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She finished her omelet and took the plate to the sink. She came back for her coffee cup and found Cole already topping it off. “Thanks,” she said.
“Come on, I’ll show you the office.”
Flint waved a hand. “I’ll wait here. Then you and I can talk about how to get Tank and Will established inside Zia with Joey.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Cole carriedhis coffee in one hand as he led Joey back up the stairs. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had someone stay at his home. But bringing Joey anywhere else hadn’t been an option. Even before he knew about the car, he’d known it was a very real possibility that someone had seen her last night in the lab. He wasn’t going to risk dropping her off at her run-down apartment complex without protection.
Despite his exhaustion, he had tossed and turned all night. He couldn’t get the vision of Laura laying on the office floor out of his head.
“So you slept well?” he asked Joey as they went up the steps.
“Oh yeah. How about you?” she asked.
“Not so great. My brain wouldn’t turn off,” he added. He glanced back at her once he reached the hallway. There was sympathy on her face. “I think I finally dozed off about four o’clock this morning.”
Her eyes were soft and kind. “That’s rough. You must be exhausted. And then Flint and I are all invading your space and whatnot.”
He shrugged. “I’m okay for now. But I’ll probably feel it later.” He changed the subject. “My office is right down here.”
“Let me grab my bag real quick. I’ve got a few files I might need.”
Cole paused outside her room, his eyes falling on the unmade bed before she shut the door–evidence that Joey had slept just down the hall from him. If the memory of Laura’s body and the events of the evening hadn’t kept him awake, surely, the knowledge that Joey was just down the hall would have.
She came back out, no longer donning the fluffy robe but wearing jeans and one of his T-shirts. He vaguely remembered leaving a stack in the dresser a few months ago. It looked good on her. He cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from the way his T-shirt clung to her small frame.
“Thanks. Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said.
He shook his head. “Do you need more time? A shower?”
She shook her head. “I’m good for now. After I do some work, I’ll feel better about taking a break.”
Cole understood that. He and Joey seemed to have that in common. Most people didn’t understand his need to work so hard. She’d never made him feel bad about it though.
He stepped into the office, trying to see it through Joey’s eyes. He didn’t spend much time in this room, preferring to keep Zia work relegated to his office there. The walls were surrounded by tall, dark wooden bookshelves. He’d always collected books. They were one thing he wasn’t afraid to spend money on. The art on his walls was chosen by a decorator. The only car he owned was nice, but not outrageous. His books though? The collection contained everything from the ripped copies of his childhood favorites to signed first editions of the classics.
He just wished he had more time to read. But all of his time had to go to Zia and the mission there. The few times he’d thought perhaps there was room in his life for something beyond work, the woman he’d dated had quickly become an irritating distraction from far more important matters.
None of them seemed to understand how important his work was. It was more than a job. It was his purpose in life. He had peace about that. But women never seemed to think that was enough. Unfortunately, most of the ones he met were only attracted to his wallet or his image. They all said they were so proud of the work he did… until it meant canceling a date or missing a call.
“Wow, this is a great room.” Joey’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He smiled at her. “Thanks. I enjoy it.” He gestured to the desk. “Here you go. Make yourself at home. It’s top-of-the-line, though I’m sure it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles you’re used to.”
Joey shrugged as she dropped her bag next to the desk. “I’m not too picky. If someone like me needs all the bells and whistles, then they’ve been spoiled.” Her tone was one of annoyance. What did she have against people with money?
“Most of us learned on second-hand PCs and scrimped for the money to customize our own as we went. Not too many rich kids are trying to backdoor their way into the school lunch program to add money to their friends’ accounts.”
Cole softened, his irritation at her prejudice vanishing into sympathy. “Did you…?” He asked the question without finishing it.
Joey jerked a shoulder. “So what if I did? It was a dollar to feed your kids lunch and their deadbeat parents couldn’t bother to do it. I saw one of the lunch ladies get in trouble for feeding a kid who couldn’t pay.” It was easy to see she was still fired up about the injustice, her chin set and her expression intense. “So I hid in the school all night and adjusted the balances.”
She smiled softly, her gaze unfocused as she recounted the memory. Her fingers rested on the back of his office chair as she stood behind it. “I remember lunch tasting extra good the next day when I told my friends to go through the line.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Eventually, they found out that someone was doing it, but not who. And not before I figured out other ways to help my friends. It was probably wrong. Technically stealing, I guess, but I didn’t care. It was the first time I realized that the things I’d learned could be used to change something I didn’t like about the world.”
She looked up at him. “And there was a lot I didn’t like about it. Still is,” she added.
He nodded. “Yeah. I get that. There’s a lot I’d like to change too.” His soft words hung between them, an invisible tether that connected them. So different, yet perhaps not as incompatible as it would seem. Then he laughed. “I mean, I never hacked a computer system to do it, but to each his own.”
