Don't Game Me (Game Lords Book 2)

by Zoe Forward

  “Yes, there will be a but, Noah. I need a personal workspace. An office, maybe even a lab space.”

  Noah’s eyes widened. Respect glimmered in his gaze. “We can do that.”

  “I need a laptop. I don’t have one anymore. I dumped mine since I was worried it had spyware on it.”

  “Sure.” Noah sipped the coffee.

  “I’m not calling either of you boss or sir.” She glanced between Jake and Noah.

  Michael picked at his nails and whispered to her out of the corner of her mouth, “You should ask for commuting expenses. The subway isn’t cheap. Maybe you want to take a cab every day.”

  She whispered back, “Is that a real thing?”

  He shrugged. “They’re in a tight spot.”

  “Whose team are you on?” Noah asked.

  “I’m the big brother, which means…hers.” Michael chuckled when Noah’s face blotched red as if he might explode.

  “Fine. Commuter expenses. Whatever.” Noah slammed down his mug of coffee so hard it sloshed over. He muttered a curse and grabbed a kitchen towel.

  “Not that. Use those.” Noah pointed at the paper towels.

  Michael said, “Bec, I think you better ask for an exclusion to the infamous clause in their contract about dating employees.”

  Silence descended as Michael and Jake stared at each other.

  “We’ll write in an exclusion,” Jake said. “We’re not discussing that, because there’s nothing for us to talk about.”

  Nothing? As in they were over or perhaps Jake meant to discuss keeping them sex only. No dating. Either way hurt. “I’m taking a shower before work. You guys work out who’s driving me in this morning.”

  Jake watched her walk off to shower with regret festering a hole in his stomach. Well, he’d fucked that up.

  He wanted more with her. Yet, as usual, he freaked out when the moment came to commit publicly to something more than easy sex.

  “Good luck fixing that.” Michael put the empty plate in the sink. He slapped a hand on Jake’s back. “You need to work on not saying shit that’ll get you in hot water later. I’m outta here.”

  Noah glanced up from his cell phone. “I might be in late. Tori wants to work on re-booking the honeymoon. The first time took hours of negotiation. Now she wants to go to Tahiti. You handle contract things with Becca. Try not to make her any madder, will you?”

  Both brothers left.

  Jake sat heavily on a stool and rubbed his head. Her absence weighed on him. He should go talk to her, maybe even make love to her in the shower.

  Sex wouldn’t solve this. It’d be good. Afterward, they’d still be murky as hell. He wasn’t clear what he wanted. Everything about this with her was unchartered waters. Their chemistry made him do stupid things. Maybe it did the same to her.

  He should admit to her he thought he loved her. Yet, he didn’t know what the hell love was. Maybe this wasn’t love but infatuation with good chemistry.

  29

  Becca fast walked out of the elevator toward Jake’s office. She was late to work on her official second day. Yesterday had been mostly about contracts and office space, minutia which had been delegated to Emma. Becca hadn’t seen Jake come home last night, which must’ve been after midnight. This morning, he hadn’t waited for her when he left, as if avoiding her.

  Had this hallway to his office always been this long? Her belly fluttered with jitters. She’d arrived hell-bent on resolving their situation. She couldn’t pretend to be a roommate in his place. She wanted in his bed, and him in it too.

  She paused outside his office, recognizing his marketing manager who jabbered with big arm gestures. The guy typed at the keyboard of the computer at which they both gazed at the screen. They flipped through a few screens together.

  Jake glanced toward the window to the magnificent view. He rubbed a hand over his lightly gelled hair with a look so broken she nearly lost her control and ran to him, to hug him. Between one eye blink and the next, a fake smile appeared on his face but didn’t light up his eyes.

  His marketing manager smiled back.

  He laughed at something the marketing manager said, but his eyes were on his desk, not the guy. His smile faltered, and she glimpsed it again, that broken part of him she somehow knew she was responsible for. She had to fix it.

  The guy didn’t know how to love. Actually, that wasn’t true. He did know, but he just didn’t recognize what he felt.

