“I’ve never heard of that. That sounds made up.”
“I assure you it’s a real thing. Penetration testing is when I hack away at you until I penetrate your defenses. Once I’m in, I go as deep as I can until I’m as far inside as you’ll let me go.”
“Are we still talking about your company?”
“Aren’t we?”
“You said ‘penetrate my defenses.’ And ‘get in as deep as you can until you’re as far inside me as I’ll let you go.’”
“Freudian slip. I meant that companies hire me to penetrate their computer systems so I can identify their weaknesses. I wonder how tricky you’ll be.”
Kate bit her lip to keep from smiling. “You just did it again.”
“Really? That’s interesting. Anyway, once I show a client all the alarming ways their computer systems can be compromised, I charge them an exorbitant amount of money to make sure it won’t ever happen.”
“And they don’t mind paying it?”
“People will pay any price when you exploit their weaknesses.”
“If you’re a legitimate business owner, then what’s with all the cloak and dagger? Like not telling me your last name, which is just silly, by the way.”
“It’s not in a hacker’s nature to share personal information. Anonymity is kind of our thing. And sometimes I hack into things I’m not supposed to,” he said. “For fun.”
“How shocking.”
“And occasionally I find myself in a bit of hot water, which I prefer to keep other people out of.”
“So the anonymity is to protect the people you associate with.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
“You could have just told me that.”
“I’ve already said too much. For some reason, being around you is like swallowing truth serum. Your beauty disarms me.”
“Thank goodness I possess at least one weapon I can use against you.”
“Your legs are another.”
Kate laughed. “I’ll have to remember that.”
She increased her speed, waiting until she’d redlined the engine before shifting into fourth. She loved that sound, and there were few things more fun than driving a fast car. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Ian was watching her. It was equal parts unnerving and exhilarating.
She passed the other cars, weaving expertly in and out of the lanes, loving the way the car handled. When the traffic finally thinned out, she pressed down on the gas pedal until the speedometer was just under seventy-five.
“Come on, you can do better than that,” Ian said. “How long has it been since you’ve had a speeding ticket?”
“Years. I can’t remember the last time I got pulled over.”
“Then what are you waiting for? If you get caught, I’ll pay the fine. As long as you keep it under a hundred, you won’t lose your license.”
Kate loved to listen to loud music when she drove on the highway, and listening to something old-school—Aerosmith, maybe—would be really fun in the Shelby. Purists balked at adding a stereo, but most replica owners installed them anyway, even if it did reduce the true Shelby experience. Ian’s car had no radio of any kind in the dash. It didn’t even look like there was a place for one.
“You’re sure about this?” Kate asked, already easing the gas pedal toward the floor. Whoever built this car had likely spent a lot of time on it, and she was surprised Ian wasn’t acting more concerned.
“Positive.” He reached over and yanked on her seatbelt to make sure it was tight.