Christmas Bytes Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Intro

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  About the Author

  Christmas Bytes

  Female-Led Kinky Romance

  A Holidaze Escape Series: Book 1

  Brenna Harbor

  Copyright Page

  Copyright © 2019, Brenna Harbor

  Cover: pro_ebookcovers

  Published by Brenna Harbor.

  [email protected]

  Produced in the United States of America

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

  This is a work of fiction and the characters, events, and dialogue found within the story are of the author’s imagination and are not construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.

  Dedication

  I want to thank my writing group who has been there through many of my struggles and fears. And lots and lots of coffee… We are in it together ladies.

  To my dear husband: Thanks for believing in me, babe.

  Intro

  The cyber security a national bank corporation, the stealing of legal documents, and a hot night of passion should not go together. Especially this close to the Christmas season.

  But in this story of a bank heist gone wrong, they do! The lives of an ex-dominatrix and an ex-con artist, both trying to make a new life for themselves, clash under surprising circumstances. Both must now navigate the waters of what is right versus what is wrong, the grip of painful pasts, and the destruction of selfish goals. This is the tale of two people that are missing an essential part of their lives… Perhaps, they can find it in each other.

  Chapter 1

  Lucinda

  If I faked passing out here on the spot, would it get this man to stop talking?

  Though Lucinda Gideon desperately wanted this introduction and tour of the facility to be over – because after the third bank she’d visited since starting this career, they pretty much looked and ran in very much the same manner – she was a gosh-darned professional. Instead, she tried to discreetly study the polish on her manicured nails as the bank manager of the (formerly) Alta Vista Financial branch droned on about this particular bank’s security policies and procedures.

  Is that a chip? Better not be after the money I paid for these.

  She was trying really hard to not show the boredom she felt on her face, but she could not help in finding the blood-red shade she had picked out far more fascinating than what Mr. Havitt was explaining to her at the moment.

  “So that’s what we do with the deposit slips. Next let me tell you how we handle foreign currency exchange requests…”

  Lucinda suppressed a wince. Barley.

  As she walked through the bank’s outdated lobby, she reflected over the past eighteen months of her life. When she had first started her job in cyber security management for banks, she had thrown herself in, full-force, into making the career change. The previous job she had held, one that she had deeply enjoyed, was… no longer an option for her.

  She was hit with a wave of unhappiness as she walked behind the bank manager but managed to tamp it down. Sometimes, circumstances in life irrevocably altered the path someone was on and they could no longer return to the way things had been before.

  Pity.

  It was a set of life altering circumstances that had happened to her that led to Lucy following a mousy bank manager in the small town of Alta Vista. She’d only been at the job a year and a half, but it was not the first time a branch manager had regaled her with how their bank “did things differently” and were a “step ahead” in securing their customer’s private information.

  It was Lucinda’s unpleasant task to burst that delusional bubble and set about fixing the flaws that each bank’s security system inevitably had.

  Find and fix them she would. She had a natural knack for computers and cyber security in particular.

  “Does what I’m describing sound like anything else another bank you have ever visited does?” The bank manager, Mr. Havitt, preened at her and expected to know what her answer was.

  The man had given her a frosty reception when she had first arrived.

  Lucinda was used to that kind of reaction. Not only were most males intimidated by the fact that she knew her way around software programing and worked in the security field, but she usually did not receive a warm reception because of the nature of how she came to be at each bank she visited.

  Each and every one of the banks she was sent to was a new acquisition of her employer, Granite Forge Bank, a national chain. The small-town banks they acquired either joined willingly, or were subjected to a “friendly” take-over by means of lawyers and backroom payouts.

  So yeah, many of the managers she met were intimidated by her. Even though her role was in security, she did not tote a gun around or wear a starchily pressed uniform. She could only imagine their reaction if they saw what she used to wear in her previous occupation. Most would quake in their polished loafers. Either in excitement or fear.

  Returning her focus to the conversation, Lucinda was careful not to burn any bridges. She smiled brightly at the small, mousy man. “I commend you and your staff for all the forethought your group has put into your customer service and security. Since this branch has now joined the Granite Forge Bank family, we can offer an added wall of protection, after my own evaluation of course, that can only be offered with being a part of a legacy that has stood for customer service and protection for over one-hundred and twenty years.”

  Usually, if Lucinda offered the illusion of choice, the reception went smoother. Sometimes, like seemed was going to be the case here, the bank managers resisted the presence of an “outsider” to their small little kingdom. But this branch, like the others acquired before them, had given up the option to continue operating the same way once they joined the Granite Forge Bank chain.

  If Lucinda had to, she would rub their noses into that fact. Like a bad puppy that had crapped on the carpet. They all deflated and gave in after that.

  Mr. Havitt, in the end, put up very little resistance.

