by Liz Bower
He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and hunched forward over the edge of the sofa, avoiding my gaze as he flicked through the list of recordings.
“Marco?”
“Yeah.”
His attention never left the TV. Maybe that was his way of telling me that the kiss had meant nothing to him. “I thought we were friends.” My voice came out lower than I meant and it sounded whiny. But Marco turned to look at me over his shoulder.
“We are friends.” He let out a sigh and dropped the remote.
He angled himself towards me, gazing intently into my eyes. His hand cradled my jaw as his thumb stroked across my cheek. I tried to swallow but my mouth had gone dry from the intensity in his eyes.
“But didn’t I say men and women are never just friends?”
He slid his hand to the back of my head and wrapped my hair around his fingers in a tight grip that was almost painful. Pulling my head back, he leaned in until I was pressed against the back of the sofa. His other hand trailed across my thigh until his fingers dug into my waist. I licked my lips as I stared up at him, lost in those gorgeous green eyes.
Slowly, as though he might spook me, he leaned in until his lips touched mine and my eyelids fluttered shut. Except this was Marco. I shouldn’t be doing this. He was the same as Josh and I was going to be the one who ended up getting hurt. Again.
I pressed my palms against his chest and pushed. “Marco?”
At the sound of my voice, he looked up at me and took my breath away. His eyes were bright, lips wet and swollen from our kisses. But still … “What are we doing?”
He leaned back and gave me that cocky smile. “If I have to explain, then I’m not doing it right.”
I chewed on my lip because that wasn’t what I meant and he knew it. He trailed a finger down my cheek, leaned back in, and my gaze dropped to his lips. What were we doing? But then his lips met mine and the question got lost to the lust Marco was stirring up again. And I surrendered.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, arching up into the firmness of his chest. His lips parted, his hot tongue tracing across my bottom lip, and I moaned. He flicked his tongue along my lips and then thrust it between them.
I slid a hand down his back and over his arse. At the flex of my fingers, Marco thrust his hips forward, pressing against my waist, and I shifted closer. He swung a leg over mine, straddling my thighs. There was no mistaking Marco wanted me as his hard length pressed against me.
I tangled my tongue with his and my stomach muscles clenched. Then he sucked on my tongue and I groaned as his hips moved in sync. His hand slid up from my waist over my shirt and he released my tongue to press kisses along my jaw and down towards my neck. When his hand reached my breast, I pulled away from him, trying to drag in a breath.
The front door slammed and I tore myself from Marco’s embrace, pushing him off me as I jumped up from the sofa.
“You guys home?”
Gabi. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth and looked at Marco. He gave me a smirk before pressing a hand to his crotch and then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees before picking the remote up again. How could he sit there looking so calm when I was a hot mess?
“Hey.”
I glanced away from Marco to meet Gabi’s concerned gaze.
“You look pale. Are you okay?”
What was I supposed to say? ‘Sorry, I was just kissing your brother and freaked when you walked in.’ “I, er … Alex gave the job to someone else.”
Gabi wrapped her arms around my waist, and I dropped my forehead against her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted it.”
And that made me feel even worse. God, I was a crap friend. But how could I tell her I had kissed Marco when I didn’t even know what was happening between us?
Gabi released me, and I gave Marco a sideways glance, but he was still flicking through the listings.
“What are you going to watch?”
My gaze locked with Marco’s and all I could think was how his lips had felt on mine.
Marco smirked and turned his attention to Gabi. “I thought we could order a takeaway and watch a film. Try and … distract Jo.”
Heat rushed into my cheeks at Marco’s idea of a distraction technique before Gabi had interrupted.
“Sounds great,” she said and headed upstairs.
Marco groaned. “My sister has impeccable fucking timing.”
Yes, she did. I was kind of glad; how far would it have gone if she hadn’t interrupted? I had wanted to talk to Marco about what was happening, but instead, I’d been swept up in the moment, unable to think when Marco was that close.
It was like he could shut my brain off and my body took over. “Hmm.” That was the only answer I could muster right then.
Changed into her pyjamas, Gabi plonked herself on the sofa, dragging me down next to her and sandwiching me between the two of them.
“So what did Alex say? Who did he give the job to?”
I leaned back against the cushion and stared at the wall, trying to gather my thoughts, but I was still reeling from that kiss. “Erm … he was really nice about it. Called me an asset. But the woman he hired has more experience.”
Gabi rested her head on my shoulder and nudged my thigh with hers. “So it’s not all bad, then. At least it wasn’t because he didn’t think you could do the job. And who knows what will happen in the future.”
“I know.”
When the pizza that Marco had ordered arrived, the three of us sat squashed together on the sofa watching the film. But I couldn’t concentrate enough to follow the plot because Marco had his thigh pressed against mine. And every time he reached for his beer, he would trail his hand down my thigh. Even though Gabi was there, right next to me.
Then the film cut to a steamy scene and I squirmed uncomfortably on the seat, the film fading before my eyes to be replaced by images of Marco kissing me. I jumped when his fingers brushed over the side of my breast. Then he folded his arms across his chest as he traced his fingertips across my arm.
