Seduction of Steel: The Complete Series (29 page)

“Pleased to meet you, Bill.  Excuse me, did you say he works for Peavy Manufacturing?”

“Yes, he does.  He's the Information Security supervisor from their corporate headquarters in Schenectady.  Bill, why don't you tell Jessica what I've been doing here.”

“Well, we've had some problems with internal and external hacking, and I wanted to hire someone from outside the company to test our security.  Ryan comes highly recommended, so we gave him the job.”

Jessica looked astonished.  “You mean the story I told yesterday was actually the truth?”

Ryan answered her.  “Not exactly.  Bill was the only person in the company who knew about this test.  I was, effectively, a hired thief.”

“Were you successful?  How did that go?” Bill asked.

“I was successful, Bill.  I have two flash drives full of sensitive manufacturing and patent documents.  Not only that, but your staff gave me full access to all of your files simply because I identified myself as being from corporate security.  Oh, and Elaine Joseph, your security head at the plant, believed every word Jessica told her when she arrived to impersonate someone from corporate headquarters.”
 

Bill rubbed his chin.  “It seems to me that we have some security gaps to work on, including making sure our employees know with whom they are doing business.  By the way, do you have the flash drives with you?”

“I do.  Here you go.”  Ryan handed the cuff links to Bill.

“Do you have anything else for me?” Bill asked.

“I'm working on a complete report for you.  I'll have it for you in a few days.”

Jessica looked at Ryan.  “If this was all just a test, and you weren't doing anything illegal, why didn't you tell me about it ahead of time?  Why wait until now?”

“I wasn't sure you'd be able to be convincing if you knew we weren't in a real, serious situation.  I thought it best to keep you in the dark on this.”

“You're probably right, but I still wish you had told me first.”

Bill looked at Jessica.  “It seems that Ryan's got pretty good help on his team.  Do you two always work together?”

“Not always, but it's happening more and more often.”

“I like having her around, so anything is possible,” Ryan added.

Bill changed the subject.  “Let's have some breakfast.  The Creole Crab Benedict is really good here.  So's the French Toast.”

They enjoyed their meal and made small talk about New Orleans and restaurants.  When they were finished, they all shook hands and bid one another farewell.

Ryan and Jessica returned to the hotel to check out.

“I'm really going to miss this hotel, Ryan. It's beautiful, it's got a great view of Bourbon Street, and I'll have some really good memories of the time we spent here.”

“It was fun.  But I think I could be happy just about anywhere with you, Jess.  You're beautiful, you're great company, and there's no one I'd rather spend my time with.”

“You're sweet.”  She walked over from packing her suitcase and gave him a quick kiss.

He put his arms around her  “I love you, Jess.”

“I love you, too, Ryan.”

Ryan pulled her to his lips and gave her one of those knee-buckling kisses that always made her tingle from head to toe.

“So, Ryan, what's next?” she asked after she caught her breath.

“I guess we fly back to Denver.  I've got to write a full report to send to Bill.  After that, I'm not sure.  We could take a vacation, if you like.”

“I don't know.  More travel?  Right away?  I've got another book to write.  It's about a spy who has to break into a company's computer system...”

Ryan cut her off.  “I think I know how that story ends.  You sure you don't want to go on a vacation?”
“We'll talk about it on the plane, OK?”

“OK.  Come on.  We need to go or we'll miss our flight.”

They caught the next flight to Denver, and Jessica started on her next book that night.

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After finishing her unpacking, Jessica sat down at her laptop and began typing.

The Corporate Raider

Bryan was handsome, but not so good looking that he couldn't masquerade as anyone.  As a top industrial spy, he'd pretended to be a scientist, an airline pilot, and a ship's mechanic.  Today, he simply needed to figure out how to steal vital data from one of the world's most secure corporate computer systems...

The end of
Stolen Secrets
.

Cayman Commitment

...Bryan smiled cleverly, showing Jennifer the microfilm that he had hidden in his belt buckle.  He had, it seemed, managed to abscond with the documents that had so eluded him throughout his mission.

Jennifer ran her fingers through his hair.  “I knew you'd find a way to do it, Bryan.  By the way, as long as you've got your belt unbuckled...”

She never finished her sentence, as Bryan's lips met hers with a fiery passion.  She melted in his arms, feeling so safe, so secure and so loved.

And until his next assignment, he was all hers.  She didn't intend to waste a minute of it.

The End of The Corporate Spy

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Jessica Steel declared her latest book finished.  She had been on a roll lately when it came to writing.  It wasn't all that long ago that the best-selling author of erotic fiction was hopelessly blocked and unable to write a word.  Then she went on a cruise, met handsome Ryan Stevens, an industrial spy, and her world changed in ways she'd never imagined.

