Hacker in Love, page 48
“I love you so much,” she chokes out.
“I love you, too, Mrs. Hennessey. 459, baby. All day every day.”
“What’s 459?”
“I’ve never told you about that? Oh. I thought I did. On a cell phone dial pad, four is I. Five is L. Nine is Y—I. Love. You.”
Hannah giggles. “Oh, Henny. That’s so cute.”
“If you like that, I’ve got more where that came from.” I toss out a series of coding strings, all of them used to create infinite loops in various coding languages, and then take Hannah’s face in my palms. “No matter how I say it, or code it, my feelings will always boil down to the same thing. I love you, Hannah Banana la Plátana, my birdhouse, my wife. You’re the only bee in my bonnet. Function: forever.”
EPILOGUE
HANNAH
My eyes shoot open.
Hazel.
Did I miss her waking up and crying out for me? It feels later than her usual wakeup time. Did I miss my alarm for work? No, it’s Sunday. Henn must have gone to her.
I turn to see if my hubby is sleeping next to me, and his side of the bed is empty, save for a red envelope placed neatly on his pillow. I grab it and discover Henn’s jagged handwriting on its face: “Sleep as long as you like, my love. Happy Mother’s Day.” Oh yeah. Today is my first Mother’s Day!
“Well, hot damn,” I murmur, before flopping back onto my pillow, pulling up the covers, and immediately falling back to sleep. When my eyes open again, I smile and sigh happily in the late-morning light streaming through the window. I don’t know what time it is or how long I’ve slept. All I know is I feel more rested than I have in months. I sit up, grab the red envelope off Henn’s pillow again, and open it this time. Inside, there are two handwritten notes. Dutifully, I open the one marked “Open first.”
Dear Mommy,
Happy Mother’s Day! I can’t write yet, so I dictated this note to Daddy, who translated my babbles and expertly transcribed them all. You’re da best mommy in da world and I love you so much! I can’t wait to tell you “I love you, Mommy!” one day soon. But for now, I’ll leave you with the tried-and-true sentiments many an infant has babbled to their beloved mommies before me throughout history: da-ga-goo-bee-doo-ma!
Love,
Hazel
Giggling, I unfold the second note and smile the whole time while reading it:
My Pretty, Precious Plátana,
Happy First Mother’s Day! I decided to write a separate note from Hazel’s because mine is bound to get a lil spicy, and I didn’t want Hazel to read those parts later and get grossed out. I don’t know if husbands normally get X-rated with their Mother’s Day tributes to their wives, but the fact that I can’t get enough of your hot body is a major contributing factor to Hazel being here in the first place, so I feel like a lil spice makes perfect sense under the circumstances.
I know how much you like surprises, so I’ve got several for you today, my love. Whenever you’re ready, come out and join the other two members of the Hennessey Hoodlums for some fresh donuts, purchased this morning by Hazel and me from Allison’s Bakery for this very special occasion.
This afternoon, you’ve got a massage appointment, and tonight, I’ve arranged a babysitter so we can go out and feast till our stomachs’ delight. When we get home from dinner, we’ll kiss our sleeping baby and head into our bedroom where I’m going to make you my dessert, baby! Woohoo! Just thinking about what I’m going to do to your user interface tonight is making my floppy disk hard. Of course, I’ll be sure to hit you with plenty of hot cum-puter-speak, since you love it so much. In fact, here’s a little preview to get your Slip ‘n’ Slide slipping and sliding about tonight’s late-night festivities:
Ooooh, baby, tonight, I’m gonna crash your hard drive. First off, I’m gonna diagram your touch points and make your power supply surge. From there, I’ll byte your Back End and penetrate your firewall, making sure to give you plenty of RAM. Over and over again, I’ll make your processor race and your central processing unit halt and catch fire. Why? Because you’re my Endpoint, my love. My eternal Touchpad. 459, baby, on an infinite loop. Function: forever. You’re my birdhouse, Hannah. And now, you’re Hazel’s, too. Thank you for being the best wife and mother, ever. Happy First Mother’s Day.
