(Complete) Sloane Calhoun built a career on her brains not her family name. When she meets her major crush, he dismisses her as another crazy fan. Can a wish in the fountain lead to true love?
Ben Lynch didn't trust women, especially fans of the g...
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Seventeen years later...
Sloane leaned her head back against the headrest and sighed. She was exhausted, but instead of going home for the weekend, she was heading to Missouri. A regional retail company had a security breach. She would work until she found the entry point, identified the damage, and plugged the hole so tight Russian hackers would cry.
"Drink?" The flight attendant asked her seat companion.
She opened her eyes, so the attendant wouldn't skip her. She'd love a real drink, but her flight was scheduled to land at six which meant she could start working. Dominic wouldn't meet her until morning. He had been at a client on the west coast when the urgent call came in.
Together she and Dom had fixed some of the largest cyber security breaches. They were the team that businesses wanted which kept them working nonstop.
Sloane was supposed to attend a function the following night, but had sent her regrets. Ted and Tori would have to represent their generation of Calhouns. Sloane sighed, what she needed was a vacation, but didn't see that happening anytime soon.
She ordered a Diet Coke and looked with envy as the flight attendant handed her neighbor a scotch on the rocks. She wasn't envious of his drink, just the fact he was drinking.
"Going home?" He asked after sipping his drink. She shook her head. He looked at her and his eyes paused briefly on her attire. She was wearing a skirt and heels. "A fun weekend planned?"
His smile caused her adrenaline to pump. He was a good ten years older than her and wore a wedding ring, but he was making eye contact with her breasts.
"I'm going for business. I have a long night ahead and was hoping for a nap." She finished her Diet Coke and popped her earbuds in before shutting her eyes.
She woke to the dinging sound as the fasten seatbelts sign lit up. She could feel the plane decelerating and descending. The attendant came through the first-class cabin. The repetition of procedures flight after flight was calming. In a life with little time for routines, she observed other's.
Sloane loved the routines in baseball. Players had pregame routines like good luck charms. Others had routines at the plate — tapping the plate with the bat, adjusting the velcro on their batting gloves. The Boston catcher, Jett always tapped his chest three times when he hit a home run. Maybe that was less of a routine because it was a message to his wife. He was forthright about it when asked in interviews.
So much for her weekend plans, she and her father had planned go to the game before the party. After her first game, she had continued to study the game and became an expert. Her favorite player was number seven, first baseman, Benjamin Lynch. He was a great hitter and really cute. He had dark hair and a perfect smile. Of course, he had an incredible body. Lynch was a professional athlete.
As a hometown boy, Ben supported charities for community organizations like Big Brother and Boys & Girls Club. She spent too much time online fangirling him.
As soon as it was safe to do so, Sloane was out of her seat. She would not give the boob starer a chance to brush past her. Instead, she kept walking and navigated to the front of the terminal to get a taxi.
By the time, Dom arrived at seven am, she had determined that a breach had happened, but not how. It could be as simple as an email clicked open by an unsuspecting employee.
Dom looked as bad as she felt. "Did you sleep?" She eyed his wrinkled shirt and pants.
"A few hours. You've really been at it all night?"
"Yeah. I'll need to go grab a few hours."
She had checked in at the hotel before arriving at the client.
"I'll go with you. I need a shower before I can think. Can I use yours? I won't have a room yet."
"Yeah. You don't have to ask."
He sighed. "God, you're the best."
She smiled. Dom was her best friend which was a good thing, because they worked together all the time. They had only been separated the day before, because someone in the office had double booked sales presentations. When they had a weekend off, Dom flew home to Chicago while she headed to Boston.
She only kept one secret from Dom and it wasn't her crush on number seven. Dom was tired of hearing about her heart throb. Anytime she mentioned him, Dom would throw out a canned response. "Oh, look we're back in middle school."
Dom didn't know she was from the construction Calhouns. He didn't think she was poor, but it would surprise him to learn about her family's wealth. Sloane kept her privacy by avoiding social media. She didn't want to be associated with the crowd she socialized with in Boston, starting with her brother's ex-wife. She hated that woman for what she did to her brother. At least Teddy found Mia to keep him from becoming a prick. He was overbearing with her and Tori but had never been that way with Sage. Sage was always his favorite sister. Even though she was a neighbor and not an actual sister, they treated her like one.
Dom knew about her siblings, Ted and Tori just as she knew about his brother, Gio. Dom had been trying to introduce her to Gio, but she didn't want to mix business with pleasure. If he was anything like Dom with dark eyes and olive skin, he would be a pleasure. Gio wasn't exactly like his brother, because he preferred women. The reason they worked so well together and Dom could be in her shower while she was curled up on her bed was because there was no attraction between them. Sloane enjoyed his beauty like a fine piece of art, but didn't want to touch it. She wouldn't mind touching someone. It had been too long, but she wasn't a slut and her only opportunity to pick up a guy was in a hotel bar. There was always Monty Whitby, her first love, but she outgrew him at eighteen. Sloane had moved on, so Monty was only her friend.
She and Dom worked all weekend. By Monday night, Sloane was exhausted. They still had to tie up loose ends for the team that came in after them, but they had contained the damage. It was the job of the public relations people to deal with the fallout. She was happy to do her part behind the scenes. With luck, they might wrap it up and make it home on Thursday.
Dom had left her in the hotel lobby to go to his room. Starving, she walked into the hotel bar. It surprised her to see it busy late on a Monday night. When she recognized the faces, she froze. Her heart beat like a tween's at a Justin Bieber concert.
She quickly took out her phone. She'd been too busy to look at it in days and needed information.
