Page 70 of The Refusal

“Not really.” The woman giggles. “I saw you in the paper.” She leans forward conspiratorially. “I think everyone is envious,” she says, beaming at me. “Well done by the way.”

Whatisshe talking about?

“Um, thanks?” I lift my cup to my lips, take a hot sip.

“Janus Phillips!” The second woman says with a huge smile, leaning forward around her colleague.

Something crawls up my spine. An article must have appeared about the fact we’re working for him. Damn. I hope to God Janus Industries hasn’t been exposed.

“Yes, they want to make their security world-class,” I say, floundering for a response.

“And a gorgeous guy,” she adds with a wink. A hot sweat breaks out on the back of my neck. This is exactly why Janus is a problem: Too many people know who he is and are invested. I push my glasses up my nose.

“He’s built an impressive company.” I say the first thing that pops into my head, hoping it might deflect this conversation on to safer ground.

“Is he as amazing as they say he is?” They’re both smiling so wide now.

What do I say to this? “He’s an exceptional businessman,” I manage. God, I need to find out what they’ve seen and where.

One of the women frowns at me. “Well, it looks like you were having a good time with him in Hong Kong.” The other one winks at me again.

“Looks like … where …” I can hardly get the words out.

“The Gazetteis such a great paper,” one of them says on a sigh.

“I get all my news from there.” The other one nods in confirmation.

All the blood drains from my face. The worst gossip rag in the US.

Oh, holy shit.

I stare at the pair of them. There’s a picture of Janus and me in Hong Kong inThe Gazette? Sweat breaks out all over my body.

No, no, no.

The elevator shudders to a stop and they smile at me. “You’re so lucky!” one of them simpers as they head out onto their floor, and I catch a glimpse of my white reflection in the mirror on the wall opposite the elevator before the doors slide closed.

Oh, God.

Des and James are both out when I step through our door, thank God. Coherent conversation is beyond me. I greet the few staff who are in before scurrying into our glass meeting room, pulling out my laptop and clicking through toThe Gazette’s website, hands shaking. Relief washes through me when I don’t see anything on the first page that loads. But when I click through to the gossip pages, there it is, the first article. Shit.Shit. A photo of the pair of us laughing outside an ice cream parlor sits under the headline. And oh my God! We look … I don’t want to think about how we look. We’d finished a long but fruitful session at the office and walked down the road looking for some coffee and found this amazing place instead. Fifty-three flavors of ice cream, including some weird Chinese ones. This got us talking about obscene-tasting ice cream: He’d invented pussy flavor, and I’d said I wasn’t sure about fur in a cone. We’re laughing, happy, we’re acting like we’re … My chest constricts painfully at the intimacy written all over our faces, I can hardly bear to read the text.

Has Mr. Right found his Tech Sweetheart?

Janus Phillips, the gorgeous tech entrepreneur known for his rotation of different flavors of women, may be a leopard about to change his spots. He was spotted on a four-day “business trip” to Hong Kong enjoying time with none other than Jo Williams, another startup founder, and our sources tell us the couple have been hanging out together lately. Jo’s company, Williams Security, has recently been awarded a lucrative contract with Janus Industries. It looks like Jo is not only taking care of security, but also the main man himself.

Ugh,business tripin quotation marks. I skim through the rest of the article. It’s all about previous women he’s dated. Pictures, too. Yuck. My palms are damp with sweat, and the sickening feeling in my gut has only intensified.They caught us together. I thought we were safe from prying eyes out there: I am the most naïve person alive.

I look up from the screen at the glass walls, the bent heads of the team outside: all oblivious to the fact I am dissolving inside.

Kate.

I almost don’t care if she’s saving lives in ER. I know she won’t answer if she’s in the middle of something crucial, but, God, I need my calm, balanced friend right now. I pull out my phone, my thumb slipping as I press her number.

“Dr. Thurman.” Her voice is cool ice and I’ve never been so glad to hear it. I suck in a deep breath.

“Kate,” I say in an urgent strangle. Ugh.

“Are you okay? You sound—”

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