“Oddly, Zach, yes, I will.” Her voice rose to a sharp peak and a group of Japanese tourists at the reception desk turned to look at them. “We wrote that report together. Equally. Which means we should both get credit for the bloody thing.”
“We will. Your name is on the cover, Audrey.”
“Oh, thanks. That’s going to make all the difference when Whitman reads it, after chatting to you man-to-man while you were out running and having you hand it over to him personally. He’s totally going to ignore both those things and read my name on the cover and realize that I wrote half that freaking report, too.”
Zach was starting to look pissy. “What was I supposed to do? Tell him to wait for the report he’d commissioned because I wasn’t sure if my coauthor would approve of him reading it without her being around? That was never going to happen.”
He made it sound so natural that he’d shafted her. As though anyone else would have done the same.
“I’m not an idiot, Zach. Don’t pretend you weren’t using that report to gain leverage with Whitman.”
“Are you telling me you wouldn’t have done the same?”
She took a step back, genuinely astounded. “So you’re admitting that you shamelessly used our report to adhere your lips to Whitman’s backside?”
“That’s not what I said. Look me in the eye and tell me if you discovered you’d inadvertently scored five minutes alone with Whitman and he’d asked to see the report you wouldn’t have handed it over.”
“I have no idea, since I didn’t go out hunting for him this morning at the crack of dawn. Actually, I do have an idea. I was in the lift with him yesterday, just him and me and Megan, and somehow I managed to not even mention let alone hand over the report.”
“I run every morning. Rain or shine.”
“How convenient for you.”
“You’re overreacting, Audrey. Go get some fresh air and calm down and we can talk about this more rationally.”
She blinked at him, momentarily lost for words. Wow. Just...wow. First he did her over, then he tried to minimize his betrayal by making her look like a drama queen.
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for nearly two weeks because of that report. And you just climbed over my body to get what you wanted. So don’t you dare try to tell me I’m overreacting or dramatizing anything. You patronizing asshat.” Her voice was quivering with emotion and she could feel angry tears burning at the back of her eyes.
No way was she going to let them fall, though. No way would she give him that satisfaction.
“I know how hard you worked on the analysis. We both did. And Whitman will know that when we present it to him formally. You’ll say your piece, he’ll realize you know your stuff, he’ll be impressed. You’re freaking out over nothing here.”
He was so sincere. So convincing.
“I can’t work out if you really believe that or if you think I’m a gigantic moron. He’s not going to bother sitting through our presentation now that he’s got the report, Zach. Why would he waste precious time going over something he’s already read? No, you just hit a home run for yourself with my work. Congratulations, champ. You’ll go far.”
She turned on her heel and headed for the lifts.
“Audrey.”
She ignored him, stepping into the waiting elevator. The last thing she saw as the doors closed was Zach watching her with a frown on his face. As though he was sincerely baffled by what had happened.
The jerk.
She held on to her tears until she was in the safety of her hotel room. Then she paced, her heels biting into the carpet, fingers wiping away the tears as they plopped hotly onto her cheeks.
She’d worked so hard on that report. She’d brought her A-game, and she’d done good work. And now Zach was going to get the credit. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that that would be the case. She knew the way the world worked, the way people worked. Whitman might see her name on the cover of the report—maybe—but he’d remember talking to Zach about it. And she didn’t doubt for a second that Zach had been articulate and smart and sharp as he discussed their findings.
That was what Whitman was going to take away from two weeks of her life—that Zach Black was an intelligent, hardworking young executive with energy and zeal to spare. The kind of guy a CEO should probably promote, if such things were on his mind. Definitely the kind of guy he couldn’t afford to lose.
“You sneaky, underhanded, self-serving asshole.”
Saying the words out loud helped, but they didn’t change how profoundly stupid she felt. These past two weeks she’d done a complete one-eighty where Zach was concerned. She’d gone from seeing him as a well-fed fat cat, a son of wealth and privilege, to seeing the real him—a driven, highly ambitious guy who had worked damned hard to be able to afford the nice things in life. She’d been impressed. Worse, she’d been lulled and charmed by his undeniable charisma and physical good looks into overlooking his razor-sharp ambition. She’d taken her eye off the ball and focused instead on his legs and ass and shoulders. God, she’d been so far gone that she’d almost cast him as the star of her personal fantasy.
And he hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice her for his own means. In fact, she was willing to bet he hadn’t even considered how his actions would affect her. Why would he? He wasn’t stupid.
Like her.
He hadn’t been toying with breaking the cardinal rule of corporate life: don’t dip your pen in the office ink. Nope. He’d been busy keeping his eye on the end game. Looking out for himself and his future.
She paced until the first flush of fury had passed, then spent five minutes repairing her makeup. All the while, she picked away at the problem, trying to find some way to recover at least some of the ground she’d lost. The best option she could come up with was to look for an opportunity for a private word with Whitman. She’d mention the report, let him know she was aware Zach had handed it over, then refer to some facts and figures to let him know she was totally familiar with the content. Force him to put a face to the other name on the front cover.
