by Diana Downey
“You know we’re strapped for money.”
I’m a sucker. “I’ll think about it.” If I can stay at Cyn’s and not worry about Lindsey slashing my throat in the middle of the night, I’ll let her camp out at my place.
My intercom buzzes next. “What’s up, Tanya?”
“Nikita Harper is here to see you.”
“Great,” I say sighing. Could my day get any worse? “Send her in.”
She sways those hips into my office and leans over my desk to show plenty of cleavage. She’s blonde, blue-eyed, and gorgeous, but she’s not Cyn. Niki could never be my self-indulgent spoilt princess who is also courageous and emotionally and physically tough. There isn’t a damn thing I don’t love about Cyn.
I lean back in my chair. “Hey, Niki.”
“What’s wrong?” She gets all teary eyed. “You’ve barely kissed me, and you haven’t even tried to…you know.”
Did she not hear me the other night?
She’s referring to sex, and I have a voracious appetite, like my smart-mouth spitfire Cyn. Thinking about her causes my cock to sit up and beg for her attention.
“I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I haven’t gotten over you dumping me.” The second part’s a lie. Once Cyn slept in my tent, I haven’t thought about being with Niki. I’ve wanted Cyn under me; ever since the day I met her. “I told you that the other night.”
“You aren’t impotent, are you?”
I consider telling her to ask Cyn. “No.”
Niki comes around the other side of my desk to rub my shoulders. “You’re so tense lately. Why don’t you let me take care of you?”
She works the knots from my shoulders, and I’m about to tell her to stop when Cyn walks into my office from the adjoining office I put her in. I want her close in case I need her, which is pretty much all of the time.
“What are you doing here?” Niki asks Cyn, releasing my shoulders. “I should’ve known.” Niki smacks my head.
She really needs to go.
Cyn looks like she wants to throw something at me. “I do the books for Red Sky,” she says through clenched teeth.
My mind is in the gutter because I’d like to take Cyn over my knee to grab hold of that very fine ass and swat it.
Niki smacks me again. “You hired her?
“Yes, Niki, I did.”
I’d like to tell Niki that Cyn works under my desk. I’d like Cyn to work there all day long, but I wouldn’t get much work done.
Shit. I need to focus. Maybe hiring Cyn wasn’t a good idea. She looks temptingly sweet in her short skirt and tank top, and her spicy scent smells good enough to eat.
“If you don’t mind, I have a lot of work to do,” I say to Niki. “I can’t go out with you tonight. I’m taking some of my programmers for beers for working overtime.” That’s actually not a lie. It’s just that Cyn will be there too.
I can practically hear Cyn’s teeth grinding, and I know I’ll get my ass chewed later. I don’t really mind because I’m stronger than her. Overpowering her would be fun for both of us.
“I have some things I want to show you when you’re not preoccupied,” Cyn says, turning sharply and returning to her office. She slams the door, and the glass rattles on the walls.
I grin. Her spunk has always been a turn-on.
“I don’t like her working here,” Niki snaps out.
“You don’t get a vote.” I stand to push her out of my office. “Maybe tomorrow night we’ll go for dinner.” Or maybe not.
Niki’s fingers tiptoe up my chest. “That’s all we’ve done. How about I fix you dinner?”
“We’ll see.” I get up to see her out, and she doesn’t appear too happy about it. I lock my office door behind her and then go to Cyn’s adjoining office. I leave her door open to listen for my phone.
“You two were looking rather cozy,” she says, anger flashing in those beautiful dark eyes.
“Trust me, we aren’t.” My arms encircle her while she sits at her desk, and I inhale her intoxicating scent. “What’s up?”
She gestures me to look over her shoulder. “I looked at your personal laptop, and it’s been hacked. I made a copy of the key logger, removed it, and put it onto this drive.” She hands it to me.
I should’ve found the logger. “How did you find it?”
“It’s not that easy because you trusted whoever accessed your computer. The person added the program with an innocuous name into your malware list as a trusted program. It would always get ignored.”
