Chapter 5

The pastry bag rustles as I carry it down the hall toward Jasper’s room. I got him a breakfast sandwich and six jelly donuts in case he’s still working and doesn’t want to go out, but if he’s really fixed the security breach, I’ll buy him a lot more. I couldn’t sleep last night because I was worrying about all that could go wrong if hackers got further into the town’s system. The fact that they entered through the Life Revenge program could seriously compromise or kill it.

I also spent a fair amount of time thinking about a future with Jasper. He’s turned out to be much more than the feral werewolf I thought he was, and I can’t deny my attraction for him is off the charts. I’d really like to see what Life Revenge’s matching would give us for a compatibility score.

When Jasper opens the door, his appearance surprises me. He’s wearing gray sweatpants that have a coffee stain on the thigh, his hair is standing on end, and his eyes are puffy behind a pair of glasses that are crooked on his nose. Now he’s hot in a sexy-nerd way, and I want to tug those spectacles off his gorgeous face and kiss him. “It’s done,” he says before I have a chance to greet him.

I hold up my bakery bag. “I brought breakfast.”

His lips turn up in a small smile as he grabs me around the waist and tugs me closer. He lifts my hand and opens the sack to peer inside.

“Can I come in?”

“Oh.” Jasper steps back and pulls me with him. “Sorry.”

The aroma of burned coffee wafts toward me, and on the table I notice a pile of candy bar wrappers. I guess he made a visit to the gas station for provisions last night. “Did you stay up all night working on this?” I ask as we sit down on the couch.

The day-old beard on Jasper’s chin rasps as he rubs it. “Yeah. And while I have a bandage in place for now, fixing this problem is going to be more work than I expected. Hackers are smart.” He bites into a donut.

“How much more work are we talking?”

He shrugs as he chews. “Won’t know until it’s done, but you need to assign someone to this. When does Ryan start work?”

He reminds me that I was going to ask Ryan about Jasper’s relationship with Kevin. I reply, “Monday.”

“Call him and get him in today. I’ll catch him up on where I’m at.”

He takes another bite of his donut, and jelly oozes out. It dribbles on his chin, and while I’m tempted to wipe it off for him, his serious tone makes me flip into crisis mode instead. It’s clear Jasper knows what he’s doing, and I think he should be on this job. “What about you? It would go a long way in saving my job.”

He smiles at me as he licks his jelly-covered fingers slowly, and I bet it’s to remind me of when he did the same to mine. “I believe Kevin has made it my priority to find a mate.”

Damn it. I forgot. “I don’t suppose you’d fill out your profile for me now?”

“I already did.”

I raise my eyebrows at him because I wonder why he chose to do that instead of sleep. The bakery bag rustles as I reach in it for a donut. “Great. Have you gone through and picked out your women yet?”

“I only need one.” He grins at me and reaches for the laptop. “Interestingly, there was an Marilyn who looks like you with an inactive profile in the system. I took the liberty of activating it.”

“Cute,” I mumble through my mouthful of donut.

“I thought she might want to watch as logic shows her what I already know.” He pulls up his profile and slides closer to me so I can look at the screen. I see my avatar on the page. “How much do you want to bet we’ll match in the ninetieth percentile?”

I frown because he might be right, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. At first, I was convinced he wasn’t right for me, but finding out last night Jasper is smart as well as sexy has me seriously considering a relationship with him. Although I want to know for sure that we’re compatible. “You were truthful in your profile?”

“No sense in lying,” he replies. “You’d eventually find out.”

My brow knits as I consider the implications of instigating a match for myself. What if we don’t?—

“Are you afraid we won’t match?”

“No,” I retort, and I’m tempted to smash the enter key on the laptop.

Jasper nudges me with his shoulder. “Go on. It’s time to see the truth.”

I turn to gaze into his eyes, and my chest gets tight as I think about how this man might be the one I spend the rest of my life with. He reaches over and wipes the corner of my mouth with his thumb. “Sugar.” My heartbeat skips when he sucks the residue off and says, “So sweet.”

I wonder about what might happen if we don’t rank high enough to be a good match. My heartbeat skips again, and this time it might be from fear. I don’t bother to think when I lean in, and his glasses are warm in my fingers when I remove them to kiss him. The flavor of coffee and sugar is faint as we hold onto each other and let our unique chemistry sizzle. He tugs out my hairpins, and my thick, wavy locks are soft on my neck as they fall around my shoulders. Jasper grabs fistfuls of hair as if he’s trying to pull me inside his body. I never want this to end, and I wonder if he’s kissing me with the same desperation knowing it might be our last.

When it’s over, I take a deep breath for courage, and I reach to push the initiate match button as I ask, “What if we?—”

Jasper places his finger on my lips as he says, “Shhh,” and he kisses me again. I know the computer screen is showing the progress numbers, but I don’t dare look as I take as much of this man as I can get. When a bell chimes, I hear a female voice say, “Congratulations! Jasper and Marilyn Gammon are a match.” I try to pull away, but Jasper only lets out a low noise and pushes me down on the couch. It’s soft under my back as I lift my legs up to rest on the cushions, and he presses his body against mine to make our kiss become something close to an out-of-body experience for me.

We’re not supposed to go any further sexually, but when Jasper stops to remove his shirt, I don’t worry about where things are going. I gaze into his eyes, which have deepened to dark green from his desire, and I place my hand on his chest. A light dusting of hair is rough under my fingers, and when he begins to unbutton my blouse, I let him. I say, “You can’t—we can’t.”

“I know, Miss Rule Follower.” I nod as he moves down past my bra. He smiles. “I like your choice of underwear.”

I grin back because I’m happy I decided on a lacy set that matched. His fingers are hot on my skin as he opens up my blouse to get a full view. I tremble under his touch.

“You are so beautiful.”

He glances over at the screen and smiles. I look, too, and discover our match is one hundred percent. I sit up in shock. “No way.”

Jasper leans in and kisses my neck lightly. “I told you, Marilyn. There’s a reason electricity sparks when we’re close. You were just too uptight to admit it.”

“I was not.” I tug my shirt closed and think about how I wear blouses buttoned all the way up to the top and always pull my hair back to ensure the sophisticated look of a woman with power. I resolutely believe sex appeal doesn’t belong in the workplace. But was I taking my job too seriously by ignoring the possibility that Jasper was my perfect mate? His lips are soft on my neck as he continues to nip at my skin. I let my head fall back and drop my hands to let my shirt fall open as I enjoy the pleasure of his touch. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Jasper chuckles and lets a lock of my hair slip through his fingers as he gazes into my eyes. “It’s sexy. On the outside, you appear to be no-nonsense, but I can’t wait to see what peeling off your polished exterior will reveal.” He licks his lips, and my insides quiver in response. “I plan to release your wild side, Marilyn. Have no doubt.”