Almost Elinor
A Jet City Novel
Gina Robinson
Copyright © 2017 by Gina Robinson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Gina Robinson
http://www.ginarobinson.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Cover Design: Jeff Robinson
Cover Photography: Jeff Robinson 2017
Almost Elinor/Gina Robinson. — 1st ed.
Men Who Look Hot in Kilts
If you like good guy geek heroes who look hot in kilts, strong, intelligent heroines, and poignant romance, then you’ll love Almost Elinor, the second book in Gina Robinson’s light, fun Jet City Kilt contemporary romance series.
* * *
As a cyber war threatens cosplayer, geek, app designer, and cyber security expert Austin MacDougall's career, his chances of winning Dr. Blair Edwards' heart just got a whole lot slimmer. His nemesis has stepped up his plot to ruin Austin and take him out of the spotlight as the charming, cosplay version of Jamie, the Highlander TV heartthrob.
* * *
Half American, half English physician Blair Edwards has problems of her own. Her English ex-boyfriend wants her back and will stop at nothing to reclaim her heart and separate her from Austin.
* * *
When things get tough, what does every good Highlander do? Take his English lass to a good old-fashioned Scottish gathering in the suburbs of Seattle, of course. But this gathering presents another set of problems…
Contents
GinaRobinson.com
LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
THE GATHERING
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Also by Gina Robinson
About the Author
GinaRobinson.com
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The Jet City Kilt Series
Almost Jamie
Almost Elinor
Simply Blair
Simply Austin
The Billionaire Matchmaker Series
Part 1—Lazer Focused
Part 2—Harte Strings
Part 3—Pair Us
Part 4—Dating Lazer
Part 5—Match Point
The Billionaire Duke Series
Part 1—The Billionaire Duke
Part 2—The Duchess Contest
Part 3—The Temporary Duchess
Part 4—The American Heir
The Switched at Marriage Series
Part 1—A Wedding to Remember
Part 2—The Virgin Billionaire
Part 3—To Have and To Hold
Part 4—From This Day Forward
Part 5—For Richer, For Richest
Part 6—In Sickness and In Wealth
Part 7—To Love and To Cherish
The Billionaire’s Christmas Vows
Gina Robinson’s Contemporary New Adult Romance Series
The Rushed Series
These standalone romances can be read in any order. But it’s more fun to read them all!
Book 1—Rushed, Zach and Alexis’ story
Book 2—Crushed, Dakota and Morgan’s story
Book 3—Hushed, Seth and Maddie’s story
The Reckless Series
Ellie and Logan’s love story begins one hot August night. This series should be read in order.
Book 1—Reckless Longing
Book 2—Reckless Secrets
Book 3—Reckless Together
LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD
Chapter 1
Austin
Wednesday
Work was more hellish than usual. When you work in any kind of security, even Internet and digital security, you see the ugly underbelly of the world. The crazy. The ambitious. The ruthless. The terminally greedy.
The dark Internet could be ominously amusing at times. But the chatter was often disturbing. Piracy was rampant, the lawlessness both refreshing and foreboding.
I had fallen into digital security in the usual way most new college grads fall into their area of expertise. I came out of college with a general knowledge of coding. I wanted to be a game developer. Instead, I was offered a job in a large software development company, hoping to get into their gaming division after I'd proven my worth.
I was thrust into an empty position in digital security. A quirk of fate. Once there, that was where I had experience. Turned out I was good at it. But it had never been my passion.
The guys and I had an offer from one of the big matchmaking companies to buy our dating app. Selling software you've developed to other companies was the way to make money. I was game. I had no desire to be a dating app king, long term. As soon as the deal happened, I was quitting my day job and starting my own software firm.
The amount of time and effort guys put into doing illegal shit and trying to hack and breach companies' firewalls was something I didn't understand. If they put that much effort into a legitimate concern, they could make boatloads of money the legal way. It must have been the adrenaline rush of living dangerously and getting away with something.
We were headed for another big cyberattack from overseas. The average person didn't like to imagine the cyberwar that raged daily. It was almost a spiritual war in the sense that it was unseen and playing out in another realm—in this case, the digital realm.
Companies covered it up by couching attacks and breaches as "bugs in a new software update" or "technical glitches." Which happened. But were also convenient covers to keep the public feeling secure. No one wanted a panic.
The truth is, we live in a world of thieves and spies. And who the bad guys are often depends upon your point of view and affiliation. Foreign governments, both friend and foe, who want to keep tabs on what American innovations are in the pipeline. Foreign companies who want to pirate our software and intellectual property, who want the competitive advantage over their American competition. Thieves who want to steal identities, either to sell or use. And, of course, terrorists looking for any way in to disrupt our way of life and bring us down.
