Rory Read online

  Nervous butterflies gathered in her stomach. It wasn’t just that he was attractive and powerful looking. He was in control. It made her self-aware. He’d always had that affect on her, and now they were alone, away from home and family, in London and no one was telling them to keep their hands off each other.

  “Why, what’s wrong with the lock?” Light headed, Sky turned the key.

  “It’s not safe enough.”

  “The landlord said he’s the only other person with a key.”

  He gestured at the door. “It’s an old model, anyone with half a clue could have it open inside twenty seconds.”

  “I thought you were a mechanic, not a locksmith… oh right, I get it, you know all about breaking locks as well as computer stuff. You bad, bad boy. How very intriguing.”

  His eyebrows scrunched. “Just offering a friendly bit of advice.”

  He scrubbed at the collar on his jacket at the back of his neck.

  Sky threw her keys onto the dresser and looked back at him.

  He stood in the doorway, one shoulder up against the frame, staring at her. A hunk of male testosterone, a sexy temptation she was about to be alone with in her bedroom. His eyes were dark and his gorgeous mouth was tight as if he was thinking what might happen if he stepped in and closed the door behind them.

  Her pulse raced. “You reckon you could break in?”

  One corner of his mouth lifted. He nodded. “I know I can.”

  “Well, I suppose if you can break in, you get to steal something.”

  “I’d rather you gave me a reward.” He stared at her pointedly.

  Sky swayed on her feet. So much for playing cautiously. Lifting her chin, she faced up to him. “Pals, catching up on one another,” she teased. “We agreed. And I don’t believe you’re just thinking about locks here, Rory.”

  She thought he’d never answer. He stared across at her, and the slow scrutiny in his eyes made her entire skin tingle.

  He gave a wry smile. “And neither are you.” He tutted. “Must try harder, huh?”

  It made her laugh. They used to say it to each other back at home in Cadogan because it was always on her report card from school.

  Closing the door behind them, Rory looked round the room, then stared at the sofa. “Where do you sleep?”

  “It folds out,” she responded, wondering if he was genuinely curious or if he was still thinking about sex. She was. “It’s a futon.”

  He stared at the futon for a moment, then stepped over to where she had her sketches and art equipment piled up on the dresser. The atmosphere was awkward, and laden with tension.

  “What’s your plan with the art, to become a freelance artist?”

  “Not necessarily, I don’t think I’m good enough.”

  “Don’t say that, you’re more than good enough.”

  She smiled but ignored his compliment. “I’d like to work in graphic design. The sketching…well, I find it helps me think clearly, more calmly, I guess.”

  “You certainly seem to be much more…in control of yourself.” His mouth lifted at one corner as he spoke.

  Sky resisted the urge to smart mouth him. He’d been reckoning with self control back there in the hallway every bit as much as she had been.

  He leafed through loose sketches, scenes from around the city, so she commented on that instead. “There’s a need to express things I see that strike me as important, I guess.”

  He nodded, then looked her over with a blatant stare. “Could I guess what you think is important, without looking?”

  The way he looked was so blatantly sexy. The tension between them was building again. She gave a soft laugh. “You know me well enough. I’m sure you could.”

  He stared at her silently for the longest moment, then scanned the surroundings. “Where’s my USB?”

  Sky took a deep breath. “Sit down, I’ll get it.”

  She pointed at the futon.

  He ignored her.

  She hated that he’d flipped over to the computer stuff again. She wanted him to sidle over to the sofa and drop down on to it, make himself at home. But he was more interested in scanning the joint looking for his precious USB stick.

  With a loud sigh, she opened her earring box, reached inside and lifted out the USB stick with the red dot. She dangled by its lanyard holding it close to her chest. “Here it is.”

  He strode closer, grabbed it in his fist, snatching it off her and brushing her breast as he did so.

  Her breasts tingled. Her body wanted more contact.

  Once he had the damn thing in his hand, he gestured at her with it. “You should never have kept it. I’m upset you did that.”