It didn’t even come close to the hour she and Zach had had scheduled with him on Tuesday morning, but it would have to do, since she was as sure as she could be that the meeting would be canceled. In fact, she’d stake her career on it.
Still steaming, she left her room. There was no time for her to eat before the first session, but that was okay, since her belly was a boiling cauldron of acid and anger and self-recrimination. Food would not be a great addition to that mix.
One thing was for sure: she would not be letting Zach under her guard again. Not in a million years.
* * *
ZACH STARED AT the lift door long after Audrey had disappeared behind it. A part of him was tempted to go after her, but then he remembered the cold fury in her eyes and decided to give her time to calm down before he attempted to fix things between them.
Because the last thing he’d intended to do was disadvantage her. The very last. Contrary to her belief, he had not gone out running in the hope of “accidentally” meeting Whitman. He’d been blowing off two day’s worth of rich food, reveling in the clean offshore breeze as he ran along the hard-packed sand at the waterline. He hadn’t given a second thought to the lean, gray-haired figure running toward him until they were only a few meters away from crossing paths. Then he’d recognized Whitman and barely had time to raise a hand in acknowledgment before the other man had swept past.
It was only later, when Zach was on his return journey, that he’d spotted Whitman stretching on the dry sand near the stairs to the street. He’d debated going over to strike up conversation, not wanting to intrude on Whitman’s down time. Then Whitman had called out to him by name, asking him how he was finding his first Makers conference. Zach said all the right things before Whitman raised the competitor analysis. Zach had been surprised the man even knew who’d been assigned to the task. He’d answered Whitman’s questions, made a few observations, and pretty much figured that was
that. Then Whitman had asked him to hand the report over at breakfast.
Zach had hesitated. Of course he’d hesitated. He had only a draft copy, one that he’d discovered a handful of typos in. There was an outside chance he could make the corrections and get a clean copy printed and bound, but not by breakfast. He explained that to Whitman, feeling like an apologist beneath the man’s unforgiving, steely gaze. But Whitman had been all easy affability as he waved off a few typos. He could read around spelling mistakes. He’d catch up with Zach at eight in the foyer.
As Zach had told Audrey, he hadn’t been in a position to say no to the man. It had been a direct request, almost an order, and Zach was smart and experienced enough to know that you didn’t second-guess or disappoint a guy like Whitman.
Had he considered Audrey in any of the above? The honest answer was “not really.” The conversation on the beach had happened so quickly, it had been over before he knew it. When he’d gone back to his room to shower and collect the report, he’d definitely thought about her reaction to him handing over a flawed version of their work. She was a stickler for details. But he’d figured she would understand that he hadn’t had much choice.
More fool him. She’d been white-hot furious, determined to see the situation as a landgrab from him. Which said a lot about the way she viewed him.
He’d thought they’d become friends over the past few days. He’d thought they liked each other.
Again, more fool him.
Shaking his head, he went to grab breakfast. Despite piling his plate high, though, he found he’d lost his appetite. Having Audrey’s words echoing in his head didn’t help.
You just hit a home run for yourself with my work. Congratulations, champ. You’ll go far.
He pushed his plate away. He considered himself a pretty honest guy. Reasonably self-aware. If he’d set out to accost Whitman and deliberately dangled the report in front of the man, he wouldn’t shy away from the fact. He was ambitious. He’d always been ambitious, and he wasn’t about to apologize for that. But he hadn’t engineered today’s meeting on the beach, and he hadn’t been the one to bring up the report. He’d been stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he’d done the smart thing. The same thing Audrey would have done, incidentally, had their positions been reversed, because at this stage in their careers, being ambitious meant they had to tug their forelocks on occasion and jump through whatever flaming hoop was on offer. He didn’t enjoy doing it, but he endured it because one day he knew he would be in control of his own destiny, in every possible way. It was a promise he’d made himself years ago, and he planned on honoring it.
Audrey had judged him and found him guilty without entering into a discussion. She’d jumped to the most obvious conclusion, and wasted no time condemning him. Frankly, it pissed him off. He didn’t like being painted as a ruthless butt kisser who was prepared to do anything to curry favor with the higher-ups—including sacrificing a colleague on the altar of his ambition.
She was out of line. Way out of line.
His self-righteous indignation lasted until lunchtime, when he was standing in the buffet line. He was reaching for a miniature chicken-and-brie baguette when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
“Here he is. Zach, I was just discussing your report with Rob. You’ve given us a great starting place.”
It was Whitman, with the chairman in tow.
“I particularly like the sound of this SWOT section you’ve put together,” Rob Atkinson said, his craggy face serious. “We’re going to need every advantage we can lay our hands on to hold our own against those big corporates over the next few years.”
For some reason he couldn’t explain, he glanced to his left. There, on the other side of the buffet, was Audrey. Her face was set into a politely neutral expression, but her eyes were hot with accusation.
This is what I knew would happen, her gaze said. Thanks for selling me up the river, jerkwad.
He had to admit, from where she stood, it looked pretty bad. As though her contribution to the report really had been overlooked, despite the fact that her name was right alongside his on the front cover.
