it wasn’t an option. He’d been right to put an end to things before they started. She whirled toward him, and as her gaze met hers, joy dancing in her dark eyes, he realized he was still staring.
He let his smile grow and failed to completely suppress images of pinning her to the wall and trailing his lips along her collarbone. You have work to do, remember? “Is Hayden around?”
The corner of her mouth drooped, a half-frown flitting in. She nodded behind her. “Right there, can’t miss him.”
Jared might argue he could miss a lot when he was enthralled with someone else. Except missing details was counter-intuitive to everything he believed. His mind balked at the fact he’d missed one as obvious as the full-grown man just a few feet away. He still couldn’t tear his gaze from Mikki. Professionalism warred with lust. Right. Promotion and reputation on the line. “Thanks. See you around?”
The only word he could think of for her expression was impish. “I’m hoping.”
It took the last of his restraint to end the conversation there, but he still couldn’t help watching her walk away.
After she was absorbed by the crowds, he forced his attention back to the task at hand. He caught Hayden’s eye long enough to let the other man know he was waiting, and then meandered around the booth. NSS had a more diverse product line than Skriddie. They also built websites and point of sale software, so they had a bit more to show off.
“Stealing company secrets?” Hayden asked with a laugh.
Jared tried to make his chuckle sound genuine, but was pretty sure he failed when the stilted laugh choked from his throat. He hated this game. If tossing passive aggressive insults were his thing, he’d considering firing back a, “Learning from the best.” He’d rather not dive into that kind of pettiness. He didn’t have to rein in his thoughts, either. This wasn’t a prospective client. “We both know you don’t keep the important stuff on display.”
“So true. Speaking of, I don’t suppose you’re working with anyone new.”
Jared gritted his teeth. He should have expected the question—Hayden was eternally looking for one of them to drop names about prospects—but today it carried a new cloud of irritation. “You know I won’t tell you that.”
“Had to try.” Hayden winked. “What can I do for you?”
“Congratulations on your newest security client.” Jared kept his posture casual and his attention on Hayden’s face. He was surprised when the other man looked away and rested his hands in his pockets.
“Thanks.” Hayden finally met his gaze again. “I need to get going.”
Jared had expected…well, he wasn’t sure what. Gloating, at least. Not whatever this was. Especially since he hadn’t asked the hard question yet. “Sure. I was hoping you could tell me one thing first.”
“As long as it’s quick.” Hayden took a step back.
So odd. If Tate were here, the conversation would probably go much differently. There would be deflection, and niceties, and a slow, subtle lead-in to the actual topic. Still, Jared had expected at least a little smugness about the lost client before he launched into the direct question. “They asked some things that seemed to come straight out of left field. Do you know anything about that?”
Hayden waved a hand. “Don’t know how I could. But I’ll tell you this, if the infamous Jared Tippins can’t fix all his internal security leaks, I don’t know how we could hope to if we had a problem.”
Jared couldn’t keep his shock from his face. He hadn’t even mentioned what cost them the deal.
“I really need to jet.” Hayden was already turning away. “We’ll catch up soon.”
Jared didn’t need to stop him. The conversation had been enlightening enough as it was. Hayden’s behavior was too off-the-charts guilty, especially for a man who smooth talked his way through almost everything.
Something was going on, and Hayden wasn’t going to say
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