Dark Seduction (6 page)

When he drew away, a flicker of something was in his eyes when he looked at her. Was it love? She didn’t know, but the thought that he might love her sent new thrills of excitement through her. But then the excitement eased away.

He wouldn’t be in love with Tori. It was Carla he’d be in love with.

It was crazy to care one way or another.

He brushed hair from her eyes as he held her. She thought about earlier when she’d been in his office. It had been utterly bizarre. At first he had stared at her like she’d grown horns. Or like he knew exactly who she was, which of course was impossible.

His heartbeat was strong beneath her palms as their gazes held. Why did he have to be so damned sexy? She wanted so badly to see him naked, to feel his body next to hers, skin to skin. To have him inside her.

She wanted it all.

He kissed her again, his mouth moving slowly, as if savoring her taste. Sensation built between her thighs and expanded to her bellybutton. She couldn’t help herself as she moved her body closer to his, felt his erection against her. She liked that she could turn him on like this.

“Five minutes until the meeting starts.” Aimy’s computerized voice brought both of them back to reality.

He trailed his finger over her soft lips as they looked at each other. “I’m looking forward to tonight,” he said softly.

She didn’t have to pretend as she added, “So am I.”

For a moment longer he studied her face. “I need to go.”

“I’ll follow you in a moment,” she said, knowing that Carla and Logan had always kept their relationship hidden from other employees.

After he’d left, she picked up a tablet off her desk and pressed the
On
button. She’d played with the electronic tablet over the past two weeks but hadn’t gotten the hang of the touch keyboard on that particular device. It was a scientist version with high-level software and there was only so much knowledge she’d gained—it didn’t extend to understanding scientist-speak.

Carla kept detailed notes and used abbreviations when she typed but that hadn’t been passed on to Tori. How was she supposed to take legit notes when she hadn’t obtained that knowledge from Carla?

Her mind kept returning to Logan’s kiss and the way he made her feel. She squeezed her eyes shut. She
had
to get things under control and think of him only as an assignment. If she didn’t, then she should consider asking Janice to replace her.

But what would she say?
I’m in love with Logan Savage so I can’t do it anymore.

Yeah, right.

She returned her attention to what she had in her hand. Forget the tablet. She set it down, adjusted her lab coat, and headed to the executive boardroom. Her heels clicked on the marble tiled floor, her mind filled with Logan. She knew he loved the way she looked and how she dressed. She found it interesting that Carla dressed so sexy for work, but then the woman had a potent sexuality that she was more than aware of and used to her advantage.

When she reached the boardroom, she eased into a chair that was still available around a huge oval conference table. Staff was filling the room and soon it was standing room only. Murmurs traveled around, hushed voices wondering why they were being called together.

Logan walked in and her heart skipped. He was so handsome, so damned sexy, and all she could think about was screwing him senseless. After that kiss in her lab, she knew she’d get some action with him tonight after dinner.

A part of her felt guilty, for using him… As if she was betraying the man. Another part wasn’t affected in the slightest bit. He was the enemy and he was fair game.

“This will be a short meeting.” Logan moved his gaze from one person to another.

When his gaze met hers for one fraction of a moment, she shivered with awareness. She wondered how many other women in the room were having the same reaction.

“The Cerebral Voices test will be administered to every employee in the company,” he said, and her heart nearly stopped. He continued, “Starting with those who work on the project itself and then all executives and management. You will be called into the lab when it is your turn.”

Her throat grew dry.
Damn, damn, damn.
From what she’d gathered, this was bad, very bad for her. Cerebral Voices was far more accurate than a lie detector test… This bit of technology would read her thoughts… To be read out loud by the machine, for anyone around to hear.

Not good. So not good.

Her hands shook a little in her lap and she had to clench them into fists to still them. Somehow she had to avoid taking that test. She wasn’t sure how, but she’d figure something out. She always did.

She was the last one out of the conference room. She had observed various employees, memorizing their actions and movements, listening to what they said. If it came down to her having to go through the test then Carla would have to disappear and Tori would have to take someone else’s place once that someone had passed the test. She just needed to figure out who was closest to Logan in some fashion.

If she did have to change forms, the PIA would make the real person disappear for a while and erase his or her memories for the period of time that Tori replaced the person. Probably one of his senior executives. If at all possible she’d prefer to avoid doing that—a real pain in the ass. It would be a lot harder to get close enough to Logan to get some of the more personal information from him.

She shook back the long golden mane of hair that she sported now. It felt a little odd having so much hair when she was used to her short curls. She’d had to practice walking in the three-inch heels that Carla preferred and Tori avoided like the plague.

Sometimes she got stuck in bodies that she could barely stand. Like a couch potato male with a beer gut—that definitely sucked. Or an elderly person who didn’t have the strength or clarity of mind that someone younger had. Tori was still “herself” when she borrowed someone’s form, but she had their limitations. It was odd how it worked.

She looked at her surroundings trying to think of something that would help her move things along. Two weeks and still not enough intelligence worth squat.

The CVP junior scientist, Jeremy Farrell, rounded the corner and she knew exactly what she was going to do.

Chapter 7

Jeremy Farrell wore black glasses with thick lenses, but behind those lenses was a handsome young face and nice brown eyes.

“Jeremy,” she called out.

The young man looked nervous and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he spoke. “Yes, Ms. Winston?”

“Call me Carla.” She smiled at him, enjoying the way he blushed when she did so. “I’m going to lunch and I was wondering if you’d go with me. I’m in the mood for company.”

