White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(21)

She let out a surprised chuckle. “Do you have any idea how excited you sound?”

“I can’t help it. I find it exhilarating.”

“I know you do. This is exactly the kind of challenge that makes you happy.”

Opening himself up to Kate, sharing his feelings and letting her see who he really was, had been one of the wisest things he’d ever done. “You make me happy.”

“I’m just the cherry on top.”

“Yes you are.” He ran his fingers through her hair, idly wrapping the strands around his fingers. “Do you know why I call you sweetness?”

She propped herself up on her arm and smiled down at him. “I thought it was just your preferred term of endearment.”

“It is, but I call you sweetness because everything in my life got sweeter the minute you became a part of it. You’re exactly the woman I always hoped I’d find.”

“I love you,” she said, giving him one hell of a hot kiss.

“I love you too.”

She laid her head on his chest and snuggled closer.



He put one arm around her and reached for his phone with the other.

“Are you looking at the pictures?”

“Hell yes, I’m looking at them.”

“Let me see.”

She shifted a bit and he brought the phone down so the screen would be visible to both of them, and five minutes later it seemed he’d been absolutely right about that second round.





CHAPTER TEN

Ian did a double take when Kate walked into his office two days later and stood before his desk. Her long dark hair had been dyed a golden blond, a shade or two lighter than his. Before, it had reached almost the middle of her back, but she’d cut some of it and now it fell in long layers several inches below her shoulders. He’d contemplated asking her to dye her hair when they returned from Roanoke Island, but after discussing it with Phillip, they’d decided it probably wasn’t necessary, especially if he wasn’t also going to dye his. But now that she was going to be seen in public more often, he’d decided he’d feel more comfortable if she altered her appearance a bit.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s just get the carpet not matching the drapes jokes out of the way right now.”

“I’m not sure that tiny landing strip of yours actually qualifies as carpet, but okay. It’s not going to match.” He pushed his chair back and studied her. For as long as he could remember, certainly as long as he’d been aware of the opposite sex, he’d preferred a certain type: long-legged brunettes with dark eyes. But his wife had just shattered that all to hell, and no one was more surprised than him.

“I know that look,” she said.

“I should hope so.” The truth was there was never a time, day or night, when he didn’t want her at least a little bit. And right then he wanted her more than ever. “I never pictured you as a blonde, but this is a superhot look on you, and I pretty much want to lay you across my desk.”

She grinned. “So I guess you like it.”

“You look beautiful. Thanks for agreeing to do it.”

“Well, blondes do have more fun.”

He came around from behind his desk and sat on the edge of it so that he was facing her. “I know you’re all about using your sex appeal for personal gain, but I do not want those”—he pointed to her breasts—“or those”—he pointed to her legs—“or this”—he reached behind her and palmed her ass—“being used as an incentive in any way. The only person who should be looking down your shirt is me. You are not bait.”

She shook her head. “I promise I’ll never do that again.”

“Are you ready to go over scenarios?” He’d given her a stack of three-ring binders overflowing with information on social engineering attack vectors and asked her to study them. Maybe when she saw what it really entailed, she’d change her mind.

“I want to look over some of the materials one more time. Give me half an hour and then come to my office. I’ll be ready for you.”

“You got it.”



Kate had quickly turned the small sitting room off the formal living room into her office once Ian agreed to let her help him. The walls had been freshly painted when the main level had undergone its remodeling, and at Kate’s request, Jade had delivered a desk and a small chair and ottoman. Together they had selected brightly colored art for the walls, and Kate placed the rug from her apartment in Minneapolis on the floor in front of the desk. She loved it.

In law school, she’d had to commit copious amounts of information to memory, and Ian probably had no idea how eagerly—and thoroughly—she’d immersed herself in the study materials he’d given her. Phillip had said that social engineering was human hacking, but Kate soon realized it was much more complex than that. Ian preferred using his technical skills to penetrate and scan a company’s computer systems for vulnerabilities from the outside, but Kate would focus primarily on human-based techniques directly involving a company’s personnel. That might entail sending a phishing e-mail with a malicious link to someone within the company or convincing them to accept malware via a USB drive. In addition, she would become an expert in the art of pretexting, or conducting prior research that would lend legitimacy to an invented scenario in order to convince the victim to release the desired information or agree to a specific action. Kate had studied every possible situation and its consequences and couldn’t wait for her first assignment to try out everything she’d learned.