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

that Giles had done most
of the work to ensure they’d meet the deadline? Anger rose in her, souring the
back of her throat. Maybe Giles had been big-noting himself behind her back.
She didn’t want to believe he’d stoop so low, but it had happened to her
before, other people stealing the credit. The bile burned.
    “What do you mean?” she asked stiltedly.
    Lionel shrugged. “Oh, I mean he’s an asset in any project,
plus he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty with a bit of coding. A lot of
these high-paid consultants would’ve turned their noses up at helping you out,
but not Giles. No, he’s had only good things to say about you.”
    Her shoulders sagged with relief. Of course Giles wouldn’t
have tried to backstab her. And besides, if he wanted to, he could easily
achieve that by gossiping about their night together.
    “That’s good to know,” she said thinly. “He was a great help
to me. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
    Giles was working on another project on different floor of
the building. The past two weeks had been slow torture for Anna as she hoped
and feared a chance encounter with him. She’d bought new clothes—snappy skirts
and tailored blouses and high heels—telling herself she deserved them, but deep
down knowing she was only doing this on the off chance she’d bump into Giles.
That had happened precisely three times, and all three times he or she had been
with others so they had barely exchanged polite greetings. It angered her to
realise she was so infatuated with him, but there seemed no cure for it except
waiting for the fever to run its course.
    “Well, you might get another chance in the future to work
with him,” Lionel said. “Nothing’s official yet, but we want him here at FrogLeap permanently. We’re prepared to accommodate
whatever role he sees fit to take here.” He leaned forward, tapping the side of
his nose. “Of course everything I’m telling you is confidential, but come
Monday we should be able to make the big announcement. Marcus is going to make
Giles the offer this afternoon.”
    Anna’s fingers cramped in her lap. She supposed she should be flattered that her manager had taken her into his
confidence, but all she could concentrate on was Giles. She was happy for him.
He was uniquely talented and deserved to cherrypick the best role for himself. But how was she going to survive with Giles in the
office every day? How could she act naturally around him? What would she do
when she saw him with another woman? And there was bound to be another woman
because Giles was no monk.
    “Anna, are you all right?” Lionel’s concerned voice filtered
through her pounding thoughts.
    “Actually, I’m not feeling a hundred percent,” she
confessed, rubbing her temple.
    “You should go home.” Lionel rose from his seat and came
around the desk to help her to her feet. “You’ve clocked up a lot of hours this
past month. Why don’t you take a few days’ leave next week to recharge?”
    Anna glanced at her manager in surprise. She hadn’t expected
him to be so solicitous. “Oh, I should be right by Monday.”
    “No, I insist you have at least two days off.” He smiled
wryly. “You don’t need to look so suspicious. As your manager, I’m only
concerned about your health and well-being. I want you fresh and fit for your
next project.”
    “Okay.” She nodded. It might be good to have a couple of
days off so she could collect herself and not act a fool the next time she saw
Giles.
    Lionel patted her on the shoulder as he saw her out of his
office. “Take a taxi home, and be sure to charge it to the company,” he called
after her.
    Why was her usually tough manager being so nice to her? She
couldn’t understand his motives, unless he was feeling guilty about some bad
news he hadn’t had the heart to dump on her right now.
    The invisible weight that had hung over her for weeks intensified, and she was glad to be going home early. She gathered
her