, I can’t help it. “Impossible to forget.” I take a sip of my coffee and let my smile get bigger. “Wanna see if we can top it?”

He matches my grin with a playful glint in his green eyes. “I’m game. I’ll have to be back here to check on things this evening. The rest of the people should be arriving.”

“May I ask what’s going on with your job?”

“There’s been a division between the board of directors. Half the board is antiquated with their mindset and the other half is ready to come into the modern times and accept that things are different and we don’t need to continue doing things the same way we always have, because that’s what we’ve always done.”

“You’re not on the board?”

He shakes his head slowly. “No, I’m not experienced enough. Ash is though. We’re trying to protect the next generation.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

He lets out a loud puff of air. “You’re telling me.” He rubs a hand over his face.

“Out with it.” A big tell of his is when he rubs his hand over his face like he’s trying to scrub away his identity and be someone else. It means he wants to say something to me, but he’s unsure of how I’ll take it.

His green eyes meet mine. “While I love that you know me so well, I also hate that you know me so well. I need to tell you something. Like what the board of directors really is and how I’m involved. And apparently, you are too.”

My brow furrows and I purse my lips. “What exactly does that mean?”

“It’s complicated.”

I lean back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest. My brain jumps from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1. I don’t like secrets. I don’t like that I’m involved in something I don’t even know what it is.

“Athena, please don’t shut down on me before I’ve even begun to tell you…”

“Good morning, Kashton. I didn’t expect to see you up so early.”

Everything in Kashton’s body goes rigid. His shoulders tighten, his back straightens to rigid attention, his muscle ticks from the way he clenches it, and his normally happy eyes grow hard and cold.

The woman standing at our table is in a red bodycon dress with capped sleeves, a bright red stone dangling from her neck that hovers right above her bountiful cleavage. Her bottle blonde hair is whisked up into a fancy updo. She’s leggy and in a pair of fancy black heels, brand unknown. Unless there’s a red sole, I have no clue.

“Jasmine,” he says coldly. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m just saying good morning. Don’t be rude, introduce me to your friend.” Jasmine looks pointedly at me.

“There’s no need to introduce you,” he snaps.

I’ve never seen him like this. He’s usually friendly and polite to everyone he encounters. His demeanor causes me to bring my walls up strong and steel-reinforced.

“Hi, I’m Jasmine.” She extends her hand, her perfectly red manicured nails filed to a sharp stiletto point coming at me like a feline.

I glance at Kashton who is still glaring at her.

I meet her handshake with my short stubby nails that are unpolished because nails get in the way of typing and that’s what I do for a living. When I’m working on high security things, nails could slow me down too much to the point where the virus or security issue ends up faster than me.

“Athena.”

“What brings you to Las Vegas, Athena?” she asks politely.

---