Hardwired For Ecstasy (2 page)

“The
public information out there hints the hacking was an inside job at NSSL. Is
that true?”

“Yes
and no. We do know key people involved with the project had to have leaked
information the hackers would have needed to access and take down the program.
As far as we know, none of the hackers actually worked on the program itself.
And what the public doesn’t know is that information was on separate servers.
That fact was never leaked to the media.”

She
nodded several times. “Very clever. Because the info came from those servers,
all of you knew it had to be people with access to them.”

“Yes,
except there were over fifteen hundred people working on the project in one
form or another, and approximately one hundred and fifty with access to the key
facts we know the hackers had.”

“I
had no idea it was that massive.” There was a
lot
of information circulating that Emma now realized was flat out
wrong.

“Our
problem now is that we can’t simply hack into the program and change the code.
The hackers, or one of them, screwed up. They put a string of code in the wrong
place, and now the program is functioning on its own. It’s doing what it was
designed to do. Feed off the earth’s magnetic fields. But instead of someone
telling it when, where, and how much, it’s simply running continuously.”

“So
to stop it you either need to figure out a way to hack back in, or shut down
the fields. Which of course you can’t do.”

“We
can’t shut them down, obviously, but we might be able to reverse them.”

“Excuse
me?” Could that actually be done?

“It’s
a long shot, but we have people working on the possibility.”

“I
had no idea things were this dire. I suppose I assumed like everyone that we
could simply survive like this for as long as we needed to.”

“That’s
what we all thought at first.”

“So
why the push for this app? I mean, wouldn’t my skills be better used looking
for the final hacker?”

“I
have a team of people on that. The other eleven Weathermen each also have a
team on it. I’m a person who thinks ahead. I believe we will find a way to shut
down the program. One day we will be able to live on the surface again. So in
the meantime, I need to think of ways my company can stay in business and help
people accomplish useful things at the same time.”

Once
again, Emma hoped her disappointment didn’t show. While his plan for utilizing
her skills was a challenging one, after hearing what he’d said about their
progress so far, and how little time they all had, she now wanted to help them
find this last hacker.

“What
do you think?” he asked, uncrossing his legs. “Are you up to the challenge?”
His gaze was so intense she almost started picturing him nude again. She
wondered what it would be like to look into his eyes while making love, then
realized he’d asked her a question she hadn’t yet answered.

“Absolutely.”

When
he smiled, she hoped she’d been wrong about how much time had passed before
she’d answered. He’d wonder if he hadn’t hired a fool.

Her
new job had suddenly become even more interesting than she’d believed it was
before meeting him. She’d be an idiot to return to Central now, knowing what
she knew. Her entire life had changed, just as she’d dreamed it would. She only
hoped she was up to the challenge of not only coming up with the gadget he
envisioned, but managing not to fall under his spell.

Now
she understood what all the fuss was about concerning these men. Atticus was
hypnotic. Charisma and charm oozed from him. Keeping her wits about her would
be a much bigger challenge than designing the device and its software.

Chapter
Two

Atticus
didn’t have to take Emma to HR himself. He had a team of administrative
assistants who could do that, as well as show her to her office and help her
access the systems she’d need to work. But he couldn’t take his eyes off her,
so he escorted her to the elevator. He had seen her pictures online while
searching her background, but she was much prettier in person.

Hair
the color of rich chocolate that was the perfect length for her heart-shaped
face, plus dark, expressive eyes that held intelligence as well as passion. The
one thing he hadn’t found in her background check was whether or not she was
seeing anyone. That he’d have to investigate on his own.

“By
the way, I wear a suit everyday to the office, but the dress code here is
fairly loose. Jeans are all right, but I draw the line at shorts and tank
tops.”

“Really?
I’m surprised to hear you say that. The receptionist downstairs looks like she
walked off the pages of a fashion magazine, and whoever showed me to your
office was equally well groomed.”

They
stepped into the elevator, and he pushed the button for two floors down.
“Anyone coming into contact with the public has higher expectations. You’ll be
in an office on the same floor as mine, but I doubt you’ll see outside
customers until you have a mock-up of the device.”

The
door opened, and she raised her brows as she glanced toward him. “Are you
saying I’ll be presenting the mock-up to people outside your company?”

“Yes,
of course. I’ll be with you when you do, but it’s your design.”

