Page 40 of The Hacker
Leland opened his eyes to see Tully with his hip propped on the desk next to him. “This RFP is a pain in my ass,” Leland said.
“I told you to say no. In fact, I said no for you but you’re such a stubborn SOB that you had to take it on.” Tully angled over to look at the screen. “If I knew how to shut down this program without screwing things up, I’d do it and make you get some sleep.”
“Go bother someone else.” Leland turned back to the monitor. “I’ve got work to do.”
“You were here most of last night. Driving yourself to exhaustion will not help KRG. And it won’t bring your mother back.”
“Fuck off.” Leland was too tired to put any heat into it even though the mention of his mother twisted a blade in his chest.
“What are you trying to prove? That you work harder than anyone else here? We already know that.”
“You’rehere on a Saturday.”
Tully didn’t give an inch. “I went home and slept in my own bed last night.”
“I’m leaving at five o’clock, so get out of my way and let me finish what I need to do before then.” That had the virtue of being true.
“I’ll be back here at 5:01.” Tully stood up. “You’d better be gone.”
Leland waited until Tully was out of sight before he slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes again.
What was he trying to prove?
That his mother could be proud of him because nothing came before his job. Not a dark web node. Not sleep. Most especially not a fascinating, sexy woman who made it harder and harder to put her out of his mind and focus on work.
He’d learned from his mother how a reckless relationship could derail your life. He wasn’t going to let her hard-won lesson go to waste by falling prey to that.
Opening his eyes, he sat forward in the chair and checked the numbers on the spreadsheet again. He’d transposed two digits in one entry, which was why the total had looked off.
Cursing, he retyped the numbers with ferocious concentration.
Chapter 10
Dawn frowned down at her phone as she walked toward her apartment. She’d texted Leland before she headed out the gym’s front door but had received no response. Had he gotten hung up at work or just decided not to come?
When she reached the block her building was on, she saw no tall, lean figure loitering on the sidewalk. Maybe he thought they shouldn’t be seen together even away from the gym. After all, her place was pretty close to Work It Out.
She went through her usual ritual of checking that no one lurked inside the foyer and started up the stairs when her phone pinged.
Sorry for the delay. Be there in five.
Relief and anticipation sent her running up the stairs so she could unlock and turn off all her security. She’d seen Leland eyeing the overkill the first time he’d come in with her. She’d just stowed her gym bag in the coat closet when the front-door buzzer sounded.
“Dawn, it’s Leland.”
The slow southern honey of his voice made it unnecessary to check the video feed. She hit the enter button and opened her apartment door.
In under a minute, he had his arms wrapped around her and his mouth locked on hers. She wound her fingers into his hair and held on as a wave of heat swamped her, spiraling down to pool between her thighs.
He groaned against her lips and ran his hands down to palm her butt and pull her hips against his. She tucked her fingers into the back pockets of his jeans and upped the pressure, while she rocked into him.
He lifted his head. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since I left you. It did not help my concentration.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him and frowned. Despite the hunger lighting his face, he looked exhausted. Shadows were smudged under his eyes, his cheeks were drawn, and his usually clean-shaven chin was rough with at least a day’s growth of whiskers. Not that she minded the feel of it, but it meant he wasn’t taking care of himself.
“What?” He scanned her face.
She moved her hands to push against his chest. “You’re going to bed.”
