Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Stormi watched as Lincoln eased from her bed, hiking up his jeans, and tiptoeing out of her bedroom. The sun had barely begun to cast its morning glow through the window, but early morning regrets had already filled her aching heart.
Lincoln was like no other man she’d ever met. Ignore his sexy swagger and rich accent that would make any woman with a pulse drool. His boyish good looks and charming personality were only minute aspects of the man. While they obviously served him well, it was his unmatched intelligence that would have her swooning until the cows came home.
Of all the insane things Stormi’s ever done over the years, letting Lincoln spend the night had to be one of the dumbest. It was a mistake that kept on giving.
Besides, having to sneak out of her bedroom to lock her office, praying that Lincoln hadn’t already seen the five screens and three computers, there was the fact that she lived like a freak.
Her family room consisted of a sofa, a chair, and a television. Her kitchen had a table, two chairs, and well, that was about it. The living room had a piano. Nothing else. And she didn’t even know how to play the stupid thing. Her bedroom, how fucking pathetic.
She was worse than a twenty-year-old college male living in his first apartment, minus the dogs playing poker wall hanging. Either she looked like a terrorist or a cliché for a sad, spinster, hacker chick with no life.
Both equally piteous in their own ways.
All she wanted to do was get a second date, gain his trust, get close, and hopefully, he’d start talking more about his job. She needed answers. To understand what was happening inside Zero Gravity. And how best to find the data she knew without a doubt would exonerate her father.
She flung her arm over her eyes and groaned as she listened to the sound of footsteps approaching.
And that brought her to the biggest mistake of all. One that she wasn’t sure she could even muster up the courage to admit to herself, much less Lincoln. Living a life of celibacy hadn’t been difficult. While she found a few men nice to stare at, none had made her want to rip their clothes off and literally play a game of chance with her life.
And theirs.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Lincoln said. “I managed to find coffee in your kitchen.”
“I usually stop at that little place in town on my way to work.”
He tugged at her arm. “I rustled you up some eggs and toast.” He chuckled. “You don’t eat at home much, do you?”
“I loathe cooking, so it’s a lot of takeout.” She fluffed the pillow and sat up a little taller, sniffing. “That actually smells kind of good.”
“I can do breakfast foods relatively well.” He leaned back, crossing his ankles. “I mean, how hard is it to scramble a few eggs and stick bread in a machine? I would have added meat, but you didn’t have any.” He waved a piece of buttered toast around before shoving half of it in his mouth.
“Yeah, I polished off the microwavable bacon the other day.”
“Microwave bacon? Now that’s just wrong.” He laughed, digging into his eggs. “I don’t mean to go all judgmental on you, but why haven’t you decorated this place? It’s got great potential.”
She shrugged, lifting her coffee from the nightstand. “I wasn’t sure I was going to stay. My lease is only for four months, which means it’s up in two. But my funds are limited and if I don’t need it, I don’t spend money on it. Honestly, this place is too big for me. I keep looking for a smaller rental. A two-bedroom would be perfect. This place has four.”
“I noticed that one of them doesn’t even have any furniture and the other one is locked.”
She laughed. “Yeah, that’s where I have some boxes, other furniture, and shit. Just haven’t gotten around to it. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“I know how that is. If you want a hand, I’m happy to help out.”
“You’re a regular Boy Scout.” That was the last thing she needed. She shoveled in the last of her eggs and set the plate aside. Lifting her cell, she checked the time. She didn’t want to be rude, but she did have some work she wanted to do before heading in for the paying job.
“What are your plans for the day?” he asked.
“Just work. You?” A sense of dread filled her belly. Now that she’d had sex with him, she had no idea how to behave and she really needed to figure that out. She also needed to deal with a heavy dose of honesty. The man did have a right to know she wasn’t taking birth control.
And that they hadn’t used any.
Or maybe that conversation could wait a few days.
“I’ve got a meeting this morning, and then I was going to head to the library to do some research.” He lifted her chin. “Do you still want to help me?”
“I thought you said you couldn’t discuss your work.” She swallowed. Hard. She had never been good at reading people. Kara had been quick to point out that had been her downfall when it came to her husband, Kurt. He’d been a master manipulator. He was good at pulling the wool over most people’s eyes. He was also a million-dollar salesman. The worst part had been that Stormi had fallen for his lies.
Every single one of them.
With Lincoln, she didn’t know what his agenda was, except he was dangerous because of the skills he possessed. But she’d covered her tracks. The worst thing that could happen at this point was he knew she’d spied on him. She’d have to come up with a reason why and another for why she possessed those skills.
“I can’t. So, as long as you’re willing to do some grunt work without being able to ask any questions, I’ll gladly take your help. That way I can focus my efforts on some other things.”
“Oh, sounds very spy-ish.” She rubbed her hands together. “Research is my all-time favorite thing to do.”
“Now, that sounds like someone who reads too much.” He batted her nose. “I wish I could tell you what I was doing. It would certainly make my life easier, especially if I’m going to have you help me. But my boss?—”
“You mean your ex-girlfriend.”
“Please don’t remind me of that technicality.” He let out a long breath. “Samantha gets very weird about jobs and security, so if she knew, she’d probably fire me, which wouldn’t be the end of the world.” He winked. “But the bigger picture is my client. I’m dealing with proprietary information. I can’t let outside?—”
“Now that I actually understand and you don’t have to say another word. Just let me know how I can help. Honestly, sometimes I get bored at my job. If I can do anything outside of stacking books and keeping teenagers from having sex in the private rooms, it would make my day.”
He jerked his head back. “You’ve caught people doing the nasty in those rooms?”
