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Emma scrubbed her hands over her face. “That’s it for now, but for the rest of the week, ‘Expect the Unexpected’ is our new motto.”
“I hear that, Lady Boss. If you want, I could print that out and frame it so that you can hang it in your office.”
“Get out!” Emma wadded up the paper in her hand and tossed it at Gwen, but Gwen used her iPad like a tennis racket and sent the object flying right back at Emma.
“Too slow, Lady Boss,” Gwen taunted as she made a quick escape.
Emma thanked whatever force of nature had sent that insane woman into her life—and into her heart.
Emma pulled up a Word document on her computer and began typing her thoughts and questions stream-of-consciousness style:
Talk with previous partners about how Bishop coordinated with his daughter.
Were there ever contracts between them?
Ask partners for access to any files they are aware of/have access to.
Had the daughter created anything for the company before? If so, what?
Is there anything exceptional about this chip?
A knock sounded at the door. Without looking up, Emma said, “Unless you have caffeine, pastries, and Xanax, I’m busy until further notice.”
“Well, I’ve got two of those three, but if Xanax is a deal-breaker, I know some pretty shady characters. I can probably arrange something.”
A smile blooming, Emma stood to greet the tall, fit woman in the doorway. If Hollywood ever recast James Bond as a woman of color, Andrea Cole would be the perfect candidate to model her after. Andi was former Army Special Forces, one of the few women to achieve such a position. She could take a man down with both her wit and a roundhouse kick. These days, she’d hung up her boots and served as head of Whitlow Tower Security.
As Andi set a brown pastry bag and a white cup with a green logo on Emma’s desk, the overhead lights glinted off the white-gold band on Andi’s left ring finger, and Emma willed herself not to focus on it. Thinking of Andi’s husband always made her sad.
Emma grabbed the pastry bag and dug in.Mmm.Cheese danish. “Thank you! Isooooneeded this.”
“It’s a far cry from what you’d probably be enjoying in Cancún right now, but when I heard what happened with David and your axed vacay, I figured this was the best I could do until after hours. If you want, though, you could come camp at my place tonight, and we can drink our weight in margaritas and mojitos.”
“You assume I’llgetto go home tonight.” Emma popped a bit of Danish into her mouth and washed it down with a sip of her honey-vanilla latte.“I may not be able to do much more than run home at some point to shower and change.”
“Sweet! Slumber party at the office. I’ll just dig around in supply until I find the margarita machine they always break out at company parties.”
“That doesn’t sound like it would get us fired at all.”
“Hey, at least your vacation would be back on.”
“And then, after I get back and they foreclose on my house because I can no longer pay my mortgage, I could move in with you and PJ.” Not that Emma would mind living with Andi and her son. PJ was one of the most adorable four-year-olds Emma had ever met.
“There are certainly worse things,” Andi said. “Besides, PJ would love to spend more time with his Auntie Ems.”
“And I’d love to spend more time with him,” Emma said. “I miss my munchkin like crazy.”
Andi’s expression turned sly. “So I heard you went to floor fifty this morning for a meeting with Noah, and I was just curious—wait, why did you flinch when I said Noah’s name? Right there! You did it again.”
“I did not.”
“Liar.” Andi jumped from her chair and pushed the door closed. “Okay, Ems, spill. Did something happen with you and He-Whose-Name-Makes-You-Flinch?”
“No. Of course not.” Which was the truth. Just because she’d mistakenly thought he’d been about to kiss her didn’t mean anything had actually happened.
“Ems?” Andi drew the letters out so that they lasted seven seconds.
“I just had a meeting with Mr. Whitlow where nothing happened. Nothing at all. We just spoke about a case. That was it. Nothing happened at all.”
“Oh, okay. Just give me one more variation of ‘nothing happened,’ and I’ll totally believe you.”
“Shut up.”
“Icouldshut up, but then I wouldn’t be able to tell you the juicy intel spreading around the tower and Internet right now, intel your flinching and earlier meeting with Noah paint in an entirely new light.”
Usually, gossip didn’t interest Emma—or so she liked to tell herself—but gossip about Mr. Whitlowandher. How was a girl supposed to resist?
Emma leaned forward and interlaced her fingers on her desk, a signal Andi would no doubt understand. She now had Emma’s complete attention.
Andi mirrored Emma’s move. “Word is Noah broke things off with Bridget Montague.”
