CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The alarm clock beeped once, by which time Draco reached out and hit snooze. He’d been awake a while, but Lara was still sleeping.
Watching her slumbering on soothed his troubled thoughts.
He’d spoken to both his sisters the night before, and now he was worried. Just when he thought they were out of the woods with their grandmother’s health and safety, Sky informed him Rory might lose his job. His boss had died suddenly. Sky sounded devastated. She was upset for him, for Rory. Draco could sense it even over the phone. They were close. Much closer than he’d realized.
It still made him uneasy, but acceptance was the larger part of it now.
By the sounds of it they’d stood by each other through a difficult week.
And Rowan was on top of things at home, thankfully. Once he was done with this job, he’d head over and spend time with them, the women at base camp, as he thought of them. Once this job was done? The thought troubled him even more.
He wished the ticking clock away, because it was too soon.
He couldn’t bring himself to wake her, to begin the day. He could hear her breathing, feel her chest rise and fall against his side, and it held all of his attention. She was in the crook of his arm, her face against his chest, her long, honey-colored hair thrown back over his shoulder. Draco had never woken up with a woman in his arms, not before Lara. Beyond the bed, the sun shone in between the open curtains.
Minutes ticked by, and still he couldn’t bring himself to wake her.
He’d never wanted to share a bed with a woman for more than sex. Never wanted to have a girlfriend, someone he could talk to and laugh with, the way he had with Lara. He’d always figured he’d go home to Wales at some point and one of the lasses he knew would present herself. Several of them hung around on his Facebook page, pasting messages on the wall asking when he’d be back. It was an anchor of sorts, having a connection to home, but it didn’t feel real. Not the way this did. This thing with Lara was hyper reality.
Shifting slightly, he locked his arm around her and drew her closer. She murmured in her sleep then settled again. What would happen, when the project was done? Once she’d taken his information to her father, there would be no need for them to spend time together. He could disappear out of her life just as easily as she’d brought him into it. It disturbed him. He’d like to see her again, that was it. They got on well. She’s out of your league though, he told himself.
Frustration hit him. On top of all the family shit he’d been worrying about, he’d gone and fallen for Lara fucking Compton, and he was just her bit of criminal distraction for student placement month.
Right then she made a snuffling sound and opened her eyes, blinking sleepily. “Oh, what time is it?”
“The alarm went off a few minutes ago.”
“We’ll be in trouble if we’re late.”
Struggling to think of something banal to say, and not blurt out all the questions he had, he tried to think of an appropriate response. “Does your dad keep tabs on staff timing?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Good job he can’t see you lolling in bed when you should be at work.”
She laughed, “Yes, I can’t decide which would be worse.”
“Worse? Which what would be worse?”
“Whether it would be worse if my father knew I’d brought a hacker into his precious business premises, or the fact I’m sleeping with him.” She chuckled, like it was something she thought about often, to amuse herself.
Draco stared at her, his thoughts clouding. He wanted to deny what he’d just heard her say, deny the amusement he saw in her eyes, but he knew her a lot better than that. She didn’t do or say anything without thinking about it. It wasn’t just an off-the-cuff comment. She might have made it sound that way, but the words coming out of her mouth always reflected what she really believed.
She poked him in the ribs as if to encourage him to laugh with her, her eyes bright with amusement.
His gut tightened and he pulled away from her, tossing back the sheet. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back to her, trying to quell the rising anger he felt.
The touch of her hand on his back made him flinch and he rose to his feet.
“Draco, what is it?” Her voice, soft and filled with concern, made him edgier still.
By the time he turned around to look at her she was sitting up with the sheet clutched her chest. At least she realized she’d said something wrong, something that made him feel betrayed and used. It was as if she had an entirely different motivation to the one she presented to him. Rising to his feet, he jerked away from her outreached hand.
“You just want to get your father’s attention.” Pacing up and down he gestured at her, his disbelief turned into full on rage. “This isn’t about impressing him at all, that’s only half of it.”
Her eyes widened and flitted about. She was trying to think of an appropriate response. Draco saw it now, she was always thinking, always planning.
“Calm down,” she insisted. “You know what this has been about from the beginning. I want to do better than my brothers. I want him to give me the chance they’ve had.”
“I completely understand that, but what I don’t get is you’re so ready for this to go wrong, for him to find out what you’ve been up to.”
In a flash she was out of the bed in on her feet. “I am not!”
“You wouldn’t consider his reaction to you sleeping with a hacker if you weren’t ready to face up to it.”
She stared at him as if astonished. “I’d be crazy not to think about the implications of being discovered, in every way.”
