“He’s not here to save us,” Daisy said. “He wants to rent the second floor. I saw him the other day and I told him not to. I guess he didn’t care what I thought.” The words poured out of her in a tidal wave of anger, flushing her anxiety away. “But then that’s the kind of person he is. He stood me up for my senior prom and then disappeared without a word after practically living with my family for eight years.”

“But he has money to invest,” Josh protested. “So he wasn’t a nice guy ten years ago. People change.”

“Don’t be an idiot.” Mia glared at him. “He stood her up for her prom. That’s huge for a teenage girl, Josh. Huge. And then just bailing on her family? Unforgivable.”

“Thanks.” She gave Mia a smile, feeling a lightness in her limbs. Mia understood her pain in a way not many people did.

Josh grabbed his phone. “Evolution Ventures have ten million in assets across four funds, locations in New York and Silicon Valley, over eighty investments, and they’ve done three IPOs and two acquisitions. What’s not to like?” He turned the phone around to show them a picture of Liam. “And check this guy out. I wouldn’t mind having that eye candy walking around.”

“Damn, he’s fine,” Zoe said. “A bastard, of course, but a good-looking one. I’d fight you for him.”

“You sprained your finger pushing the elevator button,” Josh said. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“I am totally unaffected by his breathtaking good looks.” Mia waved the phone away. “It’s what’s inside that counts.”

“Exactly.” Daisy nodded. “I’m going to tell him to get lost—”

“Everyone get back to work,” Tyler called out. “Don’t let him think we’re slacking. Rochelle, bring him to my office.”

“I took him to the conference room,” she said. “But—”

“Good. Conference room. Bring him coffee. Or muffins. Or avocado toast. Or how about those little Linzer cookies from the bakery down the street?” He pointed at the nearest employee. “You. Get cookies. Rochelle, tell him I’ll be there in five minutes. In the meantime, get him whatever he wants.”

“He wants Daisy.”

A smile spread across Josh’s face. “He wants you, Daisy. Think of Mia’s mom and Zoe’s daughter. Think about my rent increase and Hunter’s inability to use basic tech. Do you really want us all out on the street, foraging for muffins in back alleys?”

“Daisy. Hallway. Now.” Tyler raced out of the room before she could object.

“I’ve never seen him so panicked,” Mia said. “He’s barely functioning. You’ll need to calm him down.”

Tyler was still buzzing with excitement when Daisy joined him and Rochelle in the hallway. “This is it, Daisy. Our big chance. I saw him watching our pitch to Alliance Ventures at the con last week. He must have seen something he liked.”

Daisy’s words of warning died on her lips. “What do you mean he was watching?” She quickened her pace as Tyler strode down the hallway toward the conference room.

“He was at the back of the room. I hadn’t put Evolution on our pitch list because I didn’t think we were a good fit, but I guess I was wrong, because here he is! He must have questions for you about the software system or he wouldn’t have asked for you by name.” Tyler smoothed down his hair. “Keep him busy. I’ll be back as fast as I can with the pitch deck.”

“We might as well throw in the towel now.” Rochelle gave a dramatic sigh as she followed behind them. “She’s going to bore him to tears with her monosyllabic answers, stilted conversation about coding bugs, and weird facts.”

Ignoring Rochelle’s insult, Daisy scrambled for a reason to avoid meeting with Liam. “She’s right. Maybe you should send in someone else—”

“Don’t bail on me now,” Tyler warned. “He wants you. I need you. Get in there and kick some VC ass.”

Daisy took in his disheveled appearance and reached for his tie. “You need to get yourself together if you’re going to pitch. Tuck in your shirt. Find your shoes.” She tied the tie for him, a skill she’d learned after years of helping Sanjay and her dad. “Josh said you’ve been sleeping at the office . . .”

“There are so many good people here. I don’t want to let them down. I’ve reached out to everyone . . .” He tucked his shirt into his pants and straightened his shoulders. “We can do this. We’re going to give him the best pitch we’ve ever done. It’s going to blow him away.” Taking a deep breath, he threw open the door to the boardroom.

“Mr. Murphy. So nice to see you. I’m Tyler Dawes, Organicare’s CEO.” He pumped Liam’s hand. “I’ve brought Daisy Patel, our senior software engineer, as requested. Daisy can answer any questions you might have about our system software or our direct-to-consumer platform.”

Liam smiled and held out his hand. “Ms. Patel.”

Gritting her teeth, Daisy shook his hand, eyes widening as electricity sparked between them. Had she picked up a charge on her shoes on the way in? “Mr. Murphy.”

“I’ll just gather the rest of the team,” Tyler said. “Rochelle will be in with coffee and snacks in a moment.”

Daisy waited until the door had closed behind Tyler before ripping her hand away. “What are you doing here? I told you not to rent the second floor. Poor Tyler thinks you’re here to save the company.”

“I needed to see you.” He fumbled in the pocket of his sleek, dark suit—the kind that fit in all the right places. She’d never seen Liam in a suit before, but it added another dimension to his cool, confident persona—a dangerously sexy one.

“If you aren’t interested in offering funding to Organicare, then your visit here was ill conceived. Tyler is apoplectic with excitement. He’s sending people out to buy you special cookies, and in about five minutes, he will have the entire pitch team assembled. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up with a throne for you to sit on.”