by Liz Bower
“Yeah, I guess.”
I had thought that would cheer him up, but he sounded a little lost. I dragged my finger away from him but he flicked his hand over and twined our fingers together. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “It’ll all work out. You’ll see.”
“I got the day off work, and I’ve got a few places lined up this afternoon to look at and over the weekend. I think Gabi’s patience is running out.” He blew out a long breath. “I don’t know. I thought I knew where my life was going. Okay, I might have been coasting a bit, but I had this vague plan in my head and I’m not sure Lily was definitely part of it but … I found her in bed with another fucking man.” He raked his free hand through his hair. “I think that pissed me off more than the fact that it was over. Do you know what she said? That it wasn’t what it looked like. It was exactly like it bloody looked like. I told her I still remembered the days when we used to do that and the moron had the nerve to fucking snigger. I should have fucking punched him.”
Marco let out a harsh laugh, and I rolled over to face him. I couldn’t imagine what he must have gone through, finding them together. I placed my other hand on his chest.
“But then she said it didn’t mean anything, like that would make it better somehow. And now it’s like the time we were together was just a waste. I keep wasting my time on things that, if I’m honest, I don’t even really want.”
I pulled my hand away from his chest, wondering if I was included in that. Being my fake boyfriend was hardly something he would want.
He gave my hand a squeeze and after a moment gave me a small smile. Shaking his head, he said, “Come on, I’ll walk you back to the office.”
Quietly he packed up the blanket and what was left of the lunch. He grabbed hold of my hand again, dragging me up the side of the river bank and back to the path. As we started along the path, he kept hold of my hand, but it was a quiet stroll.
When we reached the office, he dropped my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Thanks for lunch,” I said.
A lazy smile spread across his lips. “My pleasure.”
His gaze flicked to the office entrance behind me before his hold on my waist tightened and he pulled me closer. His gaze dropped to my mouth, and my heart pounded as I licked my dry lips. Slowly he leaned in until his lips brushed against mine, and my hands wrapped around his waist. My lips parted as his tongue licked against them and my fingers tightened their hold on him.
“You’re going to be late back to work, Jo.”
I jumped at the sound of my name and pulled away from Marco to see Toby staring at us. My cheeks flushed, but he continued to stare at me. I cleared my throat and looked back to Marco, smiling. “I’ll see you tonight. Good luck with the house hunting.”
Reluctantly, it seemed, he released his hold on me.
“Until tonight,” he said, giving me a strange look before throwing a glare in Toby’s direction.
I waved and then headed into the office, not waiting for Toby to follow.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That night I didn’t see Marco. I don’t know what I’d been expecting to happen anyway, with Gabi there, but every noise I heard from outside had me wondering if it was Marco arriving home yet. Gabi glanced at me several times, asking me what was wrong, but I brushed off her questions.
Finally I gave in and casually asked Gabi if she knew where Marco was. Apparently he was out with the boys from his office. Ridiculously, I was disappointed, even though we hadn’t made real plans. But the picnic had felt like a date even though I had reminded myself several times that it wasn’t real. Yet it didn’t stop me thinking about it, about the kiss we’d shared.
Marco spent most of the weekend out of the house, and I was beginning to wonder if he was trying to avoid me. The times we had seen each other had been awkward. Gabi had been home so we couldn’t talk or … do anything else. Yet I’d catch him watching me when he thought I wasn’t looking before he quickly glanced away.
I don’t know what I expected to happen between us. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to happen between us. Usually at that point, I would confide in Gabi, but telling her I was wary of Marco because he reminded me of Josh probably wouldn’t go down too well with her. At least the Marco I thought I had known reminded me of Josh.
But by the end of the weekend, I found myself hoping he’d find somewhere else to live. That would make my life much simpler.
Monday didn’t start well, as I was stuck in a meeting with Carol at eight. Who had a meeting before work even began on a Monday? I kept the fake smile plastered across my face, hoping that it would start to look natural at some point.
But I was stuck listening to Carol rabbit on about her client’s needs. That would be the client requirements I had gathered, but I refused to lose it in a work meeting again. Instead, I kept the smile in place and nodded along with the others.
Finally the meeting was over. Even though I forced myself to stroll, I was still the first person out of the meeting room. The rest of the team joined me and were already in bitch mode about Carol.
“This is the third time she’s changed the requirements. We can’t start designing the test scripts until she sorts herself out. And you can guarantee that if we don’t hit the target implementation date, it will have absolutely nothing to do with her delays.”
I completely agreed, but I couldn’t let them get away with saying it at work. Carol was still a colleague, and she deserved professionalism at the least. “Okay enough. You know how hard it is to get a client to define their requirements. And accuracy now means fewer errors later. Carol is new here and to the way we work, so let’s cut her some slack.”
As they wandered off to their own desks still murmuring complaints, a hand dropped onto my shoulder making me jump.
“Commendable words, Jo, even if not entirely truthful. Can I have a word with you in my office?”
