Suddenly, it hit me. Cooper had said that Clay was trying for the job here at Brighton Enterprises, a job in the tech department.
&nb
sp; But, I had received the job instead. So, had he been hacking in revenge?
Or, had Clay been hired by Plush’s competitor to hack into our database and wipe it?
Maybe they knew that Cooper was on to them, or at least worried about it. But then, why not hire the hacker to cover their own tracks? Why try to erase our information?
I couldn’t figure it out, but my heart was still beating furiously in my chest and I felt sick at the sheer amount of possibilities.
I pushed back from my desk and raced to go back upstairs.
I had to talk to Cooper.
Now.
Chapter Thirteen
Cooper was leaving his office as soon as I arrived. “Allie!”
“Cooper!”
A quick glance told me Kimberly had heard, and noted, our casual use of each other’s names. But I was too distracted to really care anymore.
“I need to talk to you.”
He ushered me inside his office and the full story about Clay and his involvement in the hack spilled out as I paced back in forth in front of him, too amped to sit down.
“So, what do you think?” I ventured, when the whole thing had been unpacked.
Cooper stared at me, but it was like he was in another place, his eyes slightly glazed over.
“I don’t know if this was out of revenge for not giving him the job, or if there is something more sinister going on. But, I do know that now, more than ever, I need you to get into their database. We need that information before they wipe it.”
“Oh, shit!” I fumbled in my pocket. I’d been so wrapped up in the Clay mystery that I’d forgotten the most important part.
“Here,” I slid the USB drive across his desk. “That’s everything you should need.”
“You got it?” His face was lit up with wonder and barely contained admiration as he looked over at me.
I nodded and smiled at him. “That drive has all the formula information. It was really quite easy to get once I hacked into their database. It looks like it goes back at least ten years, so it should be enough to get someone poking around over there.”
Cooper jumped up from his seat and rounded the desk. Without hesitation he took me into his arms and fiercely pressed his lips against mine. After a brief moment of panic, I let myself melt into his kiss. It was charged with emotion as he deepened it. He pulled gently at my hair, and tipped my head back as his tongue slid past my lips and entered my mouth. A small moan rumbled through me and Cooper pressed himself against me in response.
So much had happened that it seemed like a homecoming of sorts. A hard-fought battle to get back to this place. I realized that I still didn’t have the answers to all of my questions, but in that moment, it didn’t seem to matter as much.
When he broke away from me, he kept his face inches from mine as we both fought to recover our breath.
“You’re incredible, Allison Rand. I’m on my way out now. I have a meeting that I can’t miss.” He pushed up his sleeve to glance at his watch. “But, I’ll call you as soon as it’s over.” He paused a second, thinking. “I want to see you tonight, Allie.”
I nodded and my heart leaped inside me, both with anticipation of what would follow another kiss like that, and also at the contented feeling that maybe this could work after all. “Tonight,” I repeated.
Cooper dropped another kiss to my lips and I held onto him as long as I could before he stepped back and, with one last, longing look, escorted me out of his office.
Standing in front of Kimberly’s desk, I resisted the urge to grab Cooper’s ass as he walked past, knowing it would only cause issues. But, oh…to see the look on her face.
I went back to my office and forced myself to get back to work. It was difficult while my whole body was still buzzing from Cooper’s kiss and the promise of what was to come. My mind kept drifting to thinking about what panties I wanted to wear for him to tear off of me.