Tansy didn’t need to hear the door open behind her to know that Sam had stepped onto the deck. Her body reacted instantly. As if he was a magnet and she was a pile of iron filings yearning in his direction.
Sam moved to her side and stared out at the lake. “Camouflage freaking you out these days?”
He could always make her laugh. “No. I haven’t developed any camo phobias. Or would that be camoflobias?”
He didn’t laugh. “But it reminded you of something. Made you drop your phone the first time. And upset you again today. Talk to me, Tansy. You know I’m not letting it go.”
No one was more tenacious than Sam. “One of the many reasons you’re so good at your job.” She felt him tense at her words. “Can you tell me what went wrong?”
Sam leaned down until his elbows rested on the rail. It put them much closer to the same height, but he kept his eyes on the view.
It was a three-quarter moon, and the clouds were more lazy than threatening. Stars sparkled and inspired dreams.
And confidences.
Or so she hoped.
“You tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.” Sam’s voice held equal parts of regret and amusement.
An equal exchange?
Would he see her as an equal if she agreed? She didn’t know if he’d ever see her as more than Joe’s little sister, but this gave her a chance. Should she take it? Show that she’d been a fool?
Why not? He’d met her at the lowest point of her life. If anyone knew all her flaws and weaknesses, it was this man.
She took a deep breath and gripped the railing harder. “Do you remember the lab I was using back in Sacramento?”
Sam nodded. “The building you bought on the south of town? The one you wanted to turn into a think tank kind of thing?”
That made her smile. He remembered. “That’s the one. It’s a small building, but I was able to bring in a few scientists who were interested in all kinds of things. You know I don’t like the business end of things, so I hired an admin to deal with the hiring and bills and paperwork. All the practical stuff that I hate.”
“Did the admin screw you over?”
That made her smile. “No. Cinnia is fabulous. She actually enjoys tracking paperwork and dealing with financial stuff. She deals with the proposals and funding, too. And thinks it’s fun. I don’t understand the joy, but I was lucky to find her.”
Cinnia had helped her with the DOD request as well. Tansy hadn’t checked her phone after finding it. Maybe they’d got back to her.
When she didn’t continue, Sam nudged her arm gently. The shivers from the contact didn’t surprise her. The man was potent.
“Most people assumed Cinnia was the boss and that she owned the business.”
“And you let them think that.”
Not a question, because he knew her. “It made sense to become one of the group of scientists. Then I didn’t get asked those endless questions about money.”
Sam chuckled.
“Anyway, one of the scientists was a physicist. He assumed all the work taking place in the building was part of the group’s intellectual property.”
Sam turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure if he signed a contract, it said nothing about group intellectual property rights.”
Right to the heart of the matter. “You’re right. He isn’t one for details. He thinks of himself as more of a big idea man. I don’t know if he even read the contract.”
“Dumbass.”
“That’s a good a description as any.”
“So, he tried to screw you over and steal something you were working on?