  “Jake,” she stepped farther into his office, saying his name so softly she barely heard it pass her lips.

  His head snapped up like he’d been struck.

  “Becca.” His eyes hit hers, guarded. “I need to get you to your meeting.” He directed at his marketing manager, “Excuse us, would you?”

  “Of course.” The guy left.

  “Come on,” Jake snapped, marching toward her. “Meeting is three floors up.”

  She caught his arm as he stormed past. “We need to talk about things.”

  He froze and stared down at her. “Now isn’t a good time. Let’s try to keep it together today.”

  “Fine. Lead on to this meeting. But we’re not delaying this talk much longer.”

  Jake pushed into the conference room, pissed. At himself. Her. The world.

  She met his gaze with a coolness that, in the past, meant she itched to fight him. He wanted the fight, and he wanted it to get dirty to the point he’d have to make it physical. As in kissing physical.

  He announced, “Guys, this is Becca Harrison.”

  “She the new lead on this?” asked the pock-marked wonder kid he’d found at a tech convention several months ago. The barely nineteen-year-old could program circles around anyone on the staff. On the downside, he was arrogant as hell and lacked tact.

  “Yes, she’s taking over,” Jake said.

  The kid leveled a hostile, distrustful gaze on Becca. Jake held back his itch to tongue lash the kid.

  Becca scanned the six guys in the room, unfazed by the hostile kid, coming to rest on the fifty-five-year-old in the far back. “Are you the NASA engineer?”

  The NASA guy shifted and glanced around the room insecurely. Jake gambled on his instincts to bring the NASA expert on board. “Yes. I programmed at the command center in Houston for fifteen years before government funding cuts lead to downsizing.”

  She smiled wide. “Thank God. We need someone who can deal with a crisis crunch. I’m not sure any of us in this room other than you knows the full scope of what that means. I’ll bet you had your fair share of ‘get it done in zero time.’”

  He grinned. “Yes.”

  “We’ve got only a couple weeks to get done what should take most humans months. I’ve read all of your dossiers. We can do this. If anyone thinks he can’t, then say so now. And walk. This is going to be fun and so next level.” She rubbed her hands together, her enthusiasm infectious. “Who’s ready to start?”

  Everyone around the table relaxed and chattered.

  The resentful kid eased back in his chair. “Are you related to Noah Harrison?”

  “He’s my brother.”

  The kid laughed. “He seems to like tackling the impossible.”

  She met the NASA guy’s gaze. “I’d call this improbable, not impossible. Improbable has better odds. Odds we’re going to beat.”

  “Can you program like him?” the kid asked.

  “He’s an idiot compared to me. That’s why they called me in.” She turned to Jake, who still felt less than optimistic. She beamed. “We’re going to get this done for you, and we’re going to kick ass.”

  Becca found both of her brothers in Noah’s office at the end of the day. They stood side-by-side, staring at the jumbo computer screens on Noah’s desk. Michael had on his glasses and leaned in close to the screen. The glasses aged him about a decade, even though he hadn’t even hit thirty-three yet.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Both jumped and stared wide-eyed as if caught eating cookie dough o
ut of the bowl while their mom had her back turned.

  “Seriously, what’s going on?”

  “I just found the email with the stolen information you gave to Symphis,” Michael said. “Sending it to my old account was sneaky. I only check that like once a week.”

  “I counted on it, but I also wanted you to see what I’d done. You can be assured nothing they got was real.”

  “You’re still in big trouble for stealing this to begin with, almost getting shot, and almost getting Jake killed.” Noah glanced up.

  “The movie goggles team is a pretty good bunch.”

  Noah went back to scrolling through screens. “Thanks for getting them organized. How’s staying at Jake’s place going?”

  “We’re roommates. I’m in the guest room.”

  “Really?” Michael asked. “Roommates?”

  She knew that tone. Michael loved good gossip, especially when it had to do with sex or sex mishaps.

