Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9) (16 page)

“Don’t ever let
Matt hear you say that. He’d tear you to pieces.”

“I didn’t mean it
as an insult.”

“Well, it came out as
one.”

“I just meant that
she married her boss, and you work for her. So, me dating my boss
shouldn’t be such a shock.”

“I just wasn’t
expecting it. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“I am. I never
thought I’d find someone who gets me like she does.”

“Is it weird taking
orders from her at work?”

“Weird? No.
Challenging? Sometimes. Right now she has me working on a project
that I’m not completely behind, but I’d do anything for her, so
I’ll do it.”

“Don’t compromise
yourself, Jimmy. If she really cares, she wouldn’t ask you to,” I
tell him, reaching out to place my hand over his.

“I’m overreacting
as usual. It’s not that big of a deal.”

We spend the next hour
talking about college, and how we ended up where we are. I give him
my cover story about being hired by Jane Corrigan because of my
Communications background. The real story about Maggie Griffin
hearing about my work in the Chemistry labs at school are not for the
public—or even long-lost friends. Once I start to yawn, he walks me
out to my car and hugs me goodbye.

I’m walking through
the lobby in my building when Blake gets off the elevator. “Hot
date?”

“Not that it’s any
of your business, but I was having dinner with Jimmy. He’s in town
for business.”

“How was his bed?”

“Are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Then you need to
stop talking. Because if you were drunk, I’d excuse the nonsense
that’s coming out of your mouth. Sober, I’ll knock you out.”

“Oh, now you want to
fight?”

“Goodnight, Blake.”

I walk past him onto
the elevator and lean my head against the wall as it ascends to my
floor. One night. One fucking night with him. One night of fucking.
And now I’m tied to him forever. FML, indeed.

Blake

“I need to call your
tutors to tell them to come here instead.”

“I guess.”

“You guess? I thought
you wanted to be tutored.”

“I do. I had a plan
and now I can’t do it.”

“A plan for
tutoring?” she nods. “What was your plan?”

“I was going to use a
room off the cafeteria at Corrigan & Co.”

“That’s an option?”

“It was. Matt said I
could help clean up the cafeteria as payment. I was going to ask you
last night, but you were acting like an asshole.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were. Audrey
didn’t do anything wrong.”

“We’ll have to
agree to disagree on her behavior.”

“And yours too,
right?”

“No. I’ll agree
that I was being an asshole. She may not have done her job as well as
I’d have liked her to, but I shouldn’t have attacked her.”

“You should
apologize. Beg her if you have to. Audrey should be here with us. Or
we should be in her apartment with her.”

“You let me worry
about Audrey. What can we do about Matt?”

“I don’t know. I
really wanted to be there, and it’s super secure.”

I pull out my phone,
and text Audrey, asking her to come down to see us if she hasn’t
left yet. She responds almost immediately, saying she’ll be here in
a few minutes. I thank her, and put my phone back in my pocket.
“Audrey’s on her way. We’ll see what she has to say.”

“Thanks.”

The knock at the door
comes a minute later, and Jeanne opens it, hugging Audrey tight when
she sees her. I’m glad for the moment I have to catch my breath as
I drink her in. She has on a strapless jumpsuit that starts out light
blue on top and transitions all the way to black when it gets to the
bottom. I can’t see her heels under the wide legs of her pants, but
I know she has some on since she’s significantly taller than
Jeanne, and they’re usually a little closer in height. Her hair is
mostly up, but there are loose pieces framing her face, and falling
to rest on her tits. I resist the urge to fall to my knees, and
decide I should speak.

“Thanks for coming,
Audrey.”

“Of course. What do
you need?”

You. I need you. I know
I have a long way to go in terms of groveling before that will
happen, so I stick to what I need for Jeanne. “Jeanne said she had
an agreement with Matt Corrigan to use space at the building for
tutoring.”

“Yes. We were going
to talk to you about it last night.”

“And then I fucked
everything up.”

“You used me as your
verbal punching bag, yes. What about the room?”

“She’d still like
to use it.”