  “You’re telling me off, now?” Sky laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Get you, playing the big brother now you’ve got your precious cargo back.”

  “Yes, I’m telling you off now. I couldn’t risk it before because you’d have gone off the rails and put yourself in even more danger.” He gestured at her with the USB stick. “This…this is dangerous. It’s bad news, Sky. It’s my responsibility because I wrote the code and I have to destroy it.” With a heavy frown, he pulled out a pen knife and began to pry the USB stick open. “Where’s your toilet?”

  She nodded at the bathroom door. “You’re going to flush it?”

  “Yes, and then that’s the end of it.” He turned away.

  He was deadly serious, and it was heavy shit, whatever it was. Her mind whirred over. She darted after him. “Wait.”

  Rory paused.

  “Um. Shouldn’t you destroy whatever it is in front of whoever it is that wants it, otherwise how will they know you don’t have it anymore?”

  He stared at her silently a moment then gave a slow smile. “Good point. You’re not just a pretty face any more”

  Sky savored that, turning away so he couldn’t see her smile. She went to the window sill, where she had a couple of bottles of beer.

  Glancing into the bathroom, Rory gave a dry laugh. “You really couldn’t swing a cat in this place.”

  “Just as well I don’t have a cat then.” She flipped the caps off with a bottle opener and gestured at the futon. “Sorry, no fridge, but they get pretty cold sitting there on the window ledge.”

  He took the bottle she offered and she sat down next to him.

  Setting her bottle down on the floor she turned sideways so she could observe. He drew her attention in every way, from his hand nursing the bottle, to the strong outline of his thighs through his jeans. Desire thrummed in her groin, her mouth eager for another of his kisses

  “It’s not very warm in here. How do manage?” He leaned down and lifted her beer bottle, nudging it back into her hand.

  “Be careful, you’re beginning to sound all big brother again and I’d hate that.”

  His gaze lingered on her. “We’re both still wearing our coats. I can’t help noticing the temperature.”

  “I’ll feed the meter later.” She sipped the beer. “Right now I want you to tell me about the computer stuff.”

  Rory reached in his pocket and threw a few coins on the sofa between them “Feed the meter.”

  “It’s not that kind of meter. It’s a card you have to feed.”

  “Do you need cash for that?

  Annoyance hit her hard and fast. “I can take of myself. I vowed I would when I came to London, made a serious promise to my Nan. If I run short I take an extra shift at the Coffee Hut.”

  He frowned. “I don’t like to think of you being cold.”

  The tension between them rocketed. She shot him a look.

  “Jesus, Sky, there’s no need to look at me as if I’ve just threatened your favorite puppy. I want to make sure you’re okay. Is that so wrong?”

  “I’m fine, don’t fuss.”

  He wasn’t going to let it go though. “This place,” he gestured around the room, “how much rent are they charging you for this rabbit hutch? How many shifts do you have to do to pay for it? I can’t help worrying about you I
’m your stepbrother; I’m supposed to care about your well being.”

  Stepbrother. She drew away, folded her arms on her knees and turned away. “Don’t say that, I don’t think of you that way.”

  Silence. After a moment, she glanced back at him. He stared at her, his eyes shining, but he gave no clue what he was thinking. At least he didn’t argue. Ignoring the money he’d offered, she stood up and went to the meter cupboard, and shoved in the card she had stashed there. Crossing to the electric heater, she flicked it on.

  She wasn’t going to look desperate or be more obvious than she already had. Not for any man, no matter how sexy. She wanted him, hell yes, but she didn’t really believe in relationship stuff. Her real dad had left them when she was a toddler. Her older sister was pregnant before her seventeenth birthday and now split with her partner and bringing up a child alone. All of it forced Sky to be realistic. Men took what they wanted and walked. As far as she was concerned a woman had to be the same way or suffer.

  “So tell me about the software. Why is it bad news, why did it get you in trouble with the police?” She took off her coat and threw herself back down on the futon beside him.

