Heart-Shaped Hack(62)

He didn’t say anything, and Kate reached for his hand. “I’m a grown woman and perfectly capable of making my own decisions. This is my life. Soon to be our life. If I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t.”

He squeezed her hand. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t regret it.”



By Saturday they were both going stir-crazy after being cooped up for almost two days. But the sidewalks had been cleared, the sun was shining, and the temperature had risen twenty degrees. Kate was leaving for Pilates soon and Ian was going to run back to his place to grab some clothes. She was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and waiting for her laptop to boot up while he worked on the couch.

“Kate?” he called out.

She popped her head into the living room. “Yes, lover?”

He looked up from his computer and laughed. “Is there any more coffee?”

“For you? Sure.” Kate took his empty mug, went back into the kitchen, and returned with his coffee and her laptop. “Can you take a look at my computer when you have a minute? It’s running really slow.”

He set his laptop on the coffee table and reached for hers. “How long has it been running slow?”

“I don’t know? A week, maybe? I kept forgetting to say something.”

“What have I told you about clicking on those how-to links?”

She snorted. “Like I’m still doing that. But don’t look at my browsing history, okay? No reason.”

Kate went back into the kitchen to finish loading the dishwasher. She was about to join Ian on the couch when he walked into the room holding her laptop.

“What was wrong with it?” Kate asked.

“You’re low on memory. I can take care of it for you at my place. I’ll bring your laptop with me and install it for you while I’m there.”

“Wow,” she said. “Having a hacker boyfriend is turning out to be quite handy.”

Ian appeared deep in thought and didn’t respond.

“Ian?” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you with me?”

He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Yes, just making a mental list. What did you say?”

“I said you’re handy to have around.”

“Yeah.” He still seemed quite distracted. “When are you leaving?”

“In half an hour or so.”

“Let’s grab some lunch at Tug’s when I get back. I should be done by noon or one.”

“Sure.”

“Okay.” He kissed her good-bye and put on his coat. “Gotta run.”



When Ian returned, they went to lunch. Once they were seated, he stared down at his phone which had pinged repeatedly on the walk over.

“It’s crowded here today,” Kate said. “I guess we’re not the only ones who wanted to get out of the house.”

When he realized she was waiting for a response, he looked up. “What? Sorry,” he said slipping the phone into his front pocket.

“You can respond to the messages if you need to. I don’t mind.”

He shook his head. “It can wait.”

The waitress took their order, and Kate told Ian that Paige had called and asked if she wanted to see a movie later. “It’s a rom-com.”

He grinned. “Of course it is.”

“Strangely, Jason is not burning to see it, but she knew I would be. We’re going to the early show, so I should be back by nine thirty.”

“Okay.” He’d put his phone on vibrate, but she could still hear the sound of it buzzing in his pocket every couple of minutes.

“Are you sure you don’t need to answer whoever’s texting and calling you?”

He reached across the table for her hand. “Nope.”

“Is it work?”

He nodded. “A problem came up. I’m trying to figure out how to solve it.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Kate said with a wink. “You are the best.”

When they got home from lunch, Ian spent the afternoon switching back and forth between sending texts and typing on his laptop. When it was time for her to meet Paige for the movie, he was still hard at work, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Hey, hacker. I’m leaving now,” she said.

He looked up sharply as if she’d startled him. But then his expression softened into a smile. After setting his laptop on the coffee table, he crossed the room to take her in his arms.

“Don’t work too hard while I’m gone,” she said, pressing her body against his.

He pulled her closer and kissed her. “Hurry back.”

***

When she returned, he was still in the same spot on the couch.

“How was the movie?” he asked.

“It was good. You might not have enjoyed it quite as much. There were no car chases or explosions.”

She went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of bourbon. “You look like you could use a drink.”

“You always know just what I need,” he said, taking a sip.

She sat down next to him. “Which client is having the problem?”

“FBI,” he said putting his glass down on the table. “We encountered a problem with the forum.”