Page 63 of Shades of Mercy
She still reeled from last night. Jag's unexpected touch lingered on her skin, his taste remained on her lips, and desire still settled into her core.
Overhearing voices outside the open window, she stood to take a peek. Jag and Atlas were discussing the new drone.
Jag swiped off his hat and smacked it against his denim thigh.
Why did she feel excited when he was near? Why couldn’t she let go?
She sat back down at the computer and tried to stay focused on the information on the screen. She typed in a code, but realized she’d almost triggered an internal system error.
She couldn’t think.
She heard the thudding of their boots coming toward the office, and she plunged herself back into fixing the mistake she’d made.
Jag strode in, followed by Atlas. She didn’t take her gaze off the computer screen but greeted them with a half-hearted wave. She refused to look at Jag because he’d know she was still reeling from last night.
Atlas tipped his hat in greeting. “Hope you’re doing well, ma’am.”
“I am. How are you?”
“Still alive, so I must be doing something right,” he said, swiping off his hat and holding it against his broad chest.
“It’s a lovely morning,” she said, her gaze settling on Jag because she couldn’t resist the need. “Are you men looking for something?”
“We played with the drone a bit. I have some questions,” Jag said to her.
“Fire away.” She turned her full attention to him, grateful for the excuse.
As she leaned back in the chair, she pressed her palm against the center of her chest, feeling the fast beating of her heart thudding against her sternum. He seated himself on the corner of the desk.
Although he’d been out on the property doing chores, he still looked clean and unruffled.
“How do we prevent someone from hacking into the photos that we take with the drone?”
She fought back the need to growl at him in annoyance. His scent, a mixture of leather and man, made her nipples press against the fabric of her shirt. She had to give herself a break. A man like Jag had a charm that women loved. They swooned over him and would be willing to drop their panties to their ankles with one look from him. Unfortunately, she would have dropped hers too had she been wearing a pair last night. He wore a black T-shirt that hugged every powerful muscle of his shoulders and stomach. His faded jeans fit against his strong thighs. Her fingers ached to run through his salt and pepper hair like she had last night while they kissed like two wild teens. The mere idea of losing herself in him made her cheeks warm and her inner thighs itch.
“Drones can be dangerous,” she said. “You need a sharp firewall to keep hackers out.”
Atlas nodded. “You’re a computer whiz, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “It’s what I enjoy doing,” she said.
“So, drones are easy to hack?”
“Hacking a drone isn’t necessarily easy, but their stored data is vulnerable to a smart hacker.”
“How is data stolen from a drone?” Jag asked.
“The signals of a drone are usually unencrypted, so decoding information can be pretty simple with a packet sniffer.”
“Look, I’m not too ashamed to admit I know as much about computers as I do women, which, that tells you, isn’t much. How is it possible someone can infiltrate a drone?” Atlas said.
“There are many ways hackers can technically hijack drones, which poses a significant risk since those operations often leave drones open to attacks. Hackers can “GPS spoof” a drone, meaning they can trick it into going to any location, which could mean straight into the hands of a hacker.” She looked at each of them, unsure if they were interested or if she had lost their attention with all the technical jargon. “I won’t bore you to death with any more details, but precautions need to be taken. I made sure I installed the best security system.”
Atlas whistled through his teeth. “Nothing sexier than a smart woman.” Then he looked at Jag. “I mean that respectfully.”
Mercy studied Jag’s expression. Lines bracketed his mouth. “I can tell you that she's intelligent. One of the smartest women I know.”
That was a huge compliment. Mercy smiled.
