Insecure (Love Triumphs 1)

“He can laugh all he wants. We know what we’ve got.”

“Then it’ll be easy to explain. Jay speaks tech, you won’t need to dumb it down.”

He watched her face, her eyes studying him.

“Mace?”

“I went alpha dick on him.”

She laughed. “You did. You thought you had to fight him for me.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I liked it.”

“He didn’t.”

“He’s protective of me.”

“And why is that?”

“You sound jealous. You can’t be jealous of Jay. You can’t be jealous at all, there—”

He kissed her. It was enough to know it. He didn’t need it said. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his back and for long moments he didn’t think about anything but the deep peace of having her in his arms.

And that’s the way he slept, curled around her, breathing in sync with her, till he opened one eye to witness her slip away in the blue-grey dawn and alone, he dreamed of drowning in a hot, gritty, mist-filled sea.

She brought him coffee. She was dressed, her hair tied back. She kept her distance, moved her hand on the bed so he couldn’t take it.

“I’ve told Jay you have a proposal for him. He’s ready to listen. Hit the shower, get dressed. Come and meet him again. He’s cooking breakfast. When we’re done you can pitch him.”

“I. Yeah.” He needed more than coffee, a shower and shave. He needed a power cord for his laptop. He needed Dillon. He’d been wearing the same clothes since Friday, when he’d been wearing any. He still wasn’t sure if his foot would go in a shoe. And he needed words to explain to one of the world’s most famous venture capitalists that he was a wildcard entrepreneur who had the smarts to change the face of personal identity management.

Wasn’t going to happen.

She kissed his shoulder and moved away. “You’ll be fine.” That’s what she’d say to all the aspiring entrepreneurs she took to bed.

He showered, considered his suit or the white business shirt with jeans, and knew that wasn’t right, aside from the fact it was so crushed it looked like he’d slept in it. His black t-shirt had green print across the back, a cartoon drawing of the evolution of man from ape to android. There was no way not to look like a bum, so he might as well commit to it.

He padded into the kitchen barefoot, about as ready for ritual humiliation as he was for Jacinta to be in Jay’s arms. They were in the kitchen. The bastard had one hand on her back and was feeding her yoghurt or some crap off a spoon. She hadn’t said he was gay. She didn’t use that word but he’d assumed, and he’d still been jealous. Now he wanted to jam that implement down Jay’s throat until the dude stopped kicking.

Fuck.

He needed to shake that off. Get hold of himself. Shit. He had one shot at this. She was a one fucking night stand who’d gone cold on him for no good reason and Jay was his future.

He cleared his throat and Jay’s eyes came up. “Good morning. There’s bacon and eggs, if you’d like? Tomato? Mushrooms, and hash browns?”

He sat on one of Jacinta’s aeronautical kitchen stools, the cost of which would likely fund two months of testing work Ipseity needed. “Thanks.” He couldn’t even manage to sound gracious about food, and he was hungry.

“They’re hoping to lift the lockdown soon. They have the bomber surrounded. It’s a stand-off, but they want him alive if possible. It’s an awful business.” Jay put a plate in front of him, chunky toast on the side and a fresh cup of coffee. Jacinta moved to stand with her back against the cupboard that hid the fridge.

“How is your foot?” Jay again.

Cinta wouldn’t look at him. She studied her fingernails as if she’d never seen the miracle of them before. Mace took a bite of the toast. Crunchy and doughy from some arty bakery.

“I made the bread, do you like it?”

Jay baked.

They couldn’t lift the siege quick enough.

“Mace, Jay baked the bread, and he asked about your foot. Did you hear we’re still in lockdown?” she said.