A Dangerously Sexy Affair (5 page)

“I'll take care of it.” Rhys paused in the doorway for a moment. “Unless you're having second thoughts?”

She steadied herself. “I'm not.”

Rhys and Jin left them alone in the room, and the air stilled. Tension rippled across his skin, heightening his senses. Firing up his brain. This was the calm before the storm.

“You...liar,” she spat, her eyes flashing. “I can't believe I fell for your bullshit story. Game designer, my ass. Did you know I worked here? Were you following me?”

“Whoa.” Aiden held up a hand. “For starters, I tried to give you the truth last night, and you stopped me because it was ‘just sex.' Second, I wasn't following you. I'm not a goddamn stalker.”

“
I
stopped you,” she scoffed. “I thought you were going to lay down ground rules, not tell me you'd been pretending to be someone else. You didn't try that hard to set the record straight.”

“When we stopped outside the hotel room, I was going to tell you.”

“So you say.” She tugged her denim jacket closer around her small frame. “How can I believe anything that comes out of your mouth?”

“You weren't exactly up-front about where you worked, if memory serves me correctly.” He walked around the table to cut the distance between them.

“Keeping my private details to myself is
not
the same as lying.” Her fists clenched at her sides. “You flat out lied to me. Did you think you'd have a better chance with me if I thought you were a gamer?”

“No.” He shook his head, a dull ache spreading out from his temples as the ringing in his ears from his tinnitus started up. “That's not why I lied.”

“Enlighten me, then.” Her small pink lips pressed into a flat line.

This was going downhill. Fast.

You can lie to protect a life and you can lie to protect your country, but you cannot lie for personal gain.

His father's words swirled around in his head. He was the only man Aiden had ever met who managed to break the gray areas of life into fragments of black and white, assigning rules here and there so that he always had a framework for making decisions. The habit had stayed with Aiden, and while his moral code might not match everyone else's, he stuck to it.

No matter what.

“I was there doing research for this assignment. I wanted to see if anyone was talking about Third Planet Studios or the leak about their new engine.” He rubbed at his temple. “I had a suspicion that Alana Peterson might have been involved since she has such a grudge against them.”

Quinn reeled as if he'd slapped her. “So you approached me because Alana's my friend. You acted like you had no idea who she was.”

“I was doing my job.”

“Your job started today,
not
last night.” There was a slight shake in her hands as she fiddled with a button on her jacket. “Did you sleep with me to get information?”

The horror on her face made his stomach churn. He was a lot of things, but he didn't use women in that way. If Quinn had given
any
indication that she knew what was going on with Third Planet Studios, he would have kept talking to her until he got what he needed. But he wouldn't have slept with her to do it.

“That was all real, I promise. I was attracted to you. I wanted to sleep with you. And you seemed pretty into it, as well.”

“I can't believe this.” Her fingers fluttered at her throat as if searching for something that wasn't there. “You tricked me.”

“I didn't trick you into staying the night.” He ground the words out. “You were there because you wanted to be.”

She swallowed and sucked in a deep breath. “You're right. I did want to be there. But it sure as hell won't happen again. If we're going to work together, you can keep your hands to yourself.”

“Fine.” He held his hands up, palms facing her. “Does that mean we have a truce?”

“I wouldn't go that far.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I'll work with you on this one assignment because I want something out of it. But I don't trust you, and the second it's over, I'm going to steer clear of you.”

“At least you're honest,” he muttered.

“It's more than I can say for you.” She tucked her laptop under her arm and headed for the door. “Come on, I've been told to take you for coffee.”

5

T
ODAY
COULD
HAVE
been everything she wanted, but instead it was a pile of stinking irony and bad luck. The universe hated her, she was sure of it. But what could she do, cut off her nose to spite her face? She wanted this promotion, and she wasn't going to let some lying phony take it away from her.

Some superhot, crazy-skilled-with-his-mouth phony.
Ugh.

A little voice in her head reminded her that she had, in fact, stopped Aiden from talking about himself. She told that voice to shut the hell up. Instead, she found a free table in the far corner of the café, but even the familiarity of her favorite coffee spot didn't soothe her nerves. Normally, the Brunswick Café was her safe haven, a place where she could bring her laptop and get away from the drama of the office. The guy behind the bar—who had long hair, tropical-fish tattoos and a broad Australian accent—knew her order by heart.

Even the sight of the quirky meme-inspired posters on the wall didn't make her smile.

Behind the anger she'd hurled at Aiden was a kernel of fear taking root deep in her psyche. Had she been played by yet another guy? Used and exploited and made a fool of? Again.

Now you know he can't be trusted. So work with him but don't let him near you.

“One double-shot vanilla latte with a sprinkle of cinnamon.” Aiden put the towering coffee down in front of her. “Sounds like it has as much sugar as it does caffeine.”

“Something has to get me out of bed in the morning.”

He took the chair opposite her, his own coffee cup dwarfed beside hers. “You didn't seem to have too much trouble today.”

She ignored the dig. “What's that? Baby's first coffee?”

