The Love Game

She checked the peephole before pulling open her front door to welcome Rose and Lily. “Did you two drive over together?”

Rose crossed the threshold and kissed Iris’s cheek. “No, we just arrived at the same time.”

Lily squeezed in behind Rose and locked the front door. She turned to Iris with a smile but her cocoa eyes were watchful. It wasn’t every day that the sisters sent each other 911 texts. “Dinner smells terrific.”

“It’s not as good as your cooking.” Iris leaned down to kiss her older—but significantly shorter—sister on the cheek. “Thanks for coming.” She led the way to the dining area.

“Let’s talk and eat. I’m hungry and curious.” Rose left her purse on a chair at the dining table and began serving herself. She then passed the bowl to Lily. “What’s happened?”

Iris took a deep breath. “Anderson Adventures has a leak.”

Lily tilted her head. “What kind of leak?”

“The ‘someone sent damaging information to the press’ kind.” Iris accepted the serving bowl as she brought her sisters up to date.

She kept her explanation brief. Her sisters didn’t need to know Tyler had called her his good-luck charm or that he made her feel like an accomplished, creative, desirable woman.

Or that they’d made love twice in one night while attending an industry convention as consultant and client. Yikes!

Rose lowered her knife and fork to pin Iris with an incredulous look. “An Anderson Adventures employee sent the failed test results to the media? Are you kidding me?”

“Those test results were outdated.” Iris shook her head. “‘Osiris’s Journey’ has passed two recent tests with flying colors.”

“That just makes it worse.” Rose was adamant. “A trusted employee knowingly sent damaging and erroneous information to the press.”

Iris lifted her hand, palm out. “We don’t think the leak came from an Anderson Adventures associate.”

Rose shrugged. “Just because you think you can trust someone doesn’t mean you can.”

Iris sighed. “Does every conversation have to lead back to Ben?”

“Do you have any leads on who might have sent the information?” Lily’s quiet question put a cork in Iris’s rising temper.

“None.” Iris stared at her plate of untouched food. “One of the worst things about this is that I was completely blindsided.”

“You see.” Rose pointed her table knife toward Iris. “I knew you shouldn’t have taken this account. It’s too much for you.”

Iris frowned. “What do you mean it’s too much for me?”

“It’s a lot for you to handle,” Rose replied. “You’re a one-woman show.”

Iris was offended, though she tried to hide it. “What could a bigger firm do that I didn’t?”

Rose shook her head as she forked up more vegetables. “I’m not knocking your firm. I’m just telling you the reason you were blindsided by this debacle is that you’re not equipped to handle a project this big.”

“You still haven’t told me what a bigger firm would’ve done.” Iris guarded her tone.

Lily gave Rose a quelling look. “There isn’t anything a bigger firm would’ve done that you didn’t do.”

“Oh, that’s fine for you to say.” Rose waved her fork at Lily. “You’re the one who got her into this mess.”

“You’re welcome.” Lily stabbed a broccoli spear covered with teriyaki sauce. “But it’s pointless to argue now whether Iris’s firm is equipped to handle unanticipated problems. The question now is what should Iris do?”

“I don’t know what to do. I’m fresh out of ideas.” Iris went back to pushing her food around her plate.

Rose shifted in her seat to look at her. “You need to explain to Tyler Anderson that you’re out of your league.”

“I was hoping for more constructive advice.” Every word from her sister’s mouth added to Iris’s self-doubts.