White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(42)

“Hush,” she said placing a hand over his mouth.

“Let me grab a pen and some paper so I can write down what you need.”

They finished giving Renee their list, and she left for the store. Ian leaned over and pulled back the sheet, exposing Kate’s naked body from the waist up.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I don’t care how horrible I feel. I’m rubbing Vicks on your chest.”



Renee checked on them before she went home for the day and asked if there was anything they needed.

“I think we’re good for now,” Kate said. “Thank you so much.”

“Call me if there’s anything you need, and I’ll be happy to bring it by. I hope you feel better soon.”

Kate had told Ian that rest was the thing they needed most as they waited for the illness to run its course, so they spent most of the day in bed, sleeping or watching TV.

After waking up from one of their many naps, Ian reached for his phone to check his e-mail. “Oh, you’re going to love this, sweetness. It’s from the CIO regarding my report on the findings of our joint social engineering assignment.”

“I imagine he had plenty to say.”

“Judging by the length of this e-mail, it appears he did.” A coughing attack prevented him from reading the words, and when it finally subsided, he rubbed his chest. “Damn, that hurts. Okay, listen to this. ‘Dear Mr. Smith. I’m extremely disappointed that our agreed-upon terms for the security audit were so blatantly disregarded by your firm.’”

Kate laughed. “He’s clearly unaware of your shortcomings when it comes to following the rules.”

“I can really only get away with it once. They start to wise up after that.” He scrolled through the message and continued reading. “‘I find your unauthorized attendance at the IT staff meeting especially brazen.’”

“It’s like he doesn’t know you at all.”

“Four paragraphs in and he’s still complaining. Maybe I’ll just skip to the part where he acknowledges our hard work.”

“Assuming he does.”

“‘However, your firm has shed light on the many security deficiencies of this organization, and the suggestions you’ve outlined will be implemented immediately.’” Ian shot her a smug look. “Did I call this, or what?”

“You did.”

Ian scanned the rest of the e-mail. “‘I will remind you, however, that per your offer there will be no monetary compensation.’”

He started typing, saying the words aloud as he composed his reply. “As promised, there will be no invoice issued for our services. In lieu of payment, please send along a written referral as I’m sure you have plenty of colleagues who would also benefit from our expertise. And if it’s not too much trouble, I’d really appreciate it if you could write a short recommendation for my testimonials page. A paragraph or two is plenty.”



Later that evening, Kate filled the tub and convinced Ian a hot bath would do wonders for his aching body.

“Come on,” she said. “You can even be in front.”

He lowered himself into the tub and leaned back against Kate’s chest. She scooped handfuls of warm water onto his head, and when his hair was wet, she massaged the shampoo into his scalp with her fingers.

He groaned softly. “Tuberculosis isn’t completely horrible.”

“That’s the spirit,” she said, rinsing the shampoo with handfuls of water.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be sick with. There’s no one else I’d rather be healthy with either.” His voice sounded congested and hoarse, and yet there was no mistaking the conviction in it.

She kissed his wet head. “Me too.” It didn’t matter that their noses were red and both of them looked pretty rough. All that mattered to Kate was that they were together.

She became engulfed in a coughing attack followed by a giant sneeze.

“Did you just sneeze on my head?” he asked.

“No way. That would be gross.”

He laughed when she reached for the shampoo and washed his hair again.



A day and a half later, they were both feeling much better. Kate seemed to have bounced back a bit faster than Ian, but her immune system was probably stronger considering she came into contact with germs more frequently than he did. She was going stir-crazy after lying in bed for so long and felt desperate to leave the house. After taking a hot shower, she pulled on some clothes while Ian lounged in bed, scrolling through the TV channels.

“I’m going to the store. I’m tired of soup and feel like cooking something that requires a knife and fork to eat.”

“Can’t Renee go for you?”

“She’s not coming today. She went to visit her daughter and son-in-law. I can pick up the groceries. I’m not feeling too bad.”

“How can you not be?”

Kate laughed to herself. Her hacker husband might be invincible in most scenarios, but he was a typical man when it came to being sick. And this is why women have the babies. “Take a hot shower. I guarantee you’ll feel better.” She kissed him good-bye. “Back soon.”



Kate usually drove the Tahoe when she went on a grocery run, but that day she chose the Porsche. It was almost Thanksgiving and the weather would be turning soon, which meant she’d have to park the sports car until spring. She decided to take a nice long drive and then pop into Safeway on her way back through town.