“Oh, I have.” She waggled her finger. “And no. It’s never been Tal and Heather’s kids.”
“I know what I want to do on your lunch break.” He cupped her breast, fanning his thumb over her nipple.
“Not going to happen, big fella.” She patted his chest. “I caught them before the act because we have cameras.”
He chuckled. “And I know how to disable them.”
She blinked. So did she, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. “Um, still not happening.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said. “What time do you get off work tonight?”
“Six. Why?”
“I just thought I’d cook you dinner at my place.”
She palmed her coffee, staring at the dark liquid. She’d made a big deal last night about no relationships. That this was sex. Nothing more. She didn’t want to come off as needy, but she didn’t want to insult or blow him off either. “I want you to know that I had a really great time last night and I certainly wouldn’t mind it happening again. But?—”
He pressed his finger over her lips. “It’s dinner. To talk about work. Or anything you might have found. And I’m glad you had fun. I did too and it will happen again. However, there are no strings. But I’ll either be buried in my own research or back at my home office writing lines and lines of code, while I leave you to do crappy work for me. Which I intend to pay you for. So, dinner would be more work-related than pleasure. It’s just that I can’t afford to discuss work in public and I don’t want anyone to know I’ve asked you to help me. Are you okay with that?”
She nodded.
“Okay. So, your assignment for the day is to go through the science and engineering periodicals and dig up articles about Zero Gravity and other spaceflight companies regarding their technology on their rocket boosters.”
Her eyes burned. “Are you looking for anything specific?”
“That’s the thing about research. I don’t know exactly what I’m searching for. So, keep it broad.”
“That’s not going to make my part in this easy.” She adjusted the comforter. “You’ve got to have some sort of parameter. I’ve helped a lot of students over the years with research papers and without a theme, mission statement, or even a question that needs answering, it’s nearly impossible for me to set them up with the right books on the right topic.”
“All right. Why don’t you search for all spaceflights that have failed. Find the reasons for those failures and then look at how those tasked with private spaceflight are going to ensure they don’t. Try not to get specific with which engineer said what. Or who has what patent. Or even who works for what company. I just want the specifics on how the boosters work. What tests they go through to ensure they won’t fail.”
“Do you want me to compare and contrast in a blind study?”
“You keep talking sexy like that and I’m going to ravish you and miss my meeting.” He nestled himself between her legs, kissing her lips, hard. His tongue twirled around in her mouth as if she were his last meal.
She clasped her ankles around his waist.
He groaned. “I shouldn’t start what I can’t finish.”
“You Brits are such teases.” She released him. “I’m sure I can manage your task for the day. Anything else in case I finish?”
“If you do, text me. I have an entire list of shit that I need to look into, but what you find might change my next course of action.” He eased off the bed and palmed her cheek. “You’re a special woman, Stormi.”
“You’re sweet to say that.”
“It’s the truth.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you later.” He snagged his shirt and strolled out of the bedroom like he didn’t have a care in the world.
She leaped from the mattress, wrapped her robe around her half-naked body, and raced to the front window. It seemed like it took forever for him to round the corner toward Zeke’s bar.
Quickly, she locked the front door, grabbed a second cup of coffee, and made a beeline for her office. She fired up her main computer, running her safety protocols, making sure no one had tried to hack into her system. Satisfied she was alone in her world, she set out to find all she could on one Pamela Stokes, waitress extraordinaire.
Stormi started with a basic Google search—something simple and easy that anyone and their toddler could do. It always amazed her how much she could find out about a person simply by typing their name in a search bar.
Pam had followed her boyfriend, who, unfortunately, had landed a job at Zero Gravity.
Just Stormi’s fucking luck.
Ross Grayson worked in the public relations department.
According to Pam’s social media, the breakup had been a shock. She’d posted images of herself moving, but Ross wasn’t in many of those pictures. As Stormi did a deeper dive—or, in reality, hacked Pam’s email—she learned that Ross had told Pam not to come. That he wanted some time and space.
A break from the relationship. He called her needy. Possessive. And that if they were going to even have half a chance, she needed to back off.
She didn’t listen and less than a month after being here, Ross not only sent her a scathing email, but he told her he was dating someone else.
Ouch.
Stormi actually felt a little sorry for Pam.
She worked her way backward through Pam’s life until she landed in her hometown of Lake George, New York.
Fuck.
Pam had attended prep school down in Albany, so they never went to the same high school, but they were only two years apart. Their paths were sure to have crossed at some point before Stormi’s father had moved her away. Not to mention the scandal that had rocked Saratoga when she’d been arrested.
Didn’t matter it was under a different name. Stormi could cut her hair and change the color, but if anyone cared to look close enough, they’d see her for who she really was and that’s Amanda Norris.
Stormi leaned back and let out a long breath. Under normal circumstances, this warranted a call to Kara, her handler. But Kara hadn’t wanted her to move to Fallport to begin with. Kara had warned her it was a mistake. Too many people connected to her father. It only took one person to make the connection and her cover would be blown.
Kurt wanted revenge.
But Stormi wasn’t afraid of her husband. She should be terrified of the people he did business with, but for three years, there wasn’t a single ounce of chatter.
No. She wasn’t going to call Kara. Not about this. Not yet. Besides, Pam followed her boyfriend. She came long before Stormi did. Stormi didn’t need to worry about Pam. But she would keep an eye on what the woman was doing. Just to be safe.
However, today, she would indulge in research and then tonight, she’d escape in Lincoln’s arms while forging a new plan.
One that included telling Lincoln the truth.
Or some version of it that wouldn’t have him hating her in the end.