He would have to revisit his notes before he decided what to do about Morgan. Just because she didn’t automatically stand out to him didn’t mean she wasn’t useful. Maybe he’d missed something.

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Daniel told her. “It’s been a while since I went through this whole first-day-on-the-job thing,” he lied. “It means a lot.”

“It wasn’t that long ago since I was the new kid on the block,” she said.

She’d been here a year already.

“You’d think I’d be used to it,” he said. “Military kid.”

He knew Morgan would jump on that. He remembered from her dossier that she’d spent much of her formative years traveling from one Army base to another.

“Same here.” Her teeth sparkled like freshly polished pearls, and that flirtatious glint in her eyes moved her closer to the aggressive category.

Rule number 50 in the handbook. Make them believe you share something in common. It encourages people to let their guards down.

“We Army brats have to stick together,” Daniel said.

Shit. She hadn’t revealed that her family was Army.

His heart began to hammer within his chest as he waited for her to call him on his mistake. His entire body wilted with relief when she continued smiling the kind of smile that told Daniel she was mentally staging the Instagram selfie that would announce their new relationship.

Damn. He’d caught a lucky break with that one. He would have to be more careful.

Her ringing cell phone saved him from having to endure any more of this conversation. She looked down at the screen and said, “I have to take this. Enjoy your first day on the job. And if you need anything, I’m right over there.”

She pointed toward her desk, and Daniel caught sight of another of his new coworkers—Jessica Lui, UCLA grad, owner of a budding homemade soap-making business—giving him serious eye action.

Unlike Morgan, Jessica already had a spot on his potential asset list. Not only did they have the connection of their Asian heritage, but she’d also been a member of the development team that launched Trendsetters’ WiMax software. It had been over a year since she’d been a part of the team, but it was still worth building an alliance with her.

Maybe an office romance wasn’t off the table. Whatever it took to get the job done.

*  *  *

“Are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not ignoring you. I’m working.” Samiah glanced up at the camera on her computer screen and shot her sister an exaggerated smile. “See. I’m still here.”

“Stop smiling like that. You look like a deranged serial killer. Have you checked the view count today?”

“If you keep bringing up that stupid video, you’re going to turn me into a deranged serial killer.”