long hours. On call, she had to be available 24/7 to extinguish any fires that popped up related to an initiative. Analyzing the information he now possessed would be second nature to her.
Jason straightened the papers, whistling a cheesy song as he made his way out to Justin’s workshop. The racket of metal and gears floating up to his bedroom earlier had clued him in to his brother’s ruse even if Alexa had been too preoccupied to noticed. He nudged open the door so he could steal a look inside undetected. He scoffed at his own silliness. He’d never craved a simple glimpse of a woman before, but a man in love for the first time wanted to savor every moment.
Alexa perched on a high stool, tinkering with random parts that made little sense to him. Close behind her, Justin stood relaxed, watching over her shoulder, one arm wrapped casually around her waist as they collaborated on a solution. Jason wondered how he could have known of her all these years and never realized she would be the perfect woman for them. Her profile hadn’t captured the adventurous part of her spirit and the chemistry between them had remained untested since he avoided public appearances.
So much time wasted.
He entered the room, making his way toward them. Their ability to concentrate with the radio blasting baffled him. Together, they turned and Alexa’s face reflected the same joy he experienced on reuniting with her after their brief separation. Her eyes smoldered with remnants of heat from their earlier interlude. Her submission thrilled him with its beauty and intrinsic trust.
Her protection was a responsibility he took seriously. If they could crack the secret and apply for a patent, their safety would be assured. Only once they eliminated the possibility of someone else profiting from the invention would they be free to continue www.samhainpublishing.com
their lives in peace. Even if they gave up pursuing the engine design, they’d be at risk. Some crazy person might not believe the final piece of the puzzle eluded them. Suddenly, he wanted to finish this deal and get to the truly important part of his future. Just a few days ago, he’d have sworn the biofuel engine was the most significant development in his life but one sassy woman had changed his mind.
“What do you have, Jay?” Justin’s concerned grimace and insightful stare made it clear he shared the same train of thought.
“A present.” Jason pressed a quick peck to Alexa’s cheek as he set the documents down in front of her. More than a glancing touch and they wouldn’t get any work done. She rifled through the stack to get a sense of the information. On the third or fourth page she paused.
“Why didn’t I think of this?” She spoke to herself, engrossed in the data. Ignoring Justin’s bewildered look as he tried to interpret the rows of numbers, she began to organize the sheets into piles. She continued to talk to herself.
“We already know what that was for.” She crumpled one of the papers and tossed it into a heap of scrap metal that appeared to be bungled attempts at replicating the component.
“No.” She added another wad to the trash. “Nope. Got that one. Not it.” Garbage. Garbage. Garbage.
“I take it things haven’t been going well down here?” Jason raised an eyebrow at his brother.
“Using the notes, we were able to recreate all but one critical piece of the component.” He sighed. “We thought we had it but it looks like our friend trusted no one. For the vital connection he removed the full details of the materials used and replaced them with some kind of code. CP. We tried copper pipe, chrome plates, chipped platinum and any other conductors we could think of but, so far…” He shrugged wearily. Alexa swiveled around, displaying an invoice so they could read it. The letterhead stated Chastal Partners—your source for fine specialty metals . Below that, a quantity of one sat beside a single line item— half-inch gold
Jason straightened the papers, whistling a cheesy song as he made his way out to Justin’s workshop. The racket of metal and gears floating up to his bedroom earlier had clued him in to his brother’s ruse even if Alexa had been too preoccupied to noticed. He nudged open the door so he could steal a look inside undetected. He scoffed at his own silliness. He’d never craved a simple glimpse of a woman before, but a man in love for the first time wanted to savor every moment.
Alexa perched on a high stool, tinkering with random parts that made little sense to him. Close behind her, Justin stood relaxed, watching over her shoulder, one arm wrapped casually around her waist as they collaborated on a solution. Jason wondered how he could have known of her all these years and never realized she would be the perfect woman for them. Her profile hadn’t captured the adventurous part of her spirit and the chemistry between them had remained untested since he avoided public appearances.
So much time wasted.
He entered the room, making his way toward them. Their ability to concentrate with the radio blasting baffled him. Together, they turned and Alexa’s face reflected the same joy he experienced on reuniting with her after their brief separation. Her eyes smoldered with remnants of heat from their earlier interlude. Her submission thrilled him with its beauty and intrinsic trust.
Her protection was a responsibility he took seriously. If they could crack the secret and apply for a patent, their safety would be assured. Only once they eliminated the possibility of someone else profiting from the invention would they be free to continue www.samhainpublishing.com
their lives in peace. Even if they gave up pursuing the engine design, they’d be at risk. Some crazy person might not believe the final piece of the puzzle eluded them. Suddenly, he wanted to finish this deal and get to the truly important part of his future. Just a few days ago, he’d have sworn the biofuel engine was the most significant development in his life but one sassy woman had changed his mind.
“What do you have, Jay?” Justin’s concerned grimace and insightful stare made it clear he shared the same train of thought.
“A present.” Jason pressed a quick peck to Alexa’s cheek as he set the documents down in front of her. More than a glancing touch and they wouldn’t get any work done. She rifled through the stack to get a sense of the information. On the third or fourth page she paused.
“Why didn’t I think of this?” She spoke to herself, engrossed in the data. Ignoring Justin’s bewildered look as he tried to interpret the rows of numbers, she began to organize the sheets into piles. She continued to talk to herself.
“We already know what that was for.” She crumpled one of the papers and tossed it into a heap of scrap metal that appeared to be bungled attempts at replicating the component.
“No.” She added another wad to the trash. “Nope. Got that one. Not it.” Garbage. Garbage. Garbage.
“I take it things haven’t been going well down here?” Jason raised an eyebrow at his brother.
“Using the notes, we were able to recreate all but one critical piece of the component.” He sighed. “We thought we had it but it looks like our friend trusted no one. For the vital connection he removed the full details of the materials used and replaced them with some kind of code. CP. We tried copper pipe, chrome plates, chipped platinum and any other conductors we could think of but, so far…” He shrugged wearily. Alexa swiveled around, displaying an invoice so they could read it. The letterhead stated Chastal Partners—your source for fine specialty metals . Below that, a quantity of one sat beside a single line item— half-inch gold
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