tonight went the way he hoped it would, he’d have her confessing all the details of her life—criminal and otherwise—by the end of the weekend.
“So if you’re all alone, and I’m all alone…”
“Doesn’t seem right, does it?”
“We could keep each other company—maybe go out for a movie and Chinese food?” And maybe, if he played his cards right, something more.
3
“SURE, WE COULD HANG OUT tomorrow. That sounds like fun,” Yasmine said, and Alex heaved a silent sigh of relief.
One hurdle crossed, countless more to go.
Fifteen harrowing minutes later, they’d arrived miraculously unscathed at the downtown hotel where the party was being held. Alex loosened his death grip on the door handle and tossed Yasmine a look as the valet parking attendants came to open their doors.
“What?” she said as she checked her hair in the rearview mirror, Miss Innocent all of a sudden.
“I’m driving us home.”
She shrugged. “Okay, if you know how to drive a stick.”
“I know how to do all kinds of things,” he heard himself say. It was unplanned, stupid and tacky, but instead of slapping him, she looked him up and down.
“I’m looking forward to a demonstration,” she said, a smile playing on her lips, a note of flirtation in her tone, right before she got out of the car.
He walked with her through the lobby to the event room where the party was already well under way. Yasmine turned to him and smiled as they stood inside the entrance. “Looks like we’ll be the main topic for office gossip tonight.”
People he recognized and others he didn’t turned to stare at them.
Alex shrugged. “Glad to add a little interest to the evening.”
Christmas Eve was tomorrow and they had Monday off, so no one was scheduled to return to work until Tuesday. Not a chance anyone would forget in that short time, but whatever. He didn’t exactly give a damn.
Not giving a damn meant he could endure the winks and nudges of his male office mates, most of whom considered Yasmine to be the catch of all catches.
Being a programming genius and having a reputation as a former hacker only added to her mystique. In their eyes, bagging her would make him a god among programmers.
Yasmine slipped her hand into his and led him across the room to an empty table. “Hope you don’t mind if we sit alone,” she said.
“Want a drink?”
She nodded. “Champagne would be great.”
Alex made his way through the crowd to the bar, then returned to the table with the drinks and sat down next to her.
Yasmine took a sip of champagne, then said, “Tell me about yourself. How long have you been programming?”
“Too long. Probably since before you were out of diapers.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. We’re the same age, aren’t we? How old are you?”
At thirty-five, he was nine years older than her, but he didn’t see any reason to point that out. “Thirty-one.”
That’s how old Kyle Kramer was, anyway.
“Oh. You are an older man then,” she said, grinning.
He raised his eyebrows. “Do I have to ask how old you are?”
But he knew. She was twenty-six as of July 15.
“I’m old enough,” she said, leaving the unspoken question “For what?” hanging in the air.
“I’ll bet.” Old enough to know better, but that had never stopped her from breaking the rules before. Alex found himself hoping she’d continue to be wild for at least one more night.
“Mind if we sit here?”
Alex looked up to see Drew Everton, sans Santa hat, and a woman who must have been his date standing on the other side of the table.
Much as Alex wanted to be alone with Yasmine, he couldn’t think of any polite reason to say no. “Sure, have a seat,” he said instead.
“Kyle, Yasmine, this is my friend Hannah Filarski,” Drew said as he pulled out a chair for her.
She sat down and beamed across the table at them. “Hi!” she said a little too loudly.
“Hi,” Alex said. “Where did you and Drew meet?”
He caught the wince Drew gave at that question as he sat down next to Hannah.
“We met through an online dating service. Drew’s my twentieth match so far.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of dating,” Yasmine said.
“I’m on a mission to find Mr. Right before the end of the year.” She glanced at her watch. “And I have exactly eight days, four hours and twenty-two minutes to find him.”
“She’s joking,” Drew said, then forced a laugh.
“No, I’m not.” Her wide smile took on a brittle quality. “I had my cards read at the