“It's a macchiato. A
real
coffee, not some cupcake masquerading as a drink.” His full lips quirked up. “I am sorry about lying to you, you know. I really was going to tell you last night.”

“Easy for you to say that now.” She wrapped her hands around the coffee cup and relished the warmth seeping into her palms.

“You have every right to be angry at me. But I am serious about this job, and I want us to be able to work together.” He brushed a stray black curl from his forehead, and Quinn's heart jumped.

Stupid, traitorous body.

Sipping her drink, she focused on the sweet, sugary flavor instead of the way he was looking at her.

“I understand that I'll need to earn your trust back and I'm willing to do that, but not at the cost of this assignment. I'm going to figure out this leak whether you're with me or not.” He crossed one ankle over his knee, taking up all the free space at their cramped little table. “I do what has to be done for the sake of the job. If that involves crossing a line or two, then so be it.”

The smooth black wool of his pants curved around muscular legs. He wore a plain blue shirt a few shades lighter than his eyes, the sleeves rolled up and the top button popped open. She knew everything that was underneath that shirt—the ridges of muscle, the sharp V at his waist, the dusting of hair across his chest.

How good he tasted.

“I see you take yourself seriously,” she said, swallowing another mouthful of her drink.

“I take my
job
seriously.”

The ambient noise of the café filled in the gaps of their conversation. Familiar, busy sounds—like the rumble of the coffee machine and the clacking of cups being stacked—soothed her. They gave her something to focus on other than the swirl of toxic doubt in her mind. Quinn tapped her sneaker against the leg of the small table between them, playing out the hyped-up drumbeat of her heart.

This guy seriously unnerved her.

“What tips do you have for me, Mr. FBI? Do I need to know how to defuse a bomb with a paper clip?” She set her coffee on the table again and crossed her legs, keeping her hands at the hem of her dress so it didn't rise too far up her thighs. “I played a lot of 007 back in the day. I'm handy with a gun... Well, a PlayStation one, anyway.”

“You need to know how to lie,” he said. “Convincingly.”

Talk about taking the wind out of her sails. Since she'd given him hell for lying to her, she couldn't exactly proclaim to be a master liar herself. Truth was she didn't often have to lie because she never shared details of her life. But she'd be going undercover as a Third Planet employee in a few days' time, and she'd have to lie to everyone she met.

“Are you going to be able to do that?” He leaned forward, his forearms braced against his thighs until it felt as though he'd closed the world in around them.

Her jaw worked as she ground her teeth together, a terrible habit she'd picked up after “the webcam incident” two years ago. She often found herself doing it when she felt backed into a corner, even though Aiden wasn't the one putting her in this position. This was her opportunity to get the job she wanted, but it drove her full steam ahead to the boundaries of her comfort zone. Hopefully, she wouldn't crash into a wall.

“Quinn, it's part of the job. If you're not going to be able to do it then speak up now and I'll go in by myself.”

“No.” She folded her arms across her chest and shoved the uncomfortable feelings aside. “I can do it.”

The crease in his forehead softened, his lips twisting slightly. “You get used to it.”

“The lying?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I find it's easier when you have a clear understanding of why you're doing it. We're trying to stop someone doing bad things, and if we have to lie to achieve that, then so be it.”

“I'm glad you can so easily justify it,” she muttered. “But some of us were brought up to tell the truth.”

“I was brought up to protect those who can't protect themselves. Are the criminals we go up against honest?”

“Comparing yourself to a criminal probably isn't the best way to go.”

He sighed. “All I'm saying is that sometimes you have to bend the rules a little to get the right outcome. If you can't handle that, then you're in the wrong job.”

Quinn's mother hadn't given her many rules growing up because she could hardly enforce them when she was always at work. But the one thing her mother had stressed was honesty.
Say nothing if you prefer, but don't lie to me
, she'd always said. Her mother had been lied to by Quinn's father, who'd turned out to not only have a whole family he kept tucked away in another state, but a drug problem, as well.

She'd been wary of liars ever since.

“I can handle it.” She nodded to herself.

“Good, because it looks like we're partners.”

“For now.”

* * *

Q
UINN
WASN
'
T
GOING
to make it easy for him, that much was certain. It was Friday evening and after a full week on the job, he'd barely seen her. There was always an excuse for her to be somewhere else. She rejected or ignored his meeting invites and the only time she ever turned up was if the invite came from Rhys or Jin.

He leafed through some papers on his desk, sorting out his research and notes on Third Planet Studios. Quinn would have to face facts soon. As of Monday morning she would be going undercover. He would also be doing some digging around after-hours, keeping his presence minimal for a day or two until Quinn had been able to integrate herself into the team. Which might be tough since she was prickly as a porcupine.

Kind of funny how that turns you on, isn't it?

“Hey.” Logan walked by his desk, interrupting his thoughts. “Good to see you.”

