He swallowed. She had no idea. He tried to keep it light. “It’s you, not the manhandling. Most of the time when women slap me around, it does nothing for me.”
“If you talk like that to everyone, I bet you get slapped around all the time.”
He snorted, then stiffened when metal brushed his wrists. He twisted in her grip. “What if you need my help?”
“With what?” Emily’s voice snapped at him hard, all lightheartedness banished.
If he could have, Javier would have stumbled back a few steps. “I don’t know…” He raised an eyebrow, wondering what he could have said to make her so sensitive. “Navigation?”
She stared at him with utter incredulity for several moments. She gave him a little shove, enough to open a bit of space between their bodies. “Yeah, I don’t need help with that either, jerk.”
Javier concealed his disappointment at the loss of contact. “Jerk? What did I say?”
Emily more than made up for the moment he’d spent apart from her. In a second, Javier slammed to the floor with her on top of him, her legs engaged in the interesting straddling maneuver she’d used the day before. Her body stretched out to maximum length on top of him, her forearms definitively pinning his wrists. Her nipples were definitely hard. So was his cock. Javier would have enjoyed this more if he’d been able to breathe better.
She brought her face close to his, her hot breath whispering across his cheek. “I had no trouble taking you down yesterday, and I had no trouble doing it just now. Any time you need a reminder of how much I don’t need your help protecting myself, you just let me know.”
Javier frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, come on. Navigation? Because girls can’t fight, and they can’t follow directions either, right?”
“I’d be an idiot if I thought you couldn’t fight.” Javier gasped. She was doing that thing again where she made her body feel like it weighed five times more than should have been possible. Also, he was struggling with the urge to rock his hips up to press his cock more firmly against her body. “As far as navigation, I was just looking for a useful skill that I actually have. Now, could you please let me live? I have absolutely no doubt that you are capable of strangling me to death, despite what I must point out as my well-developed and rather attractive torso.”
Emily froze in place. A moment later, her body began to shake. Javier’s brow wrinkled in concern. He fought his way out of her suddenly loosened grip, got a look at her face and realized she’d started laughing convulsively. “Wow,” she gasped. “Wow. I must have sounded crazy as hell.”
Javier relaxed onto his back, feeling more free to enjoy the sensation of her seated on top of him. “Based on what I just learned, I am definitely going to put off calling you crazy until I’m back on my feet and well out of tackling range.”
“Probably wise.” The expression on her face was downright friendly. She lifted her torso off his and sat back on her heels, her back arched and breasts pushed forward. The appearance of woman on top compelled him too much to resist. Javier reached for Emily’s hips.
“Listen, I don’t know how people normally talk to you, but I have no trouble believing you’re a powerful and capable woman.” She didn’t pull away from his touch. Encouraged, Javier continued. “I’m very good with computers. And you normally pay someone to help you. All I’m saying is I might be able to make up for that flaky person so you can get on with being your usual badass, competent self. No insult intended.” His fingers tightened, and he gave in to temptation and ground up against her just slightly. “Quite the opposite.”
Slowly, Emily’s set her hand down on Javier’s chest, her touch so light that he wondered if the gesture was unconscious. “No offense taken.”
She shifted her weight just enough to inspire him to further hardness. He grinned and shook his head. “So you’re okay with looking for this person about three hours from now?” He thrust once to underscore his meaning.
A genuine battle took place across her delicate features. Big blue eyes unfocused, her gaze raked up his body with an expression he very much recognized. Victory swelled in his chest. He reached up and wound his fingers through her hair, pulling her toward him. She cooperated for a moment, then shook herself free and sat back with a sigh. “I really can’t risk it. I have to look for my quarry now.”
Javier echoed the disappointed sound and rolled onto his side, willing his blood to return to his brain. He propped his head up on his palm. “Do you have the guy’s cell number?”
“Yeah…” Emily grinned and cocked her head. “You think I can just call him up and ask him to wait for me out on the curb?”
“Let me show you a neat trick.” Javier winked and rolled to his feet, reaching her computer in one smooth gesture. He aimed her browser at his password-protected personal site and launched a web application.
“Do I need to worry that whatever you’re doing is going to send a message to your brother?”
Javier glanced at her. Guilt flashed through him. He probably could contact Fernando without her knowing, now that she’d let him onto her computer. He probably should. But he shook his head and kept his voice light. “Remember, I fear your ability to compress my carotid artery. Trust me.”
“Trust issues, remember?”
He smiled, appreciating that she had turned the joke back on him. “Type your quarry’s phone number in this field.”
When she did, Javier needed only a few clicks to present her with the subject’s location starred on a map interface. “Any reason he’d be on Waterman Street?”
“That’s the mother’s address.”
“Then he ran home to Mommy.”
“Wow.” Emily took the mouse from Javier and ran the pointer back and forth across the screen, not clicking, just looking. “Um, how did you do that?”
“Trade secret.”
“Come on, I want at least a hint. Whatever my untrained brain can comprehend.”
