Covalent Bonds

by Trysh Thompson

  She bit her lip and her whole body probably matched the red of her dress.

  “Never mind.” He shook his head. “I heard someone in the room next to mine watching Mythbusters and she sounded a lot like you. I’m in room 23-214.”

  She ducked her head. If he walked out of the room at the same time as her, or walked her up to her room, he’d know. “It might have been me.”

  Seth tilted his head. “I don’t think I’d ever in a million years have bet on those odds.”

  Aubrey opened the menu. She should tell him it wasn’t a coincidence.

  “You don’t seem surprised.”

  She shrugged, without meeting his eyes.

  “You intrigue me, Aubrey Lowen.” He opened up his menu. “Remember, I promised you a consultation. You should try to sneak in questions and see if I notice.”

  She giggled and then covered her mouth. Shutting the menu, she set it aside. “Don’t you get tired of it? I don’t want to bore you.”

  He set his menu aside as well. “When I was young, the internet and networks were like a fascinating maze and I was a river flooding it. I could go any way I wanted, see what I wanted. I could slip through the smallest of holes. It was a game, an adventure. I felt like a king. You have no idea what a power rush that is for a seventeen-year-old who graduated from high school at twelve. When I was put on probation, it was the closest thing to dying I can imagine. The candy store was all around me and I was starving. Since I got off probation, I still feel like every day is a day to catch-up.” He shook his head. “It’ll never be like it once was. Even if I didn’t see the legal barriers, there are others. There are infinitely more people in my maze too.” He shrugged. “But it’s still a game and I enjoy the challenge. Now, if you want me to sit and write notes, show my work, you’ve lost me. I fill notebook after notebook of explanations for others that I do in my head, but I hate every second.”

  “I hate that too,” she said, sighing. “It’s like that moment in The Wizard of Oz. Here’s the man behind the curtain. Nothing kills the buzz like having to explain to someone why things work and don’t work. And there are days when I just want to staple signs on my coworkers’ foreheads that say ‘reboot the damn thing already.’”

  “’Have you tried turning it off and on again?’” He narrowed his eyes. “What do you do? Who do you work for?”

  She licked her lips. She knew he’d ask eventually. “I’m a consultant for a government agency. I’m a glorified gofer. They have me doing everything from IT to security to weird information hunts.” Hunting criminals fell within the scope of that. Sort of.

  “A government agency?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

  “I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you.”

  He smiled, but she could see doubt was starting to fester.

  This was ridiculous. There was no way it could or would work. What was she even doing here? And dressed like this? Her fists clenched on the table and she dropped them onto her lap. How long could dinner take? An hour. Two hours tops. She should have done the stupid consultation.

  Aubrey swallowed. When he found out who she was, he’d hate her. And he would find out. She was sitting across from one of the world’s greatest hackers in his time. It’d be child’s play to find out who she was.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  Screw it. She’d get the problem solved that he was consulting on and then the FBI was on its own. He didn’t deserve to have anyone turning on him again, even to a small degree. She’d probably have to walk away from both sides of this, but there were other jobs and, theoretically, other guys roughly similar to Seth. Well, there were other jobs anyway. Life was sometimes about making the best of a bad situation. Time spent with Seth could be very good. It would have to be enough.

  “Aubrey?”

  She looked up. “No. I’m fine.”

  She wasn’t fine. He’d seen a dozen different emotions cross her face in a few seconds. And nothing about her was adding up. His hands itched for his laptop. He’d never wanted to hack his way through a date’s life like this, but he wanted to know everything about her, to understand her.

  If he did search through her life, he might not like what he found and, even if he did, she wouldn’t be okay with it. It was as good as saying that he didn’t trust her to reveal her secrets in her own time.

  Dammit.

  He didn’t. She was hiding something. Something crucial. The Venetian had thousands upon thousands of rooms and when you threw in all the surrounding hotels, the odds of her being in the room right next to his—were astronomical. It wasn’t plausible. Plus, his room had been booked six months ago. This wasn’t a coincidence. It wasn’t fate or the best damn case of serendipity ever. If he was this lucky, he’d go make a run on the casino. No, there was a reason she was in that room. She knew it. He knew it.

