Page 11 of Royal Hacker

The next link I clicked was about bondage. I was so engrossed in my reading that when the phone rang, I jumped, accidentally kicking Lemon. She took off, sounding as if she were grumbling. My hand knocked over my hot cocoa.

I quickly grabbed my phone, saving it from the hot cocoa. Not noticing how late it was, I assumed it was Jessica, calling to find out how my research was going. She called me every night for the CliffsNotes version and to tell me a bunch more statistics she had researched. When I answered, I must have sounded like I’d just finished a marathon.

“Hello?”

“Is everything okay?” the deep, sexy voice asked. “You sound like you need help.”

“Sorry. Everything is fine. Can you hold a sec?” Without waiting for Sam to answer, I ran to the bathroom to get a towel. It was an extreme circumstance. The hot cocoa was going toward the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and my computer. Both needed to be saved. I made it back and cleaned up everything.

I was hoping Sam was still on the phone. “Are you still there?” I still hadn’t bounced back from the running. I really needed to work out. There was no reason for me to be out of breath after that little run and clean up.

I heard his deep voice chuckle. “Yes, are you okay? Do I need to send help?”

Even though I’d waited for his call all week, I was extremely nervous and had no clue what to say. “Sorry about that. The phone startled me. I spilled my hot cocoa near my computer and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. Heaven forbid something happen to your Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.”

“I’m all right, and if something happened to them, I wouldn’t be able to finish working tonight. I can’t work unless I have them.” My ego was bruised by the incident. Instead of being ready, my clumsy self had made an appearance by spilling stuff and scaring poor Lemon half to death.

“Now that we know you are not under attack, have you done any research this week?”

Wow, I guess we are jumping into the deep end of this conversation.No “How was your week?” or “What did you do today?”

Suddenly feeling shy, I whispered, “Yes.”Not quite sure why I whispered it. Not like Lemon would judge me or tell someone.

Sam chuckled. I didn’t know why he was enjoying laughing at me so much. It was starting to really make me think he didn’t want to see me again. That put a twinge in my stomach.

“Do you have people over, or are you alone?”

“I’m alone. Why?”

“You whispered your answer like you didn’t want someone to hear. I was making sure you were alone and I had all your full attention. Did you like what you researched, or is this something that doesn’t interest you? I will not push you into the lifestyle. I’m attracted to you and hope you are interested.”

Wow… did he say he was attracted to me?I kind of tuned everything else out when he said that. “You’re attracted to me?”

“Yes, I’m attracted to you. See anything you like or dislike when you researched?”

“I made a pro, con, and ‘hell to the fuck no’ list.”

“Good. I will pick you up tomorrow around seven for dinner. Bring your list, and we’ll discuss it over dinner.”

“You have to be kidding! Who considers future sex acts over their first dinner date? Wait—is this a date? Or did I stick my foot in my mouth?” I didn’t think I could do the things I’d seen online without dating the person first. I wasn’t the type of person to walk into a club and be like “Let’s pick a flavor, and then you pick something off my pros list.”

“Yes, it’s a date. We will discuss your pros and cons list after dinner. We will not be playing together until we have formed a relationship we can trust. What we did the other night was hard for me and not how I wanted to introduce you to the lifestyle.”

“Does this mean you will still be playing with other people until you have my trust?” That was not the way to earn my trust. I didn’t like to share—never did as a kid and sure as hell not as an adult. Sam was sexy, and there was no way I could sit around and watch him with someone else.

* * *

Sam

I could hearthe uneasiness in her voice when she asked if I would still go to the club with other women. In my younger days, there would have been no question. I always did no strings attached. Something about Patty made me want to change and start to see what life could turn out like.

It was too early to think Patty would be the one. But I needed to try. I wanted to come home to someone at night and talk about my day.When one of our missions goes sideways, it would be nice to go home to someone and talk about how the mission failed. Not some strange women off the street or in the club.

“No, there will be no other women. Only you. I don’t think I could handle you and anyone else at the same time. You seem to be a troublemaker with your breaking and entering and trying to start a fight club.”

Patty huffed before going off on a rant. “I don’t get into trouble that often. Everyone always thinks we should follow all these rules. Rules are annoying and take time to get around. I find a way to get what I want in a shorter time. I wasn’t planning on attacking Doug. I planned to get the information I needed and then relay it back to Jessica. When I saw him with another woman, I lost it.”

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