Page 16 of The Texan's Secrets

“Good thing there’ll be another one tomorrow.”

For a moment, she thought he was alluding to a second date. But the idea disappeared as quickly as it had formed. It was a casual observation, nothing more. She’d be foolish to assume the kiss had rocked his world the way it rocked hers.

“I’m up for more wine,” she said briskly and turned back to the shelter.

The air had grown cooler with the sunset, and she welcomed the warmth of the fire. Considering the walls were mostly open, the ceiling seemed surprisingly efficient at trapping the heat. She couldn’t help but admire the structure’s design.

Nick tossed on a couple more logs, while Emilia settled down to finish her glass of wine.

“We can ride back in the dark?” she asked.

“Bright moon tonight. And the horses know the way. Their eyesight is much better than ours.”

“That’s comforting.”

“You think I’d put you in danger?” He didn’t seem affronted, merely curious.

To the contrary, she felt confident in him. Confident enough to joke about the situation. She put an ominous tone in her voice. “It occurs to me that I’m out in the woods, at night, with a stranger.”

“Who was vetted and approved by the exclusive k!smet application,” he countered easily.

She could have told him she knew exactly how comprehensive the application vetting process was, and that she had complete confidence in anyone who’d made it through. But then she’d have to admit she’d been cruising the company’s computer code. And he might ask questions about who she really was.

For the moment, she was simply Emilia, an ordinary computer programmer on a date with a handsome and compelling man. He had no idea she was the slightly infamous hacker, Emilia Scott. And since some people equated hacking with crime and theft, it wasn’t something she had planned to share up front.

“You do have their stamp of approval,” she agreed.

“So do you.” He turned contemplative. “Strange thing, that Surprise Me! function.”

Her guilt kicked in just a little bit. “Strange how?”

“You have to wonder what prompts people to use it.” He seemed to be watching her closely as he posed the question.

“You used it,” she pointed out, wondering now why he’d chosen to do it.

“I was curious,” he said.

She gave a careless shrug. “I imagine that’s the same reason for plenty of people.” She was happy to let him think that was the reason for her. “From what I’ve read, the majority of online dating users grow jaded after a few months if they don’t meet their match. Surprise Me! is a way to shake things up.”

“Have you used other dating services?” he asked.

“No.”

“What brought you to k!smet?”

She hadn’t used her last name, and it seemed Nick had missed her press conference a few months back, he didn’t know about her connection to k!smet’s rival application HitMeUp and her own inadvertent role in cyber sabotage against k!smet. She’d turned whistleblower on that one and immediately canceled her contract with HitMeUp, appalled to discover the company was engaged in such unethical business practices. She wanted nothing more to do with them.

“The notoriety, I suppose,” she said. “That and the exclusivity. It’s smart for the company to vet its members. It gives everyone involved confidence and comfort.”

He twisted his nearly empty wineglass. “Were you disappointed?”

“In you?” The question puzzled her. Sure, they might have had a rocky start when they first left the ranch, but things had gone smoothly at the shelter. Plus, that kiss...

He smiled, and it was clear she’d misunderstood his meaning. “I meant in previous matches with k!smet.”

“I didn’t have any previous matches with k!smet. I only finished my profile a few days ago.”

“And you went straight to Surprise Me!?” He was clearly taken aback by that.

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