Read Online All Work and No Play by Coleen Kwan - Free Book Online

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