Things went back to normal on Monday. I went in for my usual two week diagnostic run for three of my regular clients – all simple businesses who were more worried about their neighbors stealing wi-fi than any real technological problems – and then did an emergency system purge for a law office that had a virus. I took it easy on Tuesday and worked from home, designing a system for a private security firm. It wasn't due for delivery until the end of October, but I was close to done and if I finished early, it'd only help my reputation. I had one job late Wednesday morning and then it was back to my system work until my phone rang at six-thirty.

I was engrossed enough in code that I didn't bother to look at who was calling before I answered it. “Lang Tech Consulting, Jenna Lang speaking.” Most people probably would've thought it strange that I answered my personal line that way, but I'd never had any problems. After all, when your calls are all business, there really isn't such a thing as a personal line.

“Jenna.”

I froze, instantly recognizing his voice. When he continued, however, I quickly snapped out of it. His tone indicated that this was indeed a business call. An urgent one.

“I need your help. A hacker got into my server and planted a virus. It would take me days to get it fixed by myself and by then...”

“Your entire system will be wiped out.” I completed the thought as I closed down all of my programs on my laptop.

“Can you come now?” he asked.

“I'm on my way,” I said as I put the laptop away and pulled out the one I used for jobs where viruses came into play.

“I was hoping you'd say that,” he said. “Because I already sent a car to your building. Like I said, time's of the essence.”

“I'm grabbing my coat and will be downstairs in two minutes.” I hung up even as I tugged on my boots and grabbed my leather jacket. I pulled my bag over my shoulder even as I headed out the door.

It wasn't until I was halfway down the stairs that I realized I was wearing my usual “work from home” attire of yoga pants and an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt... no bra. I hadn't planned on going anywhere for the rest of the night. I'd even pulled my hair back from my face with a pair of clips. I looked more like a college student on a midnight munchie run than a professional, but Rylan had said time wasn't on our side, so I guessed he'd prefer me like this rather than waste time running back upstairs to change.

The car was already waiting in front of the building, which was good because the breeze was brisk enough to make me shiver. The driver opened the door without a word or even a look. Either Rylan had given a description of me or this guy was insanely professional.

I climbed in the back and warmed up during the relatively short drive to Archer Enterprises. I stared out the window at the mountains, barely seeing the view I normally relished. I'd come to Fort Collins because the mountains had appealed to me, but this evening, I was already focusing on the job at hand. Even though I hadn't seen the problem yet, it had to bad if Rylan needed additional support. It would take both of us working together to fix it in time to save his system. We just had to figure out the best way to divide up the work.

There were still a few people coming out of the building after working over but, for the most part, it looked dark and empty. A different security guard than the ones I met before greeted me when I came in. This time, when he asked if I'd been here before, I told him I had. He called up to Rylan and then waved me through.

“Boss said to send you right up,” he said as he motioned for me to follow him.

I wondered if Rylan had also told him to escort me the whole way, but I didn't ask. I wasn't in a bantering mood tonight. This was serious and, while I might toe the line sometimes, I knew when I needed to behave. Besides, I already looked unprofessional enough. I didn't need to add snark to it.

When we got to the elevator, however, I saw why the guard had needed to come. One of the security measures must've been to lock down the elevators after hours because he had to swipe his badge before the doors would open. That was smart. As I stepped inside and pushed the button for the top floor, I wondered if all badges would get the elevators working or just a certain clearance level.

My thoughts on the process were interrupted when I reached the top and the doors slid open. Not surprisingly, Rylan was waiting. He glanced at my clothes and gave me a this-would-be-funny-if-things-were-different half-smile.

“Thanks for coming. Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked as he turned and walked toward the computers.

I followed. “Not really. I was just working on a project for a client, but it's not due for a while. It wasn't a problem to put it off.”

“Well, I'm glad you could.” Rylan ran his hand through his hair, giving it a sexy, tousled look that I thought suited him much better than how he'd styled before. “Because this is a serious mess.” He sat down and gestured toward the screens.

I took a look as I was sitting down and swore silently. He wasn't kidding. Whoever'd hit him had done it hard and done it right. I glanced at a couple screens to confirm my suspicion before asking a question, “Did they take anything?”

“I don't think so.” Rylan sounded frustrated and I wondered if that was at himself or the hacker from hell. “It doesn't look like anything left the system.”

“So whoever did this just wanted to screw with you?” I chose more polite phrasing than I would've done under other circumstances.

“I would've used a bit stronger word, but yes.” His face was grim and I found myself distracted by it. I was seeing more of the man under the professional mask now than when we'd gone out for coffee. I didn't know what it was, but something about this man fascinated me. I had to force myself to turn back to the computers and focus on the work to be done.

“We need to each work on separate sections, but in sync with each other,” Rylan said.

I nodded. My thoughts exactly. “I was thinking along the same lines.” I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down what had been going through my mind since I first looked into the problem. “If I do this...”

“It'll make an end run around the virus,” Rylan continued.

“Closing tighter and tighter, like a noose.” I was impressed he'd been able to figure that out. “Tell me again why you need me?”

“Because I never would've been able to write that code on my own in such a short period of time,” Rylan admitted.

“Well, don't be too impressed,” I said. “Because while I'm doing that, you need to be rewriting the damaged sections behind my code.”

He nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. “So when we're done it's not just empty space.”

I liked that I didn't have to explain to him why it needed to be done. We could get started instead of him asking a million questions about why things wouldn't just go back to normal once we got rid of the virus. I'd never had a client who knew much of anything about software, much less how to do what I was asking him to do.

“Thanks again for coming so quickly,” he said, interrupting my thoughts as I flexed my fingers. “I'll be paying you time and half for this. With a bonus if we get it done without losing anything.”

I grinned at him. “Then we'd better get to work.”

He gave me a flash of a smile and slid his chair into the empty space next to mine. We were closer than I liked to be with someone not naked, but I was a professional. I could do this.

I began to work, my fingers flying over the keys as I created the code. Next to me, I heard the steady tapping of Rylan doing his part. Slowly, I relaxed, letting the rhythm and familiarity get me to a place where everything else became background.

Gradually, as the night wore on, I became aware that we were sitting closer as we shifted into more comfortable angles. Our arms brushed against each other when we moved and I couldn't deny I liked the contact. A pleasant humming spread across my skin from every place we touched and I found myself intentionally turning in ways that made it happen more.

“It's working.”

I could hear his relief. “You doubted me?” I teased.

“Not for a moment.”

I nearly shivered. There was something in his voice that comforted and scared me. It made me want to run and turn toward him at the same time. If I hadn't been working, I'd have chosen the first option. But, I’d already done that once. Besides, I had a reputation to maintain and an imagination like no other. I told myself there was nothing there and I spun the chair around to face him.

“That's good to know.” I crossed one leg over the other and was pleased to see his eyes drop to watch. My nipples started to harden as they rubbed against my shirt, helped along by the memory of Rylan's arm sliding against mine. Maybe I should've taken the time to grab a bra. Then I saw the heat in his eyes and was glad I hadn't. He was even hotter when he was turned on. “Liking this more than my skirt?”

“Definitely considering it.” He smiled at me and stood. “Want some coffee?”

I stood too, my joints popping and crackling. All I needed was a snap and I'd have breakfast. “That'd be good. We're at a bit of a stuck point, waiting for the programs to finish their run.”

He glanced at the clock on the computer. “Damn. I didn't realize it was this late.”

I hadn't paid attention either and was surprised to see it was closing in on midnight. Then again, I knew how I could be when I got in the zone. Looked like Rylan was the same way.

“You want it black or with sugar and cream?”

“Black,” I said. “We'll probably be here at least another couple hours, so the stronger, the better. No decaf this time.”

“You don't have to stay,” he said as he walked over to a counter against the far wall. “I can keep an eye on things, then run the system check when it's done.”

“And if something happens?” I asked as he pulled out one of those single serving things that I'd seen but never paid much attention to. If I was going to brew coffee, I was going to make enough for it to be worth the time.

“What do you mean?” He busied himself with the coffee.

“What happens if we miss something or if anything goes wrong?” I leaned against the back of the chair and glanced over my shoulder to confirm everything was running smoothly. “What if the hacker planted something deep?”

“Seems unlikely,” he said. The smell of coffee filled the room.

I shrugged. “True. But do you want to risk it?” I told myself I was just looking out for my client; that I wasn’t trying to stay because I wanted to figure out why he fascinated me. Or how much I liked looking at him. I'd never act on it, of course, because I was under contract with his company, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the view.

“If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted to stick around.” He smiled as he carried over two mugs of coffee. He handed me one and a jolt went through me when our fingers touched. “That bored? Or is it just my charming personality?”

“Are you like this with all your employees?” I arched an eyebrow.

His expression sobered and then he frowned. “I'm sorry. It's a bad habit of mine.”

“Flirting?”

His frown twitched for a moment. “Deflecting with humor... and some flirting, I admit.”

I took a sip of the coffee. It was the expensive stuff, but I barely tasted it. Instead, I was curious about why he felt the need to deflect. “Do I make you nervous or something?”

I watched myriad emotions flicker across his face before one settled, a new one, one I hadn't seen. I supposed I could've described it as dark, but it wasn't the kind of dark that haunted my nightmares. No, this was the kind of dark that made things low inside me twist and turn.

“Yes, Jenna. You make me nervous... or something.” He took a step toward me, putting his coffee mug next to mine.

Now he was making me nervous. Still, I couldn't move.

“I don't know what it is about you, but I haven't been able to get you out of my mind,” he confessed. His voice was low, husky, and it struck a chord inside me. “You're one of the most brilliant, beautiful women I've ever met.”

Shit.

This was not how tonight was supposed to go. I started to protest, to tell him we needed to keep it professional, but then his mouth was coming down on mine.

Oh, fuck.

Oh, yes.

The man could kiss.

His lips were the right combination of firm and soft. He took control of the kiss from moment one, but I felt no panic as his tongue traced my bottom lip, then slipped into my mouth. All I could think was how amazing it felt to have his tongue caressing mine.

His hand on my waist broke the spell and I jerked away. His eyes looked almost purple and his breath was as hard as mine.

“We can't do this. I work for you.” I retreated behind logic and didn't give him the chance to refute it. “I'd better go.”

I grabbed my bag and, for the second time, left Rylan Archer staring after me while I ran from his office. Only this time, I wasn't confused about what had happened, just about how I felt.