Page 95 of Off Her Game
“Both.” Her gaze darted around as if she was uncertain. “I’m at a roadblock on the game. We need you to authorize Sam help us get do some security coding before it can be made virtual reality compatible. Josh informed me Sam’s not available.”
“It’ll be tough but we’ll work out Sam’s schedule. No biggie.”
“Thanks for helping me with the Sam situation. That’s a huge relief.” A small smile teased her lips. “Then I saw the woman in your office…blonde.”
“A woman? Please tell me you don’t mean Cheryl.”
“Tall, blonde, touchy feely.”
“That’s Cheryl, the accountant I didn’t want to deal with when I was on the phone with Jake. Even though we’ve fired her twice and asked the firm replace her as our rep the wordnodoesn’t seem to work on her. There’s nothing going on there and never was. And Sam told me about the deception.”
“I’m sorry for all that.”
“He found a Symphis spy.” He swept her back into his arms and kissed her, releasing weeks of denied passion and the love burning his chest. Tori’s arms encircled his neck. He moaned as he held her tight against him. It felt so good to hold her, to feel the press of her breasts against his chest. He wasn’t sure how he’d survived so long without her. They kissed until a breathing break became necessary.
Noah smoothed the hair away from her forehead. “I don’t want to see anyone other than you.” Couldn’t she tell he was messed up over her?
“Okay.”
“But I don’t want you to be embarrassed by me or us. I can’t be jumping behind furniture every time someone gets too close. You’re worried about perception and I want you to make it on your own. You’re really talented.”
“I’m not embarrassed. I…” She hugged him tight. In a small voice she said, “I don’t know what you did to me, but I’m a mess. I’m not a crying kind of girl. Ever. This is your fault. But—”
She pushed away and stood in front of him, wringing her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“Give me a sec. There’re two things. Let me try to get out the hard one. This doesn’t come easy for me.” She wrung her hands harder. “Fuck, this is hard. You and me…it’s never been like this with anyone else. It scares me. Not much scares me, but I don’t want to walk away from it. I don’t care what other people think in the gaming world. I like you. No, I’m likely in love with you. I want us to be real, if that’s what you want, too.”
He grinned. “So, you’ll consider going on a date with me? A real date? Tonight? Right now?”
“No motorcycles. Maybe some gaming afterward?”
“Deal.” He pulled her into a hug again.
She nodded against his chest. “Or maybe we could just go to your place.”
“I’m not doing this half-ass. If we’re real, then no secret dating. I want it all. Dates, you staying at my place, everyone at work in the know, and you attending events with me. I prefer my place. Roommates in the morning might be weird.”
She said, “I’m worried about things getting complicated here, but I’d like to see my game through to the end. I can quit after that, if you think that’ll help. I can design another game on my own. I don’t need all this.” She waved around her. “Although, what you’ve built is pretty great. Especially the employee playroom.”
He interlaced their fingers without thinking about it and tightened his hand around hers. “Your game needs you. You and me, here and working together…it won’t be simple. We’ll figure it out.”
She fell silent, pulled back and stared at him.
“Too fast? Not ready for moving-in talk? How about we start with a date?” He tamped down his anxiety.Please don’t say no.
Finally she said, “Quan left me a message on my cell. Martin was poisoned last night at the FBI facility. He said something weird the night before that makes them think he wasn’t Symphis. It’s not over.”
“Did you get any texts or anything else from Symphis?”
She shook her head. “The Stadium doesn’t play until this weekend again.”
“You’re not going back. Never again.”
Her hands fisted his shirt. “I hate hiding or being monitored by some asshat. He’s got reach, though, Noah. I’m scared, more for everyone around me than myself.”
He held her against him. “I’ve always said I’m with you in this and I meant it. No matter what. Unless the FBI objects, we think the best way to handle what happened with the security breach and to try to save the world of gaming is to come clean to the press about the Stadium. We can work to help close down other Stadiums across the country. That was our conclusion between us and the lawyers and even Sam over the past few days.”
