he considered how to approach this security breach.
Then he found himself surprised for the second time that day.
As he watched Rose hack through his encryption as though they were child’s play, he started to notice what, exactly, she was doing with all the information on the files.
She wasn’t randomly picking out files and reading them. Each time Rose would crack into a file and read the case information in it, the next file she would pick out had something to do with the investigation Joe had conducted. First she’d crack into the email logs between him and a client, and her next move would be to the leads he followed, going so far as to browse the personal notes he had made. She’d peruse each one, and there would be a brief pause before she moved to the next step he had made in the case.
She was following Joe’s every step, yet there was no indication that the files were correlated in the information she was pulling up—she was connecting the dots on her own. And after she’d essentially re-solved one of his past cases, she would sort the files from the same cases into the same folders.
Joe nearly laughed aloud as he realized what was happening.
She’s hacking through my codes and reading incredibly valuable information... all just to sort them by case file. She isn’t even downloading them.
Joe hadn’t hired a rival spy; he’d hired someone who could be a world-class security analyst as a personal secretary.
Joe put his gun away, folding his hands behind his head and wondering what he was to make of this remarkable woman.
What an agile mind she has , he mused. It seems that I’ve made the terrible mistake of underestimating her.
A smile spread across his face as he reflected on her. In all his years, he had never encountered someone who was so easily able to follow his own thoughts in investigations—not even his former... associates. To meet someone who was able to keep pace with him was, well, refreshing.
In a very exciting way.
It didn’t take much dwelling on that for his thoughts to drift to her body. He’d never seen a person whose looks had that effect on him, either. That full, curvy body was exactly his type. And that strawberry-blonde hair...the thought of having a handful of that in his grasp while feeling up those curves didn’t sound bad at all.
And her scent…
Stop it. What you’re fantasizing about is grounds for a sexual harassment suit , he thought with a shake of his head.
Seeing where Rose’s current path of files was taking her, Joe opened the file he predicted she’d be cracking into next. In it, above everything else in the file, he wrote a short message:
You’re more talented than I thought, Rose.
He re-sealed the file and smiled, waiting for her to reach it. As she started to crack into the file, he stood up and strode towards the door, sliding it open just in time to see Rose’s face blanching at the sight of the note he left her.
“Oh!” she gasped, turning around. “Joe, I-I’m not snooping, I was just—”
“I’ll see you in the morning, Rose,” he said cheerfully. As he headed out the door, he turned to add, “I believe I’m rather glad to have you here. More so than I thought I would be.”
With a wink, he disappeared out the doorway, leaving Rose dumbfounded at her desk.
Chapter Three
It had been three weeks since Rose began working for Sandford Private Investigation and each morning, she found herself looking forward to go to office and to see her boss. Having an extremely hot boss was a nice motivation to go to work every day, she thought with a smile. Because of Joe, she also found herself paying more attention to her appearance than she normally did. It had been years since she had felt this, she had a crush on Joe. Then again, any woman would too if they were in her shoes. Joe was quick with his smile, he always complimented her and her work, and was also very attentive. He listened with