Monday morning came around all too quickly. Ryan felt restless, his nerves pulled so tight he half expected to hear a twang and see them catapult across the office. Eighteen weeks of work all boiled down to this moment. Would the media, the investors, the critics, the public, love the new app? Or hate it?
Sam had decided to use the Privacy Solutions office as the venue for the launch of Privacy 2, arguing they couldn’t have investors thinking the company was pissing money away –frittering, she’d actually said – on a fancy hotel.
Nervously he fiddled with his collar. God, he’d be glad when this shindig was over.
As he paced the room, he noted Becky bustling about making sure everything was as it should be. Podium in place, check, big screen behind, check. Vases filled with flowers in shades of Privacy blue, check. Sound man hauled over the coals because the speakers at the back weren’t working properly, check, and fixed. Rows of chairs, covered in white and bearing big blue bows at the back, check.
‘When’s the bride due?’ he asked her as she tugged at a drooping bow.
She gave him a sort of exasperated glare, if such a thing existed. ‘It’s tasteful. We’re aiming for the sophistication of a smart venue, in the professional setting of an office.’
He had no clue what she was talking about, but he could see her nerves were as shredded as his, so he nodded. ‘I see that.’
She narrowed her eyes, her mouth twitching. ‘I’d call bullshit on that, but I desperately need the reassurance, so thanks. Have you seen Lucas yet?’
‘Seen, no, not technically. I spoke to him through the door of the cubicle in the gents.’
‘Oh God, he always hides in the loos when he’s nervous.’
‘Said he’d be out when his stomach stopped cramping.’ Actually, he’d said more, but Ryan had scarpered the moment the word ‘shits’ had been mentioned.
‘Okay, I’m leaving you in charge of hauling him out when the VIPs start to arrive.’
‘No problem.’ Greeting the great and good, or camping out in the loos? Easy decision. Aware she was still looking at him, a secretive smile on her face, he frowned back at her. ‘What?’
‘If you’re looking for Sam’ – another smile, this time more a knowing smirk – ‘she’s at the reception desk, trying to rearrange an already perfect flower arrangement.’
‘Right.’
Becky started to laugh. ‘Oh boy, Ryan Black is now officially blushing.’
He gave her a very unprofessional middle finger. And headed straight over to the reception desk. He’d missed her last night. After the magic of the weekend, of Camden on Saturday and most of Sunday in her bed, his own company had been a major letdown. She’d needed some space to get her head in the right place for today, though. And while he hadn’t needed space from her, he had needed space to come to terms with his growing need to spend every minute of every day with her.
Especially now he was officially allowed to call himself her … yeah, boyfriend sounded a bit soppy, but he was so proud to call himself that, he’d put the word on his name badge if he could.
As he neared her, she looked up and gave him the full sunshine smile. The only hint that this was one humdinger of a big day for her was the way her hands continued to fiddle with the flowers.
‘Are you sure you’re qualified to do that?’
Immediately she halted, pushing the arrangement away. ‘You’re right. The florist did a great job and I’m butchering it.’
‘The way I figure it, they’re already dead.’
She let out a half-laugh, half-groan. ‘You’re such a romantic.’
‘Just speaking the truth.’
Her eyes swept over him, gently assessing. ‘You don’t believe in giving flowers?’
‘Ah.’ He rubbed at his neck, uncomfortably aware he’d never bought anyone fresh flowers, not even his mum. But she liked chocolates, so he’d given her them. And he’d bought pots to put flowers in, hadn’t he? ‘Always seemed stupid to me, giving dead plants to someone.’ His mind flashed to Cornwall, and her admitting Douchebag Damien had sent her roses. Had she liked them? Of course she had. Women went for that stuff.
While he was fretting, she was laughing. ‘Stop panicking, I agree with you. The nicest flower I’ve ever been given is a cute plastic sunflower that dances.’ Her eyes met his, drowning him in warmth before skimming back over the arrangement in front of her. ‘But for today, I think they do just the job.’
She stepped back, nibbling at her bottom lip, hand moving to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ears.
Out of habit, he scanned around him, checking nobody was looking, before reaching for her hands. ‘How are you holding up. Nervous?’
She huffed, her hands closing over his. ‘I want to say no. That I’m so confident in the work we’ve done, in the app itself, that I haven’t got room for nerves.’ She laughed softly. ‘Truthfully though, I’m bricking it.’ Her eyes flicked towards the entrance. ‘Oh God, they’re starting to arrive.’
