Heart-Shaped Hack Read Free Page A

names are favorable.”
    “Stop that! We are not on a nickname basis.”
    “After seeing how riled up you’re getting? Not a chance.”
    “Am I supposed to accept that this is okay because you’re stealing money that has already been stolen once? Instead of giving it to charitable organizations, why not give it back to the people it was stolen from in the first place?”
    “I only wish I could, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
    “I’m pretty sharp. I can probably keep up.”
    “I’ve no doubt that you could.”
    “But you’re not going to tell me.”
    “Not right now.”
    Kate let out a frustrated sigh.
    “I assure you that you can spend the money with a clear conscience,” Ian said.
    “You can’t assure me, because now I know it once belonged to someone else. And there lies my ethical dilemma.”
    “You’ll have to take my word for it then.”
    His word? Was he crazy? “I’m just trying to help people, Ian. I don’t like the position you’ve put me in.”
    “Please don’t be upset with me. I really do want you to keep the money. For the babies.”
    Kate picked up her muffin, but she’d lost her appetite so she put it back down and brushed the crumbs from her hands. “You said you felt like talking to me again. Why? What do you want?”
    “I thought maybe we could be friends.”
    “A few days ago you hadn’t decided whether you even wanted to introduce yourself.”
    “Clearly I’ve made my decision.”
    “Why would you want to be friends? You hardly know me.”
    “You’d be amazed at what I know about you, Katie.”
    Oh, yes. The credit card. She’d have to cancel that immediately. And she’d choose a new, stronger online password that Ian would not be able to crack.
    “I appreciate the donations very much, and I will spend the last one because my clients desperately need it, but I don’t want any more of your money. And I really don’t see us becoming friends.”
    Kate had been harboring some fairly romantic fantasies about running into Ian again, but in not one of those fantasies had she ever cast him as anything other than the hero, and certainly never the villain. He had ruined everything.
    “I’ll win you over eventually. I’m very charming that way.” As he got up and walked away, he turned and said over his shoulder, “Until next time, Katie.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Kate arrived at Vic’s fifteen minutes before her one-o’clock lunch date. After regretfully admitting to herself that there was nothing to pursue with Ian—on account of the fact he was apparently some kind of felon—she’d moped around for a week and then scrolled through the inbox of her online dating account. After deleting multiple stomach-turning requests for casual sex and naked pictures, she sifted through what was left to see if anyone interesting had messaged her. So far she hadn’t had the best luck with online dating, but Kent, the man she was meeting this afternoon, sounded promising. He was thirty-six, handsome, and worked as a stockbroker for Morgan Stanley. He loved cooking, animals, and long hikes in the woods. They’d been exchanging e-mails for several days, and the last couple contained mildly flirtatious comments from Kent about how attractive she was and how much he was looking forward to meeting her in person. He seemed nice enough even if he did want to spend what Kate felt was a bit too much time discussing her physical description, especially her body type. She was one of those enviable women who was long legged and slim hipped but still in possession of full breasts. And they were real. Even so, she worked hard to stay in shape. She attended a Pilates class several times a week, and she walked everywhere. For her profile photo, she’d had Helena take a full-length picture of her standing next to the sign for the food pantry. She was wearing jeans and a sweater, and her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Kate wasn’t interested in false advertising, and she wanted