Solace in Scandal (16 page)

Yet she needed him. That brilliant, calculating mind …

Every tick of the clock pulled her nerves tighter as she watched the manor. The kitchen door finally opened and Alex appeared. He trotted down the hill, his long legs eating up the distance fast. She opened the door before he even knocked and waved him inside.

‘Are you OK? What is it?’

She swallowed hard. ‘My computer. Something is wrong.’

The stiffness left his face, but the relief lasted only a brief second. It was quickly replaced with serenity, but the expression looked forced. His eyes were too bright. Bright and alert.

Grabbing his hand, she dragged him over to the coffee table. ‘It’s had that hourglass for the last fifteen minutes.’

He stared at it for a moment longer than was comfortable. ‘You want me to look at your computer.’

She shifted uneasily. ‘Yes. Everything is on there – my notes, my bibliography, the first draft of my dissertation. Everything!’

‘Me,’ he emphasised.

Her hold turned vice-like on his warm hand. Well, no, but yes. He was the last person she wanted around her files, but he had the expertise she needed. ‘You seemed like a good choice. You are the CEO of a software company.’

She dropped her gaze. ‘And I am sleeping with you.’

He caught her chin and made her look at him. His gaze bored into hers, but the hard suspicion gave way to surprise and that seemed to unsettle him. He cleared his throat, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He nodded grimly. ‘OK. I’ll see what I can do.’

‘Thank you.’ She wrung her hands as he took a place on the sofa.

‘What happened?’ he asked.

‘It’s been acting funny for a few days. Today, it just started closing down programs. Now it won’t boot up again. I just get that stupid hourglass.’

He nodded, his brow furrowing. ‘OK, let’s see if I can get to a command line.’

He rolled up his sleeves. She didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one, but his fingers were confident as they moved over her keyboard.

She sat on the couch next to him, her legs folded underneath her. She didn’t know what she was going to do if he couldn’t fix whatever was wrong.

He looked at her again, his grey gaze considering. After a moment, he reached out and squeezed her knee. ‘Breathe.’

Heat flowed from the contact, startling her but focusing her.

Breathe. Yes, she’d done enough yoga to know that her breaths were too shallow and her body was strung like a wire. There was nothing she could do but let go. She had to trust him in this.

Keeping her gaze locked with his, she inhaled deeply. Her lungs filled and she let the air out through her mouth. It wasn’t good, but it was a start.

‘Better.’ His expression turned contemplative, and he focused on her ailing machine.

Elena fought to keep her breaths even. His presence seemed bigger here in the tiny cottage. Almost overwhelming. The last she’d seen of him, they’d been cuddled up together on his bed. Naked.

‘I may be a bit rusty,’ he confessed.

‘Rusty? Why … oh.’

It was ironic, but there were times when she forgot how he’d spent his last years.

‘Sorry,’ she murmured.

Eighteen months wasn’t that long except in the software field – and most likely – prison. For him to admit that his skills were out of date, though … He was less cocky than he’d been before the trial and harder. Scarier, to be truthful.

And sexier. Her mother wasn’t blind.

She watched his muscled forearms and big hands as he worked, remembering how they’d felt on her body. Her belly squeezed, and heat settled between her legs. She tugged the nearby pillow onto her lap.

He wasn’t rusty with anything.

She hugged the pillow so hard the filling plumped out the corners. Sometimes she felt so naive around him. Forget the scandal. He was a world-renowned business innovator, while she was just a student. Then there was his wealth and the way other people treated him. When he was in a room, there was no doubt who was in charge. Nobody in her sphere came close to him, and sometimes she didn’t know how to act around him.

Other than when he kissed her.

They didn’t seem to have any problems relating then. Sensing her attention, he turned his head. His gaze settled on her lips, and they tingled. Got puffy.

Her body pulsed and her nipples stiffened. How did he do that? A word or a look and she was his.

The clock in the corner gave a low chime, announcing the hour. She flinched, and Alex’s gaze turned to it. Something in his attention shifted, and he relaxed back against the cushions. ‘I haven’t heard that in years.’

‘The chimes?’ Trying to cover her discomfort, she looked to the polished wood and brass fixture. She loved that clock, but she’d gotten so used to the melodic tolls she barely noticed them any more. ‘Did it used to be up in the manor?’