  Then, there was her job. She’d been vague and acted uncomfortable. A government consultant? There was more there. There had to be.

  There were times when real life was a pain.

  The waiter appeared in the uncomfortable silence, and they ordered.

  Aubrey had to want something from him. But, if she did, she was going about it in the least likely way imaginable. She hadn’t even shown up for her consultation. Was that part of it? Had she somehow guessed that would make her more interesting? It had. But he couldn’t be that predictable.

  Was this all part of a set-up? It had to be.

  But he’d never met a more unlikely femme fatale. His teenage girlfriend who’d turned him in for a reward—he’d have pegged her as an opportunist if he hadn’t been so blitzed on hormones and riding the hacking buzz. In hindsight, the signs hadn’t been all that subtle. But Aubrey? She looked ready to run, and she’d been timid about asking their waiter to ensure nothing had nuts in it. “My tongue swells up,” she’d said apologetically—like she was asking for the world on a platter, instead of hoping to avoid a trip to the ER. This was not a woman given to deception unless the breed had vastly changed in the last decade. If she was conning him, if this was an act, he might as well give up.

  He tapped his fingers on the table while watching her, as she looked everywhere but at him.

  Maybe her problem wasn’t something he would consult on in the normal run of things. Hell, maybe this was all a trick to catch him again. His competitors would love that. Aubrey was the perfect bait. Sweet, shy, intelligent… and she even smelled like vanilla and spices. Was it perfume? Was it a shampoo? He wanted to lick her neck, and he had since he’d approached her in front of the restaurant. Hell, he’d wanted to do it during the panel, and he hadn’t even smelled her at that point.

  Aubrey Lowen had to be the most beautiful puzzle he’d ever encountered. He was intrigued, ensnared… She was like the Fort Knox of hacks—the one site that tempted you beyond what you could resist.

  What could it be?

  Suddenly, she inhaled deeply.

  All his senses went on high-alert. She had the look of someone gearing up for something big.

  Sitting up straight, she pulled a small notebook from her purse and leaned in. “Are you ready?”

  Their waiter had delivered bread, and he sliced a piece. “Sure.” He wasn’t at all sure he was ready. He needed something in his hands and eating would give him an excuse to take his time answering any questions put to him.

  If it was illegal, would he consider it if Aubrey was part of the benefits package that went with it?

  Maybe.

  How far was he willing to go?

  Damn, it’d been a decade since that question had tripped through his brain.

  The girl in front of him was almost worth getting slapped again by the FBI.

  The FBI. A government consultant. He narrowed his eyes. She didn’t scream Feeb to him. Especially not if she’d gone back to the hotel for an inhaler earlier. But maybe that was part of the con.

  No, FBI didn’t make sense. If the FBI wanted something from him, they wouldn’t send Aubrey. T
hey had other ways to get his cooperation. It had to be some other government agency. Or maybe it wasn’t one. Maybe she’d lied about that to make the proposal sound more legitimate.

  She started mapping out labeled boxes on the notebook while humming what sounded like “Still Alive” from Portal.

  Could someone who hummed while they made notes be a liar? She’d acted nervous while telling him about her job.

  Then again, she was geeky perfection. Sweet, beautiful, sexy, brainy, and she liked everything he did. It was too much. She was too good to be true. No one could be this good.

  It had to be an act.

  She stuck her tongue out slightly as she connected all the labeled boxes.

  It was too detailed to be an act.

  His eyes followed her progress as he chewed the bread in his hand. Then, the piece he’d cut was gone. Should he cut another one?

  She slid the notebook closer to him.

  He should definitely not get his fingerprints on that notebook. Seth wiped his hands on the fabric napkin on his lap.

  They shifted back as the waiter delivered their meals, but then they both leaned in again, toward each other.

