Justice from the Shadows

Josh’s gaze whipped to me. “Don’t ask her—”

“She’s not asking me.” Debbie interrupted with a sparkle in her eye. “I’m volunteering. Besides, hacking is one of my specialties.”

His brow furrowed.

Shit!

I realized my oversight. I hadn’t properly introduced the two. “My apologies. Josh, I’d like you to meet Debbie Scott a.k.a. the Digital Pirate.”

“Did you say Digital Pirate?” A slow smile spread across his face. “You’re… Oh, hell.” His posture relaxed, and his eyes brightened. “You’re her?”

It wasn’t like him to be tongue-tied, but suddenly my best friend was having a fangirl—or should I say fanboy—moment. Josh’s face flushed, and his tone softened.

“Oh man, ever since I first heard of the Digital Pirate, I’ve wanted to meet him…her…you.” He raised his hand to his mouth briefly, trying to contain his joy. “This is indeed an honor.”

Debbie’s grin widened, and her gaze bounced around the room. “You know about me?” My assistant put her hand to her throat. “But didn’t you graduate from college before I did?”

The exchange between them was interesting—Josh acting like a star-struck fan while Debbie feigned modesty. They should quit. Their behavior bordered on embarrassing.

“Trust me. Any hacker worth a line of code knows about you.” Josh leaned forward. I watched as the man who had just professed having feelings for me shot her a playful smirk. Was he flirting with her? “We should definitely work together on this project.”

Debbie’s face lit up as she gathered her empty wrappers. “We can start right away. Let me just call my girlfriend and let her know I’ll be late.”

I stifled a laugh as Josh’s mouth slackened. When my assistant stepped out of the conference room, I exploded with laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Josh asked.

Gripping my sides, I said, “You should have seen your face when Debbie mentioned she had a girlfriend.”

He blushed. “Seems I’m always ready to fall for the wrong woman.”

Ouch.