In light of the coming attack, our internal corporate risk level was at orange, just a step away from red. Fortify the firewall! Man the guns, boys! Prepare for battle.
I had my head down at my desk, working on battle plans like a general, when one of my colleagues poked his head in my office. "Your boyfriend's here to see you."
He could only mean one person—Randy Dixon. My skin crawled. It was common knowledge that Randy had had almost a sick obsession with me since the first time we met. Our mutual dislike, and Randy's desire to destroy me, was almost industry lore now.
Randy was high on ambition, of moderate intelligence, and devoid of talent. He could code only adequately and, even then, inelegantly. He lacked the critical logic and creative skills to solve problems of any difficulty.
He admired and envied my coding ability and creativity. Seeing in me what he lacked, he'd decided I could be his better half. The guy who did the work he took credit for. The brains behind his ambition.
When I refused to play, he tried to destroy me. But deep down, I thought he was conflicted. Destroying beauty and something you admire, however you define it, isn't a task for the faint of heart. Maybe that was part of the reason he'd failed. He'd only wanted to teach me a lesson. Show me who the alpha dog was, hoping he could eventually bring me to heel.
What Randy really wanted was enough power over me to make me his, the guy that would guarantee his rise to power and prestige in the industry. The guy who helped make him a rich software baron. His coding bitch.
I swore beneath my breath and looked up with a scowl. "Don't tell me the execs actually caved and we're partnering with dick central on this latest threat?"
My coworker looked grim. "Two dickheads are better than one." He rolled his eyes. "Sorry. He's waiting for you in conference room one with the boss."
I was tempted to quit on the spot. "I'll be right there."
When I got to the conference room, Randy was chatting up the boss, Daniel. Ass kissing like always. He was so blatant that it amazed me the asses he was kissing never saw through him. I liked and respected Dan, most of the time. But I never completely trusted him or his judgment. He also always had his eye on the chief technology officer prize and would use whatever means possible to get it. And whether I liked it or not, he considered me a threat to his goal.
When I walked in the room, Randy's eyes glittered with thinly concealed envy and jealousy.
As any leader knows, there are only two ways to combat envy once it takes root—avoid it. Which was my approach as much as possible. Or completely obliterate it.
I half expected Randy to be wearing a kilt, since he missed the opportunity at Comicon. He copied nearly everything I did. And believe me, there was nothing flattering about his copying. Including when he copied my code and passed it off as his.
There had been tension between us since we met. But since the dating app had become so wildly successful, and Lazer had hired Ashley to pretty us up, Randy appeared on the verge of snapping. The depths of his jealousy knew no bounds. I had a hard time deciding what bothered him more—that I had a small amount of celebrity and fame, and women found me attractive all of a sudden, or that his chance to wield power over me was slipping away.
I proceeded warily and sat through the meeting, with Dan trying to sell me on the merits of working with the company Randy worked for. Dan explaining the threat. As if I hadn't explained it to him in the first place.
I nodded along, letting him feel superior and in command. Always make the boss look good.
Near the end of the meeting, Dan ordered me to cooperate with Randy, explaining that we were partnering with his company at the express request of the executive suite. Legal had already vetted the agreement. All the nondisclosures had been signed. The path was clear.
There had been talk for years that the other company wanted to acquire us. I wondered what kind of sweet deal they had coaxed the execs with. Yeah, call me cynical. I just kept dreaming about my own little firm. Me and the guys taking the kinds of jobs we wanted. Working from home or an office of our choice. With that fantasy as the carrot, I could handle a few more weeks or months of corporate life.
"You'll work directly with Randy and his team. And share what you have," Dan said, looking like he knew he was stabbing me in the back, trying to convey it wasn't his decision.
I called bullshit.
Dan knew the history between Randy and me better than anyone. He was striking a deal with the devil. And he knew it. Maybe his hands were tied. Or maybe this was his way of reining me in and maintaining control. Bring an enemy in—and make no mistake, Randy was his enemy as much as mine—and that enemy will be grateful and repay you with greater loyalty than a friend. Was this part of what this was about?
Rumors were the current CTO was on his way out. Dan was first in line for that CTO job. However, in the eyes of the top brass, I was rising fast. And getting a little too much prestige and notice for Dan's tastes with my app and my work performance. You just do your damn job around here and care about your project and you stand out. What does that say?
I didn't want to be CTO, and had told Dan, and the execs, that I didn't. Apparently Dan was taking no chances, thinking I protested too much to be genuine.
