Izzy

It’s been a few days at work, and this secret is tearing me apart. Sitting in my leather chair, my legs bounce nervously under the desk. It’s almost the weekend in an hour and I go home, only to think about this anomaly further like I have been for days. I scroll over the text, watch the gateway ask to open up, but I don’t click on it yet.

I want to know where it goes, why it is in here, but I don’t want to lose my job.

Alek comes to my office doorway and flicks his thick fingers in the air to signal for me to follow. I exit out of the code at once, worried he could see it in my window’s reflection behind me. I hurry to catch up to him in his office now, watching him sit behind the desk while a familiar face is perched on the chair nearby.

“Izzy, you remember Dimitri Wilde, right?”

I nod at the odd interdiction to the man I met many days ago. I have seen him around here a few times talking to Alek, and I’m worried that he’s here now to spill my secret about the gateway I’ve found. Still, I nod in pleasantries and take a seat next to Dimitri, Alek making it a point to shut the door so he can come around the desk and take his place.

“I bet you two are wondering why I’ve called you into my office this afternoon.”

“Have me stumped,” Dimitri says, calm and collected.

“Have I done something wrong?” I ask, a little concerned, Alek’s eyes poking me with more holes than Dimitri did when we first met.

“You do good work, Izzy. My team says you’ve been very helpful in organizing tasks and keeping a watch on my software. I just have more of a personal quarrel with the two of you.”

“What else is new?” Dimitri asks, taunting my boss slightly. “We always have issues. Why is she here, too?”

“Because I’ve heard whispers about you two, and I want to be sure they’re false.”

“What kind of whispers?” I ask.

Alek clears his throat before continuing, “It’s about a certain ping on my motherboard. Someone was able to access the inside mainframe from outside the office and my recorded devices.”

“Trace it,” Dimitri says simply. “Problem solved.”

“Funny thing is, I’ve never had this happen in my decade of being in this industry. Never. So I hire this new computer whizz who quite literally rewrote my application test, and then I hear about you two leaving together the night that my motherboard was hit.”

I bite my bottom l*p, looking to Dimitri for answers. He leans forward, still as collected as could be, his hands folded in front of him while his elbows rest on his knees.

“Yeah, so? When is it a sin to hang out with your new hire, Alek? Your coding guys are constantly dating my workers and I think one of them got my secretary pregnant, so how is this an issue?”

Alek looks perturbed by this question. “Because I’m not asking if you’re hooking up, Dimitri. I’m asking if you conspired with my new hire to come after my company. I wouldn’t put it past you—you’re too much like your father these days. But if anyone could get into the system, it’s her. And I have my coding guys saying they saw you both leave the bar Monday night together.”

“Yeah, we left together,” I whisper, hoping he’s satisfied with that assurance.

“So, you both hacked into my software? If that’s true, then I want to know so I can save the time and energy on hunting the culprit. What did you do when you left the bar together?”

I swallow, nearly about to spill my guts when Dimitri cuts in with, “We had s*x.”

Alek’s eyes grow at least an inch in size, glaring at us like he just walked in on the salacious act that Dimitri has said happened between us. I bury my face into my hands for now, trying to hide the utter embarrassment as it floods my face.

“I—you had—”

“S*x,” Dimitri repeats in Alek’s shock. “We had s*x, Alek.”

“Okay,” he whispers, shaking his head. “I just… I don’t know how to…”

“We’re dating, Alek. This isn’t some cool trick to try and take you down. She came to the bar, I took her aside—as I’m sure your coding snitches have mentioned to you already—and we spent the night together. We’ve gone out twice since then, and while it’s too early to give you any hard answers, I’d say we’re pretty serious already.”

The room goes awfully silent, and I sink further into my chair in the hopes of seeing just how this will play out. It works well, too, watching Alek hold his hands out in obvious surrender.

“Wow, I apologize to you, Izzy. I had no idea this was going on with you two. It’s highly inappropriate for me to ask about your personal life like that. It’s just, the software hack has me a little on edge, you know? We shouldn’t see any reason to involve HR, right?”

“She’s okay,” Dimitri says, replying for me. he reaches sideways and takes my hand in his, holding it causally between us like we’re on an ice cream date for our twelve-year anniversary or something.

“Now, if you don’t mind me skipping past your paranoia, I’m going to have my girlfriend walk me to my car in the parking garage. Feel free to watch on your little cameras Alek, but I assure you, I don’t need some new hire to take you down.”

