Conceal

“Wow, you really are a closed book.” I shrug at his words because I am, no need to pretend otherwise. “I like it that way. Makes you all the more intriguing, a puzzle I need to crack.”

“I’m not a puzzle, and I certainly don’t need to be cracked, so please don’t try. I won’t budge.”

“You see, but now you’re dangling the forbidden fruit in front of me. Finding out information is my drug of choice. You’ve basically dropped a bag of candy on the table and told me not to take a bite. Impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s in my nature to find out everything.”

I shake my head, not understanding what he is saying, and when I still can’t figure it out, I finally open my mouth and ask.

“I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about.”

“Finding out information. Well, it’s my thing.”

“What?” I croak.

“Don’t worry, though, I won’t be looking you up. You’re lucky.” He laughs when he says this, but while he is laughing, my spine is growing tight.

“How do you mean?”

“Well, apparently my brother, Grayson, says that it’s creepy to hack girls I like . . . So since I like you, Willow, I’ll refrain from looking you up. I’ll find out all your dark secrets the old-fashioned way.”

He keeps talking, but I am no longer listening. All I hear over and over again in my brain is the word hack.

Hack.

Did he say hack?

The muscles in my back pull tightly, I almost can’t breathe as I try to make sense of everything.

“I—”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. And I know we’re just friends.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean when you say hack?” I mutter.

“Can you keep a secret?” His voice lowers. I can still hear him, but no one else in the restaurant would be able to.

“Why would you want to tell me a secret? You don’t know me.”

“This is true, I don’t. But what I know is how to read people, and I already know I like you. So yeah, I’ll trust you even though you haven’t agreed yet.” When he pauses, I nod my head so I can find out more about what he’s saying. I would sign my name in blood to hear more at this point. “I like to find out things about people. And I use any way necessary even if it’s not okay. Lucky for you, I will not do this. I will do this the old-fashioned way.”

“And what is the old-fashioned way?”

“I’m going to guess, and you’ll tell me if I’m right.”

“And if I don’t tell you?”

“I have a lot of skills in my arsenal. I’ll be able to tell when you’re lying. It’ll be fun.”

I should tell him not to do what he wants to do, but I’m still too hung up on what he said. Could this be exactly what I need?

I need to find out information, and he’s offered the solution on a silver platter. Jax likes to find out things about people, and I need to find out things.

But can I trust him? He trusted me. But this is a little different.

A plan pops in my brain. Just because I want information from him doesn’t mean I have to ask him now. If I spend some time with him . . . What if I wait to see if I can trust him? And when I know I can, I can ask him for help.

Jaxson Price may be exactly what I need to fix my problem.

Chapter Sixteen

Jaxson

My new tactic to get to know her is getting her to trust me, and the best way to get her to trust me is by being honest and open about myself. That and asking her dumb questions about herself.

In a joking nature, of course.

The ball is in her court with how she will answer these questions.

I won’t lie and say I’m not completely intrigued by her.

Running facial recognition on her off the lobby camera consumes me.

But every single time I think of looking into her, Grayson’s words from only months ago play out in my head. Apparently, stalking someone you are interested in, as he said, is not okay.

The thing is most people assume I’m good at finding out things because of my skills on computers. But that’s not the only reason. I let them believe that. What they don’t know is, after years of doing this, after years of confronting people, after years of digging deep into the dark web and analyzing pictures, voices, and the way they breathe, I don’t need them to tell me anything. I can find out the whole truth by looking at someone long enough. I can deduce the truth by watching. My ability to read people makes me a good poker player. That doesn’t mean I know everything right off the bat, but with the right questions, I’ll find out everything even if she doesn’t tell me. That’s my truth. I can read people.