Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6)

by Cassandra Lawson

  Sam, his current employer, walked in about an hour later, dressed casually in worn jeans and a UCSF sweatshirt. To complete the look, his blond hair was left a little messy, and he had a backpack slung over one shoulder. If one didn’t know Sam, they might assume the glasses held together with tape were part of his disguise, but Isaiah had noticed Sam’s tendency to stick his glasses in his back pocket and sit on them. Usually, he broke the lenses, but this time, it was apparently just the frames. Taking a seat across from Isaiah, Sam reached out a fist, expecting Isaiah to bump fists with him, which he reluctantly did.

  “How’s it going?” Sam asked without using his name.

  “Not too bad,” Isaiah replied. “The research end of my project is coming along nicely.”

  Sam nodded. “They have good coffee here?” he asked, looking around. Nikki was busy cleaning up a recently vacated table. It said a lot about how little Sam left his office that he didn’t know if the shop right across from his building had good coffee. Based on the way Sam eyed Nikki, Isaiah got the impression he’d be back for reasons other than coffee.

  “That’s why I come here,” Isaiah replied, annoyed with Sam’s appraisal of Nikki as she bent down to grab napkins that had been dropped on the floor.

  “I can think of a better reason to come here,” Sam murmured without taking his eyes off Nikki. “I should work out of the San Francisco office more often.”

  “Are you honestly telling me you go out to pick up your own coffee?” Isaiah asked, trying to keep the annoyance he felt at Sam’s interest in Nikki from his voice.

  Sam laughed. “Not too often,” he admitted. “Mostly, I just drink whatever they brew in the office. I’m beginning to think no one in the San Francisco office can make a decent cup of coffee.”

  As the head of corporate security, Sam had been the one to hire Isaiah’s company to look for flaws in their current system. Since Sam had just taken over, he was busy with more obvious issues in the Midwest territory at the moment. The fact that the company was such a mess was likely the reason Sam had been offered the job in the first place. Isaiah would guess that they’d wanted someone with more experience, but they’d had trouble convincing anyone to take on such a big task for the nominal salary they were offering. Sam was only in his mid-thirties, but he could easily pass for being in his twenties when he chose to. With only ten years’ experience in the field, this was his chance to prove himself—something Isaiah had no doubt he would do.

  “So, what’s her story?” Sam asked, gesturing to Nikki.

  “She’s having dinner with me tonight,” Isaiah told him without giving out any other information.

  Sam chuckled. “I guess if you have to be distracted from the project, it may as well be by your dick.”

  The irony of Sam’s attitude was that he never would have considered saying something like that dressed in his usual tailored suits, but Sam easily fell into any role he played. That was one of many reasons Isaiah had tried talking Sam into working for him instead of taking this job. Naturally, he understood why Sam had turned him down in favor of taking a job that could put him in a position of earning more than Isaiah could ever hope to offer him.

  Nikki approached them, refusing to meet his eyes, and he could tell she was still thinking about their kiss, something that definitely pleased him. He’d seen the way she occasionally fidgeted at the counter, and he imagined her pressing her thighs together to try to get some relief from her arousal, which only seemed fair since his dick had been practically throbbing all day. That wasn’t the result of the kiss so much as her proximity.

  “Can I get you something?” she asked Sam.

  “Just a coffee, black,” Sam told her without an ounce of flirtation. From the looks of it, Sam was ready to move on to business.

  “Did you want something else?” she asked Isaiah, leaving him wondering if she realized what a loaded question that was. Then he found himself wondering what she’d say if he told her he wanted to lay her across this table and free her breasts so he could see what color her nipples were and then spend the next twenty minutes suckling them while she moaned and tugged at his hair.

  “Thanks, I’ll have another latte,” he replied in a somewhat strained voice.

  Nikki nodded and walked behind the counter to fill their orders.

  “So, exactly how close are you?” Sam asked.