  Lucy tried not to be too disappointed. It been a while since she had flexed her authoritative presence onto another person.

  As they continued the tour, she noticed cheerful red and green streamers in elegant swags from the ceiling. Lucinda glanced over at the teller windows and saw that most desks were decorated with an assortment of Christmas trees, fat snowmen, and reindeer.

  Holy crap, she thought, Is it really almost Christmas already? She had been so busy on the road these past eighteen months that she had not noticed the time speeding by.

  Had it really been that long since she quit her old job?

  Her eyes roamed the bank, it was mid-sized and fairly busy for a Friday, and her attention was drawn to the broad shoulders and straight back of a man who was next in for a teller to open up. His turn came quickly and she couldn’t help but notice how well his snug gray slacks embraced his tight ass as he walked forward.

  She was able to see his profile as he leaned in close to the pretty teller that had called him forward. Straight Grecian nose, dark brown brows that matched his wavy hair, and a chiseled jaw. He looked like a normal, if exceedingly handsome, man.

  So why the alarm bells ringing in her gut at the sight of him
?

  There was something about him that was smooth. Too smooth… Too sophisticated to be in the setting of an outdated bank decorated in cheap Christmas decor.

  Or, maybe she was only unjustifiably miffed at the way he was shamelessly flirting with the pretty little bank teller.

  Jayce

  Jayce Compton was in the midst of gathering the information he needed from the teller that was attending him. Unbeknownst to her, and this bank, he would be robbing within the next few days.

  If all went according to plan.

  He had a guileless smile in place as he tried to be charming enough (but not too charming) to glean some of the bank’s security information without tipping her off.

  He had set up a dummy account with the bank several weeks ago, complete with a few thousand dollars stashed into it, in preparation for this job.

  “How would you like the payroll set up for you company Mr. Seaton?” The teller used the fake last name he had given his account.

  “Bi-weekly payments on Wednesdays would work best I think,” he answered after giving the appearance of giving deep thought to the question. “My, what a cute little guy you have sitting on your desk there,” he pointed to the plush snowman with an insipid smile sitting next to her mouse. The girl flushed pink. Laughing, she picked up the offending toy and pressed it to her cheek.

  “Isn’t he?” she gushed. “I just wuv him!” The doll’s eyes stared flatly back at him. Its expression staring accusingly back at him.

  Suppressing a shudder from the stare of the lifeless, dark eyes, Jayce chuckled as was expected and broadened his smile.

  “You must have got that as an early Christmas gift from your boyfriend, huh?” he winked at her.

  She tittered and demurred that she, in fact, did not have a boyfriend.

  He arranged his face in an expression of disbelief, then sudden enlightenment.

  “Oh! You must never get a chance to go out on a date working such a demanding job in a bank. They must have you working crazy hours during the holidays! I mean, apart from the nine to five hours. They must make you guys stay late all the time working on other things you can’t get to during normal hours.”

  “Oh no! Most of us get what we need to get done during work hours,” she tittered and looked at him beneath her lashes. “Management and security sometimes stay late, but usually only during the holidays.”

  “All holidays?”

  She giggled again. Jayce found that the sound was getting on his nerves.

  “No. Just the during the week of important holidays. Like Labor Day and Christmas. Everyone should be gone at their usual times this week. In fact, I expect I’ll get off in enough time today to go home and get dressed in something a bit nicer… If I had plans later that is,” the teller – Monica, according to her gleaming name badge – told him as she looked him up and down.

  He got the hint.

  Jayce had long ago learned to watch out for women and their wiles. He had always, historically, kept his affairs with the fairer sex, brief and mutually satisfying for both parties.

  Usually, he was not hesitant to take a woman up on such a blatant offer, but this time Jayce was going to have to disappoint. He wanted no distractions for this job.

  This last job.

  But… maybe he could glean more information from her if she had a few glasses of wine to relax her first…

  “Is that so sweetheart?” he crooned with a practiced drawl to his voice. “Why don’t y—.” His next suggestion was cut off by the rounded, frightened eyes of the teller. They were looking to the area behind his shoulder.

  He turned to look, only to find the eyes of a fierce, flame-haired Amazonian staring back at the both of them.

  “Welcome to the new Granite Forge Bank branch in Alta Vista sir,” the goddess said. The look in her eyes was anything but welcoming. Her eyes flicked to the teller’s badge. “Has Monica been able to answer your questions related to banking with us in a sufficient manner?”

  The statuesque woman in front of him was dressed professionally, obviously an employee, but she was lacking an identifying name badge herself. Jayce had scoped the bank out several times before, but this was his first time seeing this woman. He would have noticed her much sooner if she had been around before.

