Page 36 of The Geek and the Sheikh

“Just pick a number, any number, without thinking about it,” he encouraged.

“Two million, four hundred eighty-two thousand, six-hundred and ninety-eight,” she stated.

“Two million… That’s your favorite number?” he asked with an incredulous expression.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Why?”

She lifted her chin and stared into his eyes. The longer they stared at each other, the more he felt like he was being drawn deeper into the crystal blue depths. He didn’t even realize he was leaning closer until she lifted her fingers and touched his lips.

“That is the number of tiles it took to cover the walls of our home. My next favorite number is eleven million, two-hundred-ninety-nine thousand, one hundred and six. That is the number of tiles it took to create the mosaic on the floor using one-inch-by-one-inch tiles,” she said in a low voice.

“I bet it turned out beautiful,” he replied.

His lips tingled where they moved against her fingers. Her eyelashes lowered, hiding the expression in her eyes. He didn’t like that. He wanted to know what she was thinking.

“I want to kiss you," she murmured.

Jameel held his breath, his whole body tingling.

"—but not in front of everyone. I’m still new to this and I want to explore it more. The guys are coming back."

She lowered her hand and returned her attention to her laptop. He sat back in his seat and released the breath he'd been holding. He wondered if it was possible to combust from words alone. The approach of the others was a good distraction, especially when one look at their faces filled him with a sense of foreboding.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

His gaze turned to the door when it pushed open and a woman stepped inside. His lips tightened with anger. All three men turned in unison. Jameel rose to his feet. Beside him, Junebug released a snort of disdain.

“Hello, Jameel. Do you mind if I join you?” Allison greeted.

Ten

Allison stared back at him with a challenging expression. It infuriated him that he had once considered her a friend. He shoved his hands into his front pockets to keep from reaching out and wrapping them around her lying, conniving, greedy little neck.

He gave a brief, sharp nod to the three men, indicating they should let Allison through their protective shield. He waited until she sat down across from them before he resumed his seat. Allison looked at the extra meal he had ordered before she slid it toward herself and picked up the extra silverware the attendant had left.

“I hope you don’t mind. Chasing you two has left me famished,” Allison commented, pulling the cover off and taking a bite of the seasoned cod with a low moan of pleasure. “Superb.”

“How did you track us?” he demanded.

Allison gave him an amused look before she glanced at Junebug. “The power of deduction. Bugs hacked pretty much every one of Bronislav’s accounts, but a couple of them were left untouched. It was either because she hadn’t found them… not likely… or because she wanted to use them for some other purpose. I added an alert for unusual activity. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Mr. Bronislav requested an Uber.”

“My bad,” Junebug muttered.

Allison took another bite of the cod. Jameel reached under the table and squeezed Junebug’s knee in support. She was typing some code out. Something told him that Allison wouldn’t be receiving any more alerts.

“What is this all about, Allison? Why are you doing this?” he demanded.

Allison paused, her fork motionless in midair. She slowly finished chewing her bite, savoring the tasty morsel. She lifted her hand to the attendant who appeared as if waiting for Allison’s signal.

“I’d love a vanilla cappuccino,” she requested.

“Yes, ma’am. Would either of you care for anything else?” the attendant inquired.

“No.”

His curt reply caused the attendant to look startled before she quickly retreated. He impatiently drummed his fingers on the table as he waited for Allison to answer his question. Allison eyed him with a raised eyebrow and looked pointedly at his unfinished meal.

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