  Isaiah let out a snort of laughter. “Pretty damn close at the moment,” he muttered, not talking about the job. Although, that was also true. Struggling to get his head back on business, he gave Sam a better answer. “I should have everything written up by the end of next week.”

  “Security codes?” Sam asked.

  Isaiah simply raised an eyebrow as if to ask Sam who he thought he was talking to.

  His reaction clearly amused Sam because he laughed. “I assume you also have all the details about guard schedules and building schematics.”

  “Of course,” Isaiah replied.

  “Great! Then we can do this tonight.” Sam sounded eager, and Isaiah couldn’t blame him. While Isaiah loved the research, actual break-ins excited him most. In this case, they didn’t need to break into the building. He could simply send his report to Sam. In general, he only followed up with an actual break-in to prove to the head of security that new measures were in order. It was often not the head of security who decided to hire his firm, so they needed more convincing that changes were needed. With Sam, he trusted Isaiah to do his job and didn’t need any proof. Not to mention, Sam already knew there were problems and had simply hired consultants in various areas to help him find those issues since he couldn’t check all locations at the same time. In fact, it would have taken him more than a year if he’d handled everything on his own. At the moment, the company’s security issues threatened to drive them out of business. The reason for going through with the actual break-in was that Sam got off on this kind of thing as much as Isaiah did. It was one thing to tell people you could do something, but it was totally different to actually pull it off.

  “Then let’s do this tonight!” Sam said with a decisive nod. “We’ll meet at nine. I’ll text you the details.”

  “Not tonight,” Isaiah insisted.

  “Because you’re going to be banging the sexy coffee girl?” Sam asked, laughing when Isaiah glared at him.

  “You sound like my cousin, Drew,” Isaiah muttered. Eyes straying to Nikki, he wondered what was taking her so long. As it turned out, she’d gotten delayed by an indecisive customer, which was a good thing considering his conversation with Sam. “I’m having dinner with her tonight, as I already told you.”

  “Then you’ll be done in time to grab your gear and meet me,” Sam told him. “I need to get this done soon. I have another job to take care of in Houston.”

  Isaiah sighed. “Fine, but I haven’t had time to look at evening street views yet, so I’m not sure if we’ll run into problems from outside sources.”

  Sam shrugged. “That just makes it more exciting.”

  “Not if you end up getting shot,” Isaiah told him.

  “Nothing will go wrong. Just finish your research and enjoy your date first,” Sam said.

  “Here are your drinks,” Nikki interrupted with a smile that seemed somewhat strained, making Isaiah worry she’d heard something. He suddenly wanted to kick himself for having this conversation here. He should have insisted on meeting Sam later.

  Since he’d first set foot in this coffee shop, Isaiah hadn’t been thinking straight. Being around Nikki was making him lose his edge, which was probably as good a reason as any to finish this job before his distraction resulted in a major screw up.

  Chapter Ten

  Phoenix almost wished she hadn’t overheard Isaiah’s conversation, because now she couldn’t stop worrying about what he was up to. Honestly, she needed to stop thinking about him and focus on her own problems. He’d left three hours ago, after giving her a quick kiss on the mouth and telling her he’d pick her up at five for their
date—a date she’d been having serious second thoughts about even before she’d learned that Isaiah was most likely a criminal. It was always possible she was overreacting, and they were simply planning to hit a club Isaiah had researched, but then why would they call it a job?

  Great kisser or not, it was time to admit that Isaiah was planning something illegal tonight. That should have been her cue to cancel their date and encourage Isaiah to buy coffee elsewhere, which is exactly what she’d do if her gut wasn’t insisting that Isaiah was a good person. Tonight, at dinner, she planned to find out what was really going on. There just had to be an explanation.

