Page 17 of The Rebel

My cheeks are hot and I struggle not to squirm in my seat like I’ve been caught red-handed doing something naughty.

‘No, Alf, all good. I’m just envisaging how I can up the ante with the campaign.’

‘Excellent.’ He rubs his hands together. ‘Keep this up for a few more years and who knows? I might give you a promotion.’

WTF? I’ve been doing a stellar job for the last five years with minimal input from him. He’ll criticise for the sake of it, trying to find fault when there isn’t any. He metes out measly pay rises annually and acts like he’s giving me an extra ten grand. He takes all the credit for my ideas in meetings and is generally a pompous ass that needs to make better use of deodorant.

I want to tell him where he can stick his job, and that after Gem Island I’ll be giving myself a promotion far away from him, but I settle for a sedate smile, knowing I’ll need to pop a heartburn pill or two later.

I won’t walk away, not this time.

I almost cheer when there’s a knock on the door and Hart strolls in. Alf fawns over him, effusive and embarrassing. Hart’s discomfort is obvious when Alf slaps him on the back and he steps away. Predictably, Alf doesn’t notice.

Alf nudges Hart again. ‘I’ll leave you in Daisy’s capable hands. She’s not too shabby at her job because I taught her everything she knows.’

My fixed smile doesn’t slip until Alf waddles out of the room, when I slump in relief.

‘That guy’s an asshole,’ Hart says, staring at me with raised eyebrows when I smother a snort.

‘He’s not so bad.’

He’s worse but I’d never badmouth my boss behind his back. I wave Hart towards the chair next to me so we can get started on the next stage of the campaign.

‘I admire loyalty.’ He points to the clearly labelled manila folders laid out in front of us. ‘From what I’ve seen so far, your work is excellent. You’ve done your research, your presentation was kickass, and your notes are impeccable. Why don’t you go out on your own?’

The last thing I would ever do is tell a client my plans. It’s unprofessional. Then again, I’ve already done unprofessional things with this particular client, what’s one more?

‘It has crossed my mind. But that whole loyalty thing…’ I shrug, wondering what he’d think of the real reason why I won’t walk away. ‘Alf gave me my first job. I’ve learned a lot.’

He studies me intently, like he knows I’m not telling him everything. ‘There’s a difference between blind loyalty and hiding your talents where they’re unappreciated.’

How the hell does he do that, articulate my doubts?

‘Who knows what will happen when I increase bookings across your chain of hotels? A big tick on my CV is always handy if I do decide to branch out.’

‘You’ve got a great work ethic.’ He nods, the admiration in his gaze making me want to preen. ‘Though we both know that making someone like me an identifiable part of the Rochester brand is what will really have clients clamouring for your PR services.’

His drollness makes me smile. ‘I didn’t want to state the obvious,’ I say, with a self-deprecating shrug that makes the corners of his mouth twitch.

An awkward silence descends, as I knew it inevitably would after how we parted yesterday. ‘Consider your palate cleansed’ was the last thing he said to me. True, but it was the way he said it that was the biggest let-down after the great sex: like it meant little and he couldn’t wait to escape.

Following an embarrassing crying jag in the shower afterwards, I was determined to put my game face on when we next met. But as the silence stretches I know I’ll have to broach the subject of what we did in that cave.

I clear my throat. ‘Yesterday was an aberration that shouldn’t have happened. We’re working together and it complicates things—’

‘Don’t do that,’ he snaps, a deep frown grooving his brows. ‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for.’

I’m so taken aback by his harsh tone I’m not sure how to respond.

He grimaces. ‘Sorry, it’s a pet hate. Don’t ever back down or apologise for something that isn’t your fault.’

Ah…so that’s what’s bugging him. He thinks he took advantage of me somehow. I need to disabuse him of this notion because it’s far from the truth.

‘You think what happened yesterday was all you?’

His frown deepens. ‘Of course. I lured you to the cave on the pretext of work, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you after our little sparring session by the pool earlier.’

‘Oh.’

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