“And you did, so your judgement was sound.” Lionel nodded.
That was about all the praise she’d come to expect from him. Lionel thought highly of her, but he tended to take her for granted, and she wasn’t as good at blowing her own horn as some of the other guys in the office.
“And I suppose you did have an enormous advantage,” Lionel added. “You had Giles St Clair.”
She gripped her fingers tighter in an effort to stop herself from overreacting. What did Lionel mean? Was he implying that Giles had done most of the work to ensure they’d meet the deadline? Anger rose in her, souring the back of her throat. Maybe Giles had been big-noting himself behind her back. She didn’t want to believe he’d stoop so low, but it had happened to her before, other people stealing the credit. The bile burned.
“What do you mean?” she asked stiltedly.
Lionel shrugged. “Oh, I mean he’s an asset in any project, plus he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty with a bit of coding. A lot of these high-paid consultants would’ve turned their noses up at helping you out, but not Giles. No, he’s had only good things to say about you.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. Of course Giles wouldn’t have tried to backstab her. And besides, if he wanted to, he could easily achieve that by gossiping about their night together.
“That’s good to know,” she said thinly. “He was a great help to me. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
Giles was working on another project on different floor of the building. The past two weeks had been slow torture for Anna as she hoped and feared a chance encounter with him. She’d bought new clothes—snappy skirts and tailored blouses and high heels—telling herself she deserved them, but deep down knowing she was only doing this on the off chance she’d bump into Giles. That had happened precisely three times, and all three times he or she had been with others so they had barely exchanged polite greetings. It angered her to realise she was so infatuated with him, but there seemed no cure for it except waiting for the fever to run its course.
“Well, you might get another chance in the future to work with him,” Lionel said. “Nothing’s official yet, but we want him here at FrogLeap permanently. We’re prepared to accommodate whatever role he sees fit to take here.” He leaned forward, tapping the side of his nose. “Of course everything I’m telling you is confidential, but come Monday we should be able to make the big announcement. Marcus is going to make Giles the offer this afternoon.”
Anna’s fingers cramped in her lap. She supposed she should be flattered that her manager had taken her into his confidence, but all she could concentrate on was Giles. She was happy for him. He was uniquely talented and deserved to cherrypick the best role for himself. But how was she going to survive with Giles in the office every day? How could she act naturally around him? What would she do when she saw him with another woman? And there was bound to be another woman because Giles was no monk.
“Anna, are you all right?” Lionel’s concerned voice filtered through her pounding thoughts.
“Actually, I’m not feeling a hundred percent,” she confessed, rubbing her temple.
“You should go home.” Lionel rose from his seat and came around the desk to help her to her feet. “You’ve clocked up a lot of hours this past month. Why don’t you take a few days’ leave next week to recharge?”
Anna glanced at her manager in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to be so solicitous. “Oh, I should be right by Monday.”
“No, I insist you have at least two days off.” He smiled wryly. “You don’t need to look so suspicious. As your manager, I’m only concerned about your health and well-being. I want you fresh and fit for your next project.”
“Okay.” She nodded. It might be good to have a couple of days off so she could collect herself and not act a fool the next time she saw Giles.
Lionel patted her on the shoulder as he saw her out of his office. “Take a taxi home, and be sure to charge it to the company,” he called after her.
Why was her usually tough manager being so nice to her? She couldn’t understand his motives, unless he was feeling guilty about some bad news he hadn’t had the heart to dump on her right now.
The invisible weight that had hung over her for weeks intensified, and she was glad to be going home early. She gathered her things and quietly left the office.
Back home, she prowled her apartment, too restless to settle at anything. She envisaged Giles sitting with Marcus, the CEO of FrogLeap, and all the hand-shaking and back-slapping that would follow once Giles accepted the permanent position. Then, they would probably go out for drinks and maybe dinner at a fancy restaurant while they nutted out what Giles’s new role would be.
