Chapter Sixty-Two Grant
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Grant
THERE’S A THUMPING. I ignore it and turn to press a kiss to Rae’s warm shoulder. She wiggles and lets out a sleepy/happy sound, and I dive under the blanket to kiss her collarbone, her breasts.
Fuck, these nipples. How did I live without them for all this time?
This is the best I’ve ever felt. Solid, raw, real. It’s that happy pain thing, times a million.
We fucked all night. Three times, at least. I’ve been inside her fast and furious, a little rough. Oh, hell, then the wild, twisty feel of her going tight around me while I tickled her through an extended orgasm. Laughing, playing. Things I’ve never done quite like this.
Then I spent at least an hour under the blankets playing with her body, exploring her. Tasting and sucking and breathing her in until I’d memorized every muscle, freckle, and curve.
Even now, after all that, I want more.
It should scare me, but it’s like my body’s taken over, and the control’s flown the coop, and oh, yes, she’s wet again, and pliant and smiling and ready.
Sex has never been this easy, this bright. Happy.
Dawn light was seeping through the curtains the last time. She arched into me, and I spooned her tight, nudged her leg up, and slid into her swollen, soft, slippery body. Slow, barely moving.
I don’t know what to call what we did there. Or the feeling expanding in my chest, a raw, open thing, pumping quick and hard.
With my knee, I ease her wide again and cover her with kisses first, then crawl up and give her my weight. My whole body.
She mutters something about the door, giggles, and hides her head under the pillow.
Door? Knocking. Shit. Who the hell is that?
After a final nip at her nipple, I stumble out of bed, snag a blanket from the floor, and wrap it around me. Groggy, happy, I open the door and go still.
“There you are,” Dorothy huffs, stamping on the porch, her breath puffing in the cold. “Figured if you weren’t here, we’d have to drag the lake for your body.”
“What is it?” My mind’s still back in that bed, and my body wants nothing more than to join it.
“We’ve got to get back.”
My brain shifts, refocuses, and slowly wakes all the way up.
“What happened?”
“He did it. The selfish little bastard got a hold of our data.” She grinds her teeth. “The real data.”
The floor shifts under my feet. I put a hand on the doorframe to steady myself. “Tell me everything.”
“I’ll tell you on the bus.” Over my shoulder, Dorothy yells, “Get up, buttercup. We’re heading back to Richmond.”
The bus ride back is a hushed, unhappy affair, full of exhausted campers complaining about their retreat getting cut short.
When one of them attempts to start up a round of campfire songs, I turn and stare, and within seconds, the happy camper’s shushed.
There will be no more messing around. They might not be aware of the threat, but all their jobs are at stake.
I’m on my phone the whole way back, trying to get more information. According to his early-morning phone call with Dorothy, Dane claims to have caught another Sugar App data leak on the dark web. He is, quote, “very concerned.”
What a prick.
When the bus pulls up in front of our building, I’m the first out.
Dorothy and I head upstairs. I barely notice the others, although I feel Rae on the periphery.
Rae. Dammit. Rae. I’ll think about her later. Right now, my mind’s a litany of I should have caught its and This is my faults.
My fault, dammit. Never should have left or let myself get distracted or cared about something other than what matters here.
This company. My job. My responsibility.
The fury running like poison through my veins is as much toward myself as it is to the prick sitting in Dorothy’s office when we get in, his face a mask of false concern.
“Real sorry to drag you all back from your little vacation. Staff must hate me right now.”
“It wasn’t a vacation, Dane.” Dorothy’s jaw looks like it’ll crack if she doesn’t loosen it. “It was work. Team building is an important part of what puts us head and shoulders above the competition. It’s like a think tank.”
“Oh! Wow, really? ’Cause… I’ve been loving these pictures up on Insta.” He shoves his phone in our faces, so annoyingly smug.
There’s photo upon photo of people having fun. Dorothy with a wineglass, head thrown back in laughter. Klaus collapsed on the floor mid-limbo.
I go hot and then cold when he gets to the last one, my body turning to granite.
It’s Rae and me, during hot potato. Her head’s tilted back as she looks up at me, and she’s wearing this smile, so warm and full of affection.
My hand’s on her hip, like it belongs there.
And yes, it was in a public place, with other people, but nothing about the way I’m looking at her says work buddies or just pals or people who just share an office.
Looking at this photo is like staring at a naked picture of the two of us, and though it may be irrational, I want to break the man’s face. Just for seeing the photo. For holding it in his hands.
Clearing my throat, I look up at him. “What is your point here?”
“Well”—Dane sets his phone down, eyeing me with sly intent as he stretches in Dorothy’s chair—“like I said, you’ve been hacked. I thankfully caught the leak in time. And… you’re fired.” He turns to Dorothy and points at me. “He’s fired.”
“On whose authority?”
“Mine. And the investors’.”
Dorothy sucks in a deep breath. “You spoke with my investors about this without me?” The fool might not be able to tell that he’s released the kraken, but he is the only one. Dorothy is livid. I’ve never seen her face this hard. This is a woman not to be messed with.
I glance at Dane and see not one ounce of terror when he says, “Well, of course, Dotty. What d’you think I’d do when I found all that sensitive information on the dark web?
” If this man knows how to access, much less utilize the dark web in any meaningful way, I will eat my fucking shorts.
“You think I was just gonna throw up my hands and wait for the professional to take care of it?” He points his thumb my way.
“Dane. I want you to leave. Right now.”
“No.”
“If you don’t get out in the next thirty seconds, I am calling the police.” She points to me. “This is still my company. Also, this professional happens to own the building, so, yes, we are fully within our rights to kick you out. Go. Now.”
Dane looks from me to Dorothy, half laughing like he can’t believe it. “You’re not serious.”
“As a heart attack. Which, thanks to regular visits to the doctor, I will not be succumbing to anytime soon. Sorry to disappoint.” She stands, as unyielding as Margaret Thatcher, and points one rigid arm at the door.
“I’m telling Rachel.”
Dorothy blinks. “You’re pathetic.”
“I know about the leak. I know you’ve had employees literally stealing from you.”
Dorothy’s staring him down like he’s a snake about to strike.
“I know about everything, Dotty. Everything you’ve been trying to hide.
” He’s chuckling outright, and it is pretty weird.
“I know that this dude’s just a buddy. Next-door neighbor.
I know that this contract is a way to siphon money over to him.
I know that you’ve been skimming off the business for ages.
All-expenses-paid luxury holidays like the one you just had over in the valley.
” His laugh becomes ugly. “The investors aren’t happy about that.
Yeah.” He throws the door open and turns back.
“Enjoy your last few days here, Dorothy. By this time next week, you’ll be out on your ass.
” Dead serious, he says, “Tell your little employees they’d better update their résumés, because I’ve already found their replacements. ”
He slams the door hard.
“This is my fault,” I tell her.
“Of course it’s not. He’s an evil toad.” Dorothy sinks into her chair, looking tired. Her head tilts back as she watches me pace to the door. “Get your ass back here. We’ve got work to do.”
“You mean I’ve got work to do.”
“No, kiddo. We do. You’re not alone here. That’s what it means to be part of a team. Now, come on. Let’s figure this shit out.”
I know she means well, but I’ve never in my life felt less deserving of a person’s respect or of being part of a team.
I know exactly how the situation got this out of hand, and it’s because of my unprofessionalism. “I screwed up, Dorothy.”
“Oh, shut up, Grant. Please shut up and help me figure out how to get rid of that little shithead. Bonus if we can keep his name from ever making it onto the permanent family tree.”