Coded Love (A BWWM Romantic Suspense)

  Coded Love

  Published By Tiana Cole, 2016

  ©2016 Tiana Cole

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  A Gambling Heart

  About The Author

  Also from Tiana Cole:

  Coded Love

  Chapter 1

  The Los Angeles night flew past her in a haze of neon lights and long lines of party goers waiting breathlessly to get into the city’s trendiest clubs. Stars shone above but she couldn’t see them through the brightly illuminated city; alive and electrified still at nearly three o’clock in the morning. Alicia should have been exhausted, but as her bright red Ferrari hugged the curves of the highway she sped down, she was almost vibrating with energy.

  The night was her world. It was where she felt the most comfortable. Her best friend Charlotte Decamp was always going on about how they were both half vampire because of the hours they kept, but as a programmer and genius coder, Alicia thrived in the late hours when the city was mostly quiet and the world felt like hers alone. Well, hers and the numbers and symbols that flashed from the computer screen.

  She was one of the top coders in LA, she knew that. Alicia had worked on some of the most expensive, exclusive jobs available in the past year alone and she had no intention of slowing down.

  She pressed slightly on the highly responsive gas pedal just to prove her point. She lived fast and she loved it. She was ready for any challenge that came her way, in fact, she thrived on it. She lived to work under pressure.

  A grin slowly spread across her tinted red lips to match the scarlet blush of excitement that flushed her normally dark brown skin. She was thinking about him again even though she knew she shouldn’t. Ayden Ross. A business magnate who had come to dominate the online dating scene over the past few years and he had asked her personally to take on the massive job of designing and coding his business’s new website and online platform.

  Finally, she pulled off of the highway and sped down the quiet street, braking to a stop in front of the posh condo at the end of lane. It almost didn’t feel like LA here on the tree lined cul-de-sac. It was one of the reasons she had loved the place so much when she had first seen it. And then there was the view.

  Whenever she wanted to feel like she was a part of the bustling urban scene, all she had to do was climb to the rooftop and she had an almost perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the city in all it’s bright and neon glory. It spread out for miles and miles, and she loved to just sit and watch it go about its business beneath her, imaging all the people, all of their stories.

  Alicia thought briefly of her own story. She had started out with nothing, an orphan hanging on by a thread to the depressing life she had.

  She had made it through on her smarts, if not her people skills. But computers were easy. Computers didn’t have to like you, or get along with you. They just did what you told them to. It was her computer skills that got her a full ride scholarship to M.I.T. and to where she was now. At the top.

  Her cell phone buzzed softly in the pocket of her black denim jeans and she pulled it out, a smile dragging one corner of her mouth up as she checked the caller ID.

  “Hey, girl,” Alicia said as she held it up to her ear.

  “Ahh!” Charlotte’s excited squeal caught her by surprise and had her pulling the phone away and wincing as she checked to make sure her eardrum was still intact. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! I just found about about the new Ross job. Way to kill it!”

  “Yeah, well, I just found out myself,” Alicia said with a full blown grin at her friend’s words. “How did you hear about it anyways?”

  “You know how fast news travels in this town. Especially when it has to do with the super hunky CEO of the biggest online dating site on the west coast.”

  Alicia rolled her eyes at the purr in Char’s voice. She knew her friend couldn’t help it, she was basically a professional flirt. Alicia was pretty sure ‘flirt’ was actually her middle name. Charlotte was a hopeless romantic and she didn’t fault her for it. But Alicia had one hard and fast rule when it came to her business.

  “You know I don’t mix business and pleasure. It never ends well.”

  “Yeah, but the middle parts are so much fun!” Charlotte tried to convince her with a laugh. Even she knew that Alicia never messed around when it came to her work. It was too important to her to jeopardize like that. And besides, she’d never met anyone that had made her want to, either.

  An image of Ayden Ross popped into her head unbidden. Golden skin and golden blond hair. Body of an absolute god. There was a reason he was called the ‘golden boy’ around town and it didn’t have anything to do with how much money he had. He literally embodied the idea.

  Alicia shook it off as Charlotte continued talking.

  “Wait a minute, what are you still doing up anyways? What happened to the whole ‘successful people wake up before noon’ speech you gave me a few days ago?” Alicia grinned as her friend huffed, instantly sidetracked from her description of just how hot her new client was. Oh, Alicia already knew that. She just didn’t need to be reminded.

  “I’m rehearsing a new script my agent sent over.” Alicia could hear the excitement in her friend’s voice and couldn’t help but be proud of everything she’d gone through to get to where she was now. They were best friends for a reason.

  They had met at one of the more terrible foster homes Alicia had lived in as a child and they had instantly connected because both had shared the dream of becoming successful and escaping the life that seemed so much like a revolving door from the inside. They had both had to crawl and fight their way out, but they had supported each other through the worst, and now all Alicia could do was celebrate. It felt like they were finally making it. Finally making their dreams a reality.