There's an old rule about maintaining and grabbing power—never outshine your boss. After my experience with Randy early in my career, I'd been careful to follow that bit of wisdom. At work, anyway. I hadn't considered that my outside project could be my undoing. That had been unintentional. Dan's added sense of competition was an unexpected consequence of the app's success and the notoriety I was getting in the software community.
"Effective immediately," Dan said, "Randy's team is taking point."
What the hell? I flashed Dan a fierce look, masking my emotions too late. I was working for Randy? No fucking way.
I perched on the edge of my seat, on the verge of storming out. Only clear, cold, calculating reason stopped me. How reason had even gotten my attention in the angry state I was in was a mystery, but it had.
The software community was a surprisingly small world. I was bound by non-competes, handcuffed to this job. I knew too many insider secrets. If I walked, I couldn't get another job in my field with any competitor for two years. And everyone was a competitor.
The final glue holding me in my seat was, surprisingly, the app, which represented my freedom. I didn't want anything to scare off our potential buyer. For some reason, they liked the idea that the guys and I were all employed in the software industry. Me, in particular, in cybersecurity. It was a great selling point to singles looking to date safely. This app is designed by a team of cybersecurity experts!
"I'll leave you two to it." Dan rose, shook Randy's hand, and slapped me on the back, giving me a look warning me to calm down.
I had a habit of letting my emotions show too readily. I had what Dan called "the warrior look" when I got angry.
"Mandatory overtime," Dan said. "As much of it as necessary to get the job done. This is critical, men. Critical."
Randy waited to speak until after Dan left. "Sorry. Hope the longs hours don't put a crimp in your dating life. That's a nice little piece of ass you've been hanging with. I'd hate for her to feel abandoned by you."
"There's no reason this project should affect my personal life," I said, biting my tongue so I didn't lose it and say something that would get me in trouble at work. Or fired for throwing a punch at a coworker. "I'm confident we can get this under control quickly."
Randy studied me, raising a brow, and shrugging in a way meant to make me angry. "It's nice of the attackers to wait until after Comicon to disrupt our lives, at least." He paused. "Too bad you and your wench didn't win the costume contest this year."
It was clear from his posture and sneer that he wasn't sorry at all.
"Too bad? What the hell are you talking about? I gained over a hundred thousand Twitter followers because of the controversy alone." I couldn't resist goading him. "That's in addition to the thousands I got while I was in the running. The requests for appearances and interviews. Even sales of the app have taken off since." I was enjoying myself. "There weren't enough Jamie fans in comparison to regular Comicon attendees this year. That's all."
I shrugged like I didn't give a fuck. "Look out next year. The number of Jamie fans is growing every year. This just guaranteed an explosion." I watched him fume.
He was trying to mask his anger. And losing.
"You've probably seen Connor's tweets. He promised to attend next year if he gets invited, which he will be now, of course. And to throw his weight behind me." I grinned at the thought.
"I got more attention and PR from the outrage over not winning than I would have for winning. The Jamie fans are loaded for bear. Next year, they'll
be out in force. Especially with Connor encouraging them."
Randy's jaw was ticking. "Good for you for not giving up. So many years of losing must take its toll." He walked to the cooler and poured himself a cup of water. "Of course, a year's a long time. What are the odds you and, what's her name? Blair?" He nodded. "You and Blair will still be a couple? She's part of the package, isn't she?"
His words were innocuous, but his threat was clear.
"Stay the hell away from Blair," I said. "She's not part of our fight."
"Isn't she?" He grinned. "Let's get to work."
Chapter 2
Austin
Friday was a long day. Time stands still when you're a kid waiting for Christmas. That's how I felt about seeing Blair—eager and ready to throw patience to the wind. But Ashley was right. Patience. Patience, Austin. In both the dating world and with this crap situation at work.
I had, of course, gotten Ashley's advice about this upcoming weekend. She had warned me, repeatedly, not to move too quickly with Blair. "Less is more. Love is a game, Austin. Never forget that. Each step, you have to think several ahead.
"The hunt is the thrill of this game. Seduction is everything and feeds desire. You don't want to move too quickly. Or act too interested too quickly. There's a delicate balance that must be struck between paying attention and keeping her off guard.
"I know you've been in this crazy, competitive dating market here in Seattle, where as soon as a desirable woman becomes available, some caveman spits on her." Ashley laughed. "But fight the urge to become possessive prematurely, Austin. I'm dead serious about this. Getting too involved too quickly, making plans into the future at this point, will scare a woman in her situation off in a heartbeat. Maybe less. And make you seem so much less desirable. So much less a catch worth having. Fight convention. Swim against the current. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit aloof."
Almost Elinor: A Jet City Novel Page 1