Sexy Liar (Dirty Hacker 1)

She never could forget how he smelled like sin and sandalwood and something even more addictive than that—lust. Rowan had enough bulk to show he worked out without being obsessive about it. And those delicious muscles were currently on full display as he sat on the chair. His head was bowed, and his legs and arms expertly bound, just as Ryder had once taught her. With each sleepy breath he drew in, his square chest covered with light soft hair lifted. Her gaze roamed down over his six-pack to his jeans. God, this man was a dream.

He was also the most dangerous man she’d ever known. Not because he was lethal and could kill in a second. The danger lay within her heart. Five years ago, she’d known if she stayed with him any longer, leaving would have been impossible. She’d grown more attached to him in a week than she had after years with Ryder. And that was scary as hell.

The fear was a side effect of having a deadbeat father and a drug addict mother who eventually overdosed and died, as well as the pain of losing her sister. She couldn’t trust a CIA agent who lived a life full of secrets. Especially with her heart. Those seven days with Rowan made her feel weak, fragile even.

She didn’t do fragile. And it took a good month to feel like herself again after she came back from Paris. Tonight, when Rowan first slid on that stool next to her, she thought this was her chance to take back the key to her heart that she’d gave him. To show herself that anything she felt that week was all due to being Paris, the city of love and romance.

Of course, until she realized his intentions weren’t good.

The sudden ringing on her computer snapped her focus back to her monitor. She sat with her laptop on her lap on the comfy chair in the sitting area of the expensive hotel that was part of her indulgence on this trip. She clicked the answer button of the chat program that she’d created for Ryder that was secure and untraceable. “Hi,” she said when Ryder’s face appeared on the screen.

Ryder’s wise, stern green eyes came as an instant relief. He was bulkier than Rowan, with muscle he gained from his time in the Army Rangers. His typical dirty-blond buzz cut was longer than he ever had it, being a little shaggy around his ears. “What’s wrong?” he asked, voice firm.

Alex spun the monitor to show Rowan, still sleeping. When she turned the screen back to face her, Ryder was frowning. “I’ve got a problem,” she told him.

“I take it this isn’t some kinky play,” he said with a hint of a smile. Ryder was a Dominant. He knew all about kinky play. Alex did not. If anyone tried to make her submit, she’d knock their teeth out faster than they could say, kneel for me. All she wanted was some good old-fashioned dirty sex.

And if she were being honest with herself, she still wanted Rowan in a big, bad way, even now.

“Sadly, this isn’t a game,” she explained, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “I shot him with a tranquilizer.” She pushed the embarrassment away, knowing she’d gotten herself into something and needed Ryder as backup in case anything went sideways. “T

his is Rowan Hawke. He’s the CIA agent I worked with five years ago on that case in Paris.” Not that she had a choice. That had been part of her plea bargain. When either the CIA or the FBI needed her hacking expertise, she’d come on board. In the past ten years, she’d worked maybe six cases for them. For free.

“I remember that case,” Ryder said tightly. He was at home. The abstract painting that his wife Hadley had picked up at a local art show was hung up behind him. “Is this the guy you shacked up with there?”

Alex nodded. “The very one.” She’d told Ryder all about Rowan when she got back, not willingly, of course. Ryder had pressed her when she came home feeling like she’d left half of her heart in Paris.

Ryder studied her a moment, probably gauging her mood, which was about as bad as it could get, before he addressed her again. “All right, want to explain how he ended up shot with a tranq?”

She exhaled a long, deep breath before answering him. “Hawke showed up at a bar where I was having a drink. My arriving in New York City set off some alarms, which we already knew it would.”

Ryder agreed with a nod. “Expected, yes.”

“Well, that spark that started in Paris”—she cleared her throat—“let’s just say it hasn’t diminished. We came back here, and everything was going fine until he stared at my laptop and his expression changed. It got…I don’t know…intense. I saw that look on his face in Paris. He wants something from me.”

Ryder’s mouth twitched. “So, instead of asking him what he wants, you shot him with a tranq?”

“Damn right I did,” Alex retorted with no shame. “He’s up to something. Why is he not going through normal channels to get me to work with the CIA? Something isn’t right.”

Ryder cocked his head, his eyebrows tightening over his intense eyes. “I’m not going to argue with you. It is…odd.”

She gave a quick nod and then studied Rowan, not feeling a bit bad about knocking him out cold either. Knowing he was CIA and didn’t go through the right channels to speak to her only made her more suspicious. Maybe he felt burned by her. This was all some type of revenge plan when she landed in New York City.

“Can you ask around about him?” she asked, turning her attention back onto Ryder. “See if he’s no longer CIA, anything like that?” Ryder had contacts in every nook and cranny in the government and law enforcement agencies.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Ryder said with a firm nod. A baby began crying in the background, and Ryder’s gaze flicked up, obviously wanting to go to his newborn son, Colton, and his wife. “Do you need me to send someone to you?” he asked, looking at Alex again.

One word from Alex and the room would be full of ex-military that now worked for Ryder and did things that Alex probably didn’t even want to think about. “I’m okay for now,” she said. “I’ve got him tied up good. He won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t…” She paused, making sure she trusted her judgment. “I don’t necessarily feel threatened by him.” But she wouldn’t rule that out quite yet. “Let me chat with him to find out what in the hell he wants from me.”

“All right.” Ryder paused, considered her, and then his gaze firmed. “Do not do anything risky, Alex. Get your gun, the one with bullets, and aim it at him. If he moves when you don’t ask him to, shoot him in both legs. Call an ambulance, and I’ll come down there to the police station to get you. You hear me?”

Ryder took on a ton of government contract work. He also gained friends in high places. When needed, he called in favors, and he used those favors wisely. She smiled. They had such an unusual but perfect friendship. They met when she hacked his system and he’d caught her. There had been something so instant when they’d met. A bond she’d never felt with anyone. It hadn’t been sexual; it had been protective, and he had always felt very brotherly toward her. Ryder was the very reason she got out of a life of living in crappy apartments and working cases that would only have landed her in jail. And he was the only person she trusted. “I will. Promise.”

“Good,” he said. “Call me once you know more. And I’ll check into him on my end.”

She nodded. “Now go to your sweet baby and give Hadley a hug from me.”

“Will do. Be safe.” Ryder’s smile warmed before the screen went black. He’d been in baby mode for the past few months. While mothers nested, Ryder went into full protective mode over his wife. He shadowed her, and Hadley hated every minute of it. Alex found it all sweet and just a bit amusing to watch a big tough guy turn to mush.