Page 28 of Without Apology

He opened his mouth to say more, but a voice came from behind him. “Hello. You must be Mr. Granger. I’m Russell Smith from TW Accounting.”

Simon extended his hand, looking a bit confused. “What happened to Lyle?”

“Oh, he got sick. Couldn’t fly. I’ll be here all week instead.”

I witnessed the vein at Simon’s temple throb and thought this might be his tell for irritation. Something told me he didn’t like it when things didn’t go as planned.

“I see. Well, Mr. Smith, ensure you are efficient with Ms. Waters’s time as it’s very valuable.”

Russ nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely.” Then he gave me a grin. “Ready to get started?”

He was either oblivious to Simon’s frosty tone or didn’t care. Either way, I had to keep from laughing at Simon’s sour expression. “Yep. I’m all set.”

Russ took a seat, getting the projector fired up to put the first schedule on the screen. By the time I glanced back towards the door, Simon was gone.

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