Javier blinked. Fernando had never seemed to care how Javier did what he did. He barely seemed to appreciate the difficulty and skill required. Many times, Javier had wondered if Fernando realized how few people could deliver hacking skills on the level he routinely provided. More often than not, it seemed Fernando thought he was just keeping Javier busy, throwing him a job that could have been filled by anyone. He was surprised how much the thought stung.
He shrugged, but the open, curious expression on Emily’s face didn’t change. “Seriously, this is way beyond anything my skiptracer can do.”
Javier reclaimed the mouse, a little sheepish now. “There are only a couple companies that do geolocation for mobile phones, even though there are a bunch of models of phones and providers. I went for the weakest link, intercepting communications from the geolocation companies—like most businesses, a determined person can hack them given time. I built this application for my brother. It was just a demonstration, really. I think this is the first time it’s been used. But as long as your man keeps his phone on—and like we said, people are often stupid about that kind of thing—I can find him.”
“You just did that? Intercepted communications from the geolocation companies? You make it sound like no big deal.”
Was he blushing? “Yeah, I had nothing better to do.”
Emily raised a tawny eyebrow. “I don’t think that expression means what you think it does.” Her eyes regarded him with new respect.
Javier’s face heated. Fernando loved him, sure, and made it clear that he intended to take care of his little brother. But when was the last time he’d seen naked approval on someone’s face? His ex Terri had loved him but she had certainly never approved of him. He’d been a project for her, not someone she admired. Wasn’t that the problem with his life in general? People cared for him but they saw him as someone who needed to be cared for. Not someone who provided anything—not even when he built groundbreaking technology on their behalf.
“You doing okay?” Emily�
��s voice was quiet. Javier turned away suddenly, concerned about what she had read on his face.
“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Just thinking about how I could improve the interface on this thing.”
“Right. Well, this is totally awesome. Our morning drive is going to be a lot shorter.”
Javier needed to regain his mental footing. Instinctively he reached for Emily, seeking a return to the seductive game that he’d been playing so well. “Any chance our morning drive could also be later?” He slid his hand down her side, stopping just above the elastic waistband of her shorts.
Did she shiver? “I wish.”
“Really?”
Emily turned and held Javier’s gaze, glancing from the computer screen to his face and back. “I think I do,” she whispered.
He wanted to jump up and pump his fists in the air and grin like a fool. He wanted to grab her and carry her to the bedroom or that god-awful sofa, or even just fall on the floor right there. Before he could follow either impulse, she grabbed her jacket and then his hand. She pulled him out of the apartment and into her car.
Chapter Eight
Neva Michone drummed her fingers on her desk. She ought to be working on the day’s data entry for Guy. If she had to screw off, she ought to be searching for more leads for Emily.
She swallowed guiltily. Emily would pay her the usual rate as promised, but Neva knew in her heart she didn’t deserve it. She hadn’t worked as hard as usual searching for Bonavita—and it wasn’t just his oddly scrubbed public record, no matter how much of a good excuse that would be. She sighed. Emily had been right to ask whether Matthew presented a conflict. He did, even though she didn’t want him to. Even though he didn’t deserve to after the way he’d treated her the last time they’d been out.
For the third time that day, she rolled her chair back from her computer and retrieved her nail file from her purse. Reflected neon from the sign outside turned her most recent manicure an odd shade of green. She positioned her hand over the wastebasket and went to work. Viciously. Despite not having much nail left to file.
“Neva.” The gravelly voice startled her, making her swipe the tool painfully across a swath of newly revealed fingertip.
“Guy!” She glanced at her monitor, relieved to see she’d at least left her computer on a work-related screen. “What’s up?”
She tried to look up at him casually, hoping that for once the sight of her boss wouldn’t get butterflies started in her stomach. Why should it? Gray streaked Guy Nolf’s hair. No matter how distinguished it looked, it meant he was too old for Neva. And the scars that crisscrossed his forehead and jawline—no matter how many times she’d decided they enhanced the rugged features underneath, she couldn’t imagine getting her girlfriends to agree with her. She liked men in leather jackets, but Guy had stopped wearing his at the same time he’d stopped going out in the field. He’d let himself soften a little, though with a chest like a tree trunk, no one would dare suggest he’d gotten weak in the process.
Why should he get to her so much? She’d moved on, she told herself fiercely. The butterflies, apparently, did not care about any empowering changes Neva thought she had made. She could sleep with Matthew as many times as she wanted, but his blond, sculpted perfection would only continue to make her long for the marks of experience that made Guy seem so much more masculine. His deep brown eyes had seen it all, but Neva could not stop wanting them to see her, to take on a glow when she entered a room.
Neva blinked. Guy had been talking for a couple of minutes now and she’d missed most of it. “Anyway, I’ll be back in a couple hours,” he said.
She swallowed and nodded.
A gentle expression came over his hard face. “Neva…”
“Yes?” Had she answered too quickly? She never seemed to know how to talk to him.
“Are you all right?” He stepped back, cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. He gestured with his chin toward the remains of the day’s scorched-earth attack on her fingernails. “I thought you liked your nails longer.”
She stared. Guy barely acknowledged she existed, and now he noticed the length of her fingernails? “I broke one,” she said quickly. “I’m trying to even them out. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been doing it at work. They were just bugging me.”
