She watched him walk out the door. And then she sank into Levi’s chair and tried to pull up the screen again, but the computer was locked and she didn’t have the password. She could call the computer admin back, but what good would that do? He washelpingSamuel. Which meant whatever Samuel was up to, the systems administrator was up to as well.
“What are you doing here?” Levi’s curt voice startled her. He glanced between her and his computer. Where she sat with her hands still on the keyboard.
Emily stood quickly and smoothed her skirt. “There’s something going on with Samuel. I caught him with the computer administrator looking at your client files. I confronted him about it, but he wouldn’t explain himself.”
Levi pressed his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes, which was a stronger reaction than Emily had anticipated.
“Do you know what this is about?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She stepped around his desk. “Are you going to tell me?”
He dropped his hand. “Let me worry about it.”
She moved forward, but not so close as to be intimate. “Levi, this is crazy. Samuel shouldn’t have been in your office without you here. Tell me what’s going on.”
He gazed at her without emotion, masking the stress she’d seen on his face a moment ago. “Did you come here for something?”
Her jaw slackened. They were partners. At least, that was how she saw them—workingtogether. Yes, she’d wanted more, but even without it, Emily needed to feel valued and trusted. Levi had started to turn to her when things came up at work. And now…now he was cold. Closed off.
“Here.” She dropped a file on his desk. “Sign that when you have a moment.” She swept out of the office and didn’t dare look back. There was a suspicious burning behind her eyes, and no way would she let him see her cry.
* * *
Emily staredat the dresses strewn on her sister’s bed. “You grabbedfour?”
Lisa scanned them. “I wasn’t sure which one you’d want for tonight. And they were all so delicious. I’ll return one if it doesn’t work out.”
“Just one?”
Lisa held up a pair of dangly earrings to the side of Emily’s head. “You’ve needed two formal dresses in the last three weeks. There will be more parties like this, now that you’re working at Club Tahoe.”
“I doubt it.” She waved her hand. “Special events. This isn’t normal. Tonight is an engagement party for Levi’s brother. I helped organize it, and the bride invited me.”
“Seriously?” Lisa said. “One of his brothers is actually getting hitched?”
“Not Hunt, of course. Adam’s getting married.”
“Huh. Adam wasn’t as big of a manwhore as the others, but he was kind of a dick.”
“Lisa!”
Her expression was all innocence. “What? He was. Anything went wrong in a relationship and that guy dumped the girl quicker than you can blink.”
“Well, he’s totally in love with Hayden. And she’s awesome.”
Lisa nodded approvingly. “Good for Adam. I bet she made him work for it.”
Knowing the Cade brothers, Lisa was probably right. Only a strong woman could break down the barriers those stubborn men put up.
“Now,” Lisa said, “which dress do you want to wear? And more importantly, I think you should keep all of them for future events.”
Emily sank onto the edge of the bed. “I don’t know. I might not be working there much longer.”
Lisa sat beside her, arms dropping into her lap. “Why not? I thought you loved working at Club Tahoe.”
“I like working there. Or I did. Things are weird with Levi.”
