Page 5 of The Texan's Secrets

He’d considered leaving his penthouse apartment for a house with a big yard. But he liked the security in the building. It meant nobody could surprise him at his front door, and his neighbors mostly kept to themselves.

Then again, there was something appealing about a rambling house, maybe on a hillside with miles and miles of a view. He could always build a fence and install a gate at the end of the driveway to protect his privacy.

Rafe brought his horse to a halt in the middle of the bridge, turning it sideways. “I know something you could do.”

Nico had lost the thread of the conversation. “Could do about what?” He reined his horse to avoid getting too close.

“For my family. You can update the ranch computer systems. Matias has been fighting with their clunky programs for years on end.”

“Are you saying you’ve had the same programs foryears?” Nico couldn’t even imagine.

“See the problem?”

“Count me in.” Nico loved the idea. “I can write them an app, customize it to whatever they need. They could use it on their phones in the field to feed into a central system.” The enthusiasm in his voice grew as his mind catalogued the possibilities. “Is Matias at home? Can I talk to him tonight?”

Emilia worked her way through the k!smet code, its data fields and subroutines. The more she explored the Surprise Me! function, the more impressed she was with whoever had written it.

Because she was friends with Misha she knew something about k!smet’s origins and aims. But the one time the Surprise Me! function had come up in a conversation, Misha had turned oddly vague about it. Emilia hadn’t thought anything about it at the time, but now she was becoming curious. It felt different from the rest of the app. Misha was a good coder, but this was great coding. Interesting.

Paris had left to work the dinner shift several hours ago, and dating day, or “D-Night” as they’d jokingly dubbed it, for the k!smet promotion event was coming up fast. Emilia intended to do everything in her power to make sure Paris got her free date. Given the randomness of the Surprise Me! function, Emilia figured nothing would be compromised if she nudged the algorithm in her friend’s direction.

She worked her way into the membership data records and tracked down Paris’s membership. She planned to hide a piece of code behind the profile and use it as a Trojan horse to manipulate the broader system.

From what she’d seen of the past, well-publicized Surprise Me! matches, she couldn’t trust its unpredictability to make anything resembling a love match for Paris. So, Emilia was going to do it the old-fashioned way and choose the most likely man from those who’d signed up for the event. After all, she knew Paris better than anyone.

She scanned her way through Paris’s profile, smiling to herself at her friend’s whimsical answers to the get-to-know-you questions. Paris had a gift for description and wry wit, and it left Emilia feeling lacking.

The read inspired her to track down her own profile and spruce it up. She might not be using it, or plan to use it in the foreseeable future, but it was embarrassingly meager at the moment. The field for her childhood was completely blank, and her career description consisted of a single line. And her photo. Good grief, she’d completely forgotten about her photo. It looked like a mugshot.

Impulsively, she decided to do something about that right away.

She hopped up from her chair, stripped off her clothes and headed into the shower. Her hair might be short, but it was lightweight and glossy brown when it was freshly washed and blow-dried.

After the shower, she applied some makeup, then headed downstairs to raid Paris’s closet for something bright and trendy since her own clothes were all earth tones and casual.

She settled on a cobalt blue chiffon blouse with lace cap sleeves and a bright scatter of rhinestones decorating the scalloped vee neckline. It was ridiculously out of sync with her olive cargo pants, but she was only planning a headshot, so nobody would ever know.

She pulled down her cream-colored window shades and dragged a lush, potted tree fern in front of them to create a backdrop. She tested a selfie and decided it needed...something.

Glancing around the room, she spied a pair of red wooden candle holders that had sat on her mantle since she moved in. They were fake antiques, painted to look faded and aged. But they’d add a touch of panache and a splash of color.

She dragged an end table next to the fern, chased up some short, white candles for the holders, then arranged the fern fronds around the setting.

She tried another photo and liked it. She took several shots, most of them comical, until she came up with a half smile that seemed to have put a slightly secretive glow in her eyes. It was much better than the mugshot, and she uploaded it to the system.

When the downstairs door slammed shut, Emilia realized how much time had passed. Caught up in her own profile, she hadn’t even started setting Paris up for success.

“Emilia? You up?” Paris called out.

“Yes.” Remembering the purloined blouse, she quickly stripped it off and hung it in her closet, tugging a T-shirt over her head.

Hopefully, Paris would take a shower before bed, and Emilia could covertly put the blouse back where it belonged. Paris wouldn’t mind loaning it out for the photo, but Emilia didn’t want to own up to her moment of vanity.

“Still working?” Paris asked as she came to the top of the stairs.

“Just finished.” Emilia sat down at her desk and shut off her screen.

“What a night.” Paris flopped down on the love seat tucked into the corner of the loft.

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