He growls under his breath but dismisses me from his office at last. He offers an apologetic look and I accept it out of shock, Dimitri still holding my hand with his fingers laced in mine as we walk through the office. We get into the elevator and my panic only piques, my back sinking into the corner of the small space while the carriage begins its descent.

“Come here,” he g****s, yanking me out of my corner and pushing my back to the wall nearby. I hiss in shock, his body flush with my own, and his lips parting my mouth open with a daunting k**s. I melt into the sensation, his tongue tasting me like it had in the green room at the club.

The elevator pauses in the middle of the building, the doors opening up to expose a hoard of people ready to climb in. Pulling off of my body, Dimitri turns and presses the close doors button on the panel.

“Take another one. We’re busy.”

He launches back to me, his hands latched on to the top of my skirt where he pulls me on the tips of my toes, even in these little heels, and crashes his mouth into mine. I lean into the sensation of his e******n in his slacks, my hands clawing at his shirt so I can see those tattoos again. I pant, moaning when his knee purposefully brushes the front of my skirt, kneading into my s*x.

“Easy, Kitten,” he taunts, kissing my cheek while he whispers in my ear. “Your boss is watching us right now. There are no cameras in the garage, so hold it. We need to play it off, but I can’t have you orgasming in the elevator. It would be a waste of a good time.”

I flush hot with heat that is strung to humiliation, my lips quivering while I nod and go back to kissing him leisurely. He takes it and k****s me back as cosmetically as possible, dragging me out of the elevator so we’re in the parking garage together. Only there does his hand release my own, coming to a familiar black sports car that is parked nearby.

As the elevator doors shut and the carriage leaves, he snickers under his breath and wipes his mouth still damp with my lipstick. “That was exciting.”

“What the hell did you do?” I gust, finally getting to speak my mind. “You just told my boss, your biggest rival, that we are dating!”

“Well, it’s complicated, Kitten. We couldn’t tell him we were hacking his system, could we?”

“No, but—”

“Then you should thank me.”

I scoff, still tasting the impression of his tongue on my lips. “It’s not about that, dammit. What was the point of kissing me like that in the elevator? How much are you going to play this off for Alek now that you’ve got us in this situation? What’s next? Going to bend me over my desk so he knows we’re together?”

His face darkens with my tone. “Careful, I just might consider how much you were getting turned on in the elevator just from that k**s. Let’s not forget that I stopped you from f*****g me the night at the club because you were drunk.”

I throw my hands up, exasperated with him already. “I can’t pretend to date you! I can’t even pretend to like you right now, let alone tolerate your bullshit! You don’t get some gold star for being a decent guy and not f*****g me in the back room.”

“How about a f*****g gold star for putting you in my bed, Kitten? How about a little bit of grace for the fact that you were sober the next morning, in my shower, and I still let you have your space even though I knew for damn sure you wanted to jump my lap the night before?”

“So what? I got horny; it happens! That doesn’t give you the right to jump in and lie to my boss!”

“Why not? What would you have told him, huh?” He shakes his head, his body trembling fiercely before me like a mountain lion is going to rip out of his chest any second now. “I saved your job, and I saved our a*s for covering up what we did. If you have a problem with that, then go march your proud a*s upstairs and tell him the truth.”

I wince at his words, stepping back at his harsh, severe tone.

“Go!” he bites, his voice echoing through the parking garage.

Still, I don’t move.

I mean, how the f**k could I?

Swallowing hard, I calm down and catch my breath, trying to steady myself after such an outburst. “No, I don’t want to go tell him the truth.”

“Okay, then you should be grateful that I saved our asses up there.”

“I am.”

He stands straighter, one of his brows cocked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I pant, still stuck with tire after my rage fit. “I’m sorry for being rude to you. It took me by surprise, and I was embarrassed, that’s all. I don’t like my boss knowing that we almost slept together, let alone that we have to talk about us being falsely together in front of him now.”

“I know that’s frustrating, but it’s okay. He gets the point so maybe he will back off for a little bit, okay?” he breathes, coming forward. He casually tucks my hair behind my ear and grins softly. “You’re an adorable and feisty Kitten when you’re angry, you know that?”

“Very funny,” I sigh, shaking my head. “I am sorry, Dimitri. I didn’t mean to be so mad at you.”

“And I’m sorry I said what I said to Alek. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your boss, but it had to be done. He won’t bother us now for a while, I promise.”

“Good. So, did you click on the link?”

He shakes his head. “I figured you did.”

“Nope, I didn’t either.”

His smile is softer now, gentle and a bit kinder than I’ve seen since we’ve met. “So, you want to come over tonight and click on it?”

I don’t even hesitate to reply, “Hell yeah. I’ll be there.”