Reckoning

“I was too busy being a nerd,” she said. “I didn’t have a social life.”

“I can’t picture that,” he said as he leaned toward her. He pushed her hair back with his tender touch, then slowly cleaned her face with the soft cloth. “I’ll bet every guy in Cambridge was banging at your door.”

“You’d lose your money.”

“You didn’t have a boyfriend?”

“One. But he was a bigger nerd than I was. We spent all our time in the lab. We never even did it.”

His hand stilled. She could just imagine the shocked look on his face. One thing for sure, no one would ever call Nate a nerd. He was everything women swoon over—tall, dark, handsome as sin. Those green eyes of his could seduce the pants off a girl without him even trying. Not to mention the little cleft in his chin.

“Are you a virgin?”

That got her eyes open. “Would that shock you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, don’t worry. I’m not.”

“Okay, then.” He rinsed the washcloth and went over her face with it once more.

“Kate told me all about you,” she said, bliss taking over her body. “She said you surprised her.”

“Oh? How?”

“She figured you were an out-and-out hound dog, but then you turned out to be a gentleman.”

He grunted.

“No, really. She said you made no pretense about not wanting anything serious, but you weren’t only thinking of yourself. She liked you.”

“She dumped me.”

“Doesn’t matter. She thought you were hot.”

“Hot, huh?”

His hand went behind her back and she let him push her forward. He washed her back, then rinsed it, and she just sat there like a lump.

“You want your hair washed?”

She nodded.

“You got it. Now, lean back and close your eyes.”

He dipped her into the warmth, holding her steady. She thought of movies she’d seen of people being baptized. The congregants had worn white robes, but still, it was just like that, and not only because of how he held her. She had lost the last of her innocence tonight. She’d taken a life, had seen her world turn to ashes.

He lifted her back up, and then he did the most amazing thing in the whole world. He poured shampoo in his hands and he washed her hair. So gently, so wonderfully, it was miraculous, life-changing, and he just kept massaging and massaging.

“You like that?”

She made some kind of sound, something in the affirmative vein.

He chuckled and he didn’t stop.

She jerked again, and blinked. She must have fallen asleep.

“Let’s get you rinsed off and put you to bed,” he said.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

She struggled to stay awake while he rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. Then he stood her up and got her out of the tub. Instantly, there was a big fluffy towel around her, and he dried her with the same care.

He led her out of the bath and when they were next to the bed he drew back the covers.

She looked at him. “I don’t have pajamas.”

“It’s okay.”

“You don’t either.”

“That’s okay, too. I’m going to be right over there.” He nodded toward a chair by the window.

“No,” she said. “You’re sleeping with me.”

“Tam—”

She turned to him, took hold of his shirt and met his gaze. “Please?”

He didn’t answer for a second as he searched her eyes. She felt sure he was going to tell her not to be ridiculous, but then he smiled and said, “Sure.”

“Nate?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

“You saved yourself.”

Tam shook her head. “No. You’ve saved me every single day since I met you.”

He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Not yet,” he whispered, “but I will. I promise.”

That was good enough for her. She climbed into bed, and fell asleep.

BY THE SECOND HOUR OF the weekly status meeting, CEO Leland Ingram felt a trickle of sweat snake down his neck as he forced a laugh. Senator Jackson Raines had told a joke, a bad one, but there wasn’t a man in the room who didn’t act as if Raines was as funny as Leno.

Ingram admired the senator but he didn’t like the son of a bitch one damn bit. Still, there was no option but for Leland to smile, say the right thing at the right time and do some major ass kissing. That’s just the way it went, and Leland was nothing if not a pragmatic. He might be officially in charge of Omicron’s day-to-day business, but Raines was the guiding force behind its highly secret operation. One that benefited them both.