Chapter 15
“How did your program work?” Knox asked as he navigated Quinn out of the stadium and to player parking.
She smiled and he knew the answer. “It worked. Not a single issue.”
“Until your ex.” Quinn sighed and Knox made sure to keep any trace of anger from his voice. He didn’t want Quinn to think he was mad at her for it. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just angry about the whole situation. I’m tired of their snide little comments about me. I asked them to join me in programming for the barcode and they refused. So, I did it on my own. It worked and they still try to tear me down.”
“They see you as a threat. Which you are. You’re smarter than all of them.” Knox opened the door for her and she climbed into his car. “You need to tell Nico and Sebastian,” Knox told her as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“I don’t want to make a scene. I just want them to go back to New York, which they hopefully will now that I have a band-aid on the issue.
” Knox frowned at that. There was no way they wouldn’t see the viral video.
Sebastian’s wife, Greer, was from Keeneston.
He’d probably already seen it. “Are we going to the after-game dinner?”
“Sometimes a scene needs to be made, but on your terms.” Knox paused and returned to the dinner conversation. “We don’t go out on Monday nights. It’s so late that everyone is just ready to get home. I thought we’d pick up a pizza and go to my place. How does that sound?”
Quinn relaxed and he imagined doing this after every home game. He felt peaceful with her next to him. And that wasn’t all he was feeling. Not when she turned her head and smiled at him when he placed an order for her favorite kind of pizza.
Knox pulled into his driveway and watched Quinn take in his home. It wasn’t what many expected. For one thing, the garage was filled with tools, and the new porch wasn’t even painted yet.
“I know it’s not what you’d expected, but I’m still working on it.”
Quinn shook her head as she got out of the SUV holding onto the pizza box. “It’s wonderful, Knox. It’s so peaceful. I love the open yard, but the woods that surround the house are stunning. It smells even better than those fall candles you can get.”
“The house is an old farmhouse. It has tons of space, but everything needs to be updated. I just got all the new electric and plumbing done a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m up to my eyeballs in drywall.”
Quinn looked at him and shook her head. “When you said you were fixing up the house, I thought that meant you hired someone to fix it up.”
“Nope. I’m doing most of it. My friends help some and my brother does when he’s in town.
The kitchen is almost done and the bedroom and en suite are complete.
The rest of the house is still a little rough,” Knox said, trying to prepare her.
He unlocked the front door and tried not to cringe when she entered.
To the left was the unfinished dining room without drywall.
To the right was an office space. Also, with no drywall.
“Bathroom,” he said pointing out the bathroom between the dining room and the kitchen.
“The whole back of the house is open. The kitchen is to the left and to the right is the dining room.” The hall opened up and at least part of the living room was drywalled.
That was what he was working on right now.
“The kitchen . . .” Quinn gasped as she walked toward the finished space. “Oh, wow. This is my dream kitchen. It’s beautiful.”
Knox felt relief as she smiled, taking in the kitchen he’d worked so hard on.
He’d turned the back wall into windows and two sets of French doors.
One set in the kitchen, the other in the living room, to lead out to the patio where eventually he’d have an outdoor kitchen area, a firepit, and a pool.
“I’m glad you like it. Let’s eat then I’ll show you the rest of the house.”
They ate in companionable silence for a moment, but he could tell Quinn had something on her mind. “What is it, Q?”
“Did you get in much trouble because of me? I feel horrible. Carter said something about a possible fine. I’ll pay it since it was my fault.”
Knox reached out and took her hand in his. “It wasn’t your fault. It was Karson’s. And you’re not paying my fine. The fine is taken care of.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I would do it again if it meant keeping that jerk away from you.”
Quinn leaned over and kissed his cheek. “So, I guess this means you like me?”
“Q, I think it’s clear to the entire world that I like you.
I got a text from my publicist. We’re trending.
Apparently, it was ‘very romantic.’ The media just hasn’t figured out who you are yet, but it won’t take them long.
That’s why I wanted to bring you here tonight.
” Knox sighed. “There are a lot of positives in my life. However, there are some negatives too. The media and the trolls on the internet will invade your life. I should have talked to you about this before I announced to the world that you’re my girlfriend.
I’ll understand if you want to back away from this relationship.
It can be a lot. And it won’t all be nice. ”
Knox hated not knowing what Quinn was thinking at this moment.
Especially when she pulled out her phone and started doing something on it.
“There.” Quinn said, setting her phone back down.
“All my social media accounts are already private, but I’ve deleted the apps from my phone after a final post telling my friends if they needed anything to text me.
I know strangers will say things about me as if their opinions matter and honestly, I’m not okay with that.
But, I like you, Knox. A lot. You’re worth it. ”
Knox pulled her over to him and into a kiss. The kiss turned hotter by the second as Quinn crawled into his lap. “I think it’s time I show you the rest of the house.”
Quinn made an affirmative sound as she began to kiss her way down his neck. “Didn’t you say your bedroom was also done? Let’s start there.”
Knox was on his feet and carrying Quinn before she’d finished kissing her way down his neck.
His body was on fire, his heart was full, and his passion was holding on by a thread.
He had to make this about Quinn. Not about his wanting her for years.