Love,
Henny
With tears in my eyes, I kiss the letter and leave it on my nightstand, and then shuffle into the bathroom. After doing the basics of my morning routine, I amble into our family room, where I find my husband on the floor next to our beloved baby, Hazel Katherine Hennessey. At the moment, she’s sitting like a big girl on a blanket with a little assist from a U-shaped pillow around her torso.
“Good morning!” Henn says as I enter the room. “Hazel’s this close to sitting without the pillow.”
I slide onto the couch. “Such a biggie wiggie girl.”
Henn scoops up the baby and bounds to me on the couch. “Happy Mother’s Day. Did you get our notes?”
“I did. Both were amazing. Thank you.” I kiss his cheek. “All that cum-puter speak had its desired effect, by the way. I can’t wait to hear more in person tonight.”
“I’m at your service.”
Hazel is reaching for me, so I take her from Henn and kiss her fat cheek. “Thank you for the note, Hazy Baby. Your sentiments, especially considering your tender age, were most impressive and appreciated.”
“She’s a genius. What can I say.”
“Thank you for the extra sleep. I feel amazing.”
“Good. Mission accomplished, then.” Henn motions toward the kitchen. “Donuts and a fresh pot of coffee are in there. You want me to get you some?”
“I’d love it. Thank you.”
As Henn bounds into the kitchen, I address Hazel in my arms. “Are you hungry, bubba?”
“She just ate,” Henn calls from the kitchen.
“Wow. The service here is impeccable. Five stars.”
Henn appears with a mug and a donut, as well as two wrapped presents, a big one and a small one, all of which he places on the coffee table. “A present from Hazel and me. And one from my mother.”
“How sweet. Should I open them now?”
“Absolutely. Start with the big one. It’s from my mother.”
I open the one from Henn’s mom and discover she’s cross-stitched a pillow for me, its face bearing the message, “World’s Best Mommy.”
“Aw. This will be so cute next to the one she gave me for my birthday.” That other pillow bears a cross-stitched message that reads, “The fun is in the trying, not the succeeding.” It’s the thing I said to Carol while teaching her to catch popcorn kernels in her mouth all those years ago.
“Okay, open mine and Hazel’s now,” Henn says, indicating the small box on the coffee table.
I open it and find a necklace with three jewels inlaid at the center—my birthstone, Henn’s, and Hazel’s. “I love it! Thank you so much. It’s gorgeous.” I kiss Henn and thank him profusely and then make a big show of thanking Hazel, too, who giggles and smiles like she understands every word I say. “You’re both so generous.”
“We’re lucky to have you.”
All of a sudden, Hazel on my lap makes a silly noise that sounds an awful lot like a dog barking.
I gently clap Hazel’s fat little palms together and squeal. “Yes, baby! That’s what the doggie says!” Logically, I know Hazel’s far too young to be able to mimic animal sounds—and yet, we read a book about animals every night to her, and she’s awfully smart, so on the off chance she’s made that sound on purpose, I’m not going to miss the chance to praise her.
Henn says, “We met a fluffy dog outside the bakery today who licked Hazel’s face. She giggled so hard, she pooped.”
I gasp. “My baby giggle-pooped?”
“She did. Like a pro.”
“Finally, some evidence my genes are in there somewhere.”
Henn howls with laughter. I’m always joking there’s no evidence of my genes actually existing inside our daughter. Hazel looks exactly like Henn, she’s smart as hell, and clearly has her daddy’s easy-going disposition, too. That was probably the best joke I’ve ever made along those lines, though. I’m actually pretty impressed with myself.
“Hey, would you be upset if I reschedule the massage?” I ask, as Henn takes the baby from me so I can eat and drink. “Thank you for the thoughtful gift, but I think I’d rather spend my first Mother’s Day with you and Hazel.”