  Michael’s lips twitched as if he were about to break into a laugh. “Day before yesterday he was nuts to make sure you stayed at his place. So, uh-huh, sure you’re just roommates. I’d never buy you two in the friend-zone. No wonder he’s been in a crappy mood all day.”

  “Did you guys talk to Quan again?”

  Michael shook his head. “I think the drug made you paranoid about everything.”

  Not one iota of relief hit her. “Maybe everything is as it seems. Lisi is Symphis, she’s dead, and it’s over. I’m kind of disappointed. Someone with her hacking skill level could’ve been more creative than a globalized video gaming ring.”

  Noah said, “The FBI shared some of the stuff on her computer with us to see if we could make sense of it. She had the file you sent Pascal, which incriminated her further.”

  “Everything was a setup to get me back here, I guess. She planned to frame Jake for my death to tear you guys apart and destroy your company.” She collapsed onto the sofa. “Hard to believe one person could hate you guys so much.”

  Noah said, “I took Tori from them. Tori has put a spotlight on their activity with her talks. Her actions likely cut their recruiting numbers and made it difficult for them to find locations to play. Also, they can’t hack into our newest games because of the coding on it.”

  She frowned. “Still seems more personal than that. Why target one video game company when there are so many? Would’ve loved to ask her before she died. I bet she would’ve been easy to get monologuing.”

  “What do you make of this, Michael?” Noah asked, pointing at the computer screen.

  Becca jumped up. All three of them looked at the document off Lisi’s computer. It contained a whole page of random symbols and letters.

  “It’s code,” Becca said. “Let me try something.” She logged into GenShare. Surprise, surprise, her login information was still active. “They had this new encryption program they were working on. Let me see…” She ran the lines through it and grinned. “Voila!”

  Becca, I would never kill myself.

  30

  Becca stared at the gigantic bouquet of red roses, which sat on the table in Jake’s guest room. The card read: Meet me. 8pm at Ideal’s.

  It was seven-fifteen.

  Jake still didn’t answer repeated attempts to call, text and email. He always had his phone on. Worst-case scenarios paraded through her brain.

  “Jake?” she called out.

  No answer.

  The scent of roses filled the air around her. What girl wouldn’t be flattered by a fancy restaurant and flowers? But urgency to show Jake what they decoded and ensure he wasn’t hurt soured her excitement.

  Her work outfit wasn’t fancy enough for Ideal’s. She pulled on the only dress out of her suitcase, the one Quan dropped off yesterday.

  The suitcase.

  She stared at the clothes spilling out of it, suddenly suspicious. In minutes, she’d removed everything from the boring black carry-on that she’d toted from California. Quan held it for her while they launched their get-Lisi plan. She patted down every item of clothing and then every pocket and even the sides of the suitcase. Nothing.

  What did she expect? A bulky listening device? Logically, if Quan wanted to spy on her, putting something in her bag didn’t make sense.

  She didn’t know for certain Quan worked against them. Maybe Symphis got his hooks into Quan. At this point, she was about 50 percent sure Lisi wasn’t Symphis.

  Jake.

  She jogged to the elevator. The cab ride took longer than expected, but when she walked into Ideal’s Steakhouse, she was only two minutes late.

  Jake was the only one waiting in the reception area. He wore a suit. She hadn’t seen him in a suit since the wedding. Its cut was perfect, showing off his wide shoulders.

  He wasn’t hurt or stressed.

  She rushed to get him into a hug.

  “Hey, hey. What’s going on, Becca?” The way his low voice said her name made her squeeze him tighter.

  “We found something in Lisi’s files. Something scary.”

  “I’m not getting cheated out of this moment. It can wait.” His eyes dropped down her tight black dress’s spaghetti straps and low V-neck. A slow smile spread on his face. Hoarsely, he rumbled, “That’s quite a dress.”

  Bingo. Right choice. Well, her only choice since she was still living in the same few items she’d taken to the wedding. “Thanks.”

  “We’re here. We’re safe. We’re going to do our first official date.”