“Okay. I think Ellie
and Aiden are still here. I’ll call them, and ask them to take her
in to the office with them. They’ll keep her safe.”

“I know you’d keep
her safe. I knew that yesterday, but I was freaking out…and you
were there.”

“I understand. I
won’t say it didn’t hurt me, because it did, but I get it.”

“I’d like to try
the whole cooking you dinner thing again if you’ll give me a second
chance. Or third chance. Is there a third chance?”

“There can be, but
not tonight. Jimmy asked me to hang out.”

“He’s taking his
chance, huh? I don’t blame him.”

“He has a girlfriend.
He just wants to hang out while he’s in town, and re-connect.”

“Here?”

“No. We don’t just
bring anyone here. This is our home.”

“You brought us
here.”

“I did.”

“God, I want to kiss
you.”

“Not yet. Glad to
know I’m desirable today, though, and not looking like a slob.”

“Audrey.”

“I’ve got to get
going. I’ll have Ellie and Aiden meet you in the lobby. Aiden’s
friend, Theo, just got to town, and he said he’d go to the high
school with you later, Blake. You can meet him at Corrigan or he can
meet you here.”

“Corrigan, I think.
I’d like to see Jeanne’s set up.”

“I’ll let everyone
know.”

“Audrey,” I say
again, wanting her to look at me, but she won’t.

“Bye,” she says,
and then walks out the door.

“Well that went
well.”

“It did, actually.
She didn’t hit you, and she pretty much said you get another
chance.”

“True. Grab your
stuff and let’s get going. We don’t want to keep her friends
waiting.”

When we get to the
lobby, I stop in my tracks. I didn’t realize her friend, Aiden, was
Aiden Ford, whose father is the Vice-President of the United States.
Ellie looks like a badass Barbie, and the vibe coming off of both of
them tells me I wouldn’t want to mess with either one.

“Hi, I’m Jeanne.
Thank you for letting us ride with you.”

“No problem,” Aiden
says, smiling at her.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I’m
Blake. Good to meet you.”

I hold out my hand, and
both of them look at it and then glare at me. Okay, no new friends
for me. At least not while Audrey is upset with me. Good to know.

* * *

Audrey

“You have someone
here to see you,” Alex tells me over the intercom as I’m working
in the lab.

“Who is it?”

“He says his name is
Jimmy. Security let him up because he asked for you by name. He seems
nice.”

What the hell? “He
seems nice” is code for “he tried to bring in surveillance
equipment or something to hack us with.” What is he doing here, and
what is he thinking?

“I’ll be right
there.”

“Great. I’ll have
him wait on one of the couches.”

I throw off my lab coat
and call Ainsley as I walk. “Talk to me.”

“He has a jammer, and
a USB drive that’s carrying a virus which would allow access to
most computer systems.”

“Not ours?”

“Of course not. He
doesn’t know it, but he wouldn’t make it past the first firewall
on our system.”

“I thought he was a
friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. Reina
knows?”

“Yes. She would like
you to take him to the PR office, and try and find out why he’s
really here.”

“Got it. I’m almost
to the lobby. Is my comm active?”

“It is now,” she
says responding through it so I hear her in my ear. I close my cell
phone, and put a smile on my face. Jimmy stands as I walk off the
elevator.

“Hi Aud. I thought
I’d surprise you.”

“It
is
a surprise. I thought we were meeting later.”

“I wanted to see
where you work. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course. I was
just finishing up a meeting. Let’s go into my office.”

I smile at Alex as we
walk past, and she nods. Once we’re settled, I watch him as he
takes everything in. My real office downstairs is larger than most
CEOs offices, but this one is just medium-sized. It has some modern
art on the walls and comfortable chairs, but it’s nothing special.

“I need your help,
Audrey.”

“I’ll help you if I
can.”

“Oh you can,” he
says with a smile.

“What do you need?”

“Jeanne Armstrong.”

“What?”

“My boss wants her,
and I want my boss. You just need to get her to meet you and we’ll
take her.”

“You’re delusional
if you think I’m giving that girl to you.”

