Free Her Perfect Game by Shannyn Schroeder

until tomorrow night to decide. You don’t have to declare anything now. Go have a drink. Get to know each other. We’ll have this room open at least an hour early if you want to meet here.”
    Jonah wished he had entered the competition just so he could partner with Charlie. It had been so long since he had worked side by side with her. It would’ve been fun.
    But he had the chance for a different kind of fun as soon as the room cleared. He stood by the door and answered questions as participants filtered out. When Charlie came past, he stood in front of her, blocking others’ view, and tucked his room key in her jacket pocket. “Any questions?”
    She flashed a ready smile. “Not at all. I think I’ve got this handled.”
    Yeah, she had him handled all right.

Chapter 7
    C harlie left the conference room feeling pretty damn good. Not only had she ranked in the top three, but Jonah was also keeping his word about getting together tonight. A key card in her pocket said plenty. The halls were quiet, as the vendors had wrapped up hours ago. She knew she’d find company in the bar if she wanted some.
    What she really needed to do was figure out who she wanted to pair with for tomorrow’s challenge. As she walked toward the elevator, she thought about the opposition. No way would she ask Poison; the dude was pretty toxic. She was sure he wouldn’t want to work with her anyway; she was beneath him. Then again, he thought everyone was beneath him.
    â€œExcuse me,” someone behind her called.
    Charlie turned around. The only other female in the hacking competition stared at her.
    â€œHi, I’m Jane. Uh, Cracker.”
    Charlie nodded. The name fit her. The girl was as pale as a snowman. That probably wasn’t why she’d chosen the hacker name, but Charlie wasn’t looking to get into a lengthy conversation about the origins of their names. Jane continued to stare, so Charlie asked, “Can I do something for you?”
    Jane shook her head as if to clear it. “Yeah, I was hoping you might want to pair up for tomorrow’s challenge. You know, since we’re the only two girls in the running.”
    â€œWe should work together simply because we’re the same sex?”
    Color bloomed on Jane’s cheeks. “Well, not the only reason. Obviously, we’re both good. I mean, I get that you’re better than me since you came in third, but you know what it’s like with the guys. Most of them can’t believe we’re allowed in the same room. As if we’re not worthy.”
    Of course Charlie knew.
    â€œYou don’t really want to go through having to talk to all of the guys and hope one of them will partner with you, do you?”
    â€œI also don’t want to rush into an arrangement without considering all my options.”
    â€œFair enough. Maybe we can grab a coffee tomorrow afternoon?”
    â€œSure. I’ll look for you on the con floor. Have a good night.” The elevator opened, and Charlie sincerely hoped Jane wouldn’t follow. She wanted to go to her room and grab some clothes and then go to Jonah’s room. Would spending the night interfere with her keeping it simple? Worse, was she being presumptuous to think she could spend the night in Jonah’s room?
    She rolled her eyes. She and Jonah had spent plenty of nights together, and he never had a problem with it before. A quick run through her room and then she went up two floors to Jonah’s room. Part of her wished she had something special to wear, but she didn’t even own any sexy lingerie.
    All this thinking was making her nuts. This was Jonah. He liked her the way she was. At least while she was naked. She wasn’t quite sure what else to think of Jonah. She’d never gotten around to asking why he left without a word. Mostly she was afraid of the answer. He’d moved on to bigger and better things.
    And she’d needed to