Page 42 of The Hacker
He groaned. Not only had he not gotten enough work done, he hadn’t even had the pleasure of sex with the delectable woman in his arms. “I thought we had a deal.”
She turned within his embrace so she faced him on the pillow, her dark eyes liquid with concern. “I’m not going to be the cause of you collapsing from sleep deprivation. Furthermore, we both need to be sharp tonight.”
He hated to admit it but the sleep had helped. He felt far more clearheaded than he had when he arrived. Now a new worry jabbed at him. “You let me in the office and you leave. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“I came up with a good cover story. You think you left your phone at the gym. You came back to look for it as soon as you could. We’re checking to see if it’s in the office for safekeeping.”
“Will we need a cover story? I thought Vicky and Ramón would be gone.” Now he regretted allowing her to be involved.
She shrugged her slender, bare shoulder. He wanted to kiss it. “I think there might be a security camera in the hallway outside their office. I meant to look earlier but you, um, distracted me.”
“I would label it mutual distraction.” He gave in to his impulse and pushed up onto his elbow so he could taste the silky skin on her shoulder.
“Mmm,” she purred before she braced one hand against his chest and pushed. “We don’t have time for that now.”
“We got it done in under five minutes the last time.” He kept his arm banded around her waist so the lower halves of their bodies were locked together.
Her gaze went hot and soft at the same time. “We have all night after we do our job,” she pointed out.
He couldn’t believe that Dawn was more focused on getting to the router than he was. He felt like he’d become a sex addict, his brain addled by lust.
Still, the only reason he eased his grip on her was the thought of taking his time with her when they got back to her apartment.
Dawn walked into the gym while Leland waited around the corner. Strolling up to the front desk, she said, “Hey, Tiffany, I’ve got a member coming in who thinks he left his phone here. Do you have anything in the lost and found?”
Tiffany pulled open the drawer where small unclaimed items were stowed. “Nope, just some keys and earrings. Give me the name and number ... oh, I guess that won’t help.” She giggled. “Maybe the email address?”
“He’s coming in shortly, so we’ll see if we can find it before we get all that info.”
“Is it that good-looking new guy who swims afterward? I don’t know how you focus on training him. I’d be thinking aboutotherthings.” She gave Dawn a smirky smile.
If only she knew ...
“He’s just another body to whip into shape.” In whatever way she chose to do it.
“Yeah, but what a body!”
Fortunately, Leland strode through the door at that moment, his body not appearing to need further assistance in the fitness department. Tiffany blushed and Dawn grinned.
“Dawn, thanks for meeting me here,” he said. “Any luck?”
“Not at the front desk, but let’s retrace your steps and see if we can locate it. Or maybe it’s in Ramón’s office. Sometimes people hand him things and he forgets to bring them up front.”How was that for casually providing a reasonable excuse to break into the bosses’ office?
Tiffany nodded, her gaze glued to Leland. The only issue with her fascination was that Tiffany was so engrossed in admiring him that she might not remember any of this carefully crafted conversation.
“Are Ramón or Vicky still here?” Dawn asked to snag the receptionist’s attention.
“What?” Tiffany turned to look at her with a slightly dazed expression. “No, they left a while ago. Something about date night.”
“Okay, no problem. We’ll try the locker room first,” Dawn said. “That’s the most likely place anyway.”
“I can’t believe I was so careless with my phone,” Leland said as they walked away from the desk. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’m putting you through.”
“I get it,” Dawn said. “I can’t function without my cell.”
“Exactly,” he said, holding the door to the hallway for her.
“Okay, we can cut the crap now,” Dawn said when the door swung closed behind them. “But you have to go ransack the locker room and I’ll pretend to search the weight room. Meet you back here in ten minutes.”