He’d dreamed about this moment almost every night and now he’d finally see what Quinn would look like coming apart in his arms.
Knox took the stairs two at a time and lay her on his bed. The room was mostly dark except for the hall light filtering in.
“Well, the bed is lovely.”
“Not as lovely as you, Q.” Now it was Knox’s turn to kiss Quinn. She’d had her fun nibbling on his neck. He’d had years to come up with a play in case he’d ever have another chance with Quinn. And he loved nothing more than a good play in action.
Clothes were shed, slowly, even though he wanted to rush right to the ending, but he also wanted every moment to last forever.
His lips drank from hers as his hands cupped breasts that almost spilled out from his palms. Quinn arched and groaned and Knox was so close to losing control.
She was even better than he’d imagined. Her breasts were a feast for him, the slight tapering of her waist, the curve of her hips, they were sending him closer and closer to the edge.
“Knox,” Quinn cried out as she tightened on his fingers. Knox almost fumbled. The throaty way she said his name was the sexiest thing he’d ever heard.
“I’m right here, sweetheart.”
Quinn’s face was flushed, and her eyes slightly glassy as she opened them. “You better not be leaving me now.”
“Not a chance. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me forever.
” Knox slipped on the condom and looked down at Quinn.
She was in his house, in his bed, and in his heart.
This was so different from anything he’d ever experienced and he knew this moment was one that would forever alter his life.
It would never be the same again because from now on, Quinn would always be a part of it.
“Good, because I’m starting to think we’ll be good at more than just coding together,” Quinn said before giving him a saucy wink.
Knox’s head fell back and he laughed. This was how it was supposed to be.
They both stopped laughing when Knox slid into her though.
Quinn moaned. Knox struggled to stay in control.
And when he made love to her he learned there really was a difference between sex and making love.
Especially when she gasped, her fingers digging into his biceps, then arched off the bed, chanting his name.
It was a moment that would live in his mind forever.
Quinn was sound asleep in Knox’s arms when a siren went off, jerking both her and Knox from sleep.
Last night changed everything. She never liked comparing people since people were all different and no two people were ever the same.
Except she did just what she told herself not to do—she compared Knox to Karson.
At least she’d narrowed it down to solely how they each treated her.
Karson’s had always acted superior. He’d talk down to her and that attitude transferred to their sex life.
It was all about him. She’d faked so many orgasms she deserved an award, eventually she stopped faking and Karson still didn’t seem to care.
Knox listened, encouraged, and supported her.
That, too, translated to sex. Knox put her needs first. He listened and watched every reaction to make sure he was doing everything he could to please her.
And the orgasms were plentiful and very, very real.
The siren sounding from her phone was a very unwelcome intrusion. “Crap, crap, crap,” she chanted as she grabbed her phone, already in work mode.
“What was that?” Knox asked sleepily.
“It’s an alert. Someone is trying to hack my barcode program. I need my computer.” Quinn scrambled from the bed, not paying attention to her nude state since her mind was racing with ways to protect her program.
“Here, it’s cold.” A sweatshirt was tugged over her head before she could head for her bag in the living room. “I’ll start some coffee,” Knox said, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and disappearing into the kitchen as she hurried after him to the living room.
Her phone rang two minutes after she logged into the system. She almost didn’t answer the call from the blocked number, but if it was a ransom she needed to know. She pushed the speakerphone and answered.
“Someone is trying to hack your program.”
“I know. Who is this?” Quinn asked.
“Hey, Bash,” Knox said, placing a cup of coffee next to Quinn.
“Good game, Knox. Quinn, what kind of security do you have on your program?”
Quinn swallowed hard. This was Sebastian Abel.
The head of SA Tech. And he’d been watching her program enough to know when it was in danger.
Together they got to work. There was no pretentiousness and she was a little bit surprised that Sebastian was just as smart as she had hoped.
The two of them settled in to work together to find both the hacker and a solution.
“I got a location, but it’s a twenty-mile radius,” Sebastian growled in frustration. “They’re local. Dammit!” She saw it. They knew they were being tracked and got offline. “Meet me at my Keeneston office tomorrow at ten.” Then he hung up.
Quinn finally rubbed her eyes and looked up from her computer to see Knox asleep on the couch.
She sat back and frowned. Someone was in her program.
For both her and Sebastian to be notified of the attempted hack, did that mean it was an outsider trying to get into the system, or did it mean someone was in it from the beginning?
Quinn got up and grabbed a blanket. She covered Knox before going back to the computer.
She was a programmer, not a hacker. They really weren’t the same thing, even if movies sometimes showed them as such.
She needed help, but she didn’t know who to turn to.
Maybe Sebastian would know. He had been much closer to tracing the hack than she had been.
“So, what happened?” Knox asked sleepily as he got up. “Sorry I fell asleep.”
“The hacker didn’t get in,” Quinn told him along with her need for a hacker and her upcoming meeting with Sebastian.
“Yeah, Sebastian’s wife, Greer, is about to give birth at any moment. He’ll be in town from here on out. As for a hacker, I think I can help with that too. Let’s get dressed and go to breakfast before your meeting.” Knox kissed the top of her head and walked off as he sent a text.
“Wait, how are you going to find me a hacker?”
The sound of running water as the shower turned on was her only reply.