“There’s one other thing.” Tyler hesitated. Something had to be said, though. Right?
Iris looked up at him. “What is it?”
His mind shouted that he was making a mistake. Don’t say anything. Leave it alone. Just turn and walk away. But he couldn’t tear from his mind the image of Donovan smiling at her—and of her smiling back.
His mouth kept moving. “As our contracted vendor, you have to adhere to the same office policies as our employees.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“That means no office romances.” He tried but he couldn’t stop talking.
“All right.” Iris’s brow creased. Tyler sensed her confusion.
“That includes Van.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“During the meeting, you smiled at him.”
“And you interpreted my smile as flirtation?”
When she said it like that, it sounded really stupid. This time, Tyler was able to keep his mouth shut.
“I realize you don’t know me, but I’m asking you to step out on faith and trust me.” Iris’s eyes cooled. Her voice was even colder.
“I want to be clear that you’re here for the product launch—and that’s all.” He was making things worse.
“We’re crystal clear,” Iris’s voice dropped another ten degrees.
“Good.” Tyler fought the urge to fidget under her glare. “If you need anything, let me know.”
“How about a little trust?”
Tyler hesitated. He didn’t want Iris to be angry. For one thing, they needed to work together. But he didn’t want her to flirt with Donovan, either. She wouldn’t be the first woman to fall for the sales executive’s good looks and natural charm. He just didn’t want her to be the next.
“I’m sure the trust will come.” Tyler turned to leave. Part of him believed he could trust her. Then what was holding him back? The part that worried that, with Iris, he had more at stake than the product launch.
* * *
“How’s your first day with your newest client going?” Cathy took a huge bite of her frosted fudge-walnut brownie while her soup and sandwich lay untouched.
“This morning, Tyler Anderson accused me of using his company as a matchmaking service.” Iris stirred sweetener into her hazelnut coffee.
“What?” Cathy’s interjection triggered an unfortunate coughing fit.
While her friend caught her breath, Iris surveyed their surroundings. The little café where they were meeting for lunch was within walking distance of Anderson Adventures’ offices in Columbus’s Short North district. Several of the gaming company’s employees were at nearby tables. They’d greeted her with curious smiles and nods of recognition.
Iris sipped her coffee. She and Cathy were using their lunch break to review the progress of several joint projects. Normally, they’d meet at one of their home offices. However, since Iris had allowed Tyler to talk her into using an office at Anderson Adventures—how did he convince me to do that?—Cathy had agreed to meet here.
“Why would he say that?” Her friend had regained enough breath for a follow-up question to Iris’s matchmaking comment.
“Because I smiled at one of the other vice presidents.” Iris gritted her teeth over the absurdity of Tyler’s accusation and his supposed basis for it.
Cathy gaped. “Is he nuts?”
Why did the question make Iris a little defensive for the high-powered computer geek? She shrugged off the feeling with a restless movement of her shoulders. “I think he’s under a great deal of pressure.”
“I don’t care how stressed out he is.” Cathy scowled. “He shouldn’t have said that to you.”