  She filled out the lines of her fitted black blazer and tight pencil skirt (at a demure and work appropriate length) with lush, womanly curves. Her vibrant red hair was pulled back into an elegant chignon that twisted away from her diamond-shaped face. Her fiery eyebrows framed large, sparkling eyes. They were luminous and glittered with an unreadable expression at himself and the teller.

  Her lips, a pursed slash of crimson, and the taut set of her jaw made Jayce aware that the jig was up… For now. He got, from looking at her, the mental impression of a strict school headmistress that had just caught two naughty students in the act of mischief.

  She wasn’t the classically soft kind of pretty like the teller was. Instead, the strong lines of her face made her into a formidable beauty.

  He had the very confusing desire to suddenly prostrate himself at her feet and apologize. Mentally shaking the feeling off, he stood his ground and schooled his expression to be one of vague interest. Her tone, when she had spoken to them, was congenial enough, but Jayce could detect the edge of steel to it. Her eyes gave them both a calculating once over.

  “Monica has been an angel,” He gave her his most charming smile. The goddess continued to stare at him coolly. Clearly unmoved by the dimple in his left cheek that charmed most women. “But, forgive me, I thought this bank’s name was Alta Vista Financial?”

  “As of the beginning of this week, Alta Vista Financial has been acquired by Granite Forge Bank. It will be a seamless transition and no one’s account information will change.”

  “So only the name has changed?” He kept his face in check, but an inner panic was growing in him. He would need to move up his break-in plans to as soon as possible. Damnit! He hated rushing his plans. Unpreparedness always led to mistakes and fuck ups.

  “That, and,” she paused as her gaze hardened on him. “This bank now has the advantage of having access to the state-of-the-art security measures that being a part of our branch can promise.”

  Jayce had opened his mouth to respond, not sure what he was going to say, but she had already looked away dismissively and was in the process of brushing past him.

  “Thank you for banking with Granite Forge Bank. Have yourself a wonderful day,” she murmured blandly as she breezed past him and to the little swinging door that would let her behind the counter.

  A chastised-looking Monica had found something on her computer screen that enraptured her attention.

  Jayce was fairly sure he stood there, bewildered, for an unflattering amount of time before he was able to pick his pride up off the floor.

  Who the hell was that gorgeous woman?

  Chapter 2

  Lucinda

  Lucy rubbed her eyes in weariness, her mascara be damned at this point. The data reports she had been reviewing over the last four hours were starting to blur together and there was a hollow ache in her empty stomach.

  After a long flight the day before and an even longer day at the bank today, she was done. She needed to grab something greasy to eat and head back to her hotel to watch some late-night reruns before bed.

  And maybe… Maybe she would pull out her high-powered pink vibrator. It was the holidays after all and she was feeling lonely. She should treat herself.

  Tension knotted her shoulders and she tried rolling her neck to ease some of the strain. She knew just who should be the star of her fantasies tonight when she pressed the pulsating device to her hot and needy flesh.

  The man from the lobby earlier today that had been flirting with the teller.

  A fantasy man was all that Lucy could, and would, handle right now. She was trying to establish herself in a relatively new profession. At times it was very lonely and unchallenging (computer
s and coding had always come easy for her), but she was paving the way for herself regardless. After a few years with Granite Forge Bank, she would have her pick of other jobs in related fields.

  She tried not to cringe at the thought. Tried not to miss what she had left behind all because of one hateful bastard…

  Lucy gave herself a mental shake. Anticipation for her freshly made, if a bit lonely, plans for herself made Lucy’s skin prickle.

  She really needed to get out of here.

  Each person had seemed eager to start their weekend plans. Chatter of Christmas gift shopping had come from everyone she met today. But Lucy had taken advantage of the entire bank staff scuttling out right after five today. She had unfettered access to the bank’s computer files and could pour through them, meticulously, without raising any alarm from the nervous Mr. Havitt.

  After hours of following up on minor discrepancies and miscalculations, either man-made or by faulty software, Lucy was relieved to find that nothing major seemed to be amiss with the accounts she’d reviewed so far. She was a little surprised, and greatly relieved, by this after the encounter with the handsome man in the lobby this afternoon.

  A one Mr. Kyle Seaton.

  Kyle… The name doesn’t suite him.

  As soon as she had noticed his tall, broad figure, casual countenance, and practiced flirtation with the teller, her alarm bells had started ringing in her head. But his account, though recently set up, seemed to be a legit payroll account for a small startup. Lucy supposed that, maybe, her skills at reading people were starting to get rusty. At her previous job, as a dominatrix, she had honed a sharp aptitude for being able to determine a person’s character.

  Too bad that skill hadn’t prevented the events that had led to her quitting that occupation…

  Oh well, she sighed and kicked off her heels, thoroughly done with the day. She could slip them back on when the cab she would call came to get her. She would tamp down thoughts of the past as tightly as she could (which she was very good at) and think of other things.