“It’s your day. We can do whatever you want.”
“Do we have enough time to take her to the zoo before the babysitter comes tonight?”
Henn’s dark eyes twinkle with his smile. “We do. You’re sure you don’t want to be pampered, though?”
“I’m sure.” I hold up the half-eaten donut in my hand. “This is pampering enough. Plus, all that extra sleep and presents and dinner tonight.”
We have ourselves a little family hug. “I love you both so much,” Henn whispers. “Whatever we do today, the most important thing is you both know you’re loved beyond all measure. Infinite loop. 459. Indubitably. Forever.”
THE END
Thank you for reading Hacker In Love, I hope you loved this story as much as I do. If you’d like to read a bonus pregnancy reveal scene with all the spice that got them there, just sign up to my mailing list here and it will be delivered right to your inbox!
Want more?
Why not start reading the Josh & Kat Trilogy and read all about how billionaire, playboy Josh Faraday captured the brilliant Party Girl Kat Morgan. Start reading their steamy love story today with Infatuation.
Or, if you prefer, feel free to check out any of the romance titles in Lauren’s catalogue including stories for Reed Rivers and The Morgan Brothers, keep scrolling for descriptions to all.
All books by Lauren Rowe are available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Huge thanks to Sophie Broughton for all you do.
Also, to Letitia Hasser of RBA Designs for your wonderful cover designs (you truly outdid yourself this time, woman!).
Thank you to my amazing and generous beta readers, Lizette Baez, Sarah Kirk, and Selina Washington.
Thank you to some hackers I met at a hacker convention in Las Vegas who gave me fantastic information and insight into my beloved Henny and his world.
Thank you to Madonna Blackburn and Amy Bourne for all your support and help, and to Alison Evans-Maxwell for proofing.
Thank you, to The Training Room, the physical therapy facility in Poway that helped me rehab a severely broken ankle for so many months while working on this book. You brought me back to life and made me feel like me again, which therefore allowed me to write again, thankfully. For that, and your friendship, I’m forever grateful to you all. Special shout-out to the wonderful Rick Stauffer, Alexandra Blits, Eric Julienne, and Leonardo Mendoza. To Leo, specifically, you let me bounce specific ideas off you and also gave me a few fun ideas of your own. Thank you.
Last but not least, thank you to my readers for begging me to write Henn’s book for so many years. Each and every time you asked, I said it wouldn’t happen. When I told you never, I honestly meant it. But “never say never” certainly applies here, because you were absolutely right: there was a story to tell, after all. An exciting one! One I’m sure I wouldn’t have stayed put to tell, if I hadn’t been rehabbing for so long from an injury. So, there’s a silver lining in everything.
Thank you, readers, for reading and loving these characters, and this whole world, as much as I do! If you’re a newbie to me reading this note, if Hacker in Love was your first book in my sprawling Faraday-Morgan-Reed Rivers universe, then you’ll be happy to learn that every single major side character in this book already as their own full-length story for you to devour, most of them with cross-over timelines and a whole bunch of cross-over scenes. Even when those books include scenes you’ve already read here from Henn’s or Hannah’s point of view, there will be many surprises and twists you didn’t see coming while reading this story. That’s life in a nutshell, right? We might all be at the same party, but we’ll surely experience it differently, because we’re all the main characters in our own stories! Enjoy!
BOOKS BY LAUREN ROWE
Dive into Lauren’s bestselling universe of interconnected stories.
A full reading order can be found here!
The Josh & Kat Trilogy
It’s a war of wills between stubborn and sexy Josh Faraday and Kat Morgan. A fight to the bed. Arrogant, wealthy playboy Josh is used to getting what he wants. And what he wants is Kat Morgan. The books are to be read in order:
Infatuation
Revelation
Consummation
The Club Trilogy
When wealthy playboy Jonas Faraday receives an anonymous note from Sarah Cruz, a law student working part-time processing online applications for an exclusive club, he becomes obsessed with hunting her down and giving her the satisfaction she claims has always eluded her. Thus begins a sweeping tale of obsession, passion, desperation, and ultimately, everlasting love and individual redemption. Find out why scores of readers all over the world, in multiple languages, call The Club Trilogy “my favorite trilogy ever” and “the greatest love story I’ve ever read.” As Jonas Faraday says to Sarah Cruz: "There’s never been a love like ours and there never will be again… Our love is so pure and true, we’re the amazement of the gods.”