Reluctantly he let go of her hands. ‘This is what you were born to do,’ he told her quietly. ‘Give ’em hell, Sunshine Sam.’
She gave him a smile so full of gratitude and, yes, of affection, it wrapped right around his heart. ‘I plan to.’
Then she lightly touched his cheek before walking away, her bearing full of confidence, her hips swaying just enough to bring a grin to his face.
After watching Sam go, Ryan headed back to the gents where he found Lucas standing by the sink, looking washed-out.
‘Good job you wore a green shirt today,’ he remarked going to stand next to him.
Lucas made a huffing noise. ‘Okay, I’ll bite. Why?’
‘Matches your face.’
‘Sod off, Black. I’m feeling too fragile for your shit today.’
Ryan smirked. ‘Had enough of your own to deal with?’
Lucas shuddered. ‘You have no idea.’ He ducked, splashed his face with cold water, then straightened and put his shoulders back. ‘Okay. I’m good. Let’s go and wow those punters.’
It was Ryan’s turn to shudder, but hell, if Lucas could face them with a dodgy stomach and a green face, he had no excuse not to get out there.
They were walking towards the assembled group when Ryan careered to a halt. ‘What’s he doing here?’
Lucas followed his gaze, looking confused. Then he sighed. ‘Ah, Douchebag Damien.’
‘Yeah. The guy seems to think he belongs here.’
‘Well, from what Sam told us the other night, he is looking for a job.’
Ryan felt the blood drain from his face. The bottom fall from his stomach. ‘What?’
He must have looked like he was about to pass out, because Lucas gave him a thump on the back. ‘Hey, you pillock, just because he wants one, doesn’t mean Sam’s going to give him one. She’s not a soft touch.’
The words flowed over him. All he could think was she’d loved Damien once. Enough to build a company with him. They had years of history together. Even if she really had fallen out of love with him, even if she hadn’t forgiven him yet for what he’d done, she’d do what was best for the company she loved.
‘I know she’s not soft, she’s smart.’ And a smart businesswoman would employ the man with the proven track record, even if he was her ex. The man whose genius at finding the bug was the reason she had an app to launch today.
His stomach started to knot, and then the knots formed knots, making him feel sick. Shit, he couldn’t think about this. Couldn’t think how his dreams of a relationship with Sam, of working and playing with her, felt like they were crumbling to dust. How long would Damien need to work here again, before Sam started to question what she was doing with Ryan? Why employ him, when she had Damien? And why date him, when she had Damien smarming up to her again, flashing his smooth smile, buying her fucking flowers.
She hates flowers. She hates Damien.
Yeah, he just had to keep telling himself that. Shove all these blasted insecurities back in their box.
His poker face was clearly non-existent, because Lucas sighed heavily, shaking his head. ‘Whatever crazy stuff is going on in your head, forget it. I’m telling you; Sam isn’t going to do anything stupid.’
‘I know.’ Because stupid would be turning down Damien’s offer and sticking with the unqualified software developer. Stupid was thinking a woman like her would ever consider more than a fling with a guy like him.
‘Ryan?’ Lucas’s face was etched with concern.
‘Sorry, mate, I’m just going to get some air. Won’t be long.’
He knew he was acting weird, knew Lucas wasn’t the only one staring at him as he dashed through the office in the opposite direction to everyone else, but his heart was too heavy, stomach too queasy, emotions too raw. He needed air and space to get his game face on.
Sam’s face was aching, she’d smiled so much. And people were still coming in. Her nerves jangled, but alongside that the ever-present buzz of adrenalin kept her moving forward, holding out her hand, greeting the guests.
‘What a turnout,’ Becky whispered to her as she went past. ‘All these people just to see our little app.’
‘Our groundbreaking app,’ Sam countered, satisfaction bumping against the nerves and excitement. They were giving Privacy 2 the best possible chance to succeed. The interest was here. Now they had to hope the app delivered on everyone’s expectations.
A man jostled past her, clearly in a tearing hurry. Sam turned in time to see the back of his broad back and frowned. ‘Hey, Becky,’ she whispered, at the same time smiling over at Jeremy Whittaker, the sleazy journalist she’d met at the conference. The one Ryan had nearly thumped in his desire to protect her. ‘Any idea why Ryan’s practically running out of here?’
‘What?’ Becky followed her gaze, just in time to see Ryan racing down the stairs. ‘I saw him a few minutes ago and he was fine. Well, you know, as fine as he can manage.’