This doesn’t surprise me because several people have access to my computer through the main servers, my security guy Jeremy for one. Everyone gets updates through these servers. “Shit.”
“Someone had access to your laptop and easily routed your money to other accounts. I looked over the feds’ trace on your accounts, and I think there’s something they’re not telling you.”
That’s what I’ve always thought. “Why is that?”
“I think they have a pretty good idea where your funds went to, and your financial loss isn’t their primary concern.”
That doesn’t surprise me. “Do you know where my money is?” If I get it back, I could pay off the IRS and be done with the feds and Niki pestering me.
She shakes her head. “No, but I know someone who may be able to find out. He’s expensive.”
I know a few hackers too.
Cyn did her dad’s books before she turned eighteen, so she probably knows a good deal about drug trafficking and hiding funds. “I thought you didn’t really know what your dad’s finances were really for?”
She looks up at me, and I lose my train of thought. She may as well have a tight grip on my cock because it only listens to her.
“I had an idea,” she says. “I saw names I probably shouldn’t have, like Juarez, and I think that’s why Manny wanted me dead. Let me do some digging.”
She’s going to drive me crazy. I don’t want her alone, but I don’t know how we stop the harassment from the gangbangers. “I don’t want you to. You already have his thugs threatening you.”
“I don’t like it either. Even my grandmother told me to hand over the flash drive. Speaking of which, I need you to pull hidden files off the drive.”
I squeeze her tight in my embrace and kiss her hair. “We’ll leave early, and I can watch you dress into your cowgirl outfit for tonight. I’ve been dreaming about it all week.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I’m just wearing cutoffs and a tee.”
“What? No cowboy boots?”
“I’ll wear them. For you.”
A look of concern flashes in her eyes. “If our ratings aren’t good, we won’t make money out of this.”
Money has been tight for Cyn and Willa. As soon as I can, I’ll help them out.
I pick Cyn up and put her on her desk, so her lips are more available. I kiss her, dipping my tongue into her sweet mouth. “You aren’t going to kill me over Niki?”
She gives me a dirty look. “If I see you kissing her, I may give you a black eye.”
I better not let that happen. I got Cyn back, and I’m not about to let her go.
Someone pounds at my office door.
“Did you lock your door?” she asks.
My hand travels up her thigh and underneath her flirty skirt. “Yes. I thought we might get some alone time.”
“Better answer it. It’s probably your fed friend.”
I kiss her one more time because she’s the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. I thought I loved Niki, but the feeling for Cyn is far different. I’ll fight Manny to keep her safe.
Cyn follows me into my office. I unlock my door, and Timmons barges into my office. “We need to talk.”
Cyn gives him a dirty look.
I’m tired of this asshole. “What do you need?” I ask.
“We’re getting closer to tracking down the money,” he starts. “You need to up your game with Nikita Harper. Her name’s on an account where the money was routed and the
n rerouted and you need to stop telling her that you’re not really interested in her.”
Her name being on any account surprises me.
Cyn’s pillow-top lips curve upward sensually. “You told Nikita you weren’t interested?”
The feds have been listening to our conversations, and it pisses me off. “If you’re listening, you must be watching. You must’ve seen the Escalades parked outside the Chinese restaurant, and I told you about the one that tried to run Cyn over in the garage parking.”
“Lots of people drive those SUVs,” Timmons shoots back. “And yeah, we took down their license plates, but Miss Harper is our focus, and you need to get your head in the game.”
It makes sense that Niki had something to do with the theft. She spent the night at my condo many times, and I take my laptop home every night. “Shit. What am I supposed to do? She hasn’t asked any questions about my business or given me any indication of her interest in my company or its finances. She only wants to know what I can buy for her.”
Timmons smirks. “Ply her with alcohol and pillow talk. Do we have to spell this out for you?”
Cyn pokes Timmons in the chest. “Shane is not going to have sex with her.”