The Club: Obsession
The Club: Reclamation
The Club: Redemption
The fourth book for Jonas and Sarah is a full-length epilogue with incredible heart-stopping twists and turns and feels. Read The Club: Culmination (A Full-Length Epilogue Novel) after finishing The Club Trilogy or, if you prefer, after reading The Josh and Kat Trilogy.
The Reed Rivers Trilogy
Reed Rivers has met his match in the most unlikely of women—aspiring journalist and spitfire, Georgina Ricci. She’s much younger than the women Reed normally pursues, but he can’t resist her fiery personality and drop-dead gorgeous looks. But in this game of cat and mouse, who’s chasing whom? With each passing day of this wild ride, Reed’s not so sure. The books of this trilogy are to be read in order:
Bad Liar
Beautiful Liar
Beloved Liar
Interconnected Standalones within the universe
Hacker in Love
When world-class hacker Peter “Henn” Hennessey meets Hannah Milliken, he moves heaven and earth, including doing some questionable things, to win his dream girl over. But when catastrophe strikes, will Henn lose Hannah forever, or is there still a chance for him to chase their happily ever after? Hacker in Love is a steamy, funny, heart-pounding, standalone contemporary romance with a whole lot of feels, laughs, spice, and swoons.
Smitten
When aspiring singer-songwriter, Alessandra, meets Fish, the funny, adorable bass player of 22 Goats, sparks fly between the awkward pair. Fish tells Alessandra he’s a “Goat called Fish who’s hung like a bull. But not really. I’m actually really average.” And Alessandra tells Fish, “There’s nothing like a girl’s first love.” Alessandra thinks she’s talking about a song when she makes her comment to Fish—the first song she’d ever heard by 22 Goats, in fact. As she’ll later find out, though, her “first love” was actually Fish. The Goat called Fish who, after that night, vowed to do anything to win her heart. SMITTEN is a true standalone romance.
Swoon
When Colin Beretta, the drummer of 22 Goats, is a groomsman at the wedding of his childhood best friend, Logan, he discovers Logan’s kid sister, Amy, is all grown up. Colin tries to resist his attraction to Amy, but after a drunken kiss at the wedding reception, that’s easier said than done. Swoon is a true standalone romance.
The Morgan Brothers
Read these standalones in any order about the brothers of Kat Morgan. Chronological reading order is below, but they are all complete stories. Note: you do not need to read any other books or series before jumping straight into reading about the Morgan boys.
Hero
The story of heroic firefighter, Colby Morgan. When catastrophe strikes Colby Morgan, will physical therapist Lydia save him . . . or will he save her?
Captain
The insta-love-to-enemies-to-lovers story of tattooed sex god, Ryan Morgan, and the woman he’d move heaven and earth to claim.
Ball Peen Hammer
A steamy, hilarious, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy about cocky-as-hell male stripper, Keane Morgan, and the sassy, smart young woman who brings him to his knees during a road trip.
Mister Bodyguard
The Morgans’ beloved honorary brother, Zander Shaw, meets his match in the feisty pop star he’s assigned to protect on tour.
ROCKSTAR
When the youngest Morgan brother, Dax Morgan, meets a mysterious woman who rocks his world, he must decide if pursuing her is worth risking it all. Be sure to check out four of Dax’s original songs from ROCKSTAR, written and produced by Lauren, along with full music videos for the songs, on her website (www.laurenrowebooks.com) under the tab MUSIC FROM ROCKSTAR.
