Hunter gestured behind him at the slow parade of people walking through the door, hands filled with boxes, bags, and laptops. “The move just started.” His deep voice rumbled so low Daisy could feel it in her bones.

“I was told this was where IT would be.” He tipped his head from side to side, making his neck crack, then grabbed his collar, like he was about to rip the shirt off his massive shoulders and throw down with Josh right there on the cubicle floor.

“It’s okay, Josh.” Daisy took the computer, fumbling with it before she got it to the safety of her desk. “I do this for my relatives all the time.” She turned it off and on again and the computer hummed to life. She tapped a few keys and looked up at Hunter. “Looks like it’s working now.”

“Thanks.” Hunter lifted the laptop off her desk—as if he knew she’d probably drop it if she picked it up again—and walked away, his broad shoulders swaying above his tight-as-a-rock ass.

“He didn’t even know to turn his computer off and on.” Josh sneered. He was in a savage mood. “No wonder the company is going under.”

“Be nice,” Daisy scolded. “It’s not his fault.”

“How can I be nice when we’re being invaded? How are we going to . . .” He trailed off as Mia Hart, the marketing director, placed a box in the empty cubicle beside him. Daisy knew Mia, with her expressive green eyes and thick auburn hair, from project meetings and the occasional elevator ride, but they’d never had more than a passing conversation. Josh, however, knew everyone.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” He glared at Mia.

“Sorry, guys.” She shrugged off the insult. “Marketing and Design is moving in beside you, but I brought donuts!”

“You can stay.” Josh took the donut box from the top of her pile. “But only until they’re gone.”

Mia gave Daisy a sympathetic smile. “I know you guys like to be left alone. It sucks for everyone.”

“Not Hunter,” Josh said. “He thinks anyone with a screen is Help Desk.”

“Aren’t we in a bad mood today.” Mia pulled a bundle of files out of her box. “What’s wrong with you?”

“We can’t work like this,” Josh said. “I refuse to be diminished to ‘IT.’ I’m going to speak to Tyler.”

“Maybe give him some space right now.” Mia leaned over to turn on her computer and Josh tracked her movements with a less-than-subtle shift of his eyes. “He’s not in good shape. He looks like he’s just stepped off Survivor. Any moment now, I expect him to call a Tribal Council and vote one of us off.”

“I heard a rumor that he’s letting ten percent of the staff go.” Josh’s expression turned serious.

Mia snorted. “You hear rumors about everything. Day-old muffins instead of fresh, spyware in the computers, corporate espionage—”

“The corporate espionage rumor turned out to be true,” he protested. “Some dude wanted the secret to super absorbent tampons so badly, he was prepared to go to jail for it. That’s probably why we lost market share.”

“It was never proven in court,” Daisy pointed out. “I think we’re in financial trouble because we expanded out of our core market, at least that’s what Tyler told the VCs when we pitched at the tech con.”

“How did the pitch sessions go?” Mia asked. “I did a marketing proposal for Tyler to hand out, but he never gave me any feedback.”

Daisy shrugged. “A few of the VCs said they’d be in touch, but we didn’t get any requests for a meeting. I told Tyler they were probably overwhelmed with all the pitches, but he said that was VC speak for ‘F-off, loser.’”

Mia’s face softened. “He reminds me so much of my second stepdad. He was a scientist at an aeronautics company who could spend hours just staring into space as he contemplated how many quarks were in the universe.”

“How many dads have you had?” Daisy asked.

“Three, but none of them stuck around. My real dad died in a car accident and my mom drove the next two away with her drinking. She never got over my father’s death.”

Daisy’s heart squeezed in her chest. It had taken her father twenty years to get over her mom. As far as she knew, he hadn’t dated anyone until Priya. They’d both believed that one day Daisy’s mom would come home. And she had, but it hadn’t turned out as either of them expected.

“It must have been very hard for both of you,” Daisy said.

“Tyler’s been an incredible support.” Mia pulled a file from her box. “He got her on my medical plan as a dependent.”

When Josh tipped his head in a puzzled frown, she explained. “She has a lot of accidents when I’m not at home—fires, falls, alcohol poisoning . . . She’s a disaster waiting to happen.” She retrieved the donut box from Josh and offered it to Daisy with a smile, as if she hadn’t just spilled her dark and painful family secrets. “All Star?”

“No, thanks. I had breakfast this morning.”

“I’ll take it.” Zoe Banks thumped her box in the cubicle beside Daisy and settled in her chair. A skilled graphic designer and a single mom, she had worked with Daisy on the website design. “I missed breakfast this morning when Lily had a tantrum and threw her cereal all over the floor. Don’t let anyone tell you the toddler years are the best of times.”

Daisy laughed. “I’ve got lots of cousins that age. I know what it’s like.”

“What’s going on with you?” Zoe leaned back in her chair so she could see Mia. “You’re wearing your serious face this morning.”

“Daisy said we’re doomed.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “No I didn’t.”