All Work and No Play (5 page)

His electric blue eyes were fixed on her, and there was
nowhere for her to hide the emotions foaming through her. This wasn’t just sex;
this was rare, pure connection, their bodies moving in unison, their breathing
in sync, their gazes locked together.

She couldn’t hold it together anymore. Heat burst from her
core as she shattered, her body flexing beneath his as her climax rippled out.
Something like elation flashed in his eyes before he thrust into her several
times, hard and fast, his body rigid as he came in her with a muffled shout,
his forearms stiff and shaking.

There was silence for a few moments, then, with a deep sigh
of contentment, he rolled off her, pulling her with him so she lay tucked into
his side. They were both slick from their exertions, but she didn’t want to
lose physical contact with him. She couldn’t stop gazing at him in awe. His
hair was rumpled, a thin layer of perspiration gleamed on his throat, and he
looked gorgeously mussed up and disarmingly young. A far cry from the polished
professional she saw at the office. The one she would meet in the morning.

She wouldn’t see tonight’s Giles again. And she had to admit
that made her heart pang.

But she had set the ground rules for this encounter, and she
had sound reasons for doing so. This was all she could have.

With a soft sigh, she snuggled closer into Giles and
breathed in his scent. If this was all she could have of him, then she may as
well make the most of it.

***

Languorous warmth drifted over Giles
as his breathing gradually recovered. One arm was wrapped around Anna, his hand
comfortably settled on her hip while her head rested on his shoulder. She
seemed made to be there, their bodies fitting so naturally together. A long
sigh escaped his lips as he stretched out his body, completely sated and
relaxed, the euphoria of great sex still buzzing in his muscles.

Anna tilted her head up to him. In the dim glow of the lamp,
her eyes were like liquid chocolate.

“What’s the big sigh for,” she asked teasingly.

He stroked a finger along the line of her jaw. “That’s a big
sigh of enjoyment, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I noticed.” She traced a hand down the centre of his chest,
following his happy trail. “Glad it lived up to expectations.”

He glanced at her with a slight frown, but she wasn’t
looking at him. Had Anna worried about his expectations? Strange to imagine
that; she projected such an aura of confidence that he hadn’t thought to
consider her reservations. And the way she’d responded to his love-making...
Well, she was truly mind-blowing.

Shifting slightly, he tipped her head towards him so he
could see her face. “Anna,” he said with deep sincerity. “All my expectations
were blown out of the water. You are a magnificent goddess.”

A blush rose in her cheeks, combining with her tangled hair
to make her seem young and vulnerable and adorable. His heart constricted as he
drank her in. Anna was such a complex creature. At the office she displayed spirit
and tenacity, and tonight he had experienced her sensual wildness, but now he
saw the softness she hid from others, and it floored him. He had underestimated
her, like so many other men had, and that pained him.

“Thank you,” she murmured with aching simplicity.

“No, I should be the one thanking you,” he felt moved to
say. He stroked her hair with hands that didn’t feel as steady as he would have
liked. What was going on with him?

With an awkward laugh, she wrinkled her nose at him. “Okay,
let’s stop thanking each other before it gets embarrassing. We both had a good
time. End of story.”

She resettled herself in the crook of his arm and huffed out
a sigh. The warm night closed in as silence drifted over them. In the distance,
an ambulance siren wailed, but here in his room they were cocooned by white
curtains and soft linen and the warmth of their bodies. After a short while,
the regularity of Anna’s breathing told him she had fallen asleep.

By rights, he should be sleepy, too, but the vague nagging
at the back of his mind kept him awake.

We both had a good
time. End of story.

He wholeheartedly agreed with the first sentiment, but the
second? Not so much. Not if the dull ache in his chest had anything to do with
it. But it was no use wishing this wasn’t the end. No use wishing this was only
the start of the story.
The story of him and Anna.
No,
he’d agreed to her terms, so he had to honour them. His only hope lay in Anna
wanting to change those terms.

