Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(20)

Movement sounded and his voice drew closer. “You want to work with me, you’ve got two hurdles to clear. First, I want you to finish all the sessions on the first course I listed and get me the sample code you generate from it by 5:00 p.m. Friday. You make it to that point without jumping out the window or calling me to cry uncle, then I’ll pick you up at eight on Saturday night for the second leg.”

He plunked the coffee down on the desk right beside her hand, dug his wallet out of his back pocket and fished out a business card. He waggled it a few times then plunked it down next to the mug. “You want to wave the white flag, here’s my number.”

For the longest time her mind struggled to catch up, the sheer logistics of completing what he’d asked in two days’ time scrambling her wits. The sessions she’d done before had taken her twice as long, and she’d bet a carte blanche Neiman Marcus shopping spree he knew it.

Knox stared down at her, that edgy charisma that clung to him sparking twice as hot and a blazing dare burning in his eyes. “You think you can do it?”

Maybe. She’d have to give up sleep and possibly meals to pull it off, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “Absolutely.”

“Good.” He turned and ambled toward the door.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yep,” he said without looking back.

“But you didn’t drink your coffee.”

“The coffee’s for you. Trust me. You’re gonna need it.”

He opened the door.

She glanced down at his card beside the coffee cup. What had he said about Saturday and a second task? She scrambled to her feet. “Wait.”

He paused mid-closing the door behind him, one hand still wrapped around the knob as he looked back and raised both eyebrows.

“What’s the second hurdle?”

One corner of his mouth crooked wickedly, all bad boy promise and devilish delight. “You meet my brothers.”





Chapter Eight

Knox backed his Harley into an open parking spot outside JJ’s apartment and killed the engine. At eight o’clock on a Saturday night, the world around him was anything but quiet, but it still seemed tame in the absence of his bike’s throaty rumble. Smiling to himself, he jogged up the steps. Tonight would be interesting for sure. Not only had JJ delivered the code generated from the first lesson he’d assigned her, but it had hit his inbox two hours early.

Knox,

My code is attached. Hurdle one is complete. Assuming the quality meets or exceeds your exacting standards, I’ll be ready to tackle task two at eight o’clock tomorrow.

Sincerely,





JJ


Oh, yeah. He’d definitely fired her up with his Thursday morning visit. Which sucked for him because the attitude was a total fucking turn-on. Especially paired with her crazy-quick wit and serious intelligence.

Still, there’d been a purpose behind him prodding her temper, and it had worked just like he’d hoped. She had a long way to go before she had so much as a prayer of making a living writing apps, and the best way he sensed he’d help her was with some good old-fashioned challenge.

He rapped his knuckles against the old wood door and studied the highway in the distance. Much as he hated to admit it, his head had spent way too much time the last few days rehashing the last time he’d stood in this spot. Or, more to the point, the image of her in that short robe with her sinfully long legs on prime display. No way had she had anything on underneath it. He’d been suspicious when she’d gripped the lapels between her breasts and waved him in, but seeing how much of her thighs were exposed when she sat behind her desk cinched it. How he’d stopped from dropping to his knees, anchoring her thighs over his shoulders and tonguing her cunt until she screamed was a damned miracle.

The deadbolt disengaged and the door opened.

Damn.

Talk about a gorgeous woman. Why it hadn’t occurred to him to spell out what she should wear he couldn’t say, but seeing her in her sheer white top, tight black fuck-me skirt and matching heels was damn well worth the miscommunication.

He prowled forward not waiting for an invite, taking his sweet time as he did so and giving her a solid once over. “You look great.”

Interestingly enough, she waited until the last possible second to step aside and let him pass, and if he wasn’t mistaken her lips pursed with a barely restrained smirk. “Thank you. Although, I hope you’ll forgive me if I say the effort was for your brothers and not for you.”

And there was the attitude again. It might have been veiled under a polite and formal response, but the bite was there none the less. Totally hot.

Her television remote sat on one end of the glass coffee table, perfectly perpendicular to the edge. As if her smarts, sass and sex appeal weren’t already enough of a package, she had to go and give his compulsive drive for neatness a run for its money. Sighing, he rounded the table, snatched up the remote and made himself at home on her couch. “Sweetheart, if you didn’t have them eating out of your hand with your accent, you’d definitely seal the deal with your legs. Only problem is, where we’re going, you’re going to need to dress a whole lot more casual.”

She frowned, checked her appearance, then shot her gaze back to him. “But you said this was an interview.”