“I know that,” he said, between gritted teeth. “It’s the fact you’re laughing about him finding about us that makes me wonder what the hell is going on in your mind.” Pacing to the chair he set about snatching up his clothes. He glanced back.
Lara was staring at the bedside clock. “Shit, we’re going to be late.” Gathering herself, she nodded at him. “I’ll call a cab and we’ll talk about this on the way to the office. Sensibly.” She gave him one of her looks, the look she always did when she was trying to exert her authority over him.
Draco’d had enough of it. “Late for nothing, I’m out of here.”
“No!” She looked at him, clearly horrified. “You can’t do this, our agreement.”
Instantly Draco knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t abandon her and her hokey project, but he wasn’t about to let it lie. She was a spoiled little rich girl walking on the wild side, she had everything to gain and nothing to lose. He was just another toy, something to play around with. She needed skills and she was following him into dangerous situations for the thrill of it. “I’ve figured it out,” he said as it dawned on him. “You intend to impress your dad one way or the other, either through making him proud or shocking him.”
Why did it feel so bad? A tight fist had planted itself in his chest.
It was the betrayal, the fact she was so glib. He’d started thinking they might continue to see each other—that she really liked him and it wasn’t just about the project and having a bit of fun.
Lara looked at him aghast. She started muttering under her breath as she moved to the wardrobe and pulled open drawers, throwing clothing onto the bed. Climbing into her panties she shook her head. “This is unbelievable.”
“No, you are unbelievable. I knew you were a risk taker, that was obvious. What I didn’t realize was how prepared you are for it to go wrong.”
She turned on her heel and glared at him. “I want to succeed.”
“But you’re thoroughly enjoying this image of yourself as the rebel outsider, the one who brought a criminal into the company, the one who’s having a fling with the bad guy right under daddy’s nose.”
“You’re wrong. I want this to go well. I’m calling for a taxi.”
The fact she thought she could just put it in a box and close it away irritated him. “There’s only one way to deal with this, see it through and fast.”
“What do you mean?” She had her phone in her hand, but stared at him in horror while she waited for him to respond.
She was standing there in wispy underwear, looking like all his dreams come true. God he wanted to grab her and kiss those luscious lips of hers, to silence the remarks angering him, those that made him feel used and betrayed. “This ‘project’ needs to be over. We’ll come clean, tell Compton Senior everything.”
“No way!” She dropped the phone and put up her bra. “I’m not ready.”
“There it is, you’re not ready. You never will be, it’s all about the adventure, actually braving it in front of dad with a confession is a step too far, I bet. Well I’m ready. I’ve had enough of this.”
She pulled on her outer clothing as she spoke. “But you haven’t even—”
He held up his hand to silence her. Frustration built inside him. What he wanted to do was go over there and hold her and kiss her, to lie down on the bed and push inside her body to make her feel the need in him.
Something inside him flipped. “I don’t need to be in the fucking office to tell you what’s going wrong in the finances. You knew it from the beginning, you knew I could hack in and give you the answers within hours. You never even ask what I’m doing when I go in remotely, but you enjoy parading around with your so-called buddy from University, your walk on the criminal wild side.”
“You rotten bastard, I wish I’d never met you.” She reached into the wardrobe snatched her jacket off a hanger and hauled it on. The color on her cheekbones was vivid. She was every bit as angry as he was.
The overriding desire he felt was to force her to feel what he was feeling to see how much he wanted her and how much more seriously he felt about her than she did about him. Lust was in his blood, vying with reason, driving his hunger for her. But he bit it back, recognizing his anger was making him senseless.
He had to keep his head together, because he was in it up to his neck and he could so easily end up like Sean, banged up in jail for the crime of being good with code and not sticking by the rules. Should never have got involved with her, he thought, should never have agreed to this ludicrous project.
He watched as she buttoned up her nakedness, glancing warily at him as if he was a stranger to her. “And there it is, Miss Prim and Proper is back in full force, your so-called office armor is nothing but a mask you put on to impress.”
“What the fuck do you mean? I don’t give a shit about Compton Finance, not really. I can make my own path in life.”
Astonished, Draco glared at her, “My god, you wouldn’t care if it went wrong, that’s it, isn’t it. Your mum didn’t want you to go there, and by setting off a hand grenade and walking out, you’re being the dutiful daughter to your side of the family.”
She stared at him, shock in her eyes. Her lips parted, but she was silent, as if she couldn’t find the answer.
Stunned, Draco realized he’d finally hit on the truth.
But when he watched her face as she took in his words, he discovered a new truth too. Lara hadn’t realized it about herself, not until now