Anna sighed. She was happy for Giles, and besides, there had never been any future for the two of them. So why was she feeling so wistful and letdown and goddamn sorry for herself? She hated this weakness and indecision.
Stung into activity, she changed into shorts and a tank top, piled her hair up into a casual bun, and attacked her neglected housecleaning. Several hours later, her home looked like something out of House & Garden, her muscles were aching, and she was a sweaty mess.
She was about to tromp off to the shower when someone knocked on her front door. She was too tired to bother fixing her appearance, so she went to the door, intending to be quite sharp if it was some doorknocker wanting her to sign up with a new energy company.
Instead, Giles stood on her doorstep, looking immaculately smart-casual in narrow tan pants and a crisp blue shirt unbuttoned at the throat and neatly rolled at the sleeves. In his hands was a bunch of bright yellow and orange flowers. Eyes as vivid as a winter sky gazed down at her, taking in her dishevelled appearance.
Breathe, Anna ordered herself. And chin up.
Just because Giles was standing on her doorstep didn’t mean she could jump to any conclusions. She wasn’t going to risk making a fool of herself, not when she already felt so idiotic inside.
“Hello,” she said coolly, and part of her admired the placidness in her voice.
“Hello.” His eyes narrowed on her flushed face. “Are you ill? You look a bit...feverish.”
She stifled the urge to smooth down her tangled hair. “I’m not ill. I’m cleaning the house.”
“Oh.” For a moment he looked nonplussed. “Uh, mind if I come in?”
The slight hesitation in his voice caused her heart to stop for a second. Could Giles be nervous about visiting her? Not knowing what to think, she mutely ushered him inside and led the way into her open plan living-room-slash-kitchen.
“Would you like to sit down?” She was proud of herself for managing to sound so normal when inside she was seething with questions.
Giles glanced about him, seemingly undecided, before he held out the bunch of flowers towards her. “I bought these for you.”
“Oh.” The bouquet of yellow ranunculus, lemon roses and orange orchids was stunning. Taking the flowers, she held them to her nose in an effort to hide her surprise and pleasure. “Thank you for... oh, a-tishoo!” She sneezed as a pinch of pollen tickled her nostrils.
“Oh God. Don’t tell me you’re allergic to flowers?” Giles shifted towards her, looking anxious and disconcerted.
“No, I just inhaled something.” Flustered, she hurried to the sink where she quickly filled a vase with water and stuck the bunch of flowers in it. She tore off a square of kitchen paper towel and surreptitiously blew her nose. Heavens, what a complete wreck she must look by now, what with her dirty clothes, sloppy hair, and pink nose.
When she turned back to Giles, he was standing by the counter that separated her compact kitchen from the rest of the room. His fingers drummed on the counter, and his expression was wary.
Despite everything, she couldn’t help drinking in the sight of him. This was the first time in weeks she’d seen him for more than a brief moment. He looked as good as ever, striking, handsome, confident. The rays of the setting sun slanting through the windows cast a golden glow over his chestnut hair and freshly shaven face. He took her breath away.
“Congratulations,” she blurted out, desperate to break the spell he had over her.
His eyebrows rose. “Congratulations?”
“On the permanent job. I heard about it this afternoon.”
“Oh.” He looked perplexed.
“You deserve it,” she pressed on. “And, of course, everyone at FrogLeap will be glad to have you.”
Giles glanced down at his fingers that were still tapping on the counter. “Actually,” he said quietly, “I won’t be working at FrogLeap after my contract ends next week.”
“What?” Anna was flummoxed. “But...I don’t understand. Is it the money? Didn’t Marcus make you a good enough offer?”
“No, Marcus offered me more than I expected, but it wasn’t the money.”
“Then, what?” A horrible thought dawned on her. “It...it isn’t something to do with me, is it?”
He tilted his head. “Yes, it’s you.”
“But I haven’t said a word about what happened,” she burst out in confusion. “And I treat you the same as I always do. I don’t understand—”