Breaching His Defenses by Allyson Lindt (read aloud books .TXT) 📖

Jared rolled his neck and stretched his arms above his head. Muscles protested and joints argued as he tried to force out the kinks of falling asleep on the hotel room couch. At least the silence was pleasant. A glance at his phone told him it was almost nine. Later than he’d slept in years. Then again, they hadn’t pulled an all-nighter since…

The Karen incident, right. His creeping good mood vanished under a wash of too many emotions to identify. He let his attention trip around the room while he tried to work the knots from his arms. The suite was a wreck. Cups, cans, and picked-at snack platters littered the coffee table.

His heart sank when he looked further. On the opposite couch, Vivian had fallen asleep mostly sitting up, and Mikki was curled up next to her, head in her lap.

They’d fixed it. Plugged every hole and set measures in place to prevent a series of new ones. He was confident in that. Too bad he wasn’t as confident about anything else. He pulled his gaze from the sleeping brunette. The last thing he needed was one more memory seared into his thoughts of another mistake.

But there was one thing he had to admit. It was the one thing he had Mikki to thank for, even if everything else was a wreck. She’d reminded him why he did this. That he’d gotten into this line of work for the challenge, for the way he worked with his friends, and because it pushed his limits mentally, and he loved it.

There would be other promotions. He’d already dedicated a portion of his brain to figuring out how to get Skriddie to add a CTO position to their list of executives, but until then and even after, he wasn’t going to lose track of his roots again. What made him love his work.

He wandered to the sink in the kitchenette, grabbed a glass, and downed the lukewarm tap water in a single swallow. It wasn’t the most exquisite drink ever, but it did help his throat loosen up. He splashed his face and reached blindly for a towel. He raised an eyebrow when one landed in his hand, and dried his face off enough to open his eyes.

Tate sat on the counter next to him, staring at something in the living room. His voice was low when he spoke. “You know how many guys would give their right nut to wake up to that?”

“Because they haven’t had to.” Jared didn’t have to turn to see he was talking about the two sleeping women, and honestly, the last thing he wanted to do was see Mikki any more than he had to. Second to last was having this conversation.

“Ouch.” Tate blew a strand of blond off his forehead. “She saved us.”

Jared shook his head. Warm fuzzies aside, he was still struggling with what Mikki had done. Even if she hadn’t done it maliciously, she still wasn’t innocent. “She almost ruined us.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’m going back to my room to shower.” Jared tossed the hand towel at Tate and pushed away from the counter, spinning back toward the living room. He managed to hide his shock when he saw Vivian was awake and sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar. Mikki was upright now, too. Still on the couch. Legs drawn to her chest.

“He’s got a point,” Vivian said. “She didn’t have to track us down. Yet here she is.”

Jared looked back and forth between his friends. And to the sunlight streaming through the window. And the doors at the far end of the room. Anywhere but the dark eyes watching him from Mikki’s expressionless face.

Vivian leaned forward, but her voice was distinct enough to carry through the entire room. “I can have an offer letter ready by ten on Monday.”

Mikki’s jaw dropped, and she stared at Vivian. Her voice was tiny in the large room. “For me? Why would you—”

“Whoa.” Jared shook his head. “How did we go from ‘oh fuck, we’re screwed’ to ‘come work for us?’?”

Vivian’s brows rose. “Have you heard anything I’ve said for the last two days?”

“Really, she hasn’t shut up about it.” Tate tossed the towel back at him and moved to stand near the balcony. His gaze was directed outside, but it was clear from the angle of his body he was still part of the conversation.

Jared couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “A person can’t just make a mistake like that and hope it all goes away with an apology and a bit of hard work.”

“Not that you’d know from experience.” Sarcasm dripped from Vivian’s every word. “You’d never make a mistake like that. And then spin your entire career off it. What is it they say about you? That you’re a demi-god on college campuses?”

“Deity,” Tate offered.

Jared didn’t need this. “Why the fuck are we having this conversation while she’s still here?” Guilt followed the almost-yell. Better question, why did he feel so bad for snapping? It had nothing to do with the fact that as much as he was trying to ignore Mikki, his gaze kept drifting back to her. The sorrow and apology in her dark eyes. That his friends were making more sense than him. And it had nothing to do with how much of an ass he was being.

“Because it’s rude to talk about someone behind their back,” Vivian offered.

Jared ground his teeth, trying to maintain his composure while he spoke. He finally forced his gaze to stay on Mikki. To keep his stare hard and demand the rest of him feel the same coldness. “It’s nice you helped make it better. We all appreciate last night.” He let the ice from his tone flow through his veins. “But sometimes after the fact isn’t enough. This wasn’t an apologize-and-forget-it mistake. A lot of people might have found themselves out of work.”

It was only a slight exaggeration. If someone had exploited the virus before they’d obliterated it, or if someone more malicious than Hayden—he shuddered at the thought—had known about the security holes, it could have cost the company millions.

“You can’t live life one minute to the next, hoping it will all work out.” Each word tasted bitter on his tongue, but it was true. “Sometimes being impulsive has terrible consequences you have to live with. And I don’t know how Vivian, or anyone, could trust a job—especially in security—to someone who doesn’t know the difference between ethics and a challenge.”

Vivian’s tone was sharp. “That’s not—”

“He’s completely right.” Mikki finally spoke. She uncurled herself from the couch pulled her stare from Jared. “You should be all set now. I have a plane to catch in a little while.”

The moment the door clicked shut behind her, Tate tossed the towel back at him, full force. It fluttered to the floor before it reached its destination.

“You’re an ass.” Vivian pushed away from the counter. “I’m going back to my room to clean up. Do we need to get early flights out of here?”

So