  He side-eyed the slinky black mini dress she wore under the coat. “The less you know the better.”

  “Hey, I helped you out when you were in trouble and I’ve been holding the goods for you. I deserve an explanation.”

  “No. You don’t.”

  Was that it? He didn’t want her to know about his stuff now he’d got it back?

  “At least tell me why you call it a kit.”

  He rolled his eyes. “The software, it’s like tools to unlock code, therefore tool kit.”

  “You took your laptop when you left home.”

  “Yeah, that and my bike, that’s all I had.” He took a swig of his beer.

  “I looked for it when you’d gone. All I found was some abandoned T-shirts.” She wore them in bed, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

  He stared at her for the longest moment. “You’re dangerous when your curiosity is up.”

  Laughing softly, it pleased her he thought of her as dangerous.

  “When I first came to London I hooked up with some people I knew online. The only way to make money quickly was doing computer stuff. I got some work restoring data on crashed hard drives. That only lasted a while, then I got mixed up in some stuff I regret, big time.” He took a deep slug of his beer. “Now I’ve had the chance to go straight, to work with bikes in a decent mechanics workshop with a good reputation, and I want to put an end to the dodgy software scams.”

  “Was it about money?”

  “No. It was a game, for all three of us, seeing how far we could get. There’s a challenge getting in somewhere you aren’t supposed to be.”

  Sky smiled. In that sense they were very similar. “Tell me more.”

  He considered her for a long moment as if trying to make up his mind whether to confide or not. “It’s these complex security systems. Some guy’s been paid hundreds of thousands to make sure no-one can hack it, and if you can do it… its too tempting to try, you know. If you can, you’re giving them the finger, showing them they’re not everything they think they are.”

  “Yeah, that would be tempting.”

  “It was a buzz. But the people we met...some of them want to do it for different reasons, they want to make money, harvesting email addresses for scams, that kind of thing. Once we knew what was going on we wanted out of, but it’s difficult to extract yourself.And when someone offers you cash and you haven’t got money for food or a place to live…” He ruffled his hand through his hair. “We never should have done it. Bad decision.”

  “You mentioned police.”

  “Yeah, they tracked us down. Cyber crime division. They hauled me in. Luckily I didn’t have my kit on me. Sadly Sean did. Staring at four walls in a cell for a night woke me up. I already had the job with George. I was done with hacking.”

  “Is George your boss?”

  “Yes, he owns the place where I work.”

  Sky nodded. She was glad he’d confided in her. Her curiosity hadn’t been such a bad thing after all.

  “Trouble is,” he continued, “the people I used to hang out with think they still need me.”

  “So you’re trying to shake them off?”

  “It’s not easy, but until I do, I’m not out of the woods.”

  “You don’t want to just give them the kit and have done with it?”

  “No. It’d never end if I chose that option. Besides, it’s not really going straight is it, leaving the software out there?”

  Curious, Sky looked at the USB sitting there, so innocuously, on the end of her futon. She felt oddly attached to it. Perhaps because it had brought him back here to her. Taking a big risk, she leaned closer and put her hand inside his leather jacket, resting it on his chest, warm and hard and defined under his T-shirt. “Stay.”

  He covered her hand with his, and for a moment she thought he was going to agree. “I need to go, Sky. If I stay any longer I’ll undress you, because I want you.”

  He reached over and stroked her neck, and then kissed it, his breath warm against her skin. “I always wanted you. You do realize that?”

  She swallowed. Knowing it for sure rocked her world. Something had switched up. His directness was edged with tender honesty this time. It made her chest feel tight. She was floating, but she wanted it, every crazy, spellbound moment unfolding around her. “I was never sure.”

  “Be sure.” His lips closed tighter together, his eyes flashing a warning at her. “But we’re trouble for each other, always were, and right now I can’t afford that.”

  He rose to his feet, breaking the moment apart.