‘He didn’t say anything to you?’
‘Asked me when the bride was due, cheeky sod, but other than that, no. I left him in charge of Lucas. He might know.’
She could see Lucas’s blond head over the sea of guests, but there wasn’t time to quiz him because Kerry was coming towards her, reminding her it was nearly eleven o’clock. Time to get everyone seated. Time to deliver the biggest presentation of her life.
Her heart began to beat erratically, and nerves threatened to take over. She wasn’t ready for this.
‘Darling, we just came to wish you good luck.’
The sight of her mum and dad nearly had her bursting into tears. ‘Oh my God, you’re here. Thank you so much for coming.’
‘Sam, darling.’ Her mother patted her cheeks. ‘This isn’t you. What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. I just wish I’d gone through this a few more times.’ Guilt trickled through her. ‘I should have spent the weekend rehearsing.’
Her mother smiled. ‘What did you do instead?’
‘I went to Camden with Ryan. We ate, we drank, we danced.’ She couldn’t stop a wistful smile creeping over her face. ‘It was amazing.’
Her parents both laughed. ‘Then you chose the right option.’ Her dad put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. ‘My darling daughter, there’s more to life than work, and the sooner you learn that, the better. You don’t want to end up like your old dad, frazzled and heading for a heart attack.’
‘Oh, Dad.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘I hear you.’
‘Speaking of hearing, we want to hear about this new development with Ryan.’ Her mother squeezed her hand. ‘But first I think you have a presentation to give. And knowing my daughter, it won’t matter whether she’s gone through it one or seventy-one times because most of it will come from her heart.’
With those words running through her, Sam walked towards the front, unable to resist a smile as she glanced at the rows of people. Ryan was right, it did look like a flipping wedding. But boy, she loved it; the elegance, the simplicity.
As if just thinking of him, conjured him up, she spotted his tall figure at the back, leaning against the wall, hands in the pockets of his suit trousers.
Her heart bounced, relieved to see him, but try as she might, she couldn’t catch his eye. Then the moment was lost, because Kerry was signalling at her. It was time.
‘Honoured guests,’ she began. ‘Privacy Solutions is delighted to welcome you into its home to see a demonstration of our latest innovation.’
Twenty minutes later, Sam was drinking in the applause along with the rest of the team. She’d invited them all up to the front not because she felt she should, but because she knew none of this would have been possible without them.
‘Well, boss, I think they like it,’ Lucas murmured. ‘Then again, what’s not to like. It’s a cracking design. Oh wait, I designed it.’
‘Old Jeremy was bowled over by it. Getting him to be a guinea pig for the demonstration was a genius idea,’ Becky cut in. ‘Oh, wait, it was my idea.’
They all looked at Ryan, who just shrugged. ‘It worked, didn’t it?’
While the others laughed, now used to his sense of humour, Sam felt a prick of worry. There was something off with him. Since he’d come back from his dash outside, he’d avoided her eyes and his body language seemed to be saying get me out of here.
‘Are you okay?’ she whispered as they drifted off, ready to mix with the guests.
His eyes finally met hers, bottomless dark eyes that tugged and tugged until she was drowning in their depths. ‘Don’t you worry about me, Sunshine Sam.’ He gave her the smallest of smiles, his eyes skimming her face, as if trying to imprint it to his memory. Then he nodded over to the crowd in front of them, clearly waiting to talk to her. ‘You were incredible up there. You should hear what they’re saying about the app. About you. This is your moment. Enjoy. You deserve every frigging plaudit.’
As she accepted congratulations after congratulations though, the worry niggled. As glass after glass of champagne was thrust into her hand, it still niggled.
Then she spotted Damien walking towards her, smiling at those who greeted him with the proprietary air of someone who thought he still belonged. Maybe now she knew what was getting to Ryan.
‘Damien.’ He leant towards her, as if to kiss her, and she deliberately stepped back, stretching out her hand instead. ‘Thank you for coming.’
Irritation flashed across his face before he smothered it with a smile and shook her hand. ‘Thank you for the invitation. It’s quite some app you’ve got there, better than the one I launched. Congratulations.’
‘Thank you. I wanted to acknowledge the part you played in the development.’
‘No problem.’ He gave her a smooth smile. ‘Fixing the screen freeze was my pleasure.’
She bet it was. Getting one over the guy who’d replaced him – he’d probably dined off the story ever since. ‘Actually, I meant the work you put into the mark 1 app. But I also wanted to discuss how I see things moving forward.’