Free Riding Out the Storm by Emma Jay Page A

nodded at her, one corner of
his mouth hooking up in a rueful smile. She took that as encouragement and
moved forward. But before she could say anything, their boss, Mr. Strait,
walked into the lobby and gestured to both of them.
    “We
have a meeting in five minutes. A new client wants some ideas for a new
advertising campaign.” He looked from one to the other and his graying eyebrows
drew together. “Sorry you didn’t make it to the conference. You missed a lot,
from what I hear.”
    “Yes,
I know,” Ethan said, and motioned for Jill to precede him into the office.
    She
hated that, because she wanted to see him, to read his expression. She wanted
to talk to him, and couldn’t now.
    The
meeting was a brainstorming session for a hotel chain. Jill sensed Ethan tense
behind her when he saw Zach already at the conference table, sleeves rolled up,
hands folded together. Zach greeted them with a grin, and she read every one of
this weekend’s activities in his face