Nina was unmoved by his sarcasm. “Thanks, I will. Here.” She set two bags down, and with one hand released the straps and handed the baby to Wes. “Go sit over there and explain to my son that you aren’t in love with your roommate, but you are willing to risk going back to jail for her—because she’s yourfriend.”
Shaking her head, Nina sat next to her husband. Jin set his laptop on the kitchen table opposite Wes’s monitors and bent to plug in his power cord. Straightening, he pointed a finger at Wes.
“You should have let me infiltrate the carriers. I’m felony free.”
Wes appreciated his friends’ attempt to make him smile, but Nina’s comments had hit him straight in the chest. If he was in love with Cara, what did that mean for his plans with Melody?
“Use the power strip, dummy.” Nina swatted her husband’s hands away from the electrical socket. “Do you think we are going to plug everything in to one?” Coming to her feet, she gave Jin a swift kiss. “I’m going to work on tracing the RAT. Is that her computer? Show me which files you’ve already cleared.”
Wes’s throat clogged with emotion. “I don’t want to put you both at risk. You are a family, and this little guy needs you. This is my problem to solve. You can’t get involved.”
The couple ignored him, Nina offering suggestions to her husband as he keyed up a program. “I’m serious!” Wes yelled, making the baby wail. Nina gave him a dirty look before retrieving her child.
“Look what you did!” she accused.
Wes looked at his two friends. “I appreciate you want to help, but this is… You have a family to protect. I don’t want to drag you into this.”
Nina bounced her son, who thankfully had found his fingers, on her hip. Her look was pointed. “You’re right. And that’s exactly what we are doing. Protecting ourfamily.” Her eyes were fierce, and when Wes opened his mouth to protest, Jin interjected, never taking his eyes off the screen.
“I wouldn’t. You aren’t going to win this one.” He looked over his shoulder and briefly eyed Wes before returning to what he was doing. “Besides, I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything. That was all my idea.”
“Maybe, but I don’t remember putting up a fight. And when you got caught, you could have snitched on me to get a lighter sentence and you didn’t.”
Nina took a step forward, laying a hand on Wes’s forearm. “We will never forget. You aren’t just our friend; you are our family.”
Realizing the uncharacteristic emotional tone of the conversation was making them all uncomfortable, Nina shrugged and bent to put her son in a bouncy seat. “Get over it. Besides, I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been since you moved in with her. She’s good for you. And it’s really shitty this is happening. If the police can’t help, we will. At some point, we’d like to meet her, just to make sure she’s not some Japanese sex doll you ordered.”
“Don’t shame him, babe. A man likes what he likes.”
“I think I’m regretting calling you,” Wes groaned.
A couple of hours later, they had the name of the account holder for the number that had called Cara and texted her the message about the flowers. Unfortunately, it was a corporation, Iveson & Co., a small subsidiary of another larger company based in New York. Nina had found the RAT, so now, the next time whoever it was tried to access Cara’s computer remotely, they’d have his physical location.
Wes hadn’t yet found a way to share the information with the police without revealing what they had done. However, he suspected if he gave the information to Cara’s brother, Declan, the problem would disappear.
* * *
Wes watchedCara tip the champagne flute up again and then wave it in the air, as she shook her long blonde waves back and forth. He hadn’t planned on coming to this party, but Cara had promised Skye, and he wasn’t letting her out of his sight until there was an ocean between her and this perv.
She was tipsy. It wasn’t something he’d seen more than once, but he was quickly becoming a fan. Cara set her glass down and pranced back to the dance floor, waving her arms over her head as her hips kept rhythm with the deep bass.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
It had taken him fifteen minutes, including a shower, to get ready for the night, and that was with actually trying to do something with his hair. The laughter coming from Cara’s room went on for over an hour, sending a warm feeling throughout his body. If she could forget what was happening for a couple of hours, he was all for it.
The voice in the back of his head reminded him he would see Melody in a few days, and after that, everything could change. The problem was, he was no longer sure what he wanted that change to be.
The bedroom door opened, and Skye and Cara spilled out, already a little wobbly. His breath caught. She wore a purple dress, simple in design, hitting her mid-thigh. Wes’s eyes trailed from her nude high-heels up her toned legs, and lingered on the deep V that showcased her curves. A simple, gold disc on a chain nestled between her breasts. His mouth dried, the memory of how that soft skin had tasted on his tongue… Thankfully, the two women were so busy admiring each other and ordering a car that they didn’t notice him turn away and adjust himself. This was going to be a long night.
The party had grown more raucous as time went on, and Wes looked at his watch. It was almost midnight, and Cara showed no sign of wanting to stop soon. Wes thought of their flight the following afternoon and sipped his whiskey. He didn’t want to leave while she was having fun. They’d packed earlier in the day and could always sleep on the plane.
“She’s a hit.” Jerrod dropped into the folding chair next to Wes and lifted his forearm to wipe the sheen from his forehead. He picked up a wine glass and downed it. Smacking his lips, he looked sideways at Wes and chuckled.
Wes grunted. He was unhappily aware that he wasn’t the only man in the room who thought the sight of Cara, moving to the beat in a short, tight dress, was mesmerizing. Another young man danced up close to Cara. Wes had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t touch Cara again until he knew what it was he wanted. It wasn’t fair to either of them.
“You need another drink.”