“My boss will hurt
you, Aud. I’m trying to stop that from happening because we’re
friends. Just help us get her, and then you can walk away.”

“
Keep him talking.
I’ve got a team closing in on his boss, and we’re looking here
for his hired help,” Reina tells me through the comm.

“What is so important
about Jeanne?”

“She’s brilliant.
Like crazy brilliant. The only people I think could score higher on
the challenges we gave her are Scott Griffin, and a girl you’ve
never heard of, Ainsley Martin. And they’re grown-ups.”

If only he knew that
I’ve not only heard of Ainsley, but that she’s currently working
to take him down, he’d probably fall out of his chair. “Okay, so
why not wait until she graduates from at least high school, and offer
her a job?”

“That would be too
late. The tech world isn’t like the scientific one. Things change
every second, and we need to be ahead of the game. Jeanne has the
potential to take us to the next level, and keep going. She’s so
young, and with the proper training, she could elevate us to the top
and keep us there.”

“You can’t just
hold her prisoner and make her work for you.”

“Why not? You know
Blake and Misha. They’re both so self-absorbed that neither one of
them will miss her. She’ll probably thank us for taking her.”

“Blake loves her.
He’d miss her. And she’d be miserable without him. Let me help
you get out of this situation, Jimmy. You’re a good guy, I know you
are.”

“She won’t marry me
if I don’t bring Jeanne back with me. I love her, Audrey.”

“She doesn’t love
you.”

“She does,” he
says, jumping from his chair and leaning over the desk. “She just
needs to keep her company going. She likes her lifestyle, and she
wouldn’t want to have to leave me for someone else who could
provide for her.”

“Are you listening to
what you’re saying?”

I know I shouldn’t
poke the bear, but this is nuts. I’m pretty sure he’s riding the
crazy train along with his woman, but maybe I can appeal to whatever
part of his brain is still functioning. Or at least keep him on his
toes until I get word that I can take him down.

“You don’t need to
understand, but you should. Wouldn’t you do anything to get Blake
Armstrong? Oh wait, you tried that in high school, and that didn’t
work. Do you still have your yellow prom dress?”

“Insulting me isn’t
really going to help you here.”

“Ah, so you do have
it.”

I do, but that’s none
of his business. “Actually, no. There was no reason for me to keep
that dress. It belonged to a girl who thought her identity was
contingent on a boy who humiliated her. As a woman, I know I don’t
need a man to define me. Would I like one—Blake—yes, but I can
live a very happy life without him. So to answer your question, no, I
would not do anything to get him.”

“
This guy is
really a piece of work, and I’m sorry you’re stuck with him. His
boss is taken care of, but we haven’t gotten the other guys yet.
Ainsley and Scott also found something weird on his company’s
server that they want to check out further. Just hang in there,”
Reina says.

“You may not need
Blake, but you need a man. I saw the way you dressed last night. If
I’d invited you up to my room last night, you would’ve gone with
me.”

I stop myself from
laughing, even though that’s really what I feel like doing. “No.
I wouldn’t have. I thought it would be nice to catch up with an old
friend, but that’s it. Did I dress up? Yes, but that was for me. I
was having a rough day, and I wanted to feel pretty.”

“You looked hot. You
look hot right now, too. If I wasn’t engaged, I’d make a play for
you.”

Which the little
asshole basically just did by saying that. He wants me, and I could
use that to my advantage, but I really don’t want to. He’s
unstable, and I’m pregnant. Just one of those things in this
situation would be bad, but together they could be deadly for one of
us. Or both.

Blake

I’m supposed to be at
the high school right now, but Reina called and asked me to have my
assistant director cover today’s practice. She also had me send the
tutors home. Jeanne and I are just sitting here, waiting for someone
to tell us what’s going on. Audrey’s phone is going straight to
voicemail, and that has me worried, too.

The door opens, and
Jeanne freaks out. “Oh my God! You’re Scott Griffin.”

“I am, and you are
Jeanne.”

He holds out a tattoo
covered arm, and shakes her hand, and then nods at me, before smiling
at my daughter once again. I see her sway a little, and I think that
means she just swooned. Oh hell no.