Heart-Shaped Hack(55)

“Sure. Why not?”

“Oh, sweetness,” Ian said, “let him have it.”

“You know, I thought I’d dodged a bullet by not going out with a guy who tapes himself having sex with unsuspecting women—”

Kent’s panicked and guilty expression confirmed Ian’s hunch, and if either of them had any lingering doubts about the tapes, the look on Kent’s face had certainly removed them.

“—but now that I know you’re not even bright enough to figure out when someone’s profile picture has been FatBoothed, the bullet I dodged was twofold.”

“You FatBoothed yourself?”

“My boyfriend did.”

“Why would you be on a dating site if you already had a boyfriend?”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend at the time.”

“But I wanted to be her boyfriend, so you had to go.” Ian made a motion with his hand like he was brushing away something unpleasant.

“What do you mean by taping himself having sex with unsuspecting women?” Kent’s date asked.

“My boyfriend suspected Kent might be taping the women he sleeps with without their knowledge,” Kate said.

“But I wasn’t positive,” Ian said. “More like erring on the side of caution.”

“But we’re more positive now,” Kate said.

Ian nodded in agreement and looked at Kent’s date. “But if you’re cool with shooting some video, carry on.”

“No judging,” Kate said. “If the two of you decide together that you want to do that, you should definitely move forward.”

Ian smiled. “Really?”

“I’m not speaking from experience,” Kate said. “But sure. Why not? Although I’d probably lean toward photos instead of video. And they’d have to be stored securely, of course.”

“Well, not in the damn cloud, that’s for sure.”

“Hey!” Kent said.

All three heads turned.

“Oh. Right. You,” Ian said.

Kent’s face was so red it was almost purple. “I don’t know what the hell you two are talking about.”

“I think you might know a little bit about it,” Kate said.

Kent’s date looked as angry as he did. “If you think I’m sleeping with you tonight, you’re crazy.” They watched as she turned on her heel and stomped away.

“I don’t think she’s cool with the video thing,” Kate said.

Kent glared at Ian. “You’re an *.”

“Trust me, you have no idea how big an * I can be.”

Kate slid her arm around Ian’s waist. “He has a few boundary issues, that’s all. He’s actually quite wonderful.”

“Watching my girl cockblock you was even more satisfying than when I did it myself.” Ian pointed at Kent’s date, who was halfway down the hall. “But maybe if you catch up with her and do some groveling, you can turn this around. Good luck.”

Kent looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to punch Ian or try to salvage what was left of the evening with his date. Considering he was several inches shorter than Ian and more than a little drunk, he made the wise choice to take off after her.

Ian turned to Kate. “We make a good team, don’t we?” he said, lifting her hood.

She looked into his eyes. “The best.”

Snow was falling hard when they walked outside. Ian held Kate’s hand while they waited, and right before the valet pulled up with his car, he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.

“I should probably delete my dating profile,” Kate said as Ian drove carefully through the swirling snow. She’d long since turned off all notifications and had no idea if there’d been any activity—or what her current profile photo looked like.

“Keep it,” Ian said, laughing. “I like it better this way.

“Ian Bradshaw, what have you done?”

She used her phone to log on to her account. He had changed her profile picture to the one he’d taken of her driving the Shelby.

“A nice, normal photo,” she said. “How unexpected.”

“I want them to know exactly what they can’t have.”

He’d changed her bio too. It was short and simple and made her laugh: I like meat, driving fast, and Ian Smith.

She leaned across the console and kissed his cheek. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Maybe we can figure that out when we get home.”



Kate slipped off her boots, walked into the bedroom, and turned on the bedside lamp. She was standing in front of the dresser removing her jewelry when Ian joined her. He caught her eye in the mirror and began removing the pins from her hair, working patiently to find all of them. Once her hair was down, he ran his hands through it, massaging her head.

“That feels so good,” she said, holding his gaze as she laid her head back on his chest. He slipped one arm around her in front but trailed the fingers of the opposite hand along the curve of her waist, the slope of her hip. He nibbled her ear and then placed kisses, whisper soft, down the length of her neck, making her shiver.

She turned around, desperate for his mouth on hers. He slid his hands underneath her jaw and lifted her face, his kisses alternating between teasing and urgent. He’d taken off his jacket as soon as they walked in the door, but Kate needed the feel of his skin under her lips and fingers. She unbuttoned his shirt and removed it, then stripped off the T-shirt he wore underneath. Lightly rubbing her face on his chest, she breathed in the spicy smell of his cologne and sighed as she reached around, seeking the hard muscles of his back.