He takes a step forward and peers at my computer. “You still haven’t shown me the platform.”
“You can sit in on the meeting if you want to. I’d love to have your thoughts on any tweaks you might want made.”
“I can if you want me to.” He reaches out and brushes my shoulder. Immediately, I tense, then just as quickly relax. I hope he didn’t notice. I realized in the moment that he was brushing a leaf from the hallway ficus off my shoulder, and I turn my attention back to my computer to hide my embarrassment.
He clears his throat. “All right, I’m going to go finish up. Give a shout if you want me to join the meeting.”
“Will do, thanks.”
I run through the platform and my various notes and make sure I’ve got my ducks in order, then buzz Marge to bring him to the conference room. I take my laptop and meet them there. “Sorry I got here so early,” he says. “I wasn’t sure about the traffic.”
“Not a problem at all,” I say, my voice completely cheerful and chirpy now that I’m feeling in control of the situation. I hook my laptop into the system and project onto the dropdown screen.
To Darrin’s credit, he’s both sharp and invested. He’s got a very studious manner about him, and after almost every comment, he asks me what I think or praises my work. Twice he tells me how talented I am, and I can’t deny that makes me happy. When we finally wrap, I know that we have a satisfied client.
“Bijan is going to be thrilled,” Darrin says. “I’ll tell him things are going along nicely.”
“We should be able to roll it out in the next ten days,” I tell him.
“That’s terrific. Why don’t I plan to come back in a few days from now for final tweaks and review?”
“Perfect,” I say. “We can get Bijan and the rest of the gang involved through a video call.”
He tells me that sounds like a good plan, then stands, his hand extended for me to shake. I do, a little unnerved by the sticky dampness of his skin. I’ve never been a fan of handshaking, and I resist the urge to wipe my palm on my slacks once he breaks contact. I walk him out, then go back to my office and spend a couple more hours implementing the changes that we discussed. I’m about to leave again when my phone rings. I assume it’s Renly since Marge let the call through, and I answer it.
Immediately, I regret it. It’s my mouth breather. I listen, feeling sick to my stomach as he just sits and breathes heavily on the other end of the phone. “Pervert,” I say, then slam the phone down before buzzing Marge and asking why she put him through.
“No calls came for you,” she tells me. “He must have your direct line.”
I already know that, of course, since I’ve been getting the calls for days. But hope springs eternal and all that. I make a mental note to ask Nikki about changing my direct line number.
It wouldn’t be that inconvenient. After all, I don’t give out the direct dial to that many people. We’ll inconvenience a few clients, but if it stops this creep, I can live with that.
I stand up, feeling squidgy, and the phone rings again. I consider just ignoring it, but instead I grab it up, and yell, “Would you stop it already?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
I cringe. “Darrin. I’m so sorry. I’m getting prank calls at work. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”
“Oh. Wow. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s just some asshole calling and breathing. Stupid little—” I stop before I curse in front of a client. “Um, is there something you need?”
“I was just going to ask if you wanted to grab a late lunch. I went to the promenade and did some shopping, and I’m about to head back home, but I thought if you were hungry we could talk more about the rollout.”
“Oh. You know, normally I’d love to. But I already have plans.”
“Sure. Just a thought. No problem.”
“Maybe a rain check?” I don’t really want a rain check, so I’m not sure why I’m saying that, but it seems the polite thing to do, especially since he works for our best client.
“That sounds great. And seriously, no big deal.”
I hang up, and this time I gather my things and head to the front office to wait for Renly. He follows me home on his bike to make sure I arrive okay, but despite my invitation, he doesn’t stay. “Summoned to the boss,” he tells me. “I’m off to see Ryan.”
“Oh. Sure.”
“Doors locked, right? Nobody in except Lilah, not even food delivery.”
I grimace but nod. Soon, we’ll have to either figure out who’s doing this or change the rules, because I don’t intend to walk on eggshells my entire life, especially if it’s just breathing.
But not yet. I’m still spooked. And I’m very glad that Renly’s watching over me.
Thankfully, Lilah is home, and I invite her over just because I’m a little stir-crazy. I tell her about the call and about Darrin’s offer of lunch. “I feel bad turning him down. I mean, part of the job is to wine and dine the clients.”
“Yeah, but I think you did the right thing. It was probably just him thinking about work, but you never know. And the last thing you want to do is date a client. Or make a client think you’d be interested in dating.” She frowns. “Unless you are. Does Nikki have rules about that?”
“I’m not,” I say. Honestly, when I think about it, I haven’t been attracted to too many men recently. Travis, but that was more proximity than attraction. I mean, he was cute and fun, but my pulse never raced around him.
The truth is, the only guy that’s ever really done a number on me is Renly.
But he’s a guy who doesn’t want me. At least not the way that I want him.
Chapter Nine
“Sorry to drag you here on the weekend,” Ryan said from behind his desk at Stark Security.
Renly leaned back in the guest chair. “Are you kidding? A trip to Dubai for a covert operation? That’s the kind of thing I signed up for, remember?”
Ryan laughed. “Well, can’t argue with that. Liam’s already over there, so he’ll take you through the mission specs when you arrive. Your plane leaves first thing Wednesday morning, and I’ve got a little light reading for you in the meantime.” He passed Renly a thick folder of material. “At least two insertions that are going to require rappelling down a skyscraper, but from what I read in your military file, that should be up your alley.”
“Yes, sir,” Renly said, hoping Ryan couldn’t hear the lie in his voice. He pushed the chair and stood, wanting to get the hell out of there so he could catch his breath and decide what the fuck to do. “I really appreciate your faith in me. I know I’m the new guy on the block.” He extended his hand to shake. But before Ryan could take it, the floor tilted, and Renly dropped his hand to steady himself on the desk, biting back a string of colorful curses.
Ryan’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”
“Sorry. Worked out this morning, didn’t eat breakfast, and stood up too fast. I’m fine.”
Ryan didn’t seem to notice the lie, and soon he was back at work and Renly was in the bullpen at his own desk. He pulled open a drawer, took out a prescription bottle, and tapped out a pill. He closed his eyes, cursed softly, then dry swallowed the meds.