I know I could get it from her if I pushed the matter, but that would arouse her suspicions, so I’d prefer to do it a different way.

I know she’s friendly with Tatiana, so I call her into my office the next day at work.

She sits on the chair across from my desk with her back straight, her eyes worried. She probably thinks she’s in some sort of trouble, so she shows signs of visible relief when I tell her, “I need your help with something.”

She manufactures a bit of a smile. “Of course, Mr. Holden. What can I do for you?”

“You’re friendly with Georgia, correct?”

She nods.

“I need you to find out who she has a date with this weekend. I know his name is Nathan, but not much else. They’re supposed to go see The Nutcracker. I need more information than that.”

Confused, Tatiana frowns. “About… Georgia’s date?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you just ask her?”

“I can’t.”

“Okay,” she drawls, even more confused.

“But you can,” I point out. “Do it under the guise of friendly girl talk. I need to know his full name at the very least. If you can find out what he does for a living, where he works, those would be helpful details.”

If she thinks I’m stark-raving mad, she doesn’t show it. Plastering a smile on her face, she says, “I’ll get right on it. I should be able to have that information for you by the end of the day.”

Some of the tension that has been gathering in my shoulders since the night before begins to ease. I lean back in my chair and fold my hands over my abdomen. “Thank you, Tatiana. I appreciate your help—and your discretion.”

Taking my pointed, unspoken order not to mention this to Georgia, she rises from her seat and heads out of the office to do my bidding.

Chapter Four

Georgia

Bad news.

I pause in typing the email I was just working on and glance over at my phone one more time, my brow furrowing with concern as I reread the message that just lit up the screen.

Ordinarily, unless it’s an emergency, I’d ignore any calls or texts and finish my work before responding. But “bad news” sounds like it could fall within the realm of emergency, so I grab my phone and slide open the message.

“What’s up?” I reply to Nathan.

I see the three little bubbles on the screen as he types. My gaze flickers to Lee’s office. I feel especially awkward about texting some other guy on company time, even if he wouldn’t know.

I look back at my phone. “We aren’t going to be able to do nutcracker this weekend after all.”

My eyes widen. “What? Why?”