All Work and No Play (6 page)

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—”

“Anna,” he broke in, his voice suddenly intense and urgent.
“That’s precisely why I can’t stay at
FrogLeap
. I
can’t stand it that you treat me as if nothing ever happened between us. I
can’t bear the thought that after such an incredible night together you can
sweep it all under the carpet and carry on as before.”

Stunned, she gaped at him. “But that’s what we agreed,” she
said faintly.

“I know, but I can’t do it. It’s killing me, Anna.”

“
Killing
you?” She
frowned. “I hardly think so. You haven’t done or said anything out of the
ordinary as far as I can tell.”

“That’s because I’m a good actor. But I can’t act forever.” He
paused to rifle his fingers through his hair, and for a moment he seemed tired
and tense. “I can’t hide my feelings forever.”

“Feelings?”
A wild emotion gripped
her heart, something that felt like a mixture of hope and fear.

Giles closed the gap between them and clasped her shoulders.
The feel of his hands against her bare skin sent waves of desire crashing
through her.

“Anna, I came here to ask you if you’d like to have dinner
with me tonight.”

“Dinner.”
She could only echo him,
amazed at what she thought he was really asking her.

“Yes, dinner.”
A faint smile eased
some of the tension from his face. “I want to take you on a proper date.
Lots of proper dates where everyone can see us and see how crazy I
am for you.”

She started to shake as confirmation of what she’d secretly yearned
for began to trickle into her brain. “Oh, Giles,” she murmured. “I would love
to go on lots of proper dates with you.”

Relief spread across his face. “Thank you.” Leaning forward,
he placed a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose. “You’re gorgeous.”

“I’m sweaty and smelly and a total mess.”

“Like I said, gorgeous.”
His gaze
swept over her. “I almost had a heart attack when you opened the door wearing
so little. That tank top moulds to every inch of you, darling, and those shorts
are enough to give me a heart attack.”

She laughed breathlessly. “I was cleaning the house.”

“Excuse me, but if you tried cleaning around me in that
getup, you’d never get anything done.”

He wrapped his arms around her and dipped his head to press
a tender kiss on her mouth. She melted into him, giddy with disbelief at the
sudden turn of events, and kissed him back with all the fervour she’d been
forced to suppress these past weeks. The kiss was threatening to get out of
control when her mobile phone started to ring. She was tempted to let it go to
voicemail until Giles reluctantly loosened his hold on her.

“You’d better get that,” he sighed.

“Always the professional,” she teased him as she reached for
her phone.

“Anna,” Lionel’s voice boomed in her ear. “Hope I’m not
interrupting anything?”

“Um, no.”
She took a couple of
steps away from Giles in order to regain her composure. “What can I do for you,
Lionel?”

“I realised I forgot to tell you something important at our
meeting. Do you have a current passport?”

“Yes, but why?”

“We want you to represent
FrogLeap
at the tech con in San Francisco next month.”

For a few seconds Anna was speechless. Only experienced
managers went to the con, and as a newly promoted project manager she’d never
thought she’d be chosen this year, but today was turning out to be full of
surprises. After a moment, she sputtered out her thanks.

“You deserve it,” Lionel assured her. “We’re all expecting
big things from you, Anna.”

She repeated her thanks before she ended the call and spun
back to Giles with an enormous grin.

“I’m going to the tech con in San Francisco!”

His face lit up. “Darling, that’s wonderful.”

She flung herself in his arms and kissed him passionately.
After a few blissful moments, she drew back to look at him.

“But what about you?
Are you sure
you can’t stay at
FrogLeap
?”

Giles shook his head. “No. We both know that’s not an
option. I want you, Anna.” His eyes grew sober again. “I suspect if you knew
exactly how much I want you, it might make you a little nervous.”

“Nope.
You know me; I don’t scare
easily.”

“Glad to hear it, because I’m not joking, Anna. I want
something serious with you.”

Her breath hitched at the deep sincerity in his expression.
“Why me, Giles?
You’ve been a bachelor all these years. Why
settle for me?”

“God, woman, I’m not settling for you.” He squeezed her
waist, his face intent. “You’re smart, intelligent, ambitious, loyal,
hard-working, honest, drop dead gorgeous, and the most amazing woman I’ve ever
met. I’d be the luckiest man in the world if you chose to be with me.”

His heartfelt words dissolved her bones so she had to cling
to him, and it was no hardship having his powerful chest to support her.

“And you are an incredible, unique man,” she whispered back,
cupping his face between her hands. “No other man would do what you’ve
done,
passing up on the job he wanted just to be with me.”

“Anna, I can always get another job, but there’s only one
you.”

His eyes burned with conviction as he lowered his mouth to
hers and allowed his lips to convince her of the truth.

~THE END~

Dear Reader

Thank
you for reading All Work and No Play. If you enjoyed this book please consider
leaving a review.

Have
you read Serendipity Book 1 Fireworks
At
Midnight? It’s
available now on
Amazon
,
Amazon UK
,
Amazon AU
. It’s also free on Kindle Unlimited.

Watch
out for Serendipity Book 3 coming out later this year!

If
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www.coleenkwan.com/p/contact-me.html
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Thanks
once again!

Coleen
Kwan

Coleen Kwan has been a bookworm all her life. At school
English was her favourite subject, but for some reason she decided on a career
in IT. After many years of programming, she wondered what else there was in
life — and discovered writing. She loves writing contemporary romance and
steampunk
romance.

Coleen lives in Sydney, Australia with her partner and two
children. When she isn’t writing she enjoys avoiding housework, eating
chocolate, and watching Criminal Minds.

Contact Coleen at her website
www.coleenkwan.com
and sign up for her
newsletter at
www.coleenkwan.com/p/contact-me.html
.

~
Contemporary
~

When Harriet Came Home

Short Soup

Real Men Don’t Break Hearts

Real Men Don’t Quit

Stranded With a Hero (White-Hot Holiday)

One Real Man

Baiting the Boss

Bittersweet Rescue

Undercover in the CEO’s Bed

When the CEO Calls

~
Steampunk
/ Historical
~

Asher’s Invention

Asher’s Dilemma

Darke
London

The House on Gemini Square

~
Other
~

Moonlit Encounters (anthology)

Timeless Encounters (anthology)