Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security, #3)(37)

“You work for DMW, too?” Shelby asked. Alicia gave her an odd look and for a heart-stopping moment, she wondered if she’d tipped her hand. She hurried to add, “Reece doesn’t talk about work much at home.”

“He doesn’t?” Genuine surprise colored her voice. “I didn’t know Reece ever talks about anything but work.”

Crap. That was true. She’d pushed the lie a bit too hard. Time to back off. She tried on her best sheepish expression. “Uh, it’s actually a rule I came up with. Between DMW and Wilde Security, he gets so wrapped up, you know? If I don’t force him to put it aside, take a break, he never would.”

Alicia eyed her as if seeing her for the very first time, and a certain amount of respect filled her eyes. “Good for you. Yes, I think you’ll be good for him.”

Pleasure warmed Shelby’s belly at the words, even though she knew they weren’t the truth. She wasn’t good for Reece. But, still, hearing someone say so… She wanted to hug Alicia for it. Nobody had ever thought her good for anything or anyone.

Alicia took a sip of her drink. “Dylan and I are both workaholics. Just as bad as Reece. We never stop. And, yes, I work for DMW. I’m the chief financial officer, but I also help Dylan with marketing and operations.”

“Oh. Now I feel stupid for not knowing that.”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. Your no-work-at-home rule is a good one. Don’t let Reece break it.”

“Believe me, I won’t.” She scanned the room again. “Are there any other DMW employees here I should know?”

“Hmm.” Alicia followed her gaze. “Over there.” She tilted her chin in the direction of a skinny man with a slicked-back ponytail of thinning brown hair. “Cliff McWilliam. He took over as head of development after the company started getting too big for Reece to handle both development and his duties as CEO. I’m actually a little surprised to see him here. He and Reece haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye lately.”

Interesting. “About the merger with Irving James?”

“No, no. Cliff is all about technology and could care less about the business side of things as long as he can keep tinkering with his computers. I’m not quite sure what happened, but from what I gathered through the company’s gossip mill, Reece caught Cliff doing things in development that Reece hadn’t given his okay for.”

Shelby made a mental note of the name for later. She should probably change the subject now before she aroused any suspicion, but Alicia was definitely a little tipsy. Alcohol was great for loosening lips, and she was afraid she’d never get this chance again. “Who else do I need to know about?”

“Oh, well. Lena. She was the head of sales until her drinking got to be too much. Reece let her go about three weeks ago—with a more than generous severance package if you ask me—but it did nothing to lessen the grudge she’s been holding against him since he turned her down.” Alicia leaned in, lowered her voice. “Word of advice. Avoid Lena if you can. She’s not above starting cat fights.”

Shelby glanced in the woman’s direction, only to find Lena scowling at her. Wow. That was more than a grudge. That was pure hatred.

Yeah, definitely better to avoid her.

Another mental note.

“Well, look at this,” Dylan said as he and Reece joined them. “Our wives are bonding. We’re doomed.”

“You were doomed the second you married me.” Alicia leaned in to kiss her husband, then smiled over at Reece. “And you, mister, have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“I have a pretty good idea.” He slid his arm around Shelby’s waist. It was the first time he’d touched her since last night. He’d been avoiding her as if she were combustible and he’d burst into flames at even the smallest contact but—surprise—he didn’t.

Sure, he was only touching her now as part of his husband act, but she took full advantage. She leaned in to his side as they followed the other couple toward the dinner table, played up the whole crazy-in-love newlywed thing. But instead of making him uncomfortable, he went with the flow, again surprising her. The man could act. Nobody looking at the two of them would see anything other than happy newlyweds and it made her…well, a little sad. Deep down, she admitted to herself that she wouldn’t mind if it was more than an act. Wouldn’t ever happen, but still. That didn’t stop her from wanting it.

Reece nuzzled her ear. “Are you okay?”

No. No, she wasn’t because she’d been lying to him from the start, and she hated it. Hated that she’d just given his slightly tipsy financial officer the third degree to get info on his company. But she didn’t dare tell him the truth about Jason’s investigation into DMW Systems, especially not while he was already worried about the blackmail, so she shoved the guilt aside. Besides, maybe her snooping would uncover something to help him because the more she thought about it, the more her instincts called foul at the oh-so-coincidental timing of Jason’s investigation and Reece’s blackmail.

Were they connected? Something to think about.

Reece pulled her to a stop, searched her eyes. The crease of a frown formed between his brows. “Shelby?”

Realizing she’d gone too long without answering his question, she plastered on a smile and nodded. “I’m fine, but I could do without Cruella De Vil over there staring holes into us.”