Asher shook his head. “No. We don’t have proof yet. We need to rework our simulation software and re-verify the test. We have to be absolutely positive.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Would you mind running your numbers again? I feel like I’m going crazy here. Like we made it up or something.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling that way, too.” I spun around on the stool and logged back into the computer. Asher moved to stand beside me, resting his arm on the counter as he leaned in to watch the sim. I was way too conscious of his closeness, of the heat from his body and the way he made my skin tingle. I tried to focus on the computer and not his muscled arm beside me.
We watched the simulation play through three times in utter silence before I turned to face him, my knees practically touching his hips. Despite the fear curling through me, I couldn’t help but want to do other things with those hips.
I jumped down from my stool to move away, to stop the thoughts racing through my head, but his body trapped me between the counter and himself. I stared into his eyes, noticing the flecks of gold, the freckles lightly dusting his cheekbones.
Still staring at the screen behind me, he said, “Damn it, Lexie, it just doesn’t make sense. It’s like they programmed their sim to work no matter what numbers were plugged in.”
His gaze slid to mine, and we stared at each other, not touching, not moving. I licked my lips, and his blue eyes darkened before dropping to my mouth.
My heart hammered with slow, painful thumps. Slowly, Asher leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk on either side of me, trapping me in the cage of his arms. Heat surged through me at the expression in his eyes. Like I was the only girl he’d ever wanted.
Like he really saw me.
He inched closer, and my whole body reacted to his presence by coiling like a spring, waiting for his touch. Asher’s hands dropped to the waistband of my jeans, the heat of his skin searing even through the thick material. The air between us smoldered until my arms erupted in goosebumps. I was drowning in the blue depths of his eyes.
He let out a soft breath that smelled of cinnamon, his lips all but touching mine. All I had to do was lean forward and…
And then the computer behind me screeched.
We shot apart like a gun had gone off. I ended up halfway across the room, standing awkwardly beside his desk. I tugged at the bottom of my shirt, not daring to meet Asher’s gaze. But I shouldn’t have worried. He’d already moved to turn off the beeping computer.
His hands froze on the keyboard as the screen flickered. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” He glared at the computer screen. “Someone found us. They’re deleting your calculations.”
I sprinted to his side. Numbers scrolled across the screen, the simulation flashing as he tried to stop the wipe. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his shoulders tensed as he typed feverishly.
“If I hack into the server and find out where this wipe is coming from, maybe I can stop it. Or at least trace it back to whoever’s doing it.”
“Can you reverse it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. They’re using a firewalled connection, and I can’t break through fast enough to track them.” His fingers flew for a few more seconds until the computer beeped again.
“No!” He typed even faster, though I hadn’t thought it possible. “They can’t do this!”
I peered over his shoulder, but I couldn’t make sense of the strings of letters and numbers streaming past on the screen. “What’s happening?”
“They’re deleting our simulation, too!”
“What?” I didn’t mind so much about my calculations. I had them all written down. But the simulation had taken Max, Zella, and Amy more than two weeks to develop. They were going to kill us.
“How did they track it to this lab? How is this even possible?”
The computer screen went black, and Asher slammed his hand down on the table. “Apparently, QT has a network-wide scan looking for these parameters, and a system in place to delete them if found. But why?” He kicked the stool out of his way, and it toppled to the floor with a clatter.
All that work. Gone. Someone had deliberately shut us down.
Asher growled and snatched his bag from the desk. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Shouldn’t we try to fix it? To recover the simulation?”
“What’s the point? They’ll just shut us down again.” He slammed through the lab doors, and I scurried to follow, giving the dead computer one last glance.
16
As if worrying about Avery’s equation and obsessing over my almost-kiss with Asher wasn’t enough excitement for the weekend, I got an email Sunday night from Dr. Danvers requesting a meeting first thing Monday morning.
She’d added a personal note to the email: “Just want to check in and see how you’re adjusting to QT on your one-month anniversary.”
I frowned at my tablet. This was not good. At all. Asher and I hadn’t talked about how to handle the mistake in Avery’s equation, but I knew he wanted to keep it from Danvers if possible. Which was going to make for a very interesting meeting.
Monday morning, I stood outside her office door and tugged at my shirt. I’d worn a button-down and khakis instead of my usual jeans, and I wished I hadn’t. I felt on edge enough already — I didn’t need a scratchy collar making it worse. With a deep breath, I pushed open the door to Danvers’ office.
Marilyn, her assistant, was one of those ageless women somewhere between forty and sixty, with gray hair molded to her head like a helmet. She nodded at me as I entered. “Good morning, Lexie. Dr. Danvers is waiting for you. Go on back.”
“Thanks.” I followed the hallway to the back of the suite. Dr. Danvers’ office door was open, but I knocked on it anyway.
She looked up from her desk and motioned for me to enter. “Lexie. Right on time. Come in.” She’d worn her hair loose today, the golden length curling around her shoulders, and the navy suit she wore set off her blue eyes. When she smiled at me, it seemed genuine, but I was already on edge, so it didn’t do much to reassure me.
I took the seat in front of her desk and tucked my bag beneath the chair. “Good morning, Dr. Danvers. Did you have a good weekend?”
“They’re always too short, especially when I spend most of it here. How about you? Did you and Asher finish your research on Saturday?”
I ignored the snakes in my stomach. “We just needed to test a few things. It’s interesting to be part of this project. I’m learning so much.” I forced myself to use my most innocent smile