Page 92 of Bling

Isabelle flipped through a stack of folders looking for anything that needed to be filed under J. Reorganizing the mess Darren had left was a tedious chore, but she was happy to have the task. The sense of fulfillment she would get when it was done would be worth it.

While she sorted, images of Garrett running, sweat dripping down his body, droplets falling from the ends of his gorgeous dark hair, floated through her mind. She bit her lip as she pictured it.

The ringing phone startled her out of her little daydream and a folder went flying as she jumped up to answer it.

When she finished her greeting, a silky voice came across the speaker. “What a lovely name, Isabelle. I was wondering if you could help me with some information.”

She blushed. “I can do my best. May I ask who’s calling?”

“You can call me Max. I’m calling with the Colorado Business Bureau and I’m wondering if your company would be willing to fill out a business census.”

She frowned. “I would have to ask my boss, but it seems easy enough.”

“Excellent. Can I ask a few questions about your company and then email you the census form and you can fill it out if your boss says yes?”

“Sure, Max.” She rattled off her email address.

“Got it. I’m sending it now. Can you tell me when you get it?”

She clicked over to her email and waited for the message to arrive. “I see it,” she said when it popped up at the top of her inbox.

Max asked a few questions about the number of employees they had, how many trucks they had, and whether they experienced high turn-over. She didn’t know the answers to most of the questions and apologized for not being helpful.

“Don’t apologize, Isabelle. You’ve been extremely helpful. It will be even more helpful if you fill out the census. Give Mr. Oliver my best if you speak to him.”

She frowned. How did he know Garrett was her boss? Making a mental note to ask him about it, she went back to her stack of folders.

A few minutes later her cellphone buzzed. It was Garrett.

“How is your run going?” she asked.

“Did you just get a call from that reporter?”

She frowned. Was he tapping her phone or something? “No. Why?”

“After the video got emailed to Lance and you got that call from the reporter, Lance put a trap on my office lines to try and catch more information if they called back. He said he just got a ping and you got a call that lasted a couple of minutes. Are you sure it wasn’t the reporter?”

Her heart jumped into overdrive as she thought about the call from Max.

“Yes, Sir. I’m sure. I did get a call from someone named Max asking if I would fill out a business census for the Colorado Business Bureau. What’s going on?”

“God fucking damn it. How much did you tell him?” Garrett asked, fury in his tone.

“Nothing, really. I told him I would have to ask you, so he asked for my email address and sent me the form. Then he asked a bunch of harmless questions about the number of people who work here. Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“Besides give personal information to someone who doesn’t need it you mean?”

“I’m sorry,” Isabelle whispered. “He said all the right things, asked the right questions, and none of what he asked seemed like private information.”

“Have you opened the email he sent?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered. “I’m really sorry.”

The door flew open, causing her to jump. A furious Garrett was towering over her.

Her lip quivered as she tried to hold back her tears.

“Please don’t be mad at me. I’m so sorry if I fucked something up.”

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