  Aubrey exhaled in a rush and met his gaze.

  Okay. Ready.

  Neither of them picked up their silverware. In fact, Aubrey eased her plate to the side so there was more room for the notebook. She scooted closer to him in order to explain.

  Here we go, Seth. Remember, four years’ probation is a really long time—even for the hot brunette who smells better than the food in front of you.

  She licked her full lips, leaving a tempting sheen across them. “Okay, so we’ve got this completely archaic program that we’re using on this private network. We’ve had to virtualize the server because we can’t replace the old hardware, and the virtualized version is locking out remote users—claiming they’re trying to hack the box, but that stupid dinosaur of a legacy app happens to be the only program available for…” and she went on to outline a fairly straightforward but complex problem. She tapped on the various boxes she’d drawn while gesturing with her hands in the perfect similitude of someone relating a problem. He tried following her hands, but eventually forced himself to concentrate on the paper and her words.

  You’re brilliant, Seth. You’ve seen some of the most complex systems out there. Hell, you’ve hacked some of them. Read between the lines. See what is hidden. The bottom is going to drop out any second.

  He kept waiting for the twist, the hook, the thing that made this part of a set-up. So when she trailed off, he was still staring at the paper, willing it to reveal its secrets.

  Finally, he looked up at her and met her gaze. “That’s it?”

  She blinked and an expression of hurt crossed her face. With a grimace, she snatched the notebook from the top of the table and shoved it into her purse. “Never mind. I guess you were wrong when you said it was a game. Or, maybe this wasn’t challenging enough. I guess this was the Pong of problems.”

  He grabbed her wrist when she scooted back in her chair. “No. No, Aubrey, it’s fine.” This couldn’t be it. This was a regular problem. This was something he could consult on over the phone or maybe in person. It was a valid problem, sure, but… she was in the next room over—there had to be some explanation for that. “I was just expecting… more, I guess.”

  She inhaled and exhaled a shaky breath and stared at his hand on her wrist. “I think I was too.” She jerked her hand from beneath his while she stood. “I’m sorry. I’m not… feeling well. I apologize.”

  She was gone in a whiff of spicy vanilla fragrance while he sat there with his mouth hanging open. Everyone at nearby tables stared at the man who’d just made a complete ass of himself. Finally, he slumped back in his seat. “Way to go, Seth. Real charming,” he muttered under his breath. He caught the eye of the hovering waiter. “Can I get our meal to go? Thanks.” He’d royally screwed up.

  By the time she’d turned away, he’d realized he’d have hacked the Pentagon for an hour with Aubrey Lowen. Damn.

  Chapter Four

  The door beside hers opened and closed. He was back from that disaster of a date. This was why she didn’t date.

  Aubrey sat on her bed. Should she pack up and leave or go to sleep and leave in the morning? Frowning at her suitcase, she sniffed. Either way, she’d have to bump her flight forward. She wasn’t due to leave until Sunday night. She dragged a hand through her hair.

  There were a lot of things she’d suspected he might say that she’d prepared for. But, honestly, she hadn’t expected… that. With just a few words, he’d made her feel like amateur hour.

  Aubrey’d read every article she could find online about Savage Lynx back in his hey-day. She’d nearly cried when he got probation. Well, that was one monumental crush that crashed and burned. This was exactly why putting people on pedestals was stupid.

  Little Mal stared at her from the bedside table. “And you! You were not lucky at all!” She should have gone with Zoë. Girl power and all that. Why hadn’t she brought Zoë instead?

  A knock staccatoed on the door.

  Twisting, she scowled at it, but she didn’t get up. “Who is it?”

  “It’s Seth. Look, you didn’t get a chance to eat so I had them box it up.”

  “Eat it yourself!”

  A pause. “I think we misunderstood each other. I didn’t mean that how it sounded. What I said in the restaurant… you misunderstood me.”

  She jumped to her feet and crossed to the door, pulling it open. “No. I don’t think I did. You expected more.”

