Page 89 of Off Her Game
“We might’ve gone out once or twice.”
“That’s unbelievable. All he does is work. The guy doesn’t seem to date. And you’re—” Someone signaled to Leo. “Sorry. Gotta go for a minute. This is going to be a blast of a meeting.” He popped up with a mysterious smile and trotted away.
Jake paced back-and-forth across the elevated platform down front. He tapped the microphone for attention. The noise died down. “I see everyone’s buzzing this morning. Glad you’re all adequately caffeinated. We’re not going to talk about the new email protocols again today.”
A few “Thank Gods”echoed around the room.
Jake said, “So, we’ve got a new game and we were lucky enough to snag its designer to come on board. She’s going to help us get it through final production, which as you know needs to be accelerated. May I introduce Tori Duarte.” He waved her way. “She’s—”
The lights dimmed. Jake glanced around, startled. The screens behind Jake flickered. Jake said something into the microphone, but nothing transmitted. He tapped it and threw his arms in the air. He said something to Emma, who shrugged at him.
The theme fromZoneworldboomed while the avatar of Evelle sauntered into view on the screens. Oh, crap. This was about to get embarrassing.
A low voice reminiscent of a baritone movie voice-over boomed through the room, “Selene has entered the game.”
Her face couldn’t get any hotter.
The lights popped back on.
“What was that?” Jake said into his now working microphone.
“Sorry to ruin your intro, Mr. Allen, but mine was light-years better,” Leo said over the PA system from the back of the room. “Ladies, gents, geeks, and gamers…royalty is in our midst. Selene of theDynastyis here.” He paused for dramatic effect as everyone craned around, searching neighbors for this unknown person.
“She’s none other than Tori Duarte, designer of our newest project,Dragon Spy.” Gasps echoed through the audience. Then clapping and whistles deafened the room.
“I told you guys I’d eventually get one of theDynastydown here. Stand up, Tori,” Leo ordered as he approached her.
She stood.
“All hail, Selene.” Leo pumped his arms up and down in praise-bows toward her. He covered the mic and whispered to her. “TheDynastytrio are gods here. I’ve been begging Quan to come here for over a year just so we can pick his brain on how you guys do what you do.”
She leaned toward him and grabbed the microphone. Into it she said, “Thanks, guys. Super excited to be here.”
She waved. Her gaze slid past Noah. Her pulse jumped in response to the sexy double eyebrow raise he threw her. She resumed her seat.
“Right. Thanks, Leo. That sure was something,” Jake said from the front. He didn’t look pleased. “Like I said, we’ve got a new project. If anyone wants to volunteer to be on her team…”
A lot of hands shot up in the audience. Many screamed variations of “pick me.”
Jake said. “Maybe you want to hear a bit more about the game before you jump to volunteer. Most of you already have projects… Noah, any words aboutDragon Spy?”
Tori glanced to Noah. Leo shoved the microphone into Noah’s hands. Noah locked gazes with her for a second. “It’s going to be next level. We wanted to break into the fantasy market and this is it.”
“Any more?” Jake asked.
“It’s addictive.” He smiled.
She suspected he wasn’t referring to the game.
“Well, there you have it, folks. That’s it in a nutshell. Addictive.”
Four days. Three restless nights.
Not one iota of communication from Noah. At first she’d been relieved, but now she missed him.
If not for double shot mochas and Skittles, she’d be a zombie.
A rumor circulated that the top-secret meetings about a security breach over the past few days had come to a conclusion early this morning. No one here seemed to stop work on the weekends. According to Leo, everyone believed by the end of the day someone would be fired. They didn’t know about the code stealing or that it’d be her carrying her small box of belongings under an arm out the front door.