They
walked down the hallway, her heels making soft sounds on the carpet. He caught
a whiff of shampoo and it sent images of standing under the spray of a shower
with her, while he washed her hair and then worked his way down her curvy body.

Down, boy! You just met her.

“That’s
so exciting. I’ve never done anything like that before. I’ve always worked
behind the scenes.”

“You’re
too pretty to keep behind the scenes.” The second the words were out of his
mouth, he wished he could take them back.
Fucking
idiot!
His impulsiveness had landed him in hot water more than once. You’d
think he’d have learned by now.

He
stopped outside the door to HR and looked into her eyes. “Forgive me. That was
a horribly sexist thing to say.”

He’d
expected one of two reactions. Either she’d flirt with him, or she’d be
offended. Atticus glimpsed neither reaction on her face. Instead, he saw what
he swore was fear, but then it was gone quickly, replaced by a neutral
expression that him wondering if she’d practiced it.

What the hell?

“Yes,
it was very sexist, but not unexpected.”

“What
do you mean by that?”

A
slight flush crept up her neck, making his dick twitch. He loved to watch a
woman blush. There was something so endearing about it.

“I
mean because of your reputation online.”

“Oh.
That.” The bane of his existence. Even Ace and Emmett, both now married, had to
deal with constant rumors about their sex lives in the tabloids.

“I
didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You
didn’t. I shouldn’t have said that to you. It’s your first day, after all.”
Only one way to find out if there’s a
possibility here…
“I mean, what would you think of me if I asked you out
before you even have a chance to set up your work area?”

He
watched several emotions cross her face, one of which was definitely fear. Had
he missed something important in her background? That wasn’t like him. He’d
have to go over what he’d found on her again. This morning, before he did
anything else.

She
cut her gaze toward the end of the hallway, but they were alone. Was she hoping
someone came along so this conversation would end, or was she checking to make
sure no one could hear them?

“Are
you asking me out?”

His
dick twitched again. “Yes.”

She
searched his face for several seconds. “Atticus, I do appreciate the offer, but
I’m seeing someone.”

Shit
. “Have I offended you by asking?”

“No.
No, you haven’t.”

She
held his gaze far too long for a woman who was actually involved in another
relationship and wouldn’t consider cheating on her man. If she was the type who
would, he wasn’t interested anyway. If she’d lied to him about dating someone,
why had she done so? What was she hiding? And why was it a subject that she was
afraid of?

As
Atticus opened the door to the HR department and stood aside so Emma could
enter first, he glanced down, admiring the way her very nice ass moved under
her skirt. He’d missed something in her background. Either that, or she’d
hidden it well. But why would a woman try to hide someone she was dating?

He
could think of several reasons, none of which he wanted to find out about the
woman he’d just hired to design his latest pet project, and to whom he’d told
way too much about the hackers. If she turned out to be bad news… He didn’t
want to go there because it made him angry. It wasn’t like him to fuck up like
this.

Why
had
he done that? Why had he confided
so much to her? She had a look of vulnerability that had reached into his soul,
that’s why. But business was business, and he had to protect his at all costs. Each
of them had to, especially now.

Once
she’d taken care of everything in HR, he escorted her to her office and
introduced her to Cindy Wolff.

“Cindy
is one of the administrative assistants who works exclusively on this floor.
She’ll help you get set up and ready to work. I’ll email you this morning with
a tentative schedule for meetings to monitor your progress, and I’ll set up a
time later this week so you can meet other key people in the organization whom
you’ll be working with eventually.”

Atticus
had intended on helping her get set up on his own, but his priority now was
finding out what he’d missed, or what she was hiding.

“Thank
you again for this opportunity. I won’t let you down.” She stuck out her hand,
and he didn’t hesitate to shake it again. Touching her sent a shiver down his
spine. That was usually a sure sign he’d end up having at least one date with
the woman, but now he knew that wouldn’t happen with Emma.

“I’m
sure you won’t. Happy to have you on board.” His response was automatic,
hurried. He wanted to return to his office as soon as possible. After rattling
off instructions to Cindy, Atticus left her and Emma on their own. Time to get
to work on discovering what he’d missed about her life in Central.