She was traveling with Ryan and seeing the world.  She was, courtesy of his job, finding enough to write about that she was sure she'd never have writer's block again.  Best of all, she was desperately in love with the most passionate, attentive and caring man she'd ever known.  That he was physically gorgeous was icing on the cake.

Jessica was happy.

Of course, she'd like more, as any woman might.  Jessica was still living with her roommate, Amber Mitchell, a shapely redhead who always acted as if she didn't have a care in the world.  She liked Amber, but she longed to have her relationship with Ryan turn into something deeper.  He loved her; of that she had no doubt.  But Ryan was constantly traveling and his job was occasionally dangerous and that meant many lonely and worrisome nights for Jessica.

She longed for stability in her life and in her relationship.  Perhaps that would come in time. For now, she was happy to have such an amazing man in her life.

Jessica closed her laptop and went into the kitchen to prepare something to eat.  Just then, Amber came in, returning home from work at the coffee shop.  Amber was a great roommate and a good friend, but she and Jessica weren't seeing much of each other these days.  Amber worked odd hours and spent a lot of time at her boyfriend Jason's apartment, and Jessica was often away, traveling with her globetrotting spy boyfriend.  Jessica missed her roommate's company, and she was glad to be able to see her now.

Amber was positively giddy as she came in the door.

“Jess!  It finally happened!  Jason proposed!”  Amber could barely contain herself as she showed Jessica her engagement ring.

“Wow.  That's a beautiful ring.  When did this happen?” 

“Last night, after I got off of work.  Jason took me to that Italian restaurant down on Colfax and proposed right after dessert.  He even got down on his knee to do it.  He was so sweet.”

“That sounds so romantic.  I'm happy for you, Amber.”

“Thanks.  I was wondering if he was ever going to propose.  I thought Jason might be allergic to commitment or something.”

“A lot of men are.  So, when are you two getting married?”

“I'm not sure yet.  Probably in about six months.  His whole family is back on the East Coast, and it's going to take a lot of time to play.”

Jessica gave Amber a hug.  “That's great.  I'm going to miss having you around.”

“You're sweet, Jess.  I'll miss you, too.  But I'm not going anywhere just yet.  How's Ryan?”

“He's great.  He hasn't had too much to do lately in the way of work, but right now he's in Pittsburgh, seeing his parents.”

“Again? Wasn't he just there a few weeks ago?”

“He was.  His father is ill and Ryan wants to spend as much time with him as possible now.  I admire him for that.”

“I do, too.  I wish I'd spent more time with my parents before they died.”

“Are you hungry?  I was going to fix something to eat, but we don't have much in the fridge.  Want to go out?”

“Sure.  Pizza OK with you?”

Jessica and Amber went out for pizza that night and spent the evening discussing wedding plans, always-gone boyfriends and other things of little consequence to anyone but themselves.

Jessica had just crawled into bed when she got a call from Ryan.  He sounded distraught.

“Hi, Jess. Sorry to call so late.”

Jessica turned on the lamp on the nightstand.  “That's OK.  You can call me anytime.  How are you?”

“I'm fine.  Dad passed away today.”

“Oh, Ryan.  I'm so sorry.”

“Thanks.  He'd been ill for a while.  At least he's not suffering anymore.”

“Have you made arrangements?”
 

“Yes.  We'll have a small ceremony the day after tomorrow.  I'll need a few more days here.”

“I understand. I miss you, Ryan.”

“I miss you, too, Jess.  There's another reason why I called.  I need to take a trip, and I'd like you to come along.”

“Where?”

“The Cayman Islands.  Are you interested?”

Jessica smiled.  She had met Ryan on a cruise ship, and they had spent a terrific day on the beach making love in the Caymans.  Her memories of the Caymans were fond ones.  She would gladly visit there again, especially with Ryan.

“The Caymans?  Of course I'd like to go there again.  When do we leave?  I can pack right now.”

Ryan laughed at Jessica's eagerness.  “A week from tomorrow, if that's OK with you.  I have a bit of work to do there, but I think we can manage some free time, too.”

“That would be great.”

“I'll see you in a few days.  I'll call you every day while I'm still in Pittsburgh, OK?”

“OK.  I love you, Ryan.”
 

“I love you, too, Jess.  Go to sleep.”

“Good night.”

Jessica hung up the phone and turned out the lamp.  She had trouble going to sleep, though, as she couldn't help but think about the wonderful time she and Ryan had in the Caymans on that cruise.

They were going to a tropical paradise again in a week.  She couldn't wait.

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Jessica and Ryan once again flew in first class to the Caymans and Jessica still marveled at how nice it is to travel that way.  It's a long flight to the Caribbean, and the extra legroom, the wider seats, and the in-flight meal were all luxuries that she appreciated.  She also loved that Ryan was willing to pamper her.  After all, flying coach would have been fine; it's the way she'd flown all of her life.