He nodded as if what she’d said made sense. “Good. That’s fine. I’m glad you’re fine.”
Neva cocked her head. He seemed to want to prolong the conversation, but she couldn’t imagine what they had to talk about. She tried to reassure him that, despite appearances, she’d been keeping up with her work. “I’ll have the data entry finished in a couple hours.”
He cleared his throat again. She’d never seen him so nervous. Guy glanced from side to side and sat on the edge of her desk. “Listen, I don’t want to bring up an awkward subject, but I need to talk with you a little about Matthew Lodi.”
She stiffened. Emily claimed Guy had been hurt by Neva’s relationship with Matthew, but that couldn’t be. Neva had already suffered far too long waiting for Guy to see her as an attractive woman, had denied herself too many other opportunities while holding out for an invitation that never came. She would not allow herself to read into this. “Go on.”
“I know the two of you have…gotten close recently.” Guy seemed unable to meet her eyes as he spoke.
“Only outside of work,” Neva said quickly.
“I’m not trying to intrude. I…don’t want any of the details.” He smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle in his jeans. “But I have to tell you, I haven’t been pleased with his work lately. I know a few years ago, I’d have called him myself to tell him about Bonavita. I don’t blame you for what you did, Neva. I’m just asking you not to do it again.”
Her throat clenched, all her old instincts to please her boss welling up in her chest. “I’m so sorry, Guy. I didn’t mean to overstep—”
“You took initiative. I’ve always appreciated that. Maybe I haven’t talked with you as much as I used to about the business. I don’t think you had any way of knowing how I’ve been feeling about Matthew.”
Now tears threatened. She remembered very well the way Guy used to talk to her—for hours after the office closed, several days a week. The practice had encouraged her wildest fantasies, until he’d ended it as suddenly as it had started with no explanation. She’d had to work hard to overcome her hurt and to find something else to do with the time she used to spend with him. “You’re not obligated to explain how you’re running your business, Guy,” she said quietly. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
Guy’s eyes snapped to her face, filled with unexpected pain. “I should have been telling you more. Much more.”
“It’s really no problem.” Neva folded her hands carefully in her lap, desperate to prevent herself from reaching out to him. “I’ll keep my personal relationship with Matthew completely out of the job from now on.”
“Of course you will. I know I can trust you, Neva.” The wistful smile he gave her nearly overcame her resolve completely. Neva bit her lip, wishing he would hurry off on whatever errand he had planned. He stayed where he was for another few minutes while she alternated between staring at him expectantly and fiddling with her computer. She thought he would say more but he didn’t.
When Guy finally left, Neva slumped back in her chair and closed her eyes. She pressed her fingers to her temples, annoyed by the way she trembled. How many times did she have to remind herself the man wasn’t interested in her? That he never would be?
The jingle of the door yanked her out of the moment. Neva wiped quickly at the corners of her eyes and pulled herself upright. “May I help you?”
A clean-shaven, freshly scrubbed and very masculine-smelling Matthew Lodi sauntered around the corner and into view. Neva didn’t know if it was the worst possible timing or the best, but she summoned her most flirtatious smile for her lover. Maybe he’d be willing to spend another evening distracting her fro
m her disastrous crush on Guy. Soon.
“Hey,” Matthew said. The man didn’t just stand. He posed and flexed.
Neva raised an eyebrow. Apparently he had no plans to apologize for getting up and leaving in the middle of sex just a few nights ago. “Hey,” she answered, her voice ice-cold.
“Neva, can you do me a favor? Emily hasn’t been answering my calls. Can you help me run into her here?”
Fury rose in Neva’s chest, replacing whatever dim hope she’d had at the sight of him. She’d brushed off Emily’s warnings about Matthew even though she’d known better. But even Emily would never have predicted behavior as bad as this. “You’re seriously going to ask me to help you get in touch with your ex-girlfriend? When you haven’t even called since you ran naked out of my house?”
Matthew returned what he no doubt intended to be a charming smile. Neva did not feel charmed. “Baby, I’m sorry about the other night. There was this dude in your yard attacking my car, and I wanted to make sure I’d taken care of him and really run him off. By the time I got him, I didn’t want to call in case you’d gone to bed.”
This time, Neva reacted with more than her eyebrow. She shoved her chair back from the desk, folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “That ‘dude’ is the only reason I found out any of what happened. When I went outside to look for you, he was lying in my yard with two broken ribs. His name is Cliff James. We chatted while I called an ambulance and talked him out of pressing charges against you.”
“Wow, he was going to press charges?”
“People usually do that in cases of assault.”
“He was—”
“I know. He was attacking your car.” Neva stiffened with a sudden flash of insight. “That tattoo on your chest. The lotus. I always thought it was a Buddhist thing or a martial arts thing.”
Matthew shook his head, dismissing her point. “Thanks for taking my side with him, Neva. I knew I could trust you.”
Neva growled a little in the back of her throat. Hearing about how trustworthy she was from guys who’d never returned the favor made her feel like way too much of a chump. “Don’t mention it.”
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