The Hacker - Nancy Herkness Page 0,1

like a warm sea and softened the intimidation factor somewhat.

She’d also noticed his lean, sculpted body with the surprisingly wide shoulders because that was her job . . . or so she told herself. His face had the elegant bone structure of old money, and there was a courtliness to his manners that screamed private school. He tried to disguise that by wearing the computer nerd’s uniform of T-shirt and jeans, even at the parties. Behind his tortoiseshell glasses, his vivid blue eyes gleamed with that formidable intelligence that Alice was referring to.

And Dawn always knew exactly where he was in the room at those parties.

“Finally!” Alice jerked Dawn out of her daydream by holding up her phone with photos of an embroidered lace veil attached to a crown of pearls and white silk flowers.

“It’s beautiful,” Dawn said sincerely. “It looks like it could be on the cover of one of those Regency romance novels you love so much. But not outdated or anything.”

Alice beamed and took the phone back before she hugged Dawn. “Thank you! That’s what I hoped you would say. I’m so excited!”

After a split second of hesitation, Dawn returned the hug. “You’re going to look amazing no matter what you wear.” She stepped back. “Now it’s time to stretch.”

Alice obediently lay down on the foam mat, and Dawn gently pushed her friend’s bent knee across her body. Alice made a little groaning sound before she asked, “Who’s the new trainer over at the ellipticals?”

Dawn glanced up at the muscle-bound blond man in his late twenties. He was berating a sweaty, middle-aged client with a paunch to leave it all on the gym floor. “That’s Chad, the former high school quarterback and new favorite of all the ex-jocks and wannabe ex-jocks. He’s got that whole ‘no pain, no gain’ vibe going.”

“You’re not a fan,” Alice said.

In fact, Dawn had turned down several invitations to go out for drinks with the new trainer. The man couldn’t take no for an answer, so now she actively avoided him. “I prefer to find other ways to motivate my clients to work harder.”

“Like reminding them they will be wearing a wedding dress in six months.”

“You pushed out those last five reps like a champion, didn’t you?” Dawn moved to Alice’s other side. “Why are you even looking at other guys with a fiancé like yours?”

“I’m not looking at them that way. I’m interested in the people you work with because you’re my friend.”

Dawn grunted, but the happy warmth returned to her chest. Alice was good about showing her that friendship went both ways. Dawn struggled to remember that sometimes.

“Which reminds me . . . I wasn’t kidding about Leland.”

Dawn pressed her friend’s shoulder to the floor. “I’m pretty sure the gym’s tech budget isn’t up to paying KRG Consulting’s fees.”

“He’ll do it for free,” Alice said. “Don’t you remember that’s how I first contacted Derek? He started their Small Business Initiative, KRG’s program that offers complimentary assistance to businesspeople like me and Ramón who don’t have the extra resources to solve problems. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the accounting software my clients were using.”

“I’d forgotten the part about it being free.” Dawn hated to ask for help from anyone, but this wasn’t for herself. It was for Ramón. He had pulled her back from the brink. “Yeah, maybe ask Leland if he has someone who could look into it.” Because she couldn’t imagine the gym’s issue needed the kind of genius Leland was.

“As soon as you’re done tormenting me,” Alice said with a grin.

Two hours later, Dawn stood at her kitchen counter, eating organic Greek yogurt, when an email from KRG Consulting popped up on her phone. “That was fast,” she muttered, putting down her spoon to swipe into the message.

“Shit!” she said when she glanced at the signature.

It was from Leland Rockwell himself. She glanced at the display on her microwave: 9:35 p.m. Alice had said something about the man being a workaholic, but Dawn’s problem wasn’t exactly a high priority for KRG.

Dear Ms. Galioto,

I understand the gym where you are employed is suffering from issues with Wi-Fi performance. I would be happy to help. Perhaps it would be easiest to put me in touch with the person responsible for the computer systems. I will, of course, keep you in the loop as to my progress on the project.

Regards,

Leland Rockwell

Should she answer him tonight? She supposed it wouldn’t hurt since he could always read it