  Phoenix was scheduled to work until two, but Alan had called to say he was going to be late, which meant she wouldn’t have time to go home to change before her date with Isaiah. As it turned out, she was the one closing the shop up at five since Alan hadn’t even shown up. Her boss had apologized profusely and assured her someone would be in tomorrow so she could have the day off, but she’d believe that when it actually happened. He’d also told her to leave the closing duties and promised one of his nephews would take care of them so she could leave at five on the dot. Again, she’d believe that when it actually happened. What she expected was to walk into a messy shop with cash still in the register tomorrow morning.

  Isaiah walked in the door just as she was about to lock up. Thankfully, he was still dressed casually, since she’d be in jeans and a t-shirt tonight.

  “Long day?” Isaiah asked.

  “Longer than I expected,” she admitted. “Are you going to offer to let me go home and get some rest?” she asked, turning to wipe down a spill on the counter.

  Isaiah moved up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. “No,” he murmured against her skin. “Maybe I should let you go home, but I’m selfish, and I want you with me tonight.”

  Phoenix shuddered as his warm breath licked across the side of her face. “We aren’t having sex tonight,” she blurted out, feeling like an idiot, mostly because she was saying it for her own benefit more than his. Isaiah hadn’t mentioned sex with her. It was her own brain that had images of him naked as he slid into her body playing on a constant loop.

  Isaiah allowed one of his hands to trail slowly down her arm until his fingers laced with hers. Then he turned her to face him. “I know we aren’t having sex tonight,” he assured her. “Don’t get me wrong. I want you very much, but tonight I just want to talk to you, spend time with you, and get to know you better. You’ve been making me crazy for weeks. I can’t get you out of my head.” Isaiah looked down and shook his head. “I didn’t intend to say all that. Promise you won’t hold it against me.”

  “I’ll go grab my stuff.” With a shy smile, she gestured to the back room and waited for him to release her hand. “I actually need to take this with me,” she finally told him when he continued to hold her hand.

  Isaiah blinked before giving her a sheepish grin. “Sorry.” He dropped her hand. “I’m not myself around you.”

  “Are you telling me that when I’m not around, you’re the ultimate ladies’ man?” she teased.

  “No, I’m afraid I’m the ultimate computer geek,” he admitted with an adorable grin. “When I’m around you, I act like a computer geek who believes he’s a ladies’ man. I can only imagine how ridiculous I look.”

  That grin made her heartbeat quicken from excitement rather than nerves. Maybe she was a fool, but she knew Isaiah wasn’t a bad person. There had to be a good explanation for what she’d overheard, and she planned to find out what it was tonight.

  Phoenix stood on tiptoes to kiss his chin before quickly pulling away when Isaiah looked like he was going to grab her. “You’re pretty good at being a ladies’ man, and I’ve always found nerds sexy.”

  “Pocket protectors and all?” he asked, ducking his head and grinning.

  “You don’t really have a pocket protector,” she said, convinced that no one really had a pocket protector.

  “I’m not sure why they get such a bad rap,” he argued. “They’re actually pretty awesome.”

  “Pocket protectors?” she asked, struggling to contain her laughter.

  “Yes,” he insisted. “I’ll bet you’ve never even used one, and that’s the reason you don’t appreciate their awesomeness.”

  He really was an adorably clueless nerd. “I’ll get my stuff,” she told him, fighting her laugher.

  Chapter Eleven

  Isaiah had picked this pizza place because most of their customers ordered takeout. That left the cozy dining area nearly deserted most nights, which was perfect for his plan to get Nikki to open up about her problems. Unfortunately, she wasn’t cooperating. In fact, she’d spent the last ten minutes asking him about Sam, leading him to the depressing conclusion that she might be more interested in Sam than him. Even knowing Sam was probably a better choice for her, he couldn’t stop the jealousy that threatened to strangle him.

  “You never answered my question about how you met Sam,” she pushed.

  “Sure, I did,” he told her without making eye contact.

  “No, you mentioned something about being a lot alike and then changed the subject.”

  “Are you interested in Sam?” he finally asked. “Is that why you’re asking all these questions about him?”