  “So, this is a date?” An uncontrollable smile broke.

  Jake hadn’t been this nervous on a date in… Well, maybe not since high school. Things had to go well.

  Once settled at a quiet table in the back, out of the main hall and away from all the noise, he said, “I guess we have to do this discussion, or it’ll hang over everything. What’d you find?”

  She showed him a picture of Noah’s screen.

  Jake frowned. He hated even thinking everything with Symphis wasn’t over, that Becca might continue to be tortured like Tori. He took the phone and clicked it off. “It’s not a threat. We can’t resolve it tonight. They don’t get to ruin this time we have. Okay?”

  Her eyes glittered with unshed tears, which killed him.

  “They can’t have you back. You’re with me right now.” He took her hand. “How’d it go with the team today?”

  A small smile transformed her entire face. “Great group. I think we’ll make the deadline, possibly exceed it. The guys on the team are incredible.”

  Thank, God. The movie company had been up his ass for a demo the past few days. “I found most of those guys in odd spots.”

  “They realize how lucky they are.” She paused and dropped her gaze. “How lucky I am to have a second chance, especially after…all that.”

  “I had a feeling you’d like it.”

  “It’s so exciting, and to be doing something relevant. Important. Not gaming for someone else or doing illegal things. And it’s fun.” She looked heavenward. “Thank you.” She lowered her tone. “I have to tell you the guys on the team hated the last team leader. Probably a good loss for you. They told me the guy defected to Apple.”

  He nodded and tried to breathe through his nervousness. Did he try to talk to her now? Or did he wait?

  They ordered food.

  The wine arrived. Jake tasted, nodded approval. Once poured, he held up his glass.

  She clinked against his glass and sipped. “Mmm. This is very tasty. You know me and alcohol…” She cast him a naughty smile.

  “I have to be serious for a moment, Becca. You scared the hell out of me, disappearing without a word. Then you got shot…so much blood. I didn’t expect how much I felt during all that and how much I’d almost lost. I’m not everything you need. I’m not what you should have—”

  Her soft fingers touched his arm. “That’s not true.”

  “Let me finish. I also know I want to love you as well as I can. I only hope it’s enough.”

  Sh
e grabbed his hand. “You’re amazing. Never say you’re not good enough, because you’re the best man I know.” She scrunched up her face and rocked her head back-and-forth. “Except for the one-night-stand addiction.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to do this one and only stuff. I want to try though.”

  “I’m obviously not an expert on this, either, but we can figure it out. First comes trust though. I’m sorry I messed it up even if I thought I was doing the right thing. I should’ve trusted you. That said, trust is a two-way street. You have to trust I’ll let you know if I ever want out. I’m a one-man-only girl. Right now, I want you to be that man. I also need to be able to trust you’re not going to be trying to get it on with one of the beautiful women who constantly throw themselves at you. Are you willing to give us a real chance?”

  “Everything I want is right here. It’s you, Becca. Only you. I haven’t touched another woman since Christmas. I’ll do my best, but I might fuck up from time to time and say the wrong thing.”

  “You can do this. That’s something I know deep in my heart.” She touched his cheeks with one hand. “I’m in love with you, Jake. I think I’ve been in love with you for a long time. Maybe even since when I first met you.”

  “Well, that’s good, because I’m seriously messed up over you. I’m pretty sure this is love because it’s beating me up from the inside out.” He pulled her close to kiss her, pouring every complicated thing he felt for her into the kiss. “I’m all in on this, if you’ll have me. The odds might not be good, but I’m willing to bet everything on us.”

  “Me too.”

  Her cell phone dinged with an incoming text. She turned it over to see.

  Unknown: Erasing yourself from the system doesn’t mean you’re out.

  “What’s wrong?” Jake asked.

  Her hand shook as she rotated her phone to show him the message. “What should I do? Do I reply?”

  He took the phone from her and put it face down on the table. “They don’t dictate your life anymore. We’ll turn the phone over to the FBI tomorrow. They can figure out who sent it.”