“Erm … sure.” I followed Alex and my gaze darted in Carol’s direction. She looked oblivious to me and Alex, so maybe this wasn’t down to her. Which part had he thought wasn’t true?
“I had brought you in here to question you, but after that little speech I’m not so sure anymore.”
Taking a seat, I wiped my hands down my trousers while trying not to be too obvious about it. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
“Here. Read this.”
He slid an envelope across his desk, and I slapped my hand on top of it before it flew off the edge. I looked from the envelope to him. When he nodded at me, I opened it and pulled out a folded, white piece of paper. I unfolded it, revealing a typed message, and I glanced up at Alex before reading it. My eyes widened and I slowly read it again. My eyebrows rose until my brow furrowed. “What? You thought I sent this?”
He shrugged. “It seemed like a logical assumption. Everybody knew how much you wanted the job. You were an obvious choice for someone who would hold it against Carol for taking it from you.”
“Of course I wanted the job, but I’m a big girl and I can handle the fact that I didn’t get it. Sending threats to my boss about it isn’t exactly a good idea unless I want to lose the job I do have. Am I happy she got the job? No, I’m not. Do I think she’s doing a good job?” I shrugged. “A lot of people in the office don’t think she is. I don’t know how many people besides me she’s told that she’s not the best client analyst, but it doesn’t exactly get people on her side. Especially when half of the testing team know I would love to have the job.
“I think she’s screwed up the client requirements, unless they’ve drastically changed their minds since that dinner. But I have to work with her, and I will make sure we do a good job. And I would never send something like this to anyone, and least of all you.” Taking a deep breath after my rant, I leaned back in the chair.
“I was hoping to deal with this myself. You were the obvious, easy answer.”
“Have you been to the police with this?”
“What’s the point?
There’s no actual threat to me personally, so what could they do? It’s highly unlikely there will be fingerprints on it, except for ours now. Anybody who watches CSI knows enough not to touch anything without gloves, and I’d hazard a guess that it was printed in our office. They’ll put it down to an office dispute and bury it at the bottom of their paperwork.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“HR has been made aware of the situation. I’ll keep a close eye on Carol … and you.”
“Why me?”
Alex took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with a finger and thumb. As he put them back on, he said, “Well, the message isn’t entirely clear. Does whoever sent it want Carol out of the way? Or are they trying to set you up to take the fall? Until I’m sure, I’ll keep a lookout for you both. Obviously all of this stays within these four walls. I haven’t said anything to Carol yet, and I haven’t decided if I will. It could all be a prank taken too far.”
“Of course.” The words from the letter ran through my head. It should be clear you hired the wrong woman. “Do you agree with what it says … the letter?”
“You know I can’t answer that. Just keep your ears and eyes open and come to me with anything. Let’s try and help Carol as much as we can. It might defuse the situation if the two of you are seen to be getting along.”
I grimaced internally. “I’ll do my best.”
As I left his office, I checked to see if anyone was paying any attention to me, wondering if I had an unknown ally or a foe in the office. Either way, it was worrying that they had gone to those lengths. Or maybe I was flattering myself and it had more to do with the fact that Carol was rubbing most people the wrong way.
Bad decisions have a way of coming back to haunt you, Alex. Rectify the situation, or I’ll be forced to do it for you. Shit. I agreed with the letter, that bad things could haunt you, but I’d never threaten Alex. Who would send something like that? The skin on my arms and legs tingled as goosebumps sprang up. Who would care that much that I didn’t get the job? I bit down on my lip and flicked my gaze around the office. But then, who hated Carol that much?
As I sat back down at my desk, my gaze landed on Toby loitering by the coffee machine. I couldn’t help it, the thought that he might be responsible because … well, he was a little odd. And he had said he would do anything for me. Did that include threatening Alex?
***
Later that day when I got home, Marco was sprawled across the sofa. The sight of him made me realise I’d missed him. My gaze dropped to his plain white T-shirt moulded across his sculpted chest and faded jeans that hugged his thighs and ended at his bare feet. Long toes and high arches. Who knew feet could be sexy? “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. Should I get the tub of ice cream?”
My lips twitched and almost broke into a smile. “No, it wasn’t that kind of day,” I said, kicking off my shoes before I curled up on the sofa.
“Want to tell me about it?”
Nicola had asked me about the meeting with Alex when I got back to my desk, but of course, I couldn’t tell her anything. She hadn’t been too happy about that. But Marco didn’t count in the ‘it stays within these four walls caveat,’ did he?
“I can see the cogs whirring.”
“What?”
“You’re trying to decide whether or not to tell me. It’s written all over your face. You can trust me.” He crossed a finger over his chest and said, “I won’t tell a soul. Not even Gabi.”
“What are you, a mind reader now?”
“No, but we’ve known each other since forever and technically we’re living together now. But if you don’t want to tell me, I understand.”
Clearly he was more observant than I was. How well did I know Marco? Well, this new Marco, who I had to admit I preferred. But guys didn’t feel the need to gossip like girls, did they? I could trust him enough not to repeat this, I was sure of that. The realisation that I had come to trust him over the last few weeks hit me. And it wasn’t like he would ever see anyone from my office, or at least not without me being there.
