Page 13 of Indecent Demands

“I have no plans on Friday,” I teased.

His gaze landed on me, hot and intrigued, and I felt my stomach melting.

“Is that so?” he drawled.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

The corner of Seth’s mouth curled upward. “Good to know.”

God, that little murmur, that tone of interest and curiosity, was so hot I nearly squirmed in my seat. I had not been prepared for that. “Um. But seriously, what’s your question?”

Seth stared at me for a second more, his gaze intense like he was already thinking of exactly how he wanted to fuck me—and then he blinked and seemed to snap back to reality. I felt like I was about to start panting and had to focus on my breathing.

I’d never been the subject of such intense scrutiny or blatant lust, and I wanted more of it. It hit me, equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, that if he’d decided to fuck me over the conference table—I would have let him. I’d been completely at his mercy in that moment.

Yes. I’d been right to think there was something to fear under his friendly exterior. But maybe it wasn’t that he was dangerous in general. Maybe it was that he was dangerousto me.

And maybe it was that Iwantedhim to be dangerous.

“Right.” Seth looked like he’d just come up to the surface after being underwater, which was almost amusing.

I wasn’t used to being the reason a guy got all… agitated. Sure, being a woman who was into computers made all the other computer men around you hit on you relentlessly, but that had made me feel like a piece of meat. None of them really likedme. I could’ve looked like the sludge monster for all they cared. They just liked that I was a woman and I knew computers. I had breasts and a vagina, and those were their only requirements. It had made me feel like an object.

Seth, though… he could have any woman he wanted, that was clear from his good looks. He looked at me not like I was just anyone, not like I was just a pair of tits who understood Linux, but like I was beautiful. Like I was special and that was what drove his lust.

I didn’t know what to do with that. I’d never felt particularly attractive before. It was a whole new sensation.

“I was wondering,” Seth said, his voice low, “what your opinions were about your coworkers. How you felt about them—are they trustworthy?”

“That’s a loaded question.”

“Tony recommended you to me out of all his employees, for a job involving security. That means you’re both good at your job and someone he trusts. But I have to wonder about all the others in this department. You guys are the ones most likely to be able to move through the system and get around security measures. A network—any network—is only as good as the humans running it. I’d like to know what kind of humans are running this system.”

“Do you think you’ll need to give them some kind of additional training?” I asked.

“Something like that,” he responded vaguely.

Dare I take the risk? I decided that yes, it was time to call him out.

“Mr. Maxwell. Seth. You and I both know that you’re not here simply to do security. I don’t know why you’re really here, but the memos you were looking at were Harcourt’s discussion of taking the company public. I don’t know what he’s done that’s shady, or if it’s someone else, and it’s probably better legally if I don’t know. But Idoknow that none of my coworkers would do anything that wasn’t above-board. They’re all good people. Sure, most of them don’t really believe in Harcourt’s vision. They’re just collecting a paycheck same as I am. But they wouldn’t do anything to harm the company or put themselves at risk.”

Seth listened to everything I said, his gaze locked onto mine. When I finished, he nodded slowly. “You feel strongly about this. But I have to warn you—in my work, I’ve found that very few people are actually as worthy of your trust as you think. Not even for malicious reasons. People are focused on themselves, first and foremost. And that means they’ll end up doing things that will hurt you or betray you, in order to look after themselves.”

“I appreciate the warning, Mr. Cynicism,” I replied. “But in my experience, people are good. They want to help each other. They’re not going to screw each other over for no reason. Unless we’re talking about someone like Mr. Harcourt, in which case all bets are off.”

Seth’s dark brows rose curiously. “Why do you say that?”

“Because once you reach a certain level of wealth, it corrupts you. It warps your mind and your values and morals.”

Seth chuckled and sat back in his chair. “Yes, I’ve read the studies.”

“Then you know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t disagree with you. But I will point out that people whodon’thave money—who need that security and support—will do a lot of desperate things to get it.”

Maybe that was true, but I wasn’t going to lie about my coworkers and throw them under the bus to protect myself. I stole to help people. If I started lying to save my own skin, what did that make me? It betrayed my very philosophy and the reason I did all of this.

“Well, I don’t think any of my coworkers are those kinds of people,” I said honestly. “They’re all hard workers. Sure, some of them annoy me, but I trust them not to abuse their security privileges.”

---