  “That’s amazing Charlotte!” Alicia said, and she truly meant it. In some ways they were exactly the same, and in others, complete opposites.

  Alicia could never imagine herself getting up and acting in front of a bunch of cameras, everyone staring at you as you had to perform. The thought of it alone had Alicia’s stomach churning. But Charlotte loved to act. It had been her dream since they were little kids talking long into the night about how they would make it big one day.

  “…so I think it will be really good for you, you know?” Charlotte’s question jerked her out of her thoughts.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?”
<
br />   “Day dreaming again?” Charlotte asked with another laugh but Alicia just shrugged. It was one of her many faults.

  “Technically, I think it would be called night dreaming.” She looked around at the cloudless night sky, the stars shining like points of light poked through a swath of dark black velvet.

  “I guess you’re right. I was just saying how much this job will help get your brand out there. I know you’ve been successful in LA, but this could be a real jumping off point for you. Like nationally.”

  The thought had pride and satisfaction washing through her. She had worked so hard to get where she was, and now, she was going to be working with one of the biggest names in the business.

  “I think you’re right, Char. This is going to be so good for my business. And the money won’t hurt either,” she said with a laugh. It was hard to believe sometimes that she could make jokes about money, but things had changed, really changed, for the better.

  “And that eye candy certainly won’t hurt at all,” Charlotte said with giggle and it was infectious.

  “He is hot–”

  “Oh my god, he is so much more than ‘hot’. The server at the Ruby diner is hot. That weather man from Channel Six is hot. Ayden Ross is…he’s…well, he’s just way more than hot is all I’m saying.”

  Alicia couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her at her friend’s rambling monologue.

  “Wait a minute. The weather man? Josh Drover? Charlotte, he is a huge nerd. With horn rimmed glasses. And a pocket protector!”

  “What? He is hot,” Charlotte protested and Alicia laughed so hard she had to wipe the tears that were starting to stream down her cheeks.

  “Okay, okay. Whatever you say.” She took a deep breath, trying to get herself under control. “But either way, no matter how hot, or hotter-than-hot or whatever, Ayden Ross is, you know I don’t–”

  “Yeah, yeah. You don’t mix business with pleasure. I get it,” Charlotte interrupted her before she could say it, but it was true. It was a policy that had served her well over the last several years. “But what about that guy who works for you?

  “Who, Bill?”

  “No, the other one. The younger one.”

  “Oh, Marcus?” Alicia said his name with a tinge of unease. She already knew where Charlotte was headed.

  “Yep. That’s him. Marcus. He’s been making goo goo eyes at you since you hired him.”

  “I’ve noticed. But he is definitely not my type. He seems nice enough. He’s quiet and pretty much sticks to himself, but he’s an IT guy. What do you expect?”

  “I’m just saying. You are cutting off a lot of possibilities if you don’t let yourself take a risk every once in a while.”

  “What possibilities, Char? There are one two guys who work with me, and neither one is meant for me, as you would say.”

  “Well, maybe not them. But who knows? Maybe Ay–”

  “Don’t even say it,” Alicia warned.

  “What, I was just going to say that maybe Aphrodite has other plans in store for you.”

  Alicia barked out a laugh. “The goddess of love can step in anytime she wants, as long as its not during business hours.”

  “You are hopeless,” Charlotte finally said, and Alicia could just imagine the pout on her face. She just shrugged.

  “I know. It’s part of why you love me so much.”

  “Well, someone has to. You are obviously not getting enough of the male variety–”

  “Okay. I gotta go,” Alicia said, cutting her off. She knew her friend meant well, but she didn’t need to be reminded just how long it had been since she’d had any attention of the male variety, as Charlotte put it.

  “Uh huh. Sure you do.”

  “I do! I’ve got a big meeting with Ayden tomorrow,” Alicia said and then cringed.

  “Ooh, so it’s ‘Ayden’ now,” Charlotte teased. Damn it.

  “Uh, I mean Mr. Hot. No! Ugh, I mean, Mr. Ross.” Double Damn it. Charlotte let off a peal of laughter and Alicia briefly considered just hanging up the phone before she put her foot any further in her mouth. “Bye, Char!”

  “Bye, sweetie! Good luck with Mr. Hot tomorrow!” With that, Alicia really did hang up the phone and then glanced at the clock. Not tomorrow, she realized at the time struck three twenty-three in the morning, but today. With a yawn, she turned to head inside to get what little sleep she could before her meeting at noon.

