Page 76 of Isolated
He jerked his chin up. “Reagan will be excited. Whenever you two want, just let me know.”
My lips twitched as I shook my head. “I never thought I’d see the day that Hart Anderson sets up a double date.”
Rolling his eyes, he moved to the door. Then he stopped, looked back at me, and said, “Give it some time. If she’s the one, you’ll be the exact same way, doing everything you can to make her happy.”
I didn’t need to give it time.
I already felt that way about her.
But I wasn’t going to give Hart that detail just yet.
“I’m happy for you, Landen. Really happy for you.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
He tapped his hand on the door frame, and a moment later, he was gone.
Of course, I spent the next few minutes considering all the possible crises that we could encounter with Iris. All of them left me feeling wildly unsettled.
TWENTY-TWO
Iris
When the knock came at my open office door, I let out a small shriek as my hand flew to my chest.
I’d been in the thick of it, working diligently, and had spent so many days not having any interruptions that I’d been caught off guard.
Brett was standing in the doorway, looking like he wanted to crawl somewhere and hide. “I’m sorry.”
I could barely hear him. “It’s okay.”
“You… You wanted to see me?”
Nodding, I stood and waved him over. “Yes. Please, come on in. Would you mind closing the door behind you?”
Brett’s moves were tentative, but that really wasn’t anything new. He’d always been shy.
I lowered myself to my chair again and gestured toward the one on the opposite side of my desk. “Have a seat.”
Nervously, he sat down. “Can I… Can I ask what this is about?”
Smiling, wanting him to feel as comfortable as possible, I nodded. “Yes. I have a project I’m working on, and I need your assistance.”
He rubbed his hands down his pant legs. “Uh, okay. Is this for a campaign?”
“It is. I’m not going to bog you down with details. I’ve spent some time this week working out some ideas, but I need your help to develop one key aspect of it. If you can make it happen, this would be huge.”
Brett swallowed roughly. “I can try. What exactly do you need?”
I let out a sigh of relief.
This was precisely what I’d been hoping for. Brett was one of the software developers at Mono Mark Solutions. Since I wanted to be able to put forth my ideas on the Horizon Solutions project, I needed to be as discreet as possible. Brett was one of the only software developers I’d be able to use to accomplish what I wanted without needing to worry about anyone else finding out. He was quiet, but he was good.
So I went on to tell him exactly what I needed him to do without giving away too many details. He had enough to complete the task, but he didn’t know everything. I didn’t even mention what campaign I was working on.
When I finished sharing as many of the specifics as I believed were necessary for him to develop what I needed, I asked, “So, what do you think? Can you make it happen?”
With his gaze focused on the ground, his eyes darted back and forth. I could only assume he was running through it all in his head, confirming he’d be able to pull itoff. Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, “Yeah. Yeah, I think I can make it happen.”