‘It’s been here as long as I can remember.’

His gaze was hazy, as if he was somewhere far away.

‘One of those memories popping up?’ she asked.

His eyes went darker, and he sat up again to return to her computer. ‘This was my secret spot,’ he confessed. ‘It was a good hiding place, but eventually I’d have to go back.’

She frowned. ‘To the main house?’

‘Yeah.’ His fingers stilled on the keyboard. ‘Like now,’ he said, breaking out of it. He closed the laptop with a snap. ‘This needs help I can’t give it here.’

Her heart sank. She’d thought he’d be able to fix it with a push of a few buttons.

‘I have more diagnostic tools up at the manor.’ He held out his hand for her. ‘Come on. We’ll have some dinner while we’re at it.’

She tilted her head back to look at him. She’d heard that line before.

His face took on that flat expression again. ‘I have no seduction plans. You ran back here pretty damn fast this morning, and I hadn’t heard from you. I didn’t know where things stood between us.’

She didn’t know either.

Yet she put her hand in his.

His fingers tightened around hers. ‘That doesn’t mean it won’t happen again.’

No, she was beginning to understand how it was for both of them. A spark. A glance. Something so little could ignite into so much more.

She followed him to the door, but he stopped and pulled the grey hoodie off the hook. He held it out to her, and she obediently put it on. She tugged up the sleeves and pulled her hair out so it swung down her back. When she lifted her chin, she found him looking at her in that intense way and the air in the room became charged. ‘Why did you give this back to me?’ she asked.

‘Because I like seeing it on you.’ He ran his finger around the shell of her ear, sending shivers down her neck. He pulled back. ‘I like what it says.’

‘What does it say?’

He hesitated a moment, but then cleared his throat. ‘That you like me wrapped around you.’

Her stomach flipped. She didn’t think that was what he intended to say, but it made a powerful image. Danger signs flared in her head. Her mother had warned her not to follow her hormones.

Yet she took his hand as he led her up the hill. ‘How bad is my computer?’

She could only tackle one dilemma at a time.

‘I’m hoping I can rescue the data.’

‘But the machine?’

‘Probably shouldn’t even be siphoned for parts. I’ll put everything on a new one.’

Her steps slowed. ‘How much will that cost?’

He got a funny look on his face. ‘You do know who I am, right?’

‘If you have a loaner one I can use …’

‘I have a brand spanking new one you can have.’

‘I’ll pay you for it,’ she promised.

He began walking again. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

A damp chill was in the air, and Elena had a feeling the dog days of summer were gone. Fall had settled in, and it looked like it was going to be a dreary one. The colour of the season was fading fast, and everything was blending into a bleak grey.

It wasn’t an atmosphere conducive to hope.

She hurried through the door to the manor when Alex opened it for her. Tonight, the kitchen was quiet. She frowned when she didn’t see Marta hovering over the stove. The cook seemed to delight in feeding them.

And watching them with curiosity.

‘Leonard?’ Alex called.

The butler appeared in the doorway, his polished shoes somehow not making any sound on the hardwood floor. ‘Yes, sir?’

‘How long until James returns?’

‘Not long. He called and is almost to Bedford.’

Alex nodded and lifted the laptop. ‘We’ll be in the tech room.’

Leonard’s forehead furrowed. ‘Nothing serious, I hope.’

Elena hung up the hoodie and sent a woeful look the butler’s way. ‘Cross your fingers for me.’

A compassionate look came over his face. ‘You’ve got the right man working on the problem, dear.’

The right man.

She stuffed her fingertips into the pockets of her jeans. Was he?

‘This way,’ Alex said. ‘Marta had a doctor’s appointment, so we’re having takeout tonight. Is that OK?’

‘It’s fine.’ She hooked her hair behind her ear. ‘Your staff doesn’t need to wait on me.’

‘They like you.’

He led her down the hallway to the left, a direction she’d never gone before. Her eyebrows lifted when he pushed a button on the wall. It was an elevator.

He stepped inside when the carriage door opened, and she frowned. ‘Your claustrophobia doesn’t bother you in there?’

He punched a button. ‘The controls are on the inside.’

