“Have a seat, Aubrey. I’ll be right with you,” Isaac says, never tearing his eyes away from his work.

I take my seat across from him and tug down my black skirt as I cross my legs. His ultra-modern black and glass desk gleams from the afternoon sun shining in from the wall of glass windows behind him. There’s nothing better than New York in the summer time. Anything you could possibly want is in this city.

I adjust the yellow legal pad on my lap and click my pen, ready to jot down the list of notes I’m sure he’s about to fire at me.

Once Isaac is satisfied with whatever he’s working on, he turns his chair to face me directly. That’s one thing I’ve learned from him. Direct eye contact lets people know you mean business. It’s hard not to give him one hundred percent of your attention when he turns his gaze in your direction.

He folds his large hands together on his desk and clears his throat. “I was curious how it went this weekend with Black Falcon.”

Oh shit!

This is surprising. We never really make small talk, and it kind of shocks me he’s interested in an account that doesn’t belong to him. Maybe Noel has called Diana and demanded that Lanie be fired, and I’m automatically going down too because of association.

I take a deep breath and internally cringe. “It went okay, I think.”

Isaac nods. “That’s good. So, you think you’re up for working with them a little more then?”

What? “I guess so.”

“Excellent. I’ve been assigned to create the design for the Noel’s children’s literacy campaign, and I’m going to need a lot of help from you on this one since you had a chance to meet with the band and hear Noel’s vision directly.”

My shoulders relax, even though I’m still in shock a little bit. From what Lanie told me, Noel Falcon couldn’t get away from her fast enough. I figured we’d be in some deep shit for losing such a large account for the firm, but from the way Isaac is talking, Black Falcon is still our client.

“Of course, anything you need.”

Isaac leans back in his chair. “It’s funny you say that, because what I actually need from you requires a bit of…discretion.”

“Okay. No problem.”

“I know you’re close to our intern, Lanie Vance, and I’ll need you to obtain some information from her.”

I scrunch my brow, confused on where he’s going with this. “What kind of information?”

“It seems that Noel Falcon is quite smitten with her, and has requested that she alone handle this account for him. Diana smoothed things over with him and led him to believe that was exactly what was going to happen. She even agreed to send Ms. Vance on the road with Black Falcon, at his request, for two weeks to appease him, but naturally we can’t allow an intern who’s still wet behind the ears run a million dollar project.”

Things start to click. “So, you’re going to work on it here, while Noel is left to believe that Lanie’s in charge?”

He smiles. “Precisely.”

“How am I involved in all of this?” I don’t like the way this sounds. It feels an awful lot like he’s asking me to lie to my best friend.

Isaac leans in and rests his elbows on the desk. “You’re going to keep me on the inside track. Get her to tell you things about the band, and then report back to me.”

I swallow hard. “I’m sorry, Isaac, but that feels like a huge betrayal of my best friend’s trust.”

He nods and scoots his chair back and walks around to the front of the desk. His tall frame towers over me as he leans back against his desk while both hands rest on either side of him. “I know this sounds bad, but it’s not exactly what you’re thinking. Diana was going to give this account to someone else until I threw my hat in the ring. I didn’t think it was right to pull the rug out from someone like that, so I figured if I took the account, that since you know her, you could get her ideas. That way, we can still implement some of them…if they’re good. She’ll still get some credit.”

“That seems awfully nice of you, but I can’t help but wonder why you would get involved.”

He shrugs. “Because you work for me, and I would like to keep it that way. If your friend quits because she gets angry over the Black Falcon account, I don’t want her to convince you to quit with her. I like having you around.”

That’s kind of sweet, in a weird twisted way, but I’m not sure why he would go through all the trouble. It’s not like we talk much, other than when we have to for business-related things. This sudden act of chivalry causes me to raise my eyebrows.

“Isaac, even though I love Lanie, I wouldn’t quit my job on a whim. Center Stage has been my dream place to work since my third year of college. I’m glad you put your faith in a new grad and hired me even though I had no experience. No one else would’ve given me a shot like that, so I’m grateful to you for the chance.”

Isaac’s face lights up and his smile brightens. “Good, because I really don’t want you to go anywhere. Matter of fact, I would like to keep you around so I can get to know you better.”

I meet his gaze with my mouth slightly agape. Why am I getting the distinct feeling he’s trying to make a play for me? This is so not good. I can’t get into a relationship with my boss—it could end my career.

Feeling a bit uneasy about the situation, I stand and fight the instant urge to run as fast as I can out of this office. “Okay, well, will there be anything else?”