"Have you seen a journal? It's a prototype I'm working on," he lied, giving her an easy grin. "It's about yay big ..."
He described it quickly, hoping it didn't sound off or that he didn't sound too anxious. He had enough experience with lying to know how to do it correctly and without getting cuaght, but normally the only people who'd get hurt if he was caught was himself. Or George, which really amounted to the same thing most days. This time though ...