***

It had been a long time since Anna
had last snuck out of a man’s apartment at five-thirty in the morning, shoes in
her hand to lessen the noise. She felt terrible about her furtive exit. Only a
woman with regrets would do this, and she did not regret a single moment of the
night she’d spent with Giles. In truth, it was the opposite of regret that made
her slide out from under his arm at the crack of dawn and quietly
pick
up her discarded clothing.

When she looked down at Giles fast asleep, his big, strong
body sprawled beneath the sheets, her breath caught, and it was all she could
do not to crawl back into bed and seek his warmth. But somehow she stopped
herself; she couldn’t allow herself to get involved with Giles. Not after all
her hard work and sacrifice. She had set the rules—one night only, no
exceptions—and she bloody well had to stick to them.

Which was why she couldn’t wake Giles up
and say goodbye because she wasn’t sure she could resist the temptation of his
warm, sleepy body.

Feeling like a thief, she crept out of his apartment, easing
the door closed until it shut with a faint click. Early morning sunshine
slanted through the trees as she exited his building. The air was balmy with
the promise of soaring temperatures later. She had things to do, deadlines to
meet, goals to achieve. She couldn’t afford to get hung up on one night, no
matter how spectacular it had been. Squaring her shoulders, she set off down
the street, never once looking back.

Resting her elbows on the desk, Anna
rubbed her gritty eyelids as she stifled a yawn. It had been a long week, but
finally all the coding and unit testing was done, her project was ready for
user acceptance testing, and she had made the Friday afternoon deadline. Relief
ballooned over her, leaving her feeling a little shaky as it hit her how stressful
the last few days had been.

She hadn’t suffered alone; Giles had been right there with
her, working long hours into the night with the kind of ferocious concentration
she’d never encountered before. It had lifted her regard of him even higher.

Footsteps sounded as someone neared her desk. Even with her
eyes closed she knew it was Giles. Over the past week she’d become so attuned
to him that she could sense his presence just by the cadence of his footfalls.

“Here you go.” His warm voice wrapped around her, causing a
shiver of awareness to slide down her back.

The fragrant aroma of coffee teased her as she opened her eyes
and leaned back in her chair. Two chocolate and hazelnut biscotti rested on a
serviette next to a fresh coffee. Over the past week she and Giles had taken
turns buying coffee, but she had decided that the biscotti would have to wait
until after they’d made the deadline.

“Two?” She swivelled in her chair to glance across the pod
where Giles had already retreated to his desk on the opposite side.

“A reward for all your endeavours.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled up as he sipped his own coffee.

“Then you deserve one of them at least,” she said. “You’ve
worked just as hard.” She placed one of the biscotti on a tissue for herself,
picked up the serviette with the remaining one, and walked it over to his desk.

Giles’s eyes widened as she approached him, and she was
hyper-aware of his scrutiny. Her heart thudded disconcertingly as she placed
the biscuit on his desk.

“Thanks.” His voice was cautious.

Their eyes met, and for a moment she was lost as his vivid
blueness sucked her in, triggering images of their night together to play out
on the canvas of her mind. When she blinked back to awareness, she saw that
Giles was tensed as if he might leap out of his chair at any second. Oh God,
did he fear she was about to make a pass at him right here in the office? The
realisation made her ribs constrict.

A group of people walked past their pod, chattering noisily.
Anna swung round and hurried back to her desk. It took several minutes before
her breathing recovered.

She’d tried her hardest to suppress her memories, but every
now and then she was ambushed, and her body was overwhelmed as she relived the
night she’d had with Giles. But Giles didn’t appear to suffer the same weakness.
Since that night, his behaviour had been impeccable. He’d treated her with
respect and humour, never once displaying any familiarity or alluding to their
night together. He was the soul of discretion, just as she’d hoped for...yet
perversely she couldn’t help feeling a pang of disappointment.

Because, if she had to be honest with herself, a part of her
wished their one night could be repeated. Not only that, she wished their night
together could have been the start of something more, something richer and
deeper and more wonderful than she could imagine.

