Page 32 of The Texan's Secrets

The elevator doors opened on the third floor, and Nico froze, coming face-to-face with his sister, Misha.

“Ni—” she started, then thankfully spotted Emilia. “Emilia,” she said instead, doing an impressively smooth pivot. “Imagine meeting you here.”

“Hey, Misha. Nice to see you.” Emilia stepped off the elevator.

“Great to see you too.” Misha gave a nod, her gaze skipping to Nico and back again.

“How’s the IPO launch coming?” Emilia asked while the elevator closed behind them and whooshed away to the upper floors.

“We’re pretty much all set to go there. Publicity has been positive.”

“This is Nick,” Emilia introduced him. “Nick, this is my friend Misha Law.”

“I’ve heard of you,” Nico said, keeping his tone cool and even.

“I bet she’s heard of you too,” Emilia said, causing both Nico and Misha to look worriedly her way. “You’re in her k!smet database. Nick and I were matched up through Surprise Me!” Emilia continued. “But maybe you know that already.”

“I did know that,” Misha answered. “I saw you two had your date already.”

“A sunset horseback ride,” Emilia answered. “It was quite beautiful. Now we’re—” She looked to Nick for the answer.

“Collaborating. And we won’t keep you.” The longer the conversation went on, the more likely they were to accidentally give something away.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Misha said easily, pressing the elevator call button. To Emilia she added, “See you at Natalie’s.”

“It’s going to be fun.”

“Can’t wait.”

Then the doors slid open, and Misha stepped inside.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief as they headed for his office door.

Since he’d sent Sandy on errands for the rest of the afternoon, he knew the door would be locked. He swiped the key. “Who’s Natalie?”

“Bridesmaid dresses at Natalie Valentine’s bridal shop. Our final fittings.”

He paused. “A wedding?” He only knew of one upcoming wedding where his sister was involved.

“Maggie Del Rio. You must have heard about it. The feud? The necklace? The scandal?”

“I heard. Are you saying you’re a bridesmaid?” He couldn’t believe Misha had skipped over that important fact.

“Guilty as charged. I’m not keen on silk and chiffon, but Maggie has terrific taste, so I’m sure our dresses will be classy.”

“Not my area of expertise.” He opened the door. “Sandy had some errands,” he said to explain the empty reception area. The truth was, Nico had sent her out to keep her from blurting out his real name in front of Emilia.

“So, what’s this all about?” Emilia asked as she walked inside. “We’re collaborating on something?”

“I hope so. If you’re willing. You were talking about Coders Plus the other day.”

“Uh-huh.”

He led the way to his office. “You admire the organization.”

“I sure do.”

“I admire it too, and I thought we might be able to contribute.”

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