Page 18 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

She reached into the container Jax had since set down on my desk, grabbed another cookie, and took a bite.

“It wasn’t that difficult to figure out.

You walked out of here with her not long after she arrived, and you both got in your vehicle.

It was lunchtime. And roughly an hour later, you brought her back.

Again, I’m not a licensed private investigator, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes or a brain. ”

Laughter filled the room. Jax and Blaze were clearly amused. I rolled my eyes and sat there, shaking my head.

“So, what’s the truth, Landen?”

I didn’t know who I was kidding. This wasn’t going to go away. And now that they knew she existed, it wasn’t as though they’d just forget. There was no point in trying to pretend any longer.

“I like her.” I reached for a cookie. “I like her a lot, but I didn’t want to be some creep at the gym, so I didn’t ask her out. But after I went to her place last night, we solidified a date for next weekend.”

Avalon’s jaw dropped open. “You went to her place last night? Just friends to something else, then?”

“No. I went to her place to check out something on her computer. She was having an issue with her emails at work.”

“Where does she work?”

“She’s the marketing director at a marketing agency.”

With his head cocked at an angle, Jax’s brows pulled together. “And they don’t have anyone capable of figuring out a problem with her work emails?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”

His lips twitched and shook his head. “No. But it seems like Avalon is right. You might have found your lady.”

“Sounds like it,” Blaze agreed. “I think the entire team is about to be down for the count.”

Avalon let out a squeal of delight. “Oh, I’m so excited. I can’t wait to tell the girls.”

Lifting my hand to calm her down, I said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s… We haven’t even been on a date yet.”

“But you went out for lunch yesterday and went to her place last night and have a date set up for next weekend.” She sprang out of her seat and clapped her hands twice in front of her chest. “I’ll look forward to seeing how this progresses.”

Without another word, Avalon turned and walked out, leaving me shaking my head in disbelief and a touch of amusement.

“I figure you’ve got about thirty minutes before everyone knows about Iris.”

I huffed. “Yeah. I guess so. Let’s pray things go the way I hope, or this is going to be disappointing for far more people than it should be.”

Blaze said, “It sounds like it’s going to be fine. But I don’t envy what might be ahead for you.”

I had a feeling I knew what that meant. Even still, I asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Blaze and Jax looked at one another and laughed before Jax clarified, “You’re not going to get out of this unscathed.

Maybe Iris’s biggest issue right now is a problem with her emails.

But something else is coming. Just accept that and do your best to prepare for it now. No matter how big or small.”

A rush of air left my lungs. The thought of anything happening to Iris made my stomach twist with agony.

She’d been upset over a work-related issue yesterday, and it nearly killed me to see her so downtrodden.

If I had something happen to Iris like Jax and Blaze had been through with their women—Sophie being kidnapped, and Harlow being shot—I wasn’t quite sure I’d live to tell the tale .

“I’ll consider myself warned.” Not wanting to dwell on the negative, I shifted my attention to Blaze and held up the folder he’d brought in. “Back to this. Have you approached?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, but I was thinking that might be the next step.”

“That’s what I would do. You’ve got this guy going to the same spot at the same time every day.

I think if you happen to be there, enjoy some good-natured banter with him.

Start prying, and he’ll sing. In general, people are too willing to talk about themselves.

A guy like this, if he’s the guy, will absolutely give you what you need. ”

“That’s what I thought. Thanks for looking at it.” Blaze dipped his chin with appreciation, a knowing smirk washing over him.

“What’s that look for?”

He shook his head and stood, reaching for the file. “I just think it’s funny how you just said all that about people wanting to talk about themselves, and you couldn’t steer the conversation away from you and Iris fast enough.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I like a little mystery.”

Jax picked up the cookies and held the container out. “Are you sure you don’t want another one? I imagine you’ll be able to work it off at the gym tomorrow morning.”

I glared at him. “Don’t you have work to do?”

Chuckling, he turned and walked out, with Blaze following behind him.

For the first few minutes after I was left alone in my office, I replayed the conversation I’d had with my friends. I’d already been struggling to focus on my work when all the thoughts of Iris were positive ones. The last thing I needed was to add the fear of anything happening to her to the mix.

Shaking my head to clear the thoughts, I got back to work. But it was no surprise that by the time I got to the end of the day, I was ready to head home to relax.

All I’d need was a couple of hours working on the project car in my garage, and I’d likely get so caught up in it, worrisome thoughts about Iris would vanish.

Sure enough, they did.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t replaced by thoughts of having that woman naked on the hood and moaning in my ear.