  Sky stared after him, adrift on her emotions, confused by the disparity in what he’d said and the fact he was leaving. She jolted into action, followed him.

  He turned and pulled a card out of his pocket. Handing it to her, he nodded at it. “My work number and address. I’ve written my mobile number on the reverse. If you need anything, call me. Promise?”

  She took the card. “I promise.”

  With that he was gone, the door clicking firmly shut behind him.

  It hit her like a slap in the face. She’d been so ready, and he’d been so full on.

  It was a cold reminder he’d come here for his USB, and no matter how strong the pull between them, he’d just told her how much he’d always wanted her, and left.

  She stared at the shut door, dizzy with emotion, wired, on the verge of tears, and aroused beyond anything she’d ever experienced before.

  And it was going to take more than a quick shower to shake it off.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Rory slammed the corridor light on and headed for the stairs. He got six feet along the narrow, gloomy space and stopped dead.

  He’d left the bloody USB back there on the futon.

  Cursing, he put one fist up against the wall. This is exactly what he’d been trying to avoid. Sky got him so he couldn’t think straight. He had a fuckin’ hard on and he was furious with himself.

  Turning to face the wall, he put his forehead on the cold plaster. How in the hell had he forgotten it? Sky.

  He’d constantly had to remind himself what he was there for. He’d been cruising along, wanting her, enjoying being with her, but when he stepped inside her building and she turned her face up to his, control vanished. He’d had to kiss her. She’d been soft and eager in his arms, and he wanted her there and the, up against the wall. The urge to take charge of her had him at full throttle.

  Until an alarm bell went off in his head. It was like being at home, where they’d been big, big trouble for each other.

  Drumming in his head, it was always there. His father’s anger, the hateful words. ‘You’re going to mess this up for us,’ the old man had said, his fist wrapped around Rory’s throat as he pinned him up against a wall. ‘We’ve got a good place here, a fresh start. We’ve been welcomed
into Shelly’s home. I’m not going to let you mess it up for us because you’ve got the hots for her daughter.’

  Those angry words ran through Rory like tainted blood. The violent streak he witnessed in his father made him retreat to his computer and his motorcycle. Thankfully, Shelly’s new age hippie attitude calmed his dad a lot, but those angry warnings stayed with him nonetheless.

  Pull back before it’s too late.

  Glancing back at Sky’s door, he took a deep breath. Their parents had gone though, left all of them. It was just him and Sky here, with no one telling them what they could and couldn’t do.

  He turned back to face the door. After he’d spent time with her in the box room she laughably called an apartment, it was hard to stand up and walk away. Especially once he’d opened up to her about his hacker past.

  She had to ask about the money. It always made his teeth grate, because he only did it for the challenge At least he did to begin with. But it’s what people always wanted to know, not just Sky. She’d always had rebellion in her eyes—rebellion and shadows. He’d seen that look too many times before—seen it in his own reflection not so long ago. He was up to his neck trying to right past mistakes and get his own life on the right track. It meant he couldn’t afford to get mixed up with a crazy girl who thought playing with fire was a pastime.

  There were so many reasons why he should avoid her.

  He wanted her though, and as soon as her door clicked shut, he regretted leaving. And he knew he’d be regretting it later in the night, alone in his bed, thinking about her, thinking about what she’d feel like, under him, hip to hip, her mouth locked with his.

  He glanced up and down the corridor.

  The timed light went out.

  Cursing, he punched the switch. The light flickered back on.

  The muffled sounds of voices and music reached him, but no one was about. Pacing up and down, he faced up to the fact he had to go back. Couldn’t risk leaving the hacker kit with her a moment longer. He should have dumped it long ago, but there’d been a voice in his head that said he might need it. Out there in the real world Jackson was probably already making plans, staking out possible hiding places. He didn’t need either George or his housemates in danger. He stopped dead. That was Sky’s fault, telling him not to destroy it, and then he’d got so far into the idea of fucking her he’d forgotten to pick the bloody thing up.