I couldn’t do it anymore so I jumped up from the sofa, making Gabi jerk.
“What’s wrong?”
Looking between the two of them, I got flustered. “Erm, nothing. I’m really tired. It’s been a long day. I think I’m going to have an early night.” I spun on my heel and headed upstairs.
CHAPTER TEN
I didn’t sleep well that night, plagued by strange dreams of Marco warning me about friends before we kissed again. But in the dream when I opened my eyes, it wasn’t Marco I was kissing but a dark-haired stranger with sapphire-coloured eyes.
Eventually I gave up on sleep and lay awake as thoughts of Marco looped through my head. After that kiss, I couldn’t deny the attraction between us but … I wasn’t interested in a fling, which I assumed was all it would be. A fling would make it awkward with Gabi and with his family if they found out. Still confused, I climbed out of bed to get ready for work.
Dressed in black trousers, a teal fitted shirt and black ankle boots, I made my way down the stairs on tiptoes at the sound of Marco and Gabi’s voices carrying from the kitchen.
“Have you even looked to see if there are any places available yet? You said two weeks, Marco. At the most. It’s already been nearly a week. That sofa can’t be comfortable either.”
I smiled at that because it was actually comfier than it looked. But Gabi didn’t need to know that.
“It’s not that bad, surprisingly. Don’t give me that look, Gabriella. I’ll start looking after work today, I swear.”
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I hurried through the living room hoping they would both stay in the kitchen. I was worried Gabi would take one look at me and Marco and know something was going on. Plus, I didn’t want to get caught up in one of their arguments. Maybe it was the fiery Italian blood inherited from their grandparents, or maybe it was just a sibling thing, but their fights could be epic. Marco and Gabi were
the closest in age out of their family, but then Marco also had a knack for winding people up.
Gently I opened the front door and pulled it shut quietly behind me, heading down the street towards the office even though it was the last place I wanted to be. Alex had mentioned the woman he’d hired had agreed to start straightaway. Carol. Just her name got me worked up.
Carol would be coming in to meet everyone before she started. I couldn’t say I was looking forward to meeting her. On the way to my desk, I glanced over at the coffee machine. Toby was staring at me, and I gave him a little wave. Roughly shoving my handbag in the desk drawer, I powered on my computer.
“Morning.”
I looked up straight into a pair of dirty blue eyes and my dreams from the previous night came back to me. Except Dan didn’t look like he wanted to kiss me. His dark eyebrows were drawn down, creating a little furrow above his nose. Lips pressed together into a straight line, he had his hands shoved in his trouser pockets.
“Morning,” I replied, overly cheery. Before I got the chance to say anything else, a hand gripped my shoulder and then Alex moved to stand between us with his back to Dan.
“I’m waiting for Carol to come in. I’d like to introduce you to her, Jo. Give me ten minutes with her and then come to my office?”
I’d like to give him a lot longer than that with her. “Of course.”
As Alex walked off to his office, my shoulders dropped at the thought of meeting Carol.
“Who’s Carol?”
“The woman who got the client analyst job I applied for. Even though Alex said he was impressed when I met the clients for dinner, Carol has more experience. She starts this week.”
“That’s why you were at the restaurant with Alex the other night, then?”
I nodded as an image of the woman Dan had been there with made my stomach clench. “Did you and your girlfriend have a nice night?”
Dan’s head dropped towards his shoulder as he frowned at me. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Oh. So who was the woman he walked out of the restaurant with?
“I assume the man you were with is your boyfriend?”
Ah, my fake boyfriend. How was I supposed to explain that? I couldn’t say no. What if Alex found out I’d lied? But if I said yes … I sank my teeth into my lip and gazed up at Dan. “Er, yeah? It’s … we haven’t been together long.” And then my office phone rang. As I answered it to the sound of Alex’s voice, Dan wandered off back upstairs. I scrubbed a hand down my face as Alex summoned me to his office. I pushed my shoulders back and told myself I could do this. Suck it up. The better woman won and it wasn’t me.
Didn’t mean I had to like Carol though.
Alex closed the office door behind me as I took a seat.
“Jo, this is Carol, our new client analyst. Carol, Jo is our senior software tester.”
I exchanged fake pleasantries with Carol, wishing Alex would just let me go back to my desk. Alex leaned back in his overstuffed leather chair as he steepled his fingers beneath his chin, elbows propped on the desk. That pose made my stomach clench in anticipation. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like whatever was coming.
Alex looked between us both. “I’ve been in touch with Lakeside Holidays over the weekend to try and sign them up to taking our software. As this will be Carol’s first account when she starts, I’d like the two of you to work on it together, if we land it. Jo, you can provide the software knowledge to get Carol up to speed. And Carol has agreed to share her process for documenting and analysing the client requirements. We’ll be having a dinner meeting with them again next week, and I want both of you there.”
I shifted in my seat at the thought of working so closely with Carol. I wasn’t sure what Alex was up to, but he had said I needed experience. Was this his way of offering me it?
“Jo, you should bring Marco. Lakeside Holidays are a small family-run business, and I want to show them that although we’re a larger company, it’s still a family one. Plus, he has a … calming influence on you. Makes you more focused.”
