Page 29 of Embracing Love

“A couple of weeks.” It seemed as though there was only the two of them in the room.

“You’re in good hands,” she reassured him. “Michael is a pro and I’ll still be contactable in the Milan office should you have any questions about the campaigns. Of course there’s always Nadine in San Francisco.” She turned to Michael who nodded in agreement.

Gabriel remained quiet and at that moment, something vibrated on the desk. Mr. Zimmerman picked up his cell phone, excused himself and disappeared out of the door.

Tanya sat in an awkward silence unable to escape Gabriel's stare, yet she could see he had many questions. He clasped his hands together on the table as if fighting the urge to say a word.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, his eyes skimming over her face as if looking for clues. The look he gave her lingered too long, probed a little deep, suddenly making her feel prickly all over.

“No,” she replied, even though everything that could have gone wrong in her world, had.

She was surprised by his ability to read her mood so perfectly well.

“This trip to Milan, is it a recent development?” he asked.

She nodded. “Very much so. Is that a problem?”

“You never mentioned it, that’s all.”

“We haven’t met since then. If you’re worried about your campaign ad, you have no reason to be.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“Oh? Then?”

“Nothing. One minute you’re here, the next minute you’re not.”

“I didn’t realize you were keeping tabs on me.”

He looked as though he was about to say something, and then, “I’m not.”

Remembering that he’d saved her, she said, “I’m sorry about the mockups. I completely forgot. It’s been a nightmare lately.”

“Really?”

She raised her hands, and then shook her head. It wasn’t easy to explain. “There’s been a lot going on. That’s all.” He wouldn’t know, no wonder he was so confused by the sudden turn of events and her moodiness. She liked to think she could hide it well, but somehow Gabriel seemed to sense things weren’t quite alright for her.

He waited for her to say more. “Anyway, I’m sorry about the mockups.”

He shrugged. “The world won’t fall apart because you forgot to send me a file.”

He was right, of course.

Michael’s voice grew louder outside the door and the slight movement of the door handle threatened his impending return.

“I also didn’t know Michael Zimmerman was here.”

“That was a surprise too.”

Laughter escalated from outside the door and from the sounds of it, Michael was talking to one of the people at Flight.

“We seemed to be working well together,” offered Gabriel.

After the start you gave me it couldn't possibly get any worse.

She fought to stop herself from telling him her theory as to why Michael was here—but decided against it. There was no point.

“You seem a little distant today, Tanya. Is it something I’ve done?”

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