Page 70 of Playing With Secrets
“Hunter, nice to meet you.” Shane steps forward with a nod of acknowledgment.
My brow creases. “Sacks Commodities?”
“The new major advertising sponsor for Efron Worldwide’s app.” Jonah scowls.
“Of course. You’ll need to excuse me for my momentary slip. I’ve been working on budgets since six this morning.” I motion to my desk. “Isn’t our meeting at one?”
“I asked them to come in early so we could take them to lunch. I sent you a calendar invite yesterday.” Jonah analyzes me. He knows me well enough to see I’m crumbling under pressure.
“I haven’t had time to update it today. My apologies.” I hold my hand out to Shane.
He shakes it and turns to Dorothy. “And you must be Dorothy Fisher.”
“Yes, but you can call me Dori.” She takes Shane’s hand.
He flips it over and kisses the top of it. His eyes scream,I’d love to get to know you better.
“Dori, it is. It’s a pleasure to meet you. After today’s session, I’d love if we could get together individually and go over your design ideas using our logos.” He flashes her a dazzling smile.
“I’d like that, Shane.” She turns that beautiful shade of crimson I haven’t seen in a long time and all my reason goes out the door.
“That won’t be needed.” I move between them and send Shane a step-off vibe with a territorial sneer. “We can go over that in the meeting today.”
Dorothy’s eyes widen as she’s clearly appalled. I flash her an apologetic glance, to which she returns a dirty look.
“Let’s take this to the restaurant.” Jonah gestures to the door. “We can discuss any extra meetings after today. Right now, I’m hungry and in need of food.”
“I won’t be able to join you. I’ve got to get these documents in order. That means no lunch for me.” I make an excuse so I can get my bearings.
I’m so far off my game and Jonah knows it, so he’s giving me an evil once over. Isabella’s smiling coyly as if she’s enjoying my discomfort. Dorothy’s red and appears to be trying to hold it together. And this dick, Shane, is still staring at her like she’s on the menu for lunch.
“Suit yourself.” Jonah shrugs and faces Dorothy. “Do you want to send Jamison a text and tell him we’re ready to go?”
This is where I revert to being a young boy with no confidence in handling an intense situation. Jamison cannot be at lunch with Dorothy and Isabella.
I can only imagine the conversation they would have about meeting in the elevator Saturday night. I need to be there to referee their interactions.
“On second thought, I’ll join you. These can wait.” I grab my phone, panic oozing from me. “Dorothy, I’ll text Jamison. You all go ahead, and we’ll meet you there.”
Because I need the time to beg Jamison not to blow my cover.
She shakes her head. “He’s already on his way up. I sent him a text right before Isabella and I came in here.”
Fuck me.
As if on cue, Jamison appears at my door. “Hello, everyone. I’m Jamison Stone, the developer.”
He joins us and assesses the room. Isabella smiles his way and slinks over to him.
“Jamison, I’m Isabella Carter. We weren’t properly introduced the last time we met.” She glances over her shoulder at me and then back at him.
I should just grab a shovel and start digging my grave because Isabella has an agenda. It takes two seconds for Jamison to make the connection. He does a quick analysis on how to handle this.
He knows I have information that could destroy how Dorothy sees him as some perfect man. His eyes flash me a,we’re in this togethermessage, and my nerves take an instant drop in anxiety.
“Nice to meet you, Isabella. Who’s your colleague?” Jamison dips his head in Shane’s direction.
As they make their acquaintances, I peek at Dorothy. She’s taking turns studying Jamison and Isabella and then me and Isabella.