I bit down on my lip because the last thing I’d been feeling around Marco lately was calm. Not if the way my heart thundered when he was near was anything to go by. But I couldn’t carry on pretending he was my boyfriend. This wasn’t the time to bring it up though, not in front of Carol. I cleared my throat. “I’ll see if he can make it.”
Alex’s lips pursed but he just nodded. With a clap of his hands, he continued, “Okay. Well, I’ll leave you ladies to get to know each other and come up with some preliminary ideas for working on winning the account together.”
Carol and I stood at the same time. I gave her a sideways glance. She wasn’t what I had been expecting. I had imagined some power suit with immaculate hair and make-up. Instead, she looked kind of frumpy in a baggy jumper and a skirt that fell way below her knee. Her red hair was loose and a little frizzy. She reminded me of the eccentric geography teacher I’d had at school, just without the odd tights with a map of the world on them.
When Carol noticed me staring, she gave me a smile. “Should we make a start?”
Reluctantly I smiled back and agreed.
***
I dropped my handbag on the floor and slammed the front door behind me. Taking my anger out on inanimate objects seemed like a better idea than taking it out on the person I wanted to.
“Good day at work, I take it?”
I scrunched my nose up at Gabi before dropping down onto the sofa next to her. “What gave it away?” I leaned my head against her shoulder with a sigh.
“What happened?”
“Alex wants me to work on this account with Carol.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Gabi said.
I turned to face her. “It wouldn’t be if Carol didn’t have the job I wanted. Or, if she actually did some work. She’s almost as bad as Amy, just without the flirting and cleavage flashing. She’s supposed to teach me the analysis side of things, and I’ll teach her about the system side, but she spent most of the day wandering around the office chatting to people.”
Gabi ran her hand up my arm, giving it a squeeze. “Maybe she was just trying to get to know everyone. She might be different when you start work on the account.”
I sat up straight, glaring at Gabi, but then got distracted when Marco walked in. I dragged my gaze back to Gabi. “Yeah, I was willing to cut her some slack for that. But you know what she did?”
Gabi shook her head.
I could feel Marco’s gaze on me as I carried on. “She printed off three documents for me and told me to fill them out. That there wasn’t much else to the job. So I filled out what I could without talking to the client again. Then, when I asked her about a section of the form that made no sense, do you know what she said?”
Gabi shook her head again.
“She had the nerve to sit there next to me and say, and I quote, ‘I don’t know. I’m not really that good an analyst. Just Google it.’ Fucking Google it!” I waited for Gabi to be as outraged as I was.
Eventually, she said, “Maybe she was just trying to play down her abilities.”
I folded my arms across my chest and raised both eyebrows at her. “Google it, Gabi. She only got the job because she’s supposed to be so much more experienced than me. Experienced in what, Google?”
“Did you mention it to Alex?”
I glanced over in Marco’s direction where he was curled up in the armchair and shook my head. “I don’t want him to think it’s just sour grapes because I didn’t get the job.”
“Which it will do if you complain to Alex. You need to work it to your advantage,” Gabi said.
I flopped back against the cushion. “And how am I supposed to do that?”
“If the only reason she got the job is her experience, then use that to your advantage. If she really isn’t that good, then make sure you are. Show Alex at every opportunity that her experience doesn’t make her better. That you can do a better job than her even
without her so-called edge. If all she does is fill out a few forms, then find a way to be better than that.”
I pulled at the sleeve of my shirt, letting Gabi’s words sink in, knowing she was right.
“She might have the job now, but she may not forever. Show Alex how right you are for the job. He’s not stupid, so make him realise he hired the wrong woman,” Gabi said as she stood.
Gabi was right. I still wanted that job, and I knew I could do it better than Carol. Was I really going to give in at the first hurdle? I gave Gabi a rueful grin. “Thanks.”
“That’s what I’m here for. But I’ll have to leave you with those words of wisdom.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just a work thing,” Gabi replied with a wave of her hand.
“You’ve had a lot more work things recently. Is everything okay?”
Gabi’s gaze flitted towards Marco and then back before she nodded. Hmm. I didn’t believe her, and if Marco weren’t there, I would have asked more. “Okay. Maybe we can have a girls’ night soon. Just the two of us.”
“Sounds good. And don’t worry about Carol. Just do the amazing job you always do and it’ll all work out in the end, I’m sure.”
I wished I had her confidence. My life seemed to be going off plan. The job I’d wanted for so long was someone else’s, I had a fake boyfriend, and Gabi appeared to be keeping something from me.
After she left, Marco came to sit beside me, his thigh pressed against mine.
“Are you okay?”
I shrugged one shoulder because I wasn’t sure. I felt out of control of my own life. It wasn’t a feeling I liked. “We need to talk,” I said, glancing up at him and giving him a small smile. “Alex … There’s another client dinner, and Alex said I should invite you again, but it’s fine. You don’t have to. I can’t carry on with the fake boyfriend thing and I don’t want to keep lying to Alex. If he found out, well, I could probably kiss that job goodbye for good.”
His thigh brushed against mine as I fidgeted at the images the word ‘kiss’ had elicited. As my heart rate picked up, I let out a laugh.
