“Your qualifications aren’t in question.” The words come quickly.
“Then we’re good.” I turn back to my computer and pull up the security files. “I’ll see you Tuesday at four with the report. And Wednesday morning, I’ll be ready to convince your client they made the right choice.”
He studies me for another long moment, and I get the distinct impression he’s recalculating something. “We leave at six a.m. Wednesday. Pack for two days.”
I nod.
The door closes behind him, and I’m alone with an impossible deadline, a cross-country trip with my ex-boyfriend, and three men who are either testing me or setting me up to fail.
CHAPTER 4
Ansel
Joshua, our regular driver, pulls up in our black luxury SUV.
Remy slides into the third row with Breck and me, while Damon and Enzo claim the middle captain’s chairs. When Joshua takes the first turn, she shifts closer, her thigh brushing against mine. Her perfume is floral with hints of jasmine, and I’m acutely aware of how my body reacts to her proximity.
She’s dressed for the client meeting in a charcoal pencil skirt that hits just above her knee, a cream blouse, and a blazer that hugs the curve of her waist. Professional. Appropriate.
My brain keeps noticing details I shouldn’t, like how the skirt reveals an extra inch of her thigh every time she moves, or the pale freckles that dust her collarbone where her blouse dips at the throat.
I force myself to focus on my tablet and the presentation we’re about to give.
Breck scrolls through his phone, making final adjustments to our meeting plans. “Remy, please tell me you looked at those specs I sent at midnight. I need someone to appreciate my insomnia.”
She smiles. “I did. The client’s current setup is almost embarrassingly outdated.” She pulls out her own tablet, fingersmoving quickly across the screen. “Their firewall is from 2019, which is basically Jurassic in tech years. And their?—”
She stops mid-sentence, her face going still in a way that I’m starting to recognize means she’s spotted a problem.
“What?” Enzo leans forward from his position by the opposite window.
“Hold on.” Her fingers fly faster now, pulling up files, cross-referencing data. The rest of us wait, the car’s engine humming beneath the sudden tension. “Oh, shit.”
My muscles tighten. Her reaction can’t be good. “Oh, shit?What is that supposed to mean?”
“There’s an error in the data retention timeline in the compliance section.” She’s already making notes, her stylus scratching across the screen. “It lists a ninety-day backup cycle, but their industry requires one hundred and eighty days minimum for regulatory compliance. If we present this as-is, we’re basically telling them we don’t understand their business.”
Damon twists in his seat, irritation radiating off him. “The proposal went through three rounds of review. If there was an error, someone would have caught it.”
“Well, no one did.” Remy doesn’t look up from her screen. “Because I’m looking at it right now, and it’s wrong.”
“Maybe you’re misreading it.”
“I’m not.” She pulls up another document and compares the two side by side. “See? Their industry standard is clearly stated here. One hundred and eighty days. We promised ninety.”
I take her tablet, scanning the sections she’s highlighted. She’s right. Completely, unquestionably right. “How the hell did this get missed?”
“Does it matter?” Remy’s already drafting corrections. “We don’t have much time before the meeting. I can fix the slides, update the cost projections to reflect the additional storagerequirements, and have everything ready before we get to Chicago.”
“You weren’t even responsible for this part of the proposal,” I point out.
Remy finally looks up. “I’m presenting this material. That makes me responsible for every word in it. I don’t stand in front of clients with work I haven’t personally verified.”
I wasn’t expecting that level of integrity, the way she takes ownership without being asked.
Damon makes a sound that might be a scoff. “Must be nice, being perfect.”
Remy purses her lips, but she doesn’t take the bait. She returns to her tablet, fingers flying as she rebuilds the compliance section from scratch.