He motioned for Aiden to follow him into the Cobalt & Dane boardroom. It felt a little strange knowing his friend was the head of this entire company. He still remembered all the pranks they pulled as kids. In fact, his father had taken to calling them the Terrible Twosome while they were in elementary school after they managed to upend an entire classroom's worth of furniture.

Still, Logan was extremely passionate about his company and the work they did. Aiden would
not
let his friend down.

“I've got a few minutes before my next meeting so I thought I'd stop by and see how your first week went.” Logan shut the door behind them.

“It went well. I'm glad to be here.”

“How's the ear?”

Out of habit, Aiden touched the bad side of his head. The ringing had become a part of his life, and some days it bothered him more than others. But he made a point never to complain, not even if it made him want to put a fist through a wall. “It won't affect my job.”

“That's not why I'm asking.” Logan narrowed his eyes at Aiden as he set up his computer at the far end of the conference table.

“In that case, I'm fine.”

“Okay, okay.” Logan held up his hands. “You're a difficult bastard, aren't you?”

Aiden grinned. “You knew that before you hired me.”

Logan looked up from where he was plugging his laptop into the AV cable for the boardroom projector. “All ready for Monday, then?”

He nodded. “Ready as I'll ever be. Wherever that leak is, I'll find it.”

“That's what I like to hear.”

They chatted for a few moments until Logan's assistant interrupted them to usher in a new client. On the way out, Aiden bumped into Rhys.

“How's the assignment going so far?” Rhys asked, toying with a security cable in one hand as they walked.

“Great. I've arranged to go in and chat with the owner about seven on Monday evening. He said the staff keep pretty odd hours, so the office is never really empty.” He shrugged. “But he'll shoo everyone out. That'll give me a chance to go over the employee files.”

“How do you think Quinn will do?” Rhys studied him closely, his dark eyes giving nothing away. Aiden felt as if he was being tested but on what, he couldn't be sure.

“Why don't you ask her yourself?”

“You'll keep an eye out for her, won't you?” Rhys fiddled with the combination lock on the security cable. “She'd never ask for help and she's exceptionally capable. But this is a different environment for her and you're a little more seasoned.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “But for the record, I think she'll be fine.”

“Me, too. But we take care of our own here, Aiden. I won't be so corny as to call us a family, but this isn't just any company you're working for.”

“Understood. I'll look out for Quinn without letting her know it.”

“Good man.” Rhys added, “I expect a quick resolution to this. It's an important assignment but we're fully tapped at the moment, and Logan has big plans for you.”

What was Rhys trying to say? Was it common knowledge that he and Logan Dane were old friends? He sure as hell didn't want people thinking that he'd only gotten this job because of his personal connections. Truth was, Logan had been pestering him to come across for a year, not the other way around.

But experience had told him that people with tall-poppy syndrome didn't care about the facts. They'd tear him down here like his colleagues had done at the FBI because of his father.

“Of course,” Aiden said, swallowing his doubts and putting on his best poker face.

Rhys nodded and made his way to his office, leaving Aiden to mull over his choice of words. Logan had assured him that no one would take their friendship as a sign of nepotism, especially since most of the employees in the company had come through referrals. As head of Cobalt & Dane, Logan had tight control over the hiring process. With the work they did, it was of the utmost importance that he trust every single employee.

And Logan trusted
him
. Simple as that. But a doubt niggled somewhere in a deep, dark corner of Aiden's mind. Would he have to try to shake the privilege tag and battle the opinion that he hadn't gotten here on his own merit all over again?

Outside, the sun had dipped and the city lights were beginning their nightly spectacle. Inky-blue bled into the fading orange of sunset. He'd lived in New York all his life but the skyline never ceased to amaze him. And while he preferred the relaxed vibe of his Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood, Manhattan's lights were something else. Like a pirate's treasure scattered across the sky, diamonds carried by the wind.

“Not a bad view, is it?” Pink flashed in his periphery.

“It's all right, if you like that kind of thing,” he quipped.

Quinn stood close enough to talk to him but far enough away not to invite any physical contact. Her tiny frame was swamped with an oversize black T-shirt bearing a dizzying pattern of pink skulls and crossbones. A gash split the fabric of her tight black jeans midthigh. Her hair hung in a long plait over one shoulder, the pink-and-brown strands neatly woven together.

“I do.” She bounced on the balls of her feet. “It's kind of beautifully unattainable.”

Poetic. That was unexpected. Quinn was a complete enigma, one that he couldn't shake the desire to figure out.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” He tried for a businesslike tone but judging by the way she sucked on her lower lip, it had come across as cold. “Are you all set for Monday?”

“Yeah.” She bobbed her head, wrapping the end of her plait around her finger. “I... Uh, are you going to be there?”

“Not until the evening. I want to give you a chance to settle in.”

“Sure. I wanted to know when you'd be in so I can keep my distance.”

He raised a brow. “How come?”

“Well, we don't want people to suspect that we're...” She paused.

“On the same team?”

“Yeah.”

For the first time since he'd started at Cobalt & Dane, she reminded him of the Quinn he'd first met. Adorably awkward, a little unsure of herself. Vulnerable.