Page 37 of The Hacker
Why had it been so hard to leave? Work always took precedence in his life. His mother had held three jobs in order to get him the best education she could. His father’s family, who could have spared private school tuition without even noticing it, considered him an unfortunate but minor consequence of a spring-break romance. They pretended he didn’t exist.
He didn’t care about their acknowledgment, but his mother’s life would have been a hell of a lot easier if his father had shown the smallest amount of guts in forcing his family to offer some financial support.
So his mother had dedicated her life to proving that Leland not only existed but was valuable. He owed his success to her. Even more, he owed her his success. He couldn’t fail because that would make all her efforts meaningless.
The headlights from other cars strobed through the limo’s windows, illuminating the rack of wineglasses, the burnished wood paneling, and the hand-rubbed leather of the seats. Riding in this luxurious car, driven by a man who was paid to wait hours for Leland’s convenience, heading back to an office stocked with tens of thousands of dollars of cutting-edge computer equipment purchased for his sole use: This was where all that work had gotten him. And it had been what he wanted.
Until tonight.
He braced his elbows on his knees, lowered his head into his hands, and massaged his temples as a wave of longing swamped him.
Longing for how Dawn had made him feel for a few hours. As though he didn’t have to prove anything. As though he could simply be a man who wanted a woman.
And God, he wanted her.
Chapter 9
Dawn had leaped out of bed, filled with energy after a night of sleeping without nightmares. She’d eaten her granola and yogurt with a smile as she replayed various moments of the night before. Slinging her gym bag over her shoulder, she’d walked to her front door and realized the dead bolt wasn’t shot home and the alarm wasn’t set. She’d fallen asleep without ensuring that her sanctuary was secure.
Stupid.Just because Leland had made her feel safe for a few hours didn’t mean her world had changed. Her goofy smile evaporated as reality slammed into her. He’d climbed out of her bed and gone to work in the middle of the night. What did that tell her about his priorities?
That he was a man who kept his promises, who did the right thing by the people who trusted him. That was why she felt safe with him, so she had no right to complain.
She needed to remember that his promises were at a level far beyond hers. Once he had fulfilled his commitment to solving the gym’s problem, he would probably go back to breathing the rarefied air of an international consultant, taking her sense of safety with him. After all, there was nothing profound between them. Their connections were sex and an IT problem that would be resolved one way or the other in a matter of days. She shouldn’t expect him to stick around.
She punched in the code to arm the alarm and yanked open her door as its beeps counted down the time she had to close it again. Slamming it shut, she twisted the key to lock the dead bolt and trudged down the stairs, her buoyancy gone like her smile.
But she had her own promises to keep. Maybe her clients weren’t giant corporations, but they counted on her for their physical health. Sometimes they even depended on her for emotional reasons, confiding secrets about their marriages or their children’s problems because they needed to share the burden and they trusted her discretion. When you worked one-on-one up close and personal on a regular basis, it built a certain intimacy.
That could explain some of what had happened between her and Leland. But not all. She’d never dated a client before this. In fact, she’d considered it bordering on unethical, although Ramón had never specifically forbidden his trainers to get involved with clients. She knew a couple who had, and it had resulted in their losing the clients when they broke up.
The likely outcome of her own relationship sent a chill shivering through her. Although at least she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about Leland dropping his gym membership.
However, she walked through the door of Work It Out determined not to let memories of the night before distract her from doing her job to the best of her ability. She owed her clients just as much as Leland owed his.
She mostly succeeded in her goal, sometimes almost forgetting the glow of satisfaction that still permeated her body.
Until something crackled through the air while she was spotting a client through a set of skull crushers. Dawn glanced up to find Leland standing in the door to the weight room, his gaze locked on her.
He wore a pale blue T-shirt that intensified the blue of his eyes and navy shorts so she could see the chiseled muscles of his long legs—the legs she’d felt between hers as he drove into her.
Reality flew out the window, banished by a desire that electrified her nerve endings. She had no idea how he could read that on her face, but she saw heat flare in his eyes before he nodded toward the big space holding the treadmills. She dipped her head in response and checked her watch. Exultation poured through her veins.
He’d come thirty minutes early.
Maybe he wanted to warm up. Maybe he wanted to run programs on his phone to check the data traffic. Or maybe he wanted to see her as much as she wanted to see him.
The possibility bloomed in her chest. Leland had left his job before he absolutely needed to in order to come to where she was.
She floated through the rest of the training session.
“You’re in a good mood today,” her client commented as he zipped up his gym bag. “Usually you scare me into working hard with that challenging glare of yours. Today you kind of coaxed me into it.”
“Which do you prefer?” Dawn was curious for future reference.
He considered that for a moment. “I think Scary Dawn is easier to deal with. I kept wondering what evil plans Happy Dawn was hiding behind that smile.”
She laughed. “Next time Scary Dawn will be back, I promise. See you Monday.”