I let out a deep breath. Where to begin? “Okay, some of the people on my team were grumbling about Carol. So I pulled them up on it, and Alex heard me.”
“What? And he gave you a hard time?”
“No, just listen,” I said, turning to face him, my legs pressed against his. The warmth and strength of his muscled thigh calmed me. “Until he heard me say that, he was going to give me grief. He thought I was the number one suspect.”
“Suspect for what?”
I glared at him and pressed my lips together.
“Sorry, sorry. I just don’t like the idea of you getting hassled over Carol. I swear, no more interruptions.” He drew his pressed thumb and index finger across his lips, then tossed them over his shoulder.
I smiled before continuing. “Alex received a letter basically saying that hiring Carol was a bad decision on his part. He thought I was the obvious choice for who sent it.”
I held my hand up in warning before carrying on. “Whoever sent the message told him he should rectify the situation before they did and pretty much implied the solution Alex should take. They made it clear that they thought Carol was the wrong person for the job, and everybody knew who the right person was. But Alex was worried that maybe whoever sent it was trying to implicate me as the sender. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, either someone wants Alex to get rid of Carol so you can have the job, or they want Alex to believe you sent the letter so he’ll get rid of you. Either way, whoever sent it must have a screw loose. I know how much you wanted the job, but you’d never do anything like that. So why is it so important to someone else?”
“Exactly. That’s the bit I don’t understand. Who would go to such lengths to make sure I was sacked?” I sucked in a breath and said, “What if it was Carol? Maybe she wants me out of the way.”
Marco shook his head. “You really think so? She’s not even been there that long. And would she really imply you were the better person for the job? If you’re doing her work for her, why would she want to get rid of you?”
I shrugged. Carol seemed as likely a culprit as anyone else in the office.
“Do you know what the police have said?”
“Alex isn’t going to report it. He doesn’t think there will be any evidence they can use, and there’s no actual threat to anyone in the message.”
Marco took my hand in both of his. “You okay? Either way, you’re involved somehow.”
I placed my other hand on top of his and stared at our intertwined fingers. I hadn’t really thought beyond the receipt of that letter. What if whoever sent it took it further? How far were they willing to go? My worried eyes met his calm ones. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, it might have just been a prank. If it wasn’t then like Alex said, no actual threat has been made to me or him.”
“Just be careful, okay. Don’t do anything reckless like walking home on your own in the dark or trying to find out who sent it.”
I hadn’t been that worried before, but once Marco voiced his concerns my imagination got carried away and threw up images of me being attacked on the way home from work.
But he was right. Just because Alex wasn’t going to report it didn’t mean I shouldn’t be careful. Did that mean I should forget about who might be behind the threat though? Couldn’t I try and find out who was behind it and be careful at the same time?.
I wasn’t sure how I could do that. Yet. “I’ll be careful.”
Marco stood. “Gabi will be home soon. I’ve got to go out, check another flat to rent. Time to get my life sorted. I’ll see you later though.”
After the slam of the front door, the room was too quiet. Too many thoughts. Wasn’t that what I’d been hoping for, that he’d move out?
So why did the fact that he was moving on with his life bother me?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I placed the tube of mascara down on the sink and curled my hands ar
ound the edge of the cool ceramic. Clearly everything was catching up with me. Thinking of the ‘date’ I was getting ready for had me remembering the last one, and Dan. Everyone had been acting odd in the office that day, clearly sensing something was going on but not sure what. It didn’t help that Carol had called in sick the day before and wouldn’t be there at the dinner either. And Dan had been cool towards me ever since I told him Marco was my ‘boyfriend.’
With a long look at my reflection, I took a deep breath and picked up the mascara again, brushing it along my lashes. I wasn’t trying to replace Carol, I reminded myself with another sweep of the mascara. Just getting the job done. Meeting a new client in the hope of selling them our software. Just dinner. With Alex and Maria … and Marco.
Marco, who knew everything that was happening but wasn’t supposed to. Could I trust him to not bring up the letter that evening? The answer came to me surprisingly quickly—yes, I could. He’d been amazing lately. There to listen. There to make me laugh when I felt like crying instead. I was glad he would be at the dinner.
A wave of unease washed over me at that thought. Was I coming to rely on him? I shook my head. No, he was just a friend who had my back. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t real, although I wasn’t sure what it was anymore. If it were anyone but Marco I’d be pretty sure he was interested in me. But this was Marco, and I couldn’t forget our past. And I wasn’t going to jump in headfirst like I had with Josh.
I slicked on some pink lipstick and made my way downstairs where Marco was waiting for me.
“Ready to go?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a smile as I let my gaze wander over him. “You look good.” He had the same charcoal-grey suit on as last time, paired with a white shirt with pale green checks and an emerald tie that made his normally pale green eyes look darker, more intense.
“Thanks, so do you.”
He looked like he was going to say something else, but then he held his hand out towards the door. I grabbed my purse and, shoving the lipstick inside it, I headed for the door.
