Page 49 of Stick to the Plan
I sit straighter in my chair, fully at attention. “Heya, Joe. Go ahead, assuming this is about the patent?”
There is an awkward clearing of his throat. “Yea. Turns out there’s an almost identical application under review. They submitted papers the day before us. Everything’s being held up while the patent office compares both designs,” he takes an audible breath, “but it’s not looking good.”
My stomach twists in knots and my temples tingle as the blood drains from my face. “How is that possible?”
“Sometimes these things happen. Like when two movies come out the same summer with similar plots. It’s possible two different people had the same idea around the same time.” His tone doesn’t sound confident. That’s one hell of a coincidence.
“You don’t sound so sure, man.”
“Well, there are other, less pleasant, explanations. As a lawyer, I try not to throw accusations around until I’m sure. But, as a lawyer, I’m also highly suspicious. Especially of a tiny startup out of California coming up with the exact design in a couple months that took your team two years.”
I turn that over in my head as I swivel to face the window. “What do you need me to do?”
“You keep doing the engineering. Let me do the lawyering. I got a guy looking into this company. I’ll let you know when I find something concrete.”
I’m not sure how long I sit there, blindly staring at the skyline after the call disconnects.
What the fuck is going on here? This project can’t fail now. I’ve spent two years trying to make this dream a reality. Duncan has been hinting at wanting to retire, spend more time in the country with his grandkids. This engine was going to be Duncan’s legacy. I have to protect it at all costs.
Vaguely, I register my office door opening and closing. The warm smell of vanilla hits me just before her delicate fingers gently land on my shoulders. Silently, she rubs the knots out of my muscles. With a contented grunt, I reach out and squeeze her hand, bringing her palm to my lips for a kiss before turning to face her.
Brianna tilts her head and scrunches her nose as she studies my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Legal called - more delays. Another company submitted a very similar design before us.”
Eyes widening, Brianna gasps in surprise and drops her hand. Craving her comforting touch again, I catch her hand and twine my fingers with hers, tugging her between my spread knees.
She looks shocked, but at least she doesn’t pull away. “What is legal going to do?”
“Joe said they’d handle it. We’re supposed to just keep moving forward with development in the meantime.” I sigh and look up into her wide, cobalt eyes. “So, I guess I should still go to the conference tomorrow.” My voice sounds whiny, even to my own ears.
“Right, the conference. I’d almost forgotten.” She sounds disappointed. Is that a slight pout on her full lips? Adorable.
“That’s not like you, Ms. Chance.” I use our entwined fingers to pull her even closer until her thighs touch my chest and my chin rests on her soft belly. “You know you can come with me.” I shoot her the grin that usually makes her melt.
She rewards me with the barest twitch of her lips in amusement. “Oh, no. We already settled this. If things are going off track, I need to stay here even more now.”
Standing, I tease her by gliding my body up hers. Ok, maybe I’m teasing myself more than her.
I place a tender kiss on her temple before stepping away. “Let’s grab an early dinner and head home so I can pack.”
Chapter thirty-four
Splish Splash
Brianna
Colin excuses himself after dinner to pack a bag for the conference and call his sister. I’ve wandered to my favorite thinking spot out by the pool. Usually, the sound of the waterfall soothes me, but today it just isn’t cutting it. As I nibble a bit of dry skin on my lip and play with my fingers in my lap, my thoughts are anything but peaceful.
I’m not sure what to do about the discrepancies in the project files. Something is still not adding up, but I can’t figure out what exactly is wrong. Someone is changing the server copies. But why? And who? And what about the patent?
“Hey, love. What are you doing out here?” I turn my head to see Colin standing beside me. I didn’t even hear him come out here. He straddles the lounger and sits behind me, kissing my neck before rubbing my shoulders. “Why so tense?”
It’s time to share my suspicions with Colin. “I think someone has been messing with our project files.” I hold my breath, waiting for his response.
His fingers pause as he speaks, and his voice is cautious. “What makes you think that?”
“First, I noticed the numbers were incorrect in one of my spreadsheets weeks ago. Then, after that explosion, Stan noticed someone had altered the blueprints. To be safe, I made an off-line backup. When I started comparing more files against the server copies, I found more anomalies.”
