Exploited
Page 21

“Not really. I tend to keep to myself at work. Though one of the guys in my office likes to eat spicy Indian food for lunch and always smells like day-old curry by the afternoon.” She shuddered and I laughed. “But don’t be too hard on Perry. He might be a nice guy if you give him a chance. Sometimes it just takes a little patience to get to the heart of a person.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Patience isn’t my strong suit, though in my job I should have learned it by now.” I liked watching her, though I tried not to be too creepy about it. “So where do you work, Hannah?”
Time for the basics.
I hadn’t dated in a long time. Not since starting my career at the Bureau. I was more than a little rusty when it came to Dating 101. I wasn’t even sure I could remember how to make small talk without sounding like an asshat.
“I work as an admin for a bratty CEO. Nothing fancy like FBI agent, I’m afraid,” she remarked lightly. But I noticed a slight stiffening of her shoulders. Her lips thinning marginally. Her eyes narrowing.
Most people wouldn’t have noted the change.
I wasn’t most people.
I knew how to read people. My instructors at the academy had said I had an instinct, which was unusual for a guy who spent most of his life behind a computer screen.
“Bratty CEO? Which one? Maybe I’ve heard of him.”
Hannah flicked a strand of hair out of her face. “Brandon Healey. He’s with Western Railways,” she replied quickly.
I wasn’t familiar with Western Railways. It didn’t have anything to do with my particular line of business.
“What makes him so bratty?” I asked.
“Just a big pain in the ass. The type that throws a fit if there’s not enough cream in his coffee,” she replied breezily.
“Sounds like a real winner,” I said with a snicker, and she giggled. “I thought you said you sat behind a computer all day. I got the impression you did something in IT. Especially seeing as you have some serious machinery on your kitchen table.”
Hannah’s mouth pinched and she glanced toward her laptop. “I do spend most of my day sitting at a computer dealing with Mr. Healey’s stuff. That’s all I meant. And I like messing around with computers for fun. I splurged on that laptop as a treat to myself.”
I guessed that made sense. We headed toward the front door. Hannah seemed in a rush to leave now.
“I had a boss like your CEO when I worked for a tech firm after graduation. He was a piece of work.”
That got Hannah’s attention. “A tech firm? What did you do there?”
“Oh, you know, this and that. I have to admit, I’m a real tech nerd. I was the dork who would write script for fun on the weekends,” I replied, surprising her. Surprising me.
We walked out of her house and I waited while she locked the door. I opened the passenger-side door of my car and waited for her to get in. She stopped, looking up at me. “What kind of techie ends up at the FBI?” she asked, interested.
“The kind that works in cybercrimes,” I explained. Wow. I was laying it all out there. What was going on with me? I usually waited until after drinks before giving someone a taste of my life story. The severely edited version, of course.
Hannah’s eyes widened, her shoulders visibly relaxing. She seemed more comfortable than she had been a few minutes earlier. I wondered why.
“Cybercrimes? Really? That’s got to be so fascinating!” she enthused, her voice a touch too high.
“Not really. It’s nothing like you see on TV. Trust me.” I needed to change the subject. Quickly.
“Nothing is ever what it seems, is it?” she asked. An odd statement but a true one. Our eyes met for a moment and there was a strange sort of understanding between us. As if both of us had a lot of practice in dishonesty.
I didn’t bother to answer her. The question didn’t seem to require it.
Hannah slid into the seat and I took a moment to appreciate the view of her smooth legs as she tucked them into the front seat.
I walked quickly around to the driver’s side, almost tripping over my own feet in my haste. I wouldn’t be earning any cool points for face-planting in front of her on our first date, that was for sure.
I got into the car and gave her a smile. She returned it. My body instinctively reacted to the smell of her filling the small, confined space. The way her chest rose and fell. My eyes zeroed in on all the normal parts of her.
I was a red-blooded male, after all.
And I liked what I saw.
Even if she wasn’t my normal type, she was a woman I found physically attractive.
“I made reservations at a steak house in town,” I told her as I pulled out onto the road. “I hope that’s okay.”
“I’m a vegetarian, actually,” Hannah responded neutrally.
My face blazed red. “Shit. I’m so sorry! I should have asked. We can go somewhere else—”
Hannah started to laugh. “I’m messing with you, Mason. I’m not a vegetarian. A nice bloody steak sounds damn near perfect, actually.”
I relaxed, glad that I hadn’t made another first-date faux pas.
“Thank God. Because I don’t think I could handle one of those tofu places. I need meat on my plate.”
“Mason likes meat. Good to know,” Hannah remarked drily.
“I’m secure enough to admit it,” I replied just as drily.
Hannah smirked as she reached for the radio dial. She glanced at me, her eyes questioning. “Do you mind?”
I shook my head. “Be my guest.”
I remembered too late about the CD in the drive. Hannah’s eyes widened in shock when the soundtrack to Les Misérables blasted from the speakers.
Hannah glanced at me. “ ‘I Dreamed a Dream,’ huh? Glad it’s not the Susan Boyle version, at least.”
“I should lie and tell you that it came with the car. Or that I was giving my cousin a lift and she’s a fiend for musicals.” I kept my voice light, hoping to hide my mortification.
Hannah crossed her legs, the skirt riding up her thighs. “But then we’d be starting things with a lie and that’s not right, is it?” she asked just as lightly.
I glanced at her and nodded. “No, that’s not right.” Her eyes were clear. I couldn’t read anything.
It bothered me.