“I don’t have to get into his office?”
“No. You’ll stay with me,” he vowed.
He felt a shudder go through her. “Good. I have to admit, everything I’ve found out about what Nolan might be into scares the crap out of me. I’m not a spy. I’m in over my head.”
He hugged her close. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She held him for a moment more and then stepped back. “All right. I’m glad you’re coming in with me. Are you ready?”
“Of course.” He was supposed to meet Byrne this morning and perhaps have coffee with the man. It would be hard to leave her in the building when it came time to go. “If you need anything, text me or flash a sign to the security cameras. Someone will be watching. I promise.”
It was a promise he meant to keep.
* * * *
Maddie was still thinking about the night before as they walked out of the elevator onto her floor, her hand in Deke’s. It did not get past her notice that every head turned as she started down the hall.
She supposed her coworkers were surprised to see her with a guy since she’d never brought one to the office. Or a party. Or any kind of event. As far as any of them knew she was in a relationship with her computer.
Then there was the fact that Deke was gorgeous and she was kind of a geek.
It was high school all over again.
“Morning, Madeline.” Kelly Vinson looked Deke up and down as she walked by, her arms full of files.
“Morning.” She felt awkward in a place where she normally held a lot of power. She nodded to a couple of the guys on her team, who stared openly.
“My office is in the back corner.” She led Deke along.
“This whole place is nice,” Deke said. “You’ve come a long way from Calhoun High.”
She opened the door to her office and felt like she could breathe once she was inside. “It doesn’t feel like it today. Everyone was looking at me.”
“Yeah, I noticed. You don’t normally bring men up here, do you?”
“Never. I’ve dated, but I kept those two parts of my life separate.”
Deke got into her space. He seemed to do that a lot, as if he needed to be close to her. He put a hand on her hip and drew her in. “Kiss me.”
She didn’t even try to fight the instinct to obey that command. When Deke kissed her she forgot about everything else. The world seemed to melt away. She went on her toes and pressed her lips to his. She’d decided to live in the moment. Even if they got the information they needed soon, Deke wouldn’t be leaving for a while. He’d explained that he would need to stay close until there was some sort of conclusion, and that could take months.
She’d woken early and laid there, acknowledging that there was no way she wouldn’t end up in bed with him again. As long as they were in close proximity, she would give in to his temptation. After the night before she wasn’t sure why she’d tried to stay away.
He’d given her everything she’d needed the night before. Well, everything physical. He’d shut her down when she’d wanted to talk about what had happened to him in Iraq. It had been good to be reminded that those years apart were a closed door between them.
His hands found her hair and he took over the kiss, his tongue surging in. She let her whole body go soft.
This was what she needed. She needed to let go of the emotional stuff and concentrate on how good he could make her feel.
“Knock, knock.”
She gasped, pulled back, and would have fallen on her ass if Deke hadn’t caught her.
Nolan stood in her doorway, a big smile on his face. It was an odd expression, though one she’d seen a thousand times. She’d never been able to properly explain what bothered her about her boss’s smile before. It was out of synch with the look in his eyes, as though he’d trained himself to smile even when he wasn’t feeling it. He was in his normal uniform—pressed jeans, button-down, untucked shirt, his brown hair in an almost military cut.
“Nolan.” She straightened her skirt, hoping her hair had survived. Deke liked to sink his fingers in. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I can understand why.” He moved into the office, holding out a hand. “I’m Nolan Byrne. You must be Deke.”
Deke smiled and gripped Nolan’s hand, shaking it. “Yes, Deke Murphy. It’s good to meet you.”
“Oh, no. It’s good to meet you.” Nolan stepped back, nodding his head. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re an actual real person.”
“Of course he’s real.” Maddie frowned her boss’s way. Had he thought she’d made him up? She kind of had, but he couldn’t know that.
“Well, we’ve never seen our Madeline with a guy before.” Nolan smiled her way. “She’s married to her job. I’m glad to know she’s got some balance in her life. Work-life balance is so important. I was glad she got to spend some time with her cousin this weekend.”
Her heart rate ticked up. Did he know something? Or was he just being a decent boss? Were they all wrong about him? “I appreciated the time off.”
“You earned it. You’ve barely taken a vacation day since you started,” Nolan said. “I suspect that will change, though it’s going to have to wait until the launch.”
“We’re working on her taking more time for herself.” Deke put an arm around her shoulder.
Nolan winced slightly. “Well, I’m afraid we need her around here for the next few weeks. We’ve got a big launch coming up.”
“Yes,” Deke agreed. “I’ve heard a bit about the project, though I have to admit, I don’t understand about half of what Maddie says when she starts talking tech.”
“Yes, she’s very enthusiastic.” Nolan turned to her, hopefully with a problem she could solve so she didn’t have to stand here and feel awkward while her boss talked to her… She wasn’t sure what she should call Deke. But it was weird listening to them talk. “I was hoping to catch you before you got your day started. Naman is having some problems with the audio integration. I thought you might help him out. After Justin passed, he was shifted in to the position, and it’s been a struggle to figure out exactly what Justin was doing. He was brilliant, but the project notes he left behind aren’t great.”
Oh, she would love to get a look at his project notes. And the code. If she had Justin’s original code, she and MaeBe could compare it to whatever became the final code. It could tell them a lot. “Of course. I’ll go down and talk to him.”
“And I’ll take your guy for coffee,” Nolan offered, sending her stomach plummeting.
“What?” Logically she realized this was exactly what she was supposed to be doing, but the thought of Deke alone with Nolan sent a shock of panic through her. It wasn’t because Deke couldn’t handle himself. Physically he could take Nolan down in a heartbeat, but they would be talking about…her. “I thought I was going to join you guys.”
Deke leaned over, brushing a kiss over her forehead. “Nolan and I have a few things we need to talk about before we go into the club. I’ll pick you up this afternoon.”