Firefighter's Virgin

“Josh thought you had something to do with my accounts being frozen,” I blurted out.

“What? Me? Why would I have anything to do with that?”

“I don’t think you did. I mean, I did for a minute when they pointed out that my card used for the Dating the Rich site is where everything started, but I don’t think it was you.”

She raised her eyebrow at me and didn’t say a thing. Her silence made me uncomfortable, and I found myself filling the space with words. More and more words that got me deeper and deeper into a mess of ridiculousness.

“There was this guy who came to my house with a thick neck and a suit; he threatened me. Then, every account got frozen. They said it was someone I know and tried to point to you,” I babbled on.

“Okay, well, this just goes back to my original point. Why don’t you call me when you figure everything out? I hope you don’t get arrested for whatever it is they think you did, but you really didn’t do. Goodbye, Brandon.”

She turned and made her way back into the club before I could protest. That wasn’t at all how I thought it would go when I got to talk to her. I was even more confused than before.

PART 4

Chapter Nineteen

Delilah

I had no idea what on earth Brandon was talking about. Of course, I didn’t have anything to do with his bank accounts being frozen. It was ridiculous that he and his friend would even think something like that. I almost started laughing right in his face when he said it, it was so preposterous.

“What was that all about?”

“Brandon is here. He fed me some story about his accounts being frozen and his friend thinking I had something to do with it… so bizarre.”

“Wait, were his accounts frozen? Is he really under investigation?”

“He says he’s not, but I don’t know what I believe. It’s too much of a disaster; I just don’t want anything to do with it right now.”

“Then, you better not turn around because he’s walking this way,” Mattie said as she smiled from ear-to-ear.

“Why are you smiling? This is bad. I don’t want to talk to him right now,” I said.

“Dance with me,” Brandon said as he pulled my hand and me toward the dance floor.

“No, Mattie doesn’t want to be left here alone. I need to stay with her,” I protested.

“I’m fine. You two go have fun,” she laughed.

“You’re the worst friend ever!”

“I really like Mattie,” Brandon softly said as he held onto me and we moved slowly with the music. “I need to feel you next to me. Whatever else is going on is just noise. This, right here between us, is real and I feel it. I know you feel it, too.”

“I’m sure that mass murderers have women that loved them, as well,” I snarked at him. “I can’t get mixed up in whatever is going on with you. It’s just not my style. I live a drama-free life.”

“Hey, me, too!” he said.

“No, you live a life where people are threatening you and hacking into your…” I trailed off as I started to think about the trouble I had been having at work. The hacker that was getting into accounts. The consultant who had helped me. The strange man with the exchange commission who had come in to interview me. I didn’t know how it was all connected, but it was starting to fit together.

“What?”

“Remember I told you I was having problems at work? There were coding issues and errors.”

“Yeah, that’s why Josh and the private investigator thought you probably had something to do with it all. Because you had access to my credit card and bank information through your system.”

“Do you believe me when I say I had nothing to do with it?”

“Yes.”