“I’m not on the moon,” he pointed out. “It’s only a plane trip away from London.”
“Oh, the trip was ghastly!” She gave a shudder as her clipped tones rung out in horror.
Giles couldn’t help frowning. Was that how he sounded to Anna? All haughty and superior? No wonder she hadn’t warmed to him at first.
The waiter arrived with a platter of bar snacks, and the conversation drifted to less tricky subjects. Persephone was her usual self, chattering about the friends they had in common and what they’d all been doing, but Giles felt strangely disconnected. He’d only been away from the UK for a couple of months, but already he could sense the bonds loosening, and he realised he didn’t mind at all.
An hour later, Persephone went off to the ladies’ to repair her makeup, while Giles sat in their booth, wondering what Anna was doing and whether she’d bothered to eat any dinner. He was betting she hadn’t. Last week, when they’d worked late, she’d barely stopped to grab a chocolate bar from the vending machine. Tonight, with the extra pressure she was facing, she might not have even done that.
Coming to a quick decision, he signalled to the waiter and ordered some California rolls to go, giving his credit card at the same time to settle the bill. Moments later, Persephone slid her arm over his shoulders as she eased into the booth beside him.
“What should we do next?” Her smile was arch, her fingers suggestive. “Want to come up to my room for a bit of fun?”
When he’d agreed to see Persephone, he’d wondered if she had this in mind, but now that she’d raised the subject, he found his body totally unresponsive to her. In fact, her perfume was too cloying, her lipstick too garish, and her eyes too calculating. Persephone was as beautiful as ever, and once upon a time he’d have gladly followed her upstairs, but now she did nothing for him. It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t changed; he had.
“I’m sorry,” he said gently as he removed her hand from his shoulder. “But I can’t.”
Her eyes popped with surprise. “You don’t want to fuck?”
Not her. Not anyone except a stubborn, gorgeous woman who dominated his thoughts. And he didn’t want to fuck Anna so much as make love to her, to crush her in his arms and find out all her secrets, all her sweet, dark, lush secrets... Christ, he was growing hard for another woman while turning down the advances of the one in front of him. Not very chivalrous.
“I don’t think that would work for us anymore,” he said as diplomatically as possible.
Persephone pouted. “I suppose you’re bonking some Aussie girl called Kylie. Next thing you know, you’ll be eating horrible Vegemite and talking like someone from Neighbours.” She sniffed to register her disapproval.
Giles grinned. “I should be so lucky.”
But she didn’t get his attempt at humour. With a shrug, she gathered her handbag. “Oh well. Guess I’ll call my friends and see what they’re up to.” She pecked him on the cheek and rose to her feet, already scrolling through numbers on her phone. “Bye, darling. It was fun catching up.”
She tripped away, and he was willing to bet she’d forget about him before she even left the hotel.
The waiter arrived with his card, receipt, and the box of California rolls in a small white carrier bag. Giles rose to his feet, energy returning to him in a strong surge. He had an important delivery to make.
***
Swiping a hand across her damp brow, Anna reached for her Diet Pepsi and took another slug. As she set down the can, she glimpsed the time on her screen and sighed. Eight pm already, and she still had so much to do. Grimacing, she stared at the lines of code on her screen, but it was hard to concentrate when her stomach was grumbling and her hair was sticking to her neck.
In the hushed stillness of the office, the click of an opening door reached her ears. That was the door that led to the lift lobby. Someone approached from behind her. She swung round, expecting a security guard, only to find Giles walking towards her.
Unbidden, her heart skipped a beat. She’d assumed that only happened in novels, but apparently it was a genuine thing. She only had moments to compose herself and to regret how sticky and messy she looked before Giles entered their pod.
His jacket was slung over one shoulder, and in the other hand he had a white carrier bag.
“Whew!” he blew out a breath as he halted before her. “It’s like a sauna in here. What happened to the air conditioning?”
“Unfortunately, they’re doing maintenance tonight, so no air conditioning.” She pushed back a limp strand of hair, conscious of her rumpled appearance. Giles, of course, looked as debonair as ever. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Thought I’d check in and see how you were doing.”