“I’m not sleeping with Niki. That’s out.” If I need to up my game, I’ll have to do something though. I don’t know who is going after Cyn, but what if it’s the person responsible for embezzling my millions, not just from me but also from other companies. She did find the opened port, but how did our assailants figure that out so quickly? Maybe there’s no connection, other than she’s my girlfriend. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.
Cyn throws her hands up in the air and returns to her office, slamming the door once again.
I hand over more private IP addresses I’ve found to let the feds track them down. Most of the ones I looked up were defunct or bogus companies. I hope the feds have better luck.
When Timmons finally leaves, I interrupt Cyn. She’s buried into whatever work she’s doing on the laptop. I’d rather take her home to bed. She looks good in anything but looks especially good in my arms. “We have an hour to go look at the drive at your bank.”
“Okay.” She smiles almost always, even when we crossed the rugged Alaskan Interior. It’s what I noticed when she was only sixteen—that radiant smile.
“Did you tell Timmons about my flash drive?” she asks.
“No. They’re holding back, so we should too. Let’s see what we can bargain for.”
Always on the alert, I press my hand to her back to take her into the garage. We’re both packing, and I won’t hesitate to shoot to protect her.
The parking garage is eerily quiet but no Escalades are present. I open the truck door for Cyn to let her in and manage not to run my hands all over her.
I drive us to the bank, and we take a private booth to examine the drive. Pulling out my laptop, I insert the flash into the USB port.
Using an app, it takes me a couple minutes to locate the hidden file and copy it, but I also uncover an encrypted folder that holds a few files. “Look at this Cyn.”
“Dad told me he copied several items from our grandmother’s iPad. He didn’t know what was in all of them, except the hidden file.”
“It’ll be a while before I can crack the encryption. If it’s okay, I’ll copy these to another flash drive and to my home server and start unencrypting the files. Those encrypted file names use a special character set.” I don’t like the idea there’s information that could put her in danger.
She stares at the odd characters in the filenames. “What does that mean?”
“It could tell us the country of origin. Character sets were created to handle the different alphabets.”
“Is it from Mexico?” she asks.
I hope whatever we find we’ll give us the information we need to protect Cyn and Willa. “I don’t know. When I get the chance, I’ll look at it more closely.”
We leave the drive in the safety deposit box, and I’ll stick another copy into mine. I now have a couple deposit boxes, both with cash. I also keep some in my safe at home.
On our way out, Cyn and I notice the Escalade parked across the street. A sick feeling swirls in my gut.
“I think they’re watching us both.” I take the safety off my gun and walk toward the SUV. It’s probably best to find out what the hell they want.
Cyn yells, “Don’t, Shane.”
I smile that she’d miss me, but these guys need to know I won’t put up with any shit.
Chapter Willa
Out of the three of us, Cyn is the only one who has come close to working a real job. She’s done charity work, did Dad’s books, and was her sorority president. When Dad went to prison, he left her in charge of me. He trusts her, and so do I. If anyone can figure out a way to stop Manny from hurting us, it’s her. It helps though that she has someone like Shane by her side.
It’s late afternoon, and behind the bar at the Midnight Cowboy, Cyn teaches Fay and me the basics of bartending before the place opens. She covers commonly served drinks, like beer and rum and Coke. The owner is supposed to train us, but Cyn knows a lot about mixing drinks from living at the sorority. She’s even being nice to Fay.
The film crew shows up along with Aedan. Just looking at him breaks me out into a sweat. His five-o’clock shadow along with his shoulder-ab-hugging tee raises the temperature in the room to a sizzling Austin, Texas heat. Cyn fans my face and laughs. She knows me too well.
He sets up his camera and doesn’t once notice me. My face and shoulders wilt from disappointment. He probably thinks I’m too young because he’s probably a college grad, and I won’t start until the fall.
Winking, Cyn shoves me. “Snap out of it. We have work, and he’s probably too old. You have suitable bachelors lined up for you.”