  Chapter 2

  Alicia walked into her office with just minutes to spare. She had slept in, of course, after staying up way too late finishing up a project that wasn’t even due until the next quarter. Classic over-achiever. She couldn’t help it though, it was her business, her baby. She had worked too hard to let it be anything but perfect every time and her reputation meant a lot to her.

  “Hi Alicia! You look amazing, I hope you had a great–”

  “Hi Marcus. Sorry, don’t have time to chat right now. Got to get ready for the big meeting.”

  “Oh, right. Of course.”

  Alicia completely missed the disappointment in his voice or in his muddy green eyes as she dashed into the bathroom, hastily smoothing down the stray locks of her black bob that ended in blunt, magenta-tinted tips just above her shoulder. She knew the bright color put some people off, or had them wide eyed that a successful CEO could sport such an unusual hue, but she loved it.

  It took exactly sixteen seconds to change out of her normal work attire of black skinny jeans and white t-shirt and into the form fitting black dress that hugged her every curve.

  She felt a shiver of anticipation as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. With her almond shaped dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, and wide forehead, she’d always thought she looked average. It didn’t help that as a foster kid, she was all but invisible. She knew she wasn’t the only one to feel that way, but her bright hair color was the one thing that made her stand out.

  She had grown up, and out, of most of her childhood insecurities, but some niggling part of them remained. Alicia sighed, and then smiled at herself in the mirror, gasping in embarrassment and relief at the big chunk of spinach from the pizza she had wolfed down on her way there stuck right in the middle of her two front teeth. Thank god she decided to check!

  Hurriedly, she fished it out with a mini flosser from her bag just as she heard the sound of the front door opening and new voices filling the office. With one last quick, confidence boosting look in the mirror, and one last check of her pearly whites, she nodded with satisfaction and headed out to great her new biggest client.

  She took a few steps towards the man whose back was turned away from her, chatting with her assistant Nora, a sweet older woman she had hired mostly out of guilt and a desire to help the sixty-year-old who was recently widowed and desperately searching for something to keep her occupied, but had turned out to be an impressive asset to their small but growing team.

  Something in her softened as she watched Ayden Ross charm her pants off. Not literally, of course, but she was astounded as the normally reserved Nora threw her head back and let out a laugh that had her smiling despite herself. And she didn’t even know what the joke was.

  Alicia noticed Marcus was definitely not flirting, but the dour look on the twenty-three-year-old’s face was nothing new. She was pretty sure it was just his face. He was a great computer programmer and that was all she really cared about. It was why she had put the charismatic Bill on the front end, handling all the customer service and sales. She was proud of their little team and was hoping that after this job with Ayden Ross she would be able to hire on some new employees and keep the growth going.

  She finally noticed the hush that had fallen, and looked around wide-eyed as she realized they were all staring at her. Damn. She had to get this daydreaming thing under control, she reprimanded herself as she fought the blush that was threatening to sweep across her cheeks. Determined to ignore however long she had been standing there, staring into space as the one of the biggest na
mes in online dating waited for her to introduce herself, she walked towards the man. She barely even stumbled as she walked across the office.

  She had fully embraced the open office floor plan after working for a company and seeing it work in real life. It had really changed not only the productivity of the employees, but the entire frame of teamwork. Instead of her being the ‘boss’ that sat tucked away in some corner office, she was there, an integral part of what they were doing, what they working on. As such, there were no walled off boardrooms or meeting spaces. Instead there was a large, circular wooden table that Alicia had gotten because it reminded her of one of her favorite childhood stories. Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

  She definitely felt like she was gearing up for battle and about to face the dragon as she held out her hand and forced herself to meet Ayden Ross eye to eye. Big mistake! His deep blue eyes snared hers instantly and refused to let go, much like the hand he had taken possession of. He was holding it too long, she knew that, but she just couldn’t bring herself to break contact.

  Someone was clearing their throat, or possibly having a hernia by the severity of the cough, and she glanced over to see Marcus, red faced and staring at them.

  “Marcus, are you all right?’ Alicia asked, finally freed from the temporary spell Ayden had placed her under.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay now.” He smiled at her, staring at her until she turned back to her new client and the source of all the tiny electrical sparks shooting through her body.

  “Mr. Ross–”

  “Please, call me Ayden.” Ayden shot her a lopsided grin that her her stomach clenching in knots while the rest of her melted a little. Stop it! she warned herself. This was business. Strictly business.

  “Alright, Ayden, why don’t you come over here and take a seat.” Alicia gestured to the large round table set on the left side of the room, far enough away from the desks to not interrupt work, but still a part of the overall energy in the space.

  “So, Ayden, why don’t you tell me a little bit about what your vision is? What is it that you want for the site? For the online platform?” Alicia asked as she drew her tablet from her bag. With stylus in hand, she was ready to capture his big ideas and general vision. Then, they could start working towards the details.