Zach returned his focus to the two men in front of him, determined to fix this here and now.
“I can’t take all of the credit. Audrey Mathews and I—”
Whitman’s hand landed on his shoulder a second time in an unmistakable gesture of farewell. “We can talk about this more another time, Zach. Rob, I wanted to have a word with you and the team from Dulux before you head off on the store tour this afternoon...”
“Mr. Whitman,” Zach said, but the two men were already walking away.
He turned to face Audrey, hoping she’d at least witnessed his attempt to ensure that she enjoyed the credit she was due. She wasn’t there, though. He stepped away from the buffet and scanned the crowd. He couldn’t leave the situation like this. Not now that he knew that her prediction of events was closer to reality than his own.
He spotted her sitting outside at one of the tables in the courtyard. For the moment she was alone, even though seating was at a premium, and he made a beeline for her.
“Audrey,” he said when he arrived at her table.
She kept her attention on her plate. For all the world as though he wasn’t there.
“Let’s talk about this.” He reached for the empty chair beside her, only to discover it wouldn’t budge beneath his hand. It took him a moment to understand why. Glancing beneath the table, he saw that she’d hooked her foot behind the chair rung and was holding it in place.
“Seriously?” he asked.
She didn’t lift her gaze. “Go away.”
She sliced off a portion of frittata with her knife, the sound making a very distinct clink as metal hit china. He stared down at her shiny brown hair, trying to find the words to cut through her anger. It had been a long time since he’d cared so much about having someone’s good opinion.
“Audrey—”
“If you don’t go, I will hurt you with this fork.”
“We can fix this—”
She stood so quickly her chair almost toppled over. Still not glancing at him, she walked away.
He was considering his next move when Gary stopped beside him.
“Slick move getting the report to Whitman early. He’s happy as a clam.” He gave Zach an approving wink before moving off.
Zach gritted his teeth. Even though he knew he wasn’t the asshole in this situation, he was getting a pretty clear picture of how things must look from Audrey’s perspective. And it wasn’t pretty.
He owed her an apology. Not because he’d set out to do her wrong, but because circumstances had left her holding the shitty end of the stick. He might not have intended it to be that way, but it was what had happened, and it wasn’t fair.
This time he didn’t even consider going after her. She needed space. He’d give her some time, then try when they were in Melbourne. Perhaps he’d even wait until after they’d delivered their joint presentation. Having her moment in the sun with Whitman would surely go a long way toward assuaging her anger.
In accordance with his strategy, he kept his distance for the remaining day and night of the conference. He was thankfully seated at the far end of the plane for the flight home, and he grabbed a cab from the airport rather than pool with his colleagues.
He logged on to the internet the moment he got home, even though it was nearly midnight. It took him ten minutes to find a locally based online florist. He ordered the brightest, biggest bunch of flowers he could find and arranged for them to be delivered the following day. He kept the card simple—I’m sorry. Can we please talk? I’ll even buy the pizza—and sat back feeling marginally better.
Actions spoke louder than words, after all. Audrey might not want to listen to him, but she couldn’t ignore a big bunch of flowers.
At least, he hoped she couldn’t. Hopefully they would soften her resolve, and after their presentation Tuesday morning they could talk and put thi
s misunderstanding behind them.
He stared at the order confirmation on his computer, remembering the laughter they’d shared while they worked on the report. He’d always felt as though he was on the outside looking in when it came to Audrey, but she’d let him in during those late nights and early mornings. He didn’t want to be on the outside again.
He wanted in. Not sexually, because that would never happen, but he wanted to be on the receiving end of her smiles again. He wanted to have the right to stop by her office and talk for five minutes, or to send her an email, simply because he thought it would amuse her.
Weary, he knuckled his eyes. Flowers. He had to trust in the flowers.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AUDREY HAD A morning meeting with a supplier the following day and didn’t arrive at work until midday. Her step was brisk as she made her way to the merchandising area. The first week after conference was always busy, and she’d come armed with a stash of muesli bars, having already resigned herself to no lunch and a late night at her desk in order to catch up.
It wasn’t until she was in the middle of the open-plan section of the department that she noticed the heads turning as she passed by. A few people waved; others smiled as though they were in on some secret she’d yet to hear. She smiled and waved and checked surreptitiously that her buttons were all buttoned and her fly zipped.
Yes and yes. Maybe her sparkling presence had simply been missed while she was away. A little bemused, she paused by her assistant’s cubicle.
“Hey, Lucy. How was your weekend?”
Lucy was in her early twenties and very pretty and smart. Audrey shared her with two other buyers, but Lucy made no secret of the fact that Audrey was her favorite.
The younger woman’s head came up when she heard Audrey’s voice.
“Oh, my God, I have been dying for you to get in. I wanted to call you so badly but I knew you were in that meeting. Plus I didn’t want to ruin your surprise.” Lucy flicked her auburn ponytail over her shoulder, her eyes bright with excitement.
Audrey lifted an eyebrow. “What surprise?”
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