“Then give me your number.”
“What? Why?”
“So I can find you again.”
Phoebe turned around to confront him, but when she really looked at him, she lost all sense of what she was going to say. The night they’d met, he’d looked good in his jeans and leather jacket, but now, he wore a black tailored suit, red shirt, and black tie. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen…and she was standing there like a gaped-mouth idiot. “Are you going to keep following me ‘til I give it to you?”
He shrugged those impressive shoulders of his and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I have nothing else to do today.”
And that smile! Why did he have to smile so crookedly? There was more stubble on his cheeks, too, like he was growing in a beard. He’d look good with a beard, a beard she could run her fingers through and tug on… Phoebe shook her head and sighed. “Fine, here.” She reached for his hand, pulled a pen from her hair where she kept one in her ponytail, and jotted her number down. “Don’t lose it.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to look annoyed but failed miserably, knowing her cheeks were probably bright red with embarrassment. Without a backward glance, she took off for the elevator and forgot all about the file Yancey had taken from her.
***
Riley was still staring down at the penned number on his hand when William Yancey stepped out of his office to greet him. “William,” Riley said as he shook the man’s hand.
“Riley. Always a pleasure to run into you, though it’s normally not in my own offices. What can I do for you?”
“You can tell me how you managed to get your hands on my new programming.”
Riley watched his face fall as his grip suddenly tightened. “I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about, but why don’t we take this conversation inside? Somewhere a bit more private.”
He led the way into his office and closed the door behind them. Riley didn’t give him a chance to get comfortable before he laid into him. “You took my program, Yancey. Don’t sit there and deny it. I want to know who gave you the intel and how you managed to poach my client.”
“Riley, it’s just good business, but I must reassure you I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You were a horrible liar when I first took this job and you've only gotten worse,” Riley said. “What’s next? You going to go after my merger with the CIA?”
Yancey’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Why would I do that?”
“It’s the next logical move. Who’s your informant?”
Yancey leaned back in his chair and smiled slowly. “You have nothing. That’s why you’re here. You’re just fishing to see if I’ll give you anything to run with.” He laughed, then slid the file he’d taken from archives across the desk. “Here, have a look. Dated and timestamped with what my people accomplished. No help from you.”
Riley took the file and flipped through it. “What? This is from two years ago… That was the same time our R and D department started this project. How did you get this?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. My techs started this project on that date and finished it only a week ago,” Yancey said, standing to pour himself a drink from his corner table. “I put the information out there on what we had and our price. Your client came to me, Riley. I’ve been a businessman as long as you have been alive. Poaching is not something I do.”
“Please, don’t preach to me about your morals.” Riley tossed the file on the desk. “Your records are incomplete. Where’s the actual research? Where’s the programming template?”
“That I cannot show you.”
Riley’s eyes narrowed when Yancey didn’t turn back around to face him. “Because you don’t have them. When I find out who’s behind this, they’ll wish they’d never tried to work both sides of a deal.”
“I’m afraid you will never find this person,” Yancey said coolly. “But you are welcome to try.”
“I will, don’t you worry about that. I’ll see you at the function tonight? Perhaps by then, I’ll have more information on this spy of yours who doesn’t seem to exist.” Riley left the office after a single scornful look. The man was lying. But who in his building would consider working for a man like that? None of the people loyal to his grandfather. Maybe one of the younger techs? Trying to make a name for himself? He didn’t want to start interrogating his people, but if it came down to it, he would.