AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tanner’s gonna be really pleased with himself,” I said. “Now that I think about it, he was looking rather smug whenheleft.”
She let out a racy giggle. “He had goodreason.”
My dick jerked so hard I had to steady myself on the granite island. Really, I ought to take some sort of anti-horny medicine when Nina was around. How I’d lasted this long without jumping her was a miracle. Sure, I’d always been patient. I understood watch and wait. Getting with Nina had to happen at her pace and I didn’t want to rush it. It was too important to me, to us. But hell, I was down to my bare wires. Her smile, her eyes, her body, every word that came out of her mouth was a provocation to my goodintentions.
I sat back on my stool and watched her as she moved about the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of tea. I loved watching her, the way she glided everywhere with the grace of a ballerina and the sassy hips of a high-end stripper. Having her around was atreat.
She peeked under the cloth napkin, then flashed a saucy grin. “Smellsheavenly.”
A stack of pancakes stood on the plate next to the jar of syrup. I’d made sure they were still warm. “You want to eat on the deck? It’s beautiful out today.Andwarm.”
“Aiden Black, I like the way youthink.”
She grabbed the tray and followed me out to the deck, where we sat at the wrought iron table. My fucked-up brain had given me shitty nightmares all night, which meant that my anxiety rated in the red zone today. I’d checked the security system twenty-five times, but even then, I sat with my back to the wall and scoured the landscape for tangos. But I forgot all about that shit when Nina tipped the jar over the plate and slowly drenched her pancakes with thick maple syrup. I swear, if she tipped me over, my dick would dothesame.
She dug her fork into the pancakes and swallowed a first bite. “Yum.” The tip of her tongue darted out to lick the glaze from her lips. “Amazing.Zar?”
“Yup.” I repressed a sudden impulse to kiss clean the syrup from her lips. “He made this batch especiallyforyou.”
Her lips curved up in a half smile that said she only half believed me. “Where is he,anyway?”
“He’s either at the bunker or out forarun.”
“So is it safe to assume that the cyber hunt isprogressingwell?”
I was no dummy. She was fishing for information, but nobody understood her need to know better thanIdid.
“We’re making progress,” I said. “We’re gonna get these fuckers. You’ve got the right team atyourback.”
Her cheeks flushed with high color. She knew she’d been caught snooping. “I just wish I was able to help nail thosecreeps.”
“You are helping,” I said. “That rootkit you built? It’skickass.”
She smiled and straightened in her chair. At least I’d cheered her up a little. Truth was, we were having a hard time pinning down Calamity long enough to infiltrate him. But working in teams around the clock, we were on his heels 24/7. We’d getthere.
She crossed her knife and fork on her plate and, with a satisfy sigh, leaned back in her chair, taking in the sights from the deck. “This has to be one of the most gorgeous views on the planet. This house is so quiet, so far away fromeverything.”
“I like it that way,” I said. “I can hear myselfthink.”
“I like the quiet too.” She sipped her tea. “Didn’t think I would, but I do. Have you always been theoutdoortype?”
“I grew up in the mountains of New Hampshire. That’s where I learned to hunt and stuff. But then I moved toBoston.”
“MIT,” she said. “Prettyimpressive.”
“Nerdparadise.”
Her grin lit up her eyes. “My kind ofcrowd.”
“Yeah, really,” I said. “Why didn’t you come see me at MIT? You’ve got the brain and I bet you had thegrades.”
“Rocky time in my life.” Her eyes glazed with memories that were not of the pleasant variety. “My dad went rogue and my mother lost it. Off she went, to find herself. Daniel and I got through it together. He was stationed out of San Diego, so I stuck close by. College was going well until my brother came home…” Her voice sortofdied.
“Wounded.” I knew thefacts.
“It was bad.” Her eyes glimmered, dark and subdued. “I quitschool.”
“To take careofhim.”
