Free Brutally Beautiful by Lynne Connolly Page A

his old ways. So easy to renew contacts, to go back. But he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do that and reminded himself that one day he’d get to see Larry again if he didn’t slide back.
    He had to keep her close and do some basic investigation. Keeping her close wouldn’t be a problem. Recalling that, he slid his hand around her waist in a proprietorial gesture. “So are we sorted out?”
    He spotted the confusion in her eyes before she masked it. She had as many worries about him as he did of her. Not quite, of course, with not as much at stake, but he didn’t intend to make things easy for her. If she started digging into his background here, one of the triggers he’d set in place would go off, namely, one of the network of women and men who serviced the place. People ignored them, the personal assistants, the cafeteria workers, the information officers. The infrastructure. Nick never made that mistake. If there was information, they usually had it or knew where to get it. So he drank with them, gave them little treats that came his way, just chatted to them and remembered their names. Someone would tip him off if anyone had made more than usual inquiries.
    And he’d just risked all that for a quick fuck. What was worse, he knew, deep down, that he’d do it again to see that spark in her eyes, the way she responded to him and followed him into the abyss of oblivion. To feel the total abandonment of letting everything go for a brief, blissful moment. The need to have her had shocked him, but he couldn’t fight it. That worried him.
    He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “Still want to have dinner tonight?”
    “At that restaurant?”
    “Unless you have your heart set on it, I want to change the plans. I want you to myself for a while. Come to my place instead. I’ll make us something. We can eat it naked in bed if you like. Just say the word.” His voice lowered to a purr, and he enjoyed the spark of arousal. She wet her bottom lip, swiped her tongue over it, so he followed suit, tasting where she’d just been. “What do you say?”
    “Yes.” Her voice was hardly audible, but he heard it.
    He bent to capture her lips just once more. “Bring a change of clothes for the morning. Once we get into bed I don’t want you rushing away.” He wondered at himself for allowing a woman he’d only just met into his private space. But this felt right, better than a meal at a fancy restaurant where they’d have to behave themselves. He didn’t want to behave himself with her.
    When she tried to break away, he pulled her back as if the thought had only just occurred to him. “By the way, I have one more question. How did you know where to find me?”
    She grinned. “You gave me your card, remember?”
    Ah, shit, yes he did. He’d scrawled his cell number on the back of one, hadn’t he? It had his name, and the legend MA, DUNY on it. She studied here, and the university wasn’t huge. She might have decided to trawl the libraries of the six main buildings on the off chance. Still, he didn’t like the coincidence that they were attending one of the smallest universities in New York and they happened to meet in the unlikeliest off-campus venue.
    After she left, he sat down and tapped into his laptop, engaging one of the proxy servers he used when he wanted to go a little deeper. Being inside the university network gave him an advantage, but although his computer skills were better than average, they were limited. He needed someone like Jim Goddard, who worked for Symbiotics, the company Nick’s sister-in-law worked for and now partly owned. At the thought of Yolanda, he grinned. Once he’d seen the blonde Texan beauty, he knew why his brother had risked everything for her. If Nick’d been in the same situation, he’d have done something similar. Perhaps not as risky, but then he wasn’t in love with Yolanda, only in lust with her. He’d have shared her in a heartbeat if his brother had been amenable.