Truth be told, with most victims of a hoax like this, he wouldn’t have broached the subject. It was possible this was a one-off. Someone had decided to take a big chance to make a point—and was hoping the impact was sufficient to shut Eve down. If the attempt failed, they might chalk it up to a nice try and be glad they got away with it once.

Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling there was more to this. That someone had Eve in their sights—and wasn’t about to be deterred by one failure.

But given her pallor, the notion of a bodyguard had only added to her stress—and beyond a gut feeling, he had nothing to justify pushing the idea.

Backpedal, Lange. Tone down the warning and reassure her. She won’t sleep a wink tonight if you leave her like this.

Standing, he kept his expression neutral. “In that case, go with the watch-your-back plan. In the meantime, I’ll put pressure on the lab to get to the package ASAP. I’ll also call Doug Whitney about reviewing the recent negative communication you’ve received and get the paperwork started for a phone trap on the calls coming in to your program’s 800 number.”

She slid off her stool too and twisted her wrist to see her watch. “Long day for you. You missed dinner.”

“I never expected regular hours in this job. I’ll hit a drive-through on the way home.”

Her gaze flicked to his left hand.

The lady was doing a ring check.

“Um . . . I don’t have a bunch of food in the house, but I’d be happy to make an omelet or throw together a quick stir-fry if you’d like to forego the fast food. I feel like it’s the least I can do after ruining your Friday night.”

Dinner with Eve Reilly.

Tempting.

Very tempting.

But mixing business and pleasure wasn’t smart.

And an evening with Eve would be all pleasure.

“Thank you for the offer, but I should be going.”

“Of course.” She gave him a smile that was a tinge too bright. “I’m sure you have places to go and people to see.”

In other words, she thought he had a date.

A misconception he didn’t intend to let stand, even if he wasn’t looking for a new relationship.

He’d figure out why later.

“Not tonight—but I have a full day tomorrow, and there are a few things I have to take care of before then. As for my evening—you didn’t ruin it. If I hadn’t been working, I would have gone for a run . . . and given how hot it is, you may have saved me from a case of heatstroke.”