I should argue with her, but in tonight’s show, I want to look like I know what I’m doing and not a spoilt princess.
We’re expected to wear the bar’s logo tees, and I thought Aedan would notice mine. Cyn picked out a hot pink one for me and tied it in a knot to show my flat belly. She chose the short cutoffs and shin-high cowboy boots. I feel a little uncomfortable wearing the cheek-showing cutoffs and tight tee, but Cyn said the bachelors and Aedan aren’t men if their tongues don’t hang out.
“You look hot,” Cyn says, grinning. “Don’t worry. Every man in this bar will see you. Bring the crew coffee, and shake that ass of yours.”
My butt’s a little big compared to the white girls at school. It’s a little embarrassing. What if he doesn’t like half Latinas? Shane always ogles Cyn’s butt.
Cyn knows how to get a man and made flirting into an art, so I should listen to her.
“We’re not supposed to fraternize with the hired help,” Fay admonishes Cyn for encouraging me to talk to the crew.
“Let her have some fun,” Cyn says. “I wouldn’t let her date a guy too old for her.”
“What? Shane’s five years older than you.” I think that’s how much older Aedan is than me. “I’m eighteen. I’m an adult now.”
“No, you’re not,” Fay says and Cyn agrees.
Cyn grins teasingly. “Aedan may be too old for you, but you can practice on him.”
She’s the one who told me that you don’t have control over which guys you’re attracted to. Sometimes you get a whiff and you’d follow that man anywhere. She said she should’ve listened to her body instead of resisting her attraction to Shane.
Fay frowns while helping Cyn pour coffee into Styrofoam cups. “If we get this money, we can buy back the ranch. We need to focus on the prize, not some guy. Willa, you and I have bachelors to attend to.”
Cyn shakes her head. “If we get this money, it’ll pay for Willa’s education.”
Fay loves me, but Cyn has always looked out for me. She’s the one with the level head on her shoulders.
I hold up the tray one-handed and walk over to the cameramen and the director. Out of the corner of my eye, Cyn crin
ges, and I don’t understand why until I trip over an electrical cord that hasn’t been taped down yet. The coffee goes everywhere, and Aedan catches me. His strong arms keep me from face planting into the director’s crotch, which is where I was headed. I couldn’t be any more of a klutz. My face blazes a thousand shades of red.
“You clumsy—” one cameraman starts, wiping coffee off his shirt.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, mopping at his shirt.
“Don’t touch me,” he says.
Could he make me feel any worse? I want to bury my head in the sand or in this case into the mechanical bull’s ass.
Aedan smiles at me. “It’s okay. I got it on film. The viewers will love it.”
Great. Now the whole world will know I’m clumsy. What man will want me now?
“Poor little rich girl’s first job,” the director says. “It’s all good.”
And my mortification grows.
I’ve had sex dreams about Aedan for the past few days, and now he knows how worthless I am. I learned how to make coffee a couple months ago, and I certainly don’t know how to carry it. We had a chef, maids, and gardeners. Maybe Mom did spoil us. God, I wish she were here.
Cyn comes over to help clean up the mess. She hands me a mop, and I clean up the floor, my ego slamming into the hardwoods with each rotation of the mop. Now Aedan thinks I’m an idiot. I want to cry, but Cyn smiles at me.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says. “It’s no big deal. I once spilled a drink on the mayor at one of our sorority fundraisers.” She laughs at her own faux pas.
I’m so happy I didn’t lose her too. If it weren’t for Shane, I would have. She’s like my personal ego supporter. She always tells me how nice I look, even though I don’t dress as well as Fay and her.
The rest of the film crew comes into the bar and sets up, and the director talks with the owner and us about the filming. We have a list of scenarios, plus several eligible cowboys. I should give them a shot because I’ve blown it with Aedan. Supposedly they’re closer to my age, and I want to date.
Behind the bar, Fay is having trouble opening a beer bottle.