‘Ah.’ She joined him and watched the buttons as they lit up one-by-one. It wasn’t necessarily the small space, but the loss of control. For a man who controlled everything, that made sense.

Prison must have been hell on earth for him.

Her heart ached for him, but the sympathy came with a healthy dose of shame. Most people would say that the punishment fit the crime.

She might have, too, until a few days ago. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

The ride to the third floor was short. When the doors opened, Elena found herself in a long hallway very similar to the one on the second floor. Like there, the doors were open. She followed Alex into a room. The moment she stepped inside, her jaw dropped.

The tech room, he’d so nonchalantly called it.

Talk about an understatement. This was techie heaven.

There were workbenches filled with wires, circuit boards and gauges. Tables held desktop computers, laptops, tablets, phones and power cords. Surge protectors and monitors were on shelves. MP3 players and televisions filled in the gaps.

‘I had a few things brought here in preparation for my arrival,’ he confessed.

‘A few things?’ She walked around eyeing the assortment. It was awe-inspiring, and it reminded her more clearly who he was. Not the criminal, but one of the world’s leading thinkers. She was in the home of a tech industry giant. By all rights, she shouldn’t even know him.

Much less be having sex with him.

He went directly to a workbench in front of yet another window that looked out on Wolfe Lake. He set her laptop down and turned to a metal rack filled with components and newer, fancier models.

He selected a razor-thin silver laptop. ‘Will this do?’

Who was she to argue with him? ‘Whatever you think is best.’

Her guilt over accepting a castoff from him was lessening. He had so much. She sat down on a stool and folded her hands in her lap. Once again, she was afraid to touch anything. ‘I thought your specialty was software.’

‘It is, but I dabble.’

He dabbled. Like he read advanced books on macroeconomics and trained like an Olympic athlete.

He held a tiny screwdriver over her laptop. ‘Is it going to bother you to watch me do this?’

Absolutely.

‘No,’ she said.

He lifted an eyebrow. ‘Liar.’

She lowered her gaze.

He’d just unscrewed the first screw when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and then back to her. ‘I need to take this.’

She looked around the room when he stepped away. It was organised and tidy, but not pristine like the rest of the house. This was a room that was used, not a showpiece. Everything looked to be top-of-the-line, but where there were communication tools and high-end electronics, there were also gadgets. And toys.

She’d wondered once if she’d ever see the true Wolfe. This might be as close as she’d get.

‘You’re sure? Nothing?’ he asked the caller. She sat a little straighter on the stool when he realised she was staring right at her. ‘All right, email me your findings.’

He hung up, and that cool grey gaze settled on her again. Elena tried not to fidget as he walked back over to her. He put down his tools and settled a protective hand over her laptop.

‘Why don’t I work on this later?’

‘Are you sure? It won’t hurt anything to wait?’

‘Only your nerves.’ He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheek. He stared at her for so long, it became uncomfortable.

‘What?’ she whispered.

He shook his head briefly. ‘You confuse me, too.’ Pushing away from the tall workbench, he caught her hand. ‘Let’s go see about that dinner.’

They rode the elevator back down to the main floor, but Elena wasn’t hungry. Worry had taken her appetite. The driver was just coming in the kitchen door when they got there. She blinked when she saw the square white boxes in his massive brown hands.

‘Grimaldi’s?’ She recognised the logo on sight, and her mouth began to water. She hadn’t eaten there in months. ‘From the city? Are you serious?’

Alex shrugged. ‘It sounded good. We might have to reheat it a bit. I hope that’s OK.’

She looked at him, dumbfounded. He must have been craving New York style pizza.

‘What would you like to drink, Miss Elena?’

Leonard took over at that point, ushering them into the breakfast nook.

Elena was still stunned. She looked at the pizza on her plate, unable to fathom that they’d brought it in from the city. New York was an hour away, yet Alex had thought nothing of the extravagance. ‘It’s a bit overwhelming to be you, isn’t it?’

He stopped shaking red pepper on his slice. ‘What do you mean?’

‘All of this.’ She toyed with the napkin in her lap. Somehow, linen didn’t seem right. ‘It’s all so much. The houses and the land, the private gym, a NSA-worthy electronics suite …’