One night with Giles had not nearly been enough.

But she couldn’t have any more of Giles. Not when he was
here at
FrogLeap
. Not when, according to her manager,
there was every chance he’d be offered a permanent role. Not when her chances
of promotion depended on maintaining a squeaky clean office reputation.

Besides, judging by Giles’s demeanour, he didn’t want more
from her. He might have enjoyed their night, but that was where his interest in
her ended. Maybe she’d just been a challenge to his male virility, and once he’d
conquered her, he was satisfied. He’d scratched that itch, and now he was
comfortable.

More fool her.

She stared blindly at her monitor, desperately wishing she
could go home and bury her head beneath her pillows.

***

At six o’clock Giles powered off his
laptop and slipped it into his satchel. Since Anna’s project was now officially
in user acceptance testing, he was no longer needed, and come Monday he’d be
working on something else.

“Let me know if there are any problems,” he said to Anna.

“I’m sure there won’t be,” she replied, her voice just a
little tight. Her lips stretched into a bright smile. “Besides, you’ll be too
busy with Charles’ problems.”

Giles sighed inwardly. All week he’d been on hyper-alert,
waiting for a sign or slightest hint from Anna that she might be thinking about
their night together. When he’d woken up alone in his bed, the stinging
disappointment had surprised him, and the feeling hadn’t subsided as the days
wore on. It had confirmed to him that he was hoping for something more from
Anna, but it appeared that hope was one-sided. For Anna, the one night was all
she wanted. She’d satisfied her burning curiosity, and she wasn’t willing to
jeopardise her career by getting into a messy affair with him.

Fair enough. He couldn’t get annoyed with her for sticking
to their agreement. It was him who wanted to renege.

“Thank you, Giles,” Anna said, her arms folded.
“For all your expertise.”

The formality of her tone pricked him. “
Hey,
and what about the biscotti I got you?” He grinned, trying to lighten the mood,
to forge a connection with her.

She gave him a faint smile.
“And those,
too.”
She tipped her head towards her desk, indicating a desire to
return to her computer. “Uh, you’ll have to excuse me. Lionel’s hounding me for
some budget reports.”

“Sure.” He wasn’t looking forward to next week, where he’d
be working on a different floor. He wouldn’t be able to surreptitiously feast
his eyes on Anna when she came into work each day. Wouldn’t be able to sit near
her or inhale her perfume or talk to her, even if it was only to discuss bugs.
His heart sank a little lower, but he couldn’t pester her for attention, and
she clearly wanted him to leave so she could return to her reports.

“Call me if you need anything,” he said.

She nodded wordlessly. It was time to leave. He forced
himself to hitch his satchel over his shoulder and walk away.

Deep down, he knew she wouldn’t call him.
Because
she didn’t need him for anything anymore.

***

Two weeks later, Anna was called to
Lionel’s office. She took the seat opposite her manager’s desk and pleated her
fingers together. The project had passed user acceptance testing with flying
colours, so she knew she hadn’t been summoned here for a dressing down.

Lionel smiled at her as he pushed the keyboard away from
him. “So, I thought it was time for a catch up now that you’ve got some spare
time.”

Anna pressed her lips together. “Spare time? I’ve barely
caught up with all the reports everyone seems to want so urgently.” The one
drawback about being project manager was the deluge of paperwork that needed to
be completed each week. “And by the way,” she felt compelled to add, “the
client code will be shipped next week, right on schedule.”

“Good to know,” Lionel said. “Although you should have told
me sooner about the problems Oscar left. That could have seriously affected
things.” He gave her a small frown.

Anna had finally told her boss about the bugs Oscar had
covered up, and he hadn’t been too pleased. Clearly Oscar wouldn’t be getting
any references from
FrogLeap
. She shrugged at
Lionel’s concerns. “I appraised the situation and made a judgement call. I
would have alerted you if it seemed completely disastrous, but I thought we
could still make the deadline.”

“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
.