Page 60 of The Texan's Secrets

“I can. You’re way too hard on yourself. You’re human. Deal with it.” He took a bite of his thick Chicago-style pizza.

“I don’t like being human,” she groused but couldn’t keep the grin from her face. She knew she could be a perfectionist.

She took a bite. “Mmm.” The crust was tender, the peperoni flavorful and the thick layer of cheese just the right amount of gooey.

“Meet your high standards?” he asked.

“Close to perfection.”

“High praise. They deliver too.”

“I’ll have to remember that. Paris and I order from Trilby’s downtown. It’s good too, different, more conventional.”

“You need to be hungry to do justice to Central Snacks.” He took another big bite, chewed and swallowed. “Coders Plus is also excited about your name recognition.”

Emilia took a drink of her cola. “I wish they wouldn’t make a big deal about it being me. They should let the workshop content stand on its own.”

“It will stand on its own. But you know how these things go. Branding is its own element, and notoriety drives traffic. Even if they downplayed that it was you, word would get out and cause a sensation.” He paused. “You know, that might even be better—the news organically going viral. I’m going to suggest it to them.”

“Don’t oversell my reputation. It’s not going to be a hackers’ workshop. There’ll never be one of those by me.”

Emilia would never put her methods out in the world for anyone and everyone to see. Hacking responsibly was one thing. As she did...most of the time, with one notable recent exception. But she sure wouldn’t give random strangers the knowledge and power to mess around in organizations’ systems.

She sent a quick glance Nick’s way, recalling again how she’d hacked her way into meeting him. It had seemed like a lark at the time. But now that she was getting to know him, getting to like him, hoping their relationship went somewhere from here, she was feeling guilty about how it had started.

“Not willing to give away your best tricks?” he asked.

“Not about to let that kind of knowledge loose in the world. Most people aren’t trustworthy.”

He frowned. “Most?”

She modified her answer. “Many.”

“I’m curious,” he said, looking thoughtful now. “What do you suppose makes a person untrustworthy?”

The question puzzled her because the answers were so obvious. “Ethics, values, conscience, behavior. If, for example, a greedy person lacks ethics, they might steal.”

“Too bad you can’t tell just by looking.”

“People hide their true nature, especially if they’re up to no good.”

“They lie.” He looked even more thoughtful.

“They might.”

“About who they are.”

“Or what they’re planning.” She took another bite of her cooling pizza.

“Or about what they’ve done.”

She swallowed. “Past action is one of the best predictors of future behavior. So, sure. Why wouldn’t you lie about robbing a bank if you planned to rob another one?”

“Do you think people are inherently good or bad?”

“You’re getting awfully philosophical here.”

It took him a moment to respond. “You make an interesting point about not trusting people.”

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