“Me?” Jeremy’s jaw had dropped and he pointed to himself. “Now?”

She gave a nod and tried to keep amusement out of her expression. “Yes you, Jeremy, and yes now.”

“Sure,” he said, looking awed and amazed. “Yes, of course I would.”

“Meet me at Marco’s Deli.” She touched his shoulder. “I’m heading there now.”

“Yes, Ms. Winston.” He corrected himself, stumbling over his words. “I mean yes, Carla.”

“Great.” She gave him a brilliant smile then turned and let him watch her ass sway as she walked down the hall. He was going to be so easy to crack.

It didn’t take her long to ditch her lab coat and glasses then grab her purse. She wanted to reach the deli before Jeremy did. She’d chosen a place far enough away from the Savage Industries building that she hoped would be off the usual grid for company employees.

Once she made it to the deli, she stood just inside the door and looked over the menu on the wall. She smiled at Jeremy when he walked through the doors. He looked nervous as hell and she almost felt bad for using him like she planned. Almost. She had a job to do and she was trained to use any means necessary. And this was most definitely necessary. She’d do her best not to hurt him, but there were no guarantees.

She chose the walnut chicken salad on thick slices of homemade whole wheat bread and Jeremy picked out a club sandwich on white. She selected a bag of Ruffles barbeque potato chips plus a vitamin water while Jeremy grabbed Doritos and a bottle of Pepsi. Then she dug her wallet out of her purse and paid for her meal. She would have told Jeremy she’d pay for his, but some guys got embarrassed when a woman paid for them and she didn’t want to embarrass him or make him feel uncomfortable.

When they were seated, she put a napkin in her lap then took a bite of her sandwich and gave an inward sigh of pleasure. “I adore Marco’s,” she said after she’d chewed and swallowed her bite of sandwich.

He pushed his glasses up his nose with his forefinger and looked as though he was so nervous he was going to throw up.

Once she let Jeremy have a chance to settle and she thought his nerves might have calmed down, she said, “How’s your day going?”

His throat worked as he swallowed. Mayo was at the corner of his mouth and he wiped it off with a napkin before he spoke. “Really good, Ms. W—Carla.”

She nodded and looked out the windows at the unusually clear day. “A beautiful afternoon.” She returned her gaze to meet Jeremy’s.

Once he relaxed, she got him to talk about more mundane things such as where he lived, what hobbies he had, and some of his favorite activities. He seemed too nervous to ask her questions about herself, which was perfectly fine with her.

“How’s the Cerebral Voices project going?” she asked when she felt the time was right.

“Great.” He nodded, clearly warmed up to her. “The CVP is almost at a hundred percent accuracy.”

“What is it now?” she asked.

“Ninety-six percent.” He started folding his empty chip bag into a small square and she had the feeling he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

She kept her questions casual. “Are you happy with the amount and type of security around the CVP?”

“For the most part,” he said. “But I’m not sure there can ever be enough for a project as potentially dangerous as Cerebral Voices.”

“That’s true.” She made a point of agreeing with him.

Jeremy leaned forward, wearing an intent, serious expression. “I mean, what if some foreign government got hold of it and used it to read the minds of nuclear scientists, or even the President of the United States?”

“We certainly can’t have that happening.” She kept her tone casual but interested. “If you have any suggestions, I can talk to Mr. Savage about them. After all, who better than one of our greatest geniuses to come up with better ways to protect the project?”

Jeremy positively glowed from the praise.

She went in for the kill. “What do you think the biggest weaknesses are in protecting the CVP?”

“If someone knows what he’s doing, he—or she—can hack into the lab’s computer,” Jeremy said. “The system includes safeguards and protocols, of course, but there is one hole that can be squeezed through.”

She brushed long blonde strands of hair from her face. “Have you told anyone about this?”

“I tried.” Jeremy frowned. “The manager of my department, Michael Demitri… Well, he can be a little close-minded. He insists it’s hack-proof.”

She wondered if Michael was the inside agent and if he had created the hole that Jeremy had discovered.

She gave him an expression of sympathy. “I know the type.” She paused, then acted as if the thought just came to her as she added, “How can Mr. Savage not want it fixed? Did you tell him?”

“No. I don’t work directly for him.” Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t go around my boss and I told Michael.”

“I think Mr. Savage needs to know about this.” Carla frowned for Jeremy’s benefit. “Can you show me?”

“I can do it from my home computer.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose again. “But I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“You won’t.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “I want to be able to explain it and tell Mr. Savage in my own way.”

“Okay.” He sounded nervous but hopeful as he added, “My apartment is right around the corner, within walking distance.”

“All right.” She smiled her approval. “Let’s go.” She glanced at the remainder of his sandwich. “That is if you’re finished eating.”

Jeremy rushed to clean up what was left of his meal. “I’m done.”

They dumped their garbage into a receptacle and headed out of the deli.

She hoped no one would see them together as they walked to his apartment. She didn’t want speculation with someone seeing a high-level manager going into a junior scientist’s apartment. His nervousness ramped up again now that he was going to have her in his place and he talked at a fast pace.

It was an older building but nice-looking and they walked up two flights of stairs to the third floor and went to a door with the number 301 on it. He raised his phone up to an electronic sensor and the door unlocked with a click and a thunk.

When he swung the door open, she was surprised to see that it was clean and attractive yet sparse. She had imagined she would see piles of papers and books, but all she saw was what looked like an e-book reader sitting on the otherwise spotless coffee table. Apparently the young scientist was paperless.