Tyler pulled his gaze from Iris’s face and let it roam over her living room. The decor reflected the woman: modern, well put together, bold; from the large emerald sofa and matching love seat, to the sterling-silver-and-onyx entertainment center and matching coffee table. Three of the walls were painted pure white. The wall behind the entertainment center was deep red. The lamp on the silver-and-onyx corner table was carved from stone. The beige wall-to-wall carpet must have come with the townhome.
“I’m sorry I accused you instead of asking for an explanation.” Tyler’s attention dropped to the magazine spread open on her coffee table. It was the latest issue of a computer gaming publication.
“Corporate espionage is a hot-button issue in the gaming industry.” Iris shrugged. “Being told you’ve hired an ethically challenged consultant probably didn’t sit well with you.”
“I appreciate your understanding.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that straightened out, I’m going to settle in for the evening.” She stood, unfolding her arms. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to prepare for your executive team meeting Monday morning.”
I’m being dismissed. Tyler suppressed a smile as he rose from Iris’s sofa. “Of course. I’m sorry to barge in on you at home.”
“I’m glad we talked it through.” Iris led him to her door. “Once you get to know me, you’ll realize you can trust me. I understand and respect your need for confidentiality.”
Tyler jerked his attention from her hips. He shouldn’t be checking out his consultant. “Thank you.”
Iris opened her front door, pulling it wider as she stepped back. “Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
Tyler stepped over the threshold, then looked back at her. “Should we get together to discuss the agenda for Monday’s meeting?”
Her winged eyebrows knitted. “We already discussed most of it when we met this morning.”
“All right. Good.” He hadn’t felt this awkward around a female since puberty. “One thing we didn’t discuss, though, was where you’ll be working.”
She frowned. “I usually work out of my office.”
“I think it would better for you to work out of ours.” Where had that come from?
“Why?” Iris looked as startled as Tyler felt.
“You pointed out yourself that we’re on a tight schedule, which is even tighter since you insist on an internal launch.”
“The internal launch is the right thing to do for your employees.”
“I’ve conceded that.” Tyler propped his shoulder against the doorjamb and looked into her eyes. “But it will be more efficient for us to work together if you’re near me.”
“I’m working on projects for other clients, as well.”
“Are any of those projects as big as Anderson Adventures’ launches?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you can fit them in around our launches while you’re working in our office.”
Their eyes locked in a contest of wills. Tyler sensed Iris’s struggle to construct counterarguments. He’d never worked with a consultant like Iris. She obviously didn’t subscribe to the belief that the customer was always right. But whereas she’d won the battle of the internal launch, Tyler was determined to win this contest. It might be his only victory during the entire project.
Her slender shoulders rose and fell beneath her oversize NBA sweatshirt. “All right. I’ll work out of your office.”
“Thank you.” Tyler straightened from her door. “I’ll see you Monday, then.”
“I guess you will.”
Tyler couldn’t conquer this smile. She’d sounded so annoyed. “We’ll get you set up with an office and a security key card.” He turned and strode to his car without waiting for her response.
If absence made the heart grow fonder, maybe seeing Iris every day would lessen his growing attraction to the marketing consultant. Somehow, he doubted it.
* * *
The Anderson Adventures executive team looked bright and alert, as though they’d been up for hours. It was only eight o’clock. Iris wasn’t used to interacting with such energetic executives so early, especially on a Monday morning. What was their secret? Was it the coffee?