Giles had lurked in her mind ever since he’d left for the day. Whenever she’d paused for a break, she’d wondered what he was doing with Persephone, whether he was enjoying himself, whether he was going to sleep with her. He’d only been gone a couple of hours, but that was long enough for a quick shag, wasn’t it? No, she didn’t want to think about that. But she was glad he’d dropped in. Working alone at night was no fun, especially with the extra pressure hanging over her, clouding her concentration.
“Actually, I’m a bit behind where I hoped I’d be,” she found herself admitting.
“It’s always like that when you’re trying to solve a problem under pressure,” he said, looking sympathetic. “And it doesn’t help when it’s as hot as Hades.” He tilted his head to one side as he added, “Plus, I’m willing to bet you haven’t had any food to go with that Diet Pepsi.”
“I was planning to get a Snickers bar from the vending machine.” Until she’d lost track of the time.
Giles stepped forward and placed the carrier bag in front of her. “California rolls. They’re better for you than a chocolate bar.”
The carrier bag contained a plastic box. She took it out, opened it, and gazed at the fresh, delicate food inside. “You got these for me?”
“Yes.” He dropped into his chair, a small smile on his lips. “I know you like California rolls because I saw you eat some last week.”
Again, he reminded her that he was aware of her as a person. And that he was thoughtful and kind. Traits that only made him more attractive, unfortunately.
“Thank you,” she said quietly before she picked up the chopsticks included in the box and tasted one of the rolls. “Delicious,” she pronounced after she’d taken a bite.
Giles seemed to relax. “Good.”
She recognised the name inscribed on the carrier bag; it was a chic bar in a luxury five star hotel. “Is that where you went with Persephone?” she couldn’t help asking.
His only reply was a brief nod.
“I hope you didn’t leave her just to deliver dinner to me,” she pressed on, not exactly sure why she was doing this.
“No.” Resting his elbows on the armrests, he laced his fingers together. “We met, we talked, we ate, and then we were done. Simple as that.”
He wasn’t telling her everything, she was sure. But she was glad he wasn’t with the so-superior-sounding Persephone. And glad that they hadn’t shagged. More glad than she should be.
“And besides,” Giles continued. “I came back to help you, and this time I’m not taking no for an answer.”
His face was set, his eyes determined. Anna inhaled a breath. He’d ditched another girl for her. He’d bought her dinner, and now he wanted to spend more time with her, coding, of all things.
Her heart skipped another beat. Oh for goodness sakes, this was getting ridiculous.
“It was rude of me to turn you down the first time.” She acknowledged her fault by inclining her head. “I’d appreciate your help, Giles.”
His eyebrows shot up as if he hadn’t expected her to give in so easily. Then he grinned as he scooted closer in his chair. “Okay, then.” He started to tug at his tie. “Mind if I get more comfortable?”
“Oh, er, sure.”
He undid his tie and folded it neatly on his desk. Next, he took of his cufflinks and placed them next to the tie before rolling up his sleeves. His lightly tanned forearms were muscled and dusted with fine dark hairs. The open collar of his shirt revealed the strong column of his neck, hinting at the firmness of his chest below. Anna stared, unable to tear her gaze away from Giles as her imagination ran wild, picturing herself undoing the buttons of his shirt and sliding her palms across his hard chest.
“Anna?” Giles’s gentle tone washed over her. “Where do you want to start?”
She’d start by licking that pulse at the base of his throat, and then she’d work her lips all over his pectorals, sucking and tasting every inch of his skin.
She jerked back, a hot flush spreading across her cheeks as she saw Giles grinning at her. Busted.
Her California roll plopped from her chopsticks.
She dipped her head as she flustered through some papers on her desk. “Uh, here’s a list of Oscar’s programs that need fixing.” She grabbed a pen and hastily circled items on the list. “Why don’t you get started on the ones I’ve marked?” She pushed the piece of paper towards him, steeling herself to meet his eyes.