top in my field.”
Okay, that reminded her of her father, and not in a good way. “And your dreams?” Jett prompted.
The wariness reappeared, as though the question touched a part of him he normally kept hidden. “I suppose it would be to find you…my perfect match.” His honesty was devastating, his smile filled with a self-mocking amusement. But it was his quiet stoicism that slipped into her heart and took root. A weariness that told her he expected the rug to be ripped from beneath his feet at any moment, a feeling she was all too familiar with. “Assuming you even exist.”
“Oh, I exist,” Jett murmured. “I just didn’t know you did.”
She hadn’t expected him to touch something inside of her, a longing she’d kept carefully locked away. But listening to those brief comments had filled her with a yearning that became a physical ache. She wanted this man. Wanted to meet him. Talk to him. Dig down and find out what he hid behind his stoicism and wariness.
A soft, rapid knock sounded at Jett’s door and she quickly turned off the disc and tucked it away before unlocking her office door. Her best friend and coworker, Bailey, scurried inside, waving a paper in her hand. “Got it! The flight reservation just came through.”
“No one suspects PW-5467 is me?” Jett demanded. “You’re positive we managed to slip my accessing the Pretorius Program past Dad and Uncle P?”
Jett had been hesitant to use the Pretorius Program. Knowing her father, he’d no doubt laced the software code with booby traps for anybody who tried to hack the system. Even her careful search for the perfect soul mate could have set off alarms, warning the system—and her father—that she’d accessed the program. Even though she considered herself an outstanding hacker, there was always the chance they’d discover what she was up to. No way was she going to allow that to happen.
“Positive.” Bailey swung the door closed, closeting them in the office. “You’re booked to head out on Friday for a glorious week on Sinjin’s private Caribbean island to meet the man of your dreams.”
Jett gave what she hoped was a casual shrug to Bailey’s romantic statement. “Time will tell.”
Bailey hesitated then shrugged as well. “Do you want to hack in again and find out who he is?”
“I already know who he is.”
Bailey’s eyes widened in shock and for some reason she turned a bit pale. “You do?”
Jett smiled. “Sure. He’s brilliant. Hard-working.” She hesitated, feeling a hint of warmth sweep across her cheekbones. “Among other things.”
“Wait a minute. You played his disc, didn’t you?” Bailey accused. “And there’s something else. Something that’s making you blush. Is it something you actually know, or something else you’ve guessed?”
“Guessed.” Jett thought about her father’s basic decency, then confessed, “He’ll be nice.”
“Nice?” Bailey wrinkled her stub nose. “That’s so mundane. What about good-looking? Or rich? Or even someone in the business?”
“Nice,” Jett repeated, though she already knew he was good-looking and in the software business. “A man who’ll stick with me during the rough times. A man who might want a family someday. A man capable of love.” She gave it a little more thought. “And if he rocks in bed, I can live with that.”
* * *
An hour later Bailey swung by Justice St. John’s office. Not seeing anyone around, she poked her head in and gave him the thumb’s up.
“She doesn’t suspect?” Justice asked.
“Nope. She thinks she pulled off the hack without you guys catching on. She leaves Friday.”
Justice closed his eyes, hoping like hell he’d done the right thing. “Thanks for your help, Bailey.”
“Anything for you or Jett. You know that. I just want her to be happy.”
“Let’s hope Treyhearn feels the same way once he meets my daughter.” Otherwise, Justice wouldn’t just take his main business rival out…but utterly destroy him.
John Robert “Trey” Treyhearn read through the material his PA handed him.
“This is all the information they’ve provided for…” He checked the packet again. “For PW-5467?”
“There’s a recording. I believe it has an interactive feature,” Les replied. “They’ve also arranged for the two of you to meet and become acquainted in the seclusion of some private Caribbean island that Sinjin owns. You’ll stay on the island for one week and if it works out between you, the relationship continues from there. Otherwise…” He shrugged, making it clear that the two would part ways, no harm, no foul.
Trey nodded, not really surprised. He’d understood that was part of the process. “Have you been able to track down the identity of PW-5467?”
Les shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I was hesitant to try and hack Sinjin’s system too far in case they caught me.”
“Let it go. I’d rather not send up any flags on that front.” Trey frowned over the dearth of information provided by Sinjin. He fingered the glass disc. Maybe the recording would tell him more. If he hoped to create a program capable of directly competing with the Pretorius Program, he needed far more information than what he currently had in his possession. “Tell them we won’t require flight assistance. Arrange for my jet, instead.”
“You sure you want to go through with this? There are other ways to take down Sinjin.”
“I prefer this method. I want to go head-to-head with Sinjin on all possible fronts and prove my company is superior in every way.”
“Then I’ll send a confirmation to the Pretorius people,” his PA said before exiting.
Trey leaned back in his chair. Was that why Justice St. John had requested a meeting with him? Had St. John somehow found out Trey had been attempting to find a match through the Pretorius Program? If so, too bad. Once he analyzed how the program worked, he would develop his own version. If he succeeded in creating a superior program to Sinjin’s, he’d be able to out-compete Sinjin in every arena and finally make his company, Dynamic, the number one robotics company in the world. It would give him everything he’d ever wanted.
Trey sat and reviewed the information he’d received on his match a final time. The file contained PW’s vital statistics. Five foot four, dark hair and eyes, 110 pounds. Software engineer. He put the disc on his desk and pressed the button, initiating the hologram of a woman. “PW-5467,” the computer chip stated just before her image appeared.
Okay, wow. She was intriguing, to say the least. Delicate, yet he could see her feistiness in both stance and attitude. Her hair was short and dark as a moonless night with eyes to match. She dressed in black jeans and a T-shirt, her thumbs hooked in her waistband while she stood in front of a desk very similar to his own. She gazed