  Clearing his throat, he held up a piece of paper with a diagram and step-by-step instructions. “Here is the answer to your question.” He placed it on top of the box containing her dinner.

  “I’m surprised it took you an entire piece of paper.” She rolled her eyes. “What, you thought maybe finger puppets were overkill?” She relaxed against the doorframe, folding her arms.

  His grin widened. “Actually, it was a good question and deserved a detailed explanation. I just figured since you’d gone to all the trouble to get a room next to mine that you wanted something more than what I’d normally charge an hourly rate for.”

  Straightening up, she snatched the piece of paper from atop the box. “I did not get this room. My… employer did. I showed up and went to your panel. That’s it. You invited me to dinner when I missed my consultation.” She shook the piece of paper. “This is all I wanted. But, in retrospect, having to sit down to dinner with a jackass who was going to call me stupid wasn’t worth it.”

  Stepping back, she attempted to slam the door, but he blocked it with a foot. “I never called you stupid.”

  “You didn’t have to. I’m intelligent enough to catch the implication.”

  He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Aubrey, I was expecting a trap. Some sort of criminal mastermind plot on paper. Not a logical problem presented by…” His gaze traveled along her, and he motioned at her entire body with his free hand.

  Her eyes widened as her mouth fell open. “Now there’s something wrong with me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He groaned. “No. You’re fine. You’re perfect.”

  She snorted in disbelief. “Oh. Sure. I can tell. You know not everyone is as,” she gestured at him, “as you. Some of us are just,” and with a swinging hand she waved at herself. If he’d wanted more than what he was seeing, well, he shouldn’t have asked her out to dinner. What you saw was what you got here.

  Seth tilted his head, squinting. “Actually, I have no idea what you mean. At all.” He held up her food. “Can I come in and set this down?”

  She frowned and stepped back. Okay. Fine. But then he should leave.

  He walked across her room and set the box on the table before turning around. His gaze fell on the table beside the bed. “Oh, hey, good old Mal. I have the whole crew at home.”

  “I do too.” So, he liked Firefly. That didn’t make him anything special. He
’d screwed up. He’d shown his true colors. There was nothing for her here. She bit her lip. Her body was still holding the door open and now she wasn’t sure what to do. He’d dropped off the food. Should she hold open the door so he knew he should leave? Or close it and let him make the decision on his own?

  He wandered over to her laptop with its blood-spattered decal. Dragging a finger across it, he asked softly, “Why are you really here, Aubrey? Why the set-up?” He looked up at her. “You can’t convince me there wasn’t something else you wanted.”

  Sighing, she let the door slide closed. “There was. Well, not me personally. The, uhh, company I work for.”

  “That’s what I meant when I said I expected more. I don’t expect Matrix levels of coincidences for an hourly-rate problem. Having you in the room next to me is… is like using a war hammer to kill a fly if that’s all you wanted. I expected something more.”

  She swallowed. “Oh.” Whoa. She’d really blown that out of proportion.

  “So what was your part in this? What were you supposed to do? Coerce me?”

  He was probably thinking it was ridiculous. How had anyone expected this to work? They should have sent someone else—someone more in line with a Bond girl. “I wasn’t going to.” She gestured at the paper he’d given her. “That’s all I was going to do. Ask you that.”

  “What if I want you to?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “What? Ask you for help? I did. And you helped me.” Which was probably more than she deserved after she’d wigged out on him at the restaurant.

  “No, what if I want to be coerced?”

  She snorted. “Yeah. Right. I’d make a fool of myself, and you’d laugh in my face.”

  “I won’t.” The half-smile was back. “C’mon, Aubrey. Convince me. Seduce me.”

  Her mouth went dry. “I couldn’t. If you think I could, you don’t know a thing about me.”

  He sauntered toward her, and there was something hypnotic about the way he held her gaze. “I do. You’re gorgeous, intelligent. You’re in a boys’ treehouse but you’re fighting to prove you belong.” He nodded at her Firefly figure. “You like the same things I do, which is seductive in its own way.”