  Nikki reared back, looking shocked. “No!”

  “It’s okay if you are,” he assured her, even though he didn’t really feel that way. “You already know I’m attracted to you, but I’m not going to be mad if you’re more into Sam than me after meeting him.”

  “Isaiah,” she began, reaching out to take his hand. “I’m not interested in Sam. I just want to know more about you. What you do. Who you hang out with. What kinds of clubs you go to. I’m asking about Sam because you’re friends, and I figured it would tell me more about who you are.”

  Isaiah relaxed, and his lips curled up into a hint of a smile. “I promise to tell you more about Sam another time. For now, I want to know more about you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the guarded look on her face. His date with Nikki was turning out to be nothing more than both of them trying to avoid revealing too much about themselves. It had been a long time since he’d been on anything resembling a date, but he wasn’t clueless enough that he didn’t realize this wasn’t how dating was supposed to work.

  “I never would have taken you for someone who likes spicy food,” Nikki told him, eying his half of the pizza. They’d both agreed on vegetarian, but he’d insisted on adding jalapenos to his half.

  While he was tempted to push for more information about her, he decided he’d give the uncomfortable conversation with the probing questions a rest, and just enjoy his time with Nikki.

  “These aren’t spicy,” he argued before taking a bite and savoring the warmth from the peppers. After swallowing, he stood and walked over to her side of the table, helping her to her feet and leaning in to kiss her. Unlike earlier that day, he took his time, licking the crease of her lips and sucking her lower lip into his mouth. Nikki’s moan drove him on, and he slid his tongue just barely into her mouth before withdrawing. Sitting back down in his chair, he watched as Nikki licked her lips.

  “How was it?” he asked.

  “Spicy,” she told him as she sat down, looking somewhat dazed.

  “Are you saying that was the hottest kiss you’ve ever had?” he asked.

  Nikki laughed. “Fishing for compliments?”

  “I suppose I am,” he admitted.

  “I can honestly say that was the second hottest kiss I’ve ever had,” she told him with a teasing grin.

  “Second hottest?” he asked.

  “A close second,” she assured him. “The hottest was this morning at the coffee shop.”

  Isaiah groaned at the memory of their earlier kiss. “You are making it very hard for me to remember the many reasons I can’t take you home and kiss every inch of your body.”

  “That would be a very bad
idea.” Nikki sounded disappointed when she said the words, and Isaiah understood her feelings, though probably not for the same reasons. At this point, Isaiah had already accepted that, bad idea or not, he intended to have Nikki in his life—at lease for a short time.

  “I keep telling myself that,” he began. “To be honest, I’ve been telling myself that for weeks, but now that I’ve kissed you, I’m not sure that’s going to be enough. I really like you, and I want to get to know you better.”

  “I’m not in any position to start a relationship,” she told him.

  “Neither am I,” he admitted. “Yet, I still can’t convince myself to leave you alone.”

  “Isaiah,” she began hesitantly. “Are you . . .?” Her voice trailed off, and she appeared to be struggling to find the words to ask him something. “Today, at the coffee shop. . .” Again, she stopped and thought about her words.

  “I’m worried about you, Nikki,” he said, since he didn’t want to hear her tell him the kiss was a mistake. He already knew it was a mistake, and that knowledge did nothing to convince him it shouldn’t happen again. In fact, he intended to make sure it did happen again—very soon. “Why was that Mitch guy yelling at you?”

  “It was nothing,” she assured him, but he knew she was lying.

  “Let me help you,” he coaxed. “You may think I’m just some nerdy college student, but I can help.”

  There was a moment of hesitation, and he saw the longing in her eyes. She wanted to tell him, and he was beyond tempted to give her a mental push in that direction. He was also tempted to tell her he wasn’t really a college student, but tonight was not the night to admit he’d been lying to her. He didn’t have time to go into all the reasons he needed to keep up this pretense a little longer. With any luck, he’d be able to tell her the truth tomorrow.