Page 54 of Wilde Abandon
She gripped the key tight and grinned, loving that he trusted her with access to his place.She’d have to get a copy of her key made for him.“Don’t get grumpy with me when I wake you up.”
He hooked his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her close.“I’m begging you to wake me up.”He kissed her again, this time with heat but restraint since they’d already gotten caught lost in each other.
Good thing, too, because another knock sounded on the door.This time, Dean popped his head in.“Here’s your badge.”Dean tossed it to her.
She turned it over.“Where’d you get the picture?”
“Fox texted it to me after you sent it to him, so I could see what you looked like.”
She’d sent the picture of herself during one of their many online chats.Her wavy hair was a bit wild in the pic, but she looked cute in a pink blouse.Fox had not reciprocated.He’d still been pretending to be shy.
She glanced at the name below the picture and burst out laughing.“Seriously?”She held up the badge so Fox could read it.
“Fox’s Sexy Lady.Perfect.”Fox’s smile was amused and sultry before he turned to Dean.“Thanks, man.”
“No problem.Just part of the security job you pay me for.”
Which begged the question… “Why do you need so much security here?Isn’t Dean needed back at your company headquarters?”
Fox and Dean shared a look that told her nothing.
“I needed a break from Boston,” Dean answered.“And I wanted to see Fox get his girl back.”
“But you’ve been here for months.Right?”
“Off and on.I like it here.”Dean glanced at Fox.“I’ve got a call about that firewall attack.”
“Let me know what you find out,” Fox said before Dean left them, closing the door for their privacy again.
“Did someone try to hack into your system?”
“Yeah, but they didn’t get through.Dean’s on it.Nothing for you to worry about.”
“I worry about you.If they get through, that could be catastrophic for your company.”
“That’s why I have Dean and a team of highly skilled IT people taking care of it.”
She raised a brow.“Are you sure you’re not needed in Boston?”
He took her hand and squeezed it.“I’ll let you know if I am.Until then, I’m here with you.So tell me what you think of the classroom and what you’ll need for your class.”
“The room is great.I’m not sure how many people you think will want to attend my class, but this seems adequate.”
“I put up the class on our site last night.Twenty-three of the forty students we have right now want to attend.”
“Seriously?”She couldn’t believe it.She’d hoped at least a handful of people would come.But that many?Wow.
“It’s a great way for people with limited means to start their own business.Some of them probably don’t have a clear idea of what their shop would be, but knowing how to do it is a first step into actually dreaming they could do it.Sometimes, that’s the hardest part working with people who have never been given a chance to dream because they’re too busy surviving.”
She’d always had the space and encouragement to dream.No one had told her she had to work at the bar.She’d wanted that because it meant working with the siblings she loved, carrying on the business her grandmother loved and left them.“My dad gave you that chance, didn’t he?”
“He made me think about the future and what steps I needed to take to get there.Every call, after I’d update him about my life, he’d ask the same question.‘What’s next?’”
“He wanted you to succeed.”
“He encouraged me to rise above my circumstances.”
“And you did that with Dean and Max, didn’t you?”