****

Once
Cindy was convinced Emma had everything figured out, she left the office and
Emma stared at the blank walls. Cindy had explained she could decorate the
office any way she liked, but Emma wasn’t picturing prints on the walls or what
color she might have them painted.

Her
mind had wandered back to Central, and the primary reason she’d started looking
for another job. Atticus had spotted her reaction. There was no doubt about it.
And she was convinced he also knew she had lied about seeing someone.

None
of that would matter if she wasn’t now working for a man who had made it his
life’s mission to dig beneath the surface and ferret out hackers. If he could
do that, he’d certainly uncover her prior relationship with Leland Clough.

Emma
rose from the beautifully carved wooden desk and walked to one of two walls of
windows that met at a ninety degree angle. She had a corner office, and it was
as lavish as anything she’d ever seen in Central. It was also too large for
just one person to work in, but that might be because she’d spent the past
seven years working in a cubicle inside a tiny room with three other people.

This
city might not have buildings as tall as those in Central, but it looked like
it terms of the fake sky, the fake river in the distance, and the park in the
center of town that had been designed to make people think they were still on
the surface.

CentralEast
was built under parts of what used to be Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia,
Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. As such, the city’s architecture didn’t
mimic only one distinct part of the country, as some of the other cities did.
It was a mish-mosh of Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and southern states.

She
couldn’t complain so far. She had a very nice apartment to live in, and the
rent was far less expensive than what she’d paid in Central for a smaller
place. She had a job where she’d finally be able to use all her skills, and her
boss was major eye candy.

Emma
sighed and took a seat in one of the leather armchairs. Major eye candy who had
made a totally inappropriate sexual remark and then asked her out.

If
Leland had never happened, she’d have gone out with Atticus in a heartbeat,
even knowing what she knew about him from the tabloids. That was her specialty,
after all. Or rather, it
used
to be
her specialty. Falling for charming, charismatic men who were also commitment-phobes.

Once bitten, twice burned
. But once was all it took.
Especially when the bite included the kind of information about himself that
Leland had kept from her.

A
ping from her work machine had her rising and walking back to her desk. It was
the promised email from Atticus, with a schedule of meetings for the next six
months to talk about her progress. He’d set them up weekly, which meant she’d
better get to work. She already had a few ideas from their conversation this
morning.

She
accepted all the meetings, and checked to be sure they had populated into her
calendar. Cindy had shown her how to sync her work calendar to her phone, so she
made sure that had worked as well, and then she accessed the design program on
her machine. It was time to make a gadget.

****

Atticus
asked Ivy Masterson, the administrative assistant who scheduled all his
meetings, to clear his calendar for the rest of the day. Because Emma’s
reaction of fear hadn’t happened until he’d told her she was too pretty to stay
behind the scenes, and then again when he’d made that quip about asking her
out, Atticus went back to the list he’d made of her former coworkers and supervisors
at the Central Police Headquarters.

This
was a woman who had an impeccable work record. She hadn’t missed more than a
handful of days for illness in seven years, and had received nothing but
glowing performance reviews. It was a rare thing to see these days, as were
people with great work ethics. At the time he’d chalked it up to a lucky find.
Now, he wasn’t so sure.

Her
performance reviews had been electronically signed by the captain of the
station for the past three years, which was a change from prior years when they
had been signed by a sergeant at the same station.

The
sergeant was still there, so it might have simply been a change in the
supervision of civilian personnel, but Atticus wanted to be sure. He searched a
database he had no business having access to but that he’d used countless times
in the past, and pulled up the signature pages of her coworkers’ performance
reviews for the past three years. They had all been signed by the sergeant.

Then
he made sure Emma had not been transferred to a different department, given a
promotion, or been given a different title which might explain why the police
captain had begun signing her performance reviews instead of the sergeant. He
found no evidence her job title or department had changed.

Had
the police captain been blackmailing her, or had she become involved with him?
Was she
still
involved with him? Was
he the man she was seeing? Pretty stupid move on this captain’s part to single
her out by signing her performance reviews, but nothing surprised Atticus any
longer. People in lust did stupid things.

He
went back to the usual sites he used for background checks and searched for
information on Leland Clough from Central. He didn’t have to search far, and
what he found made him so angry he had an urge to punch a wall. Instead he
fired off an email to Emma, asking to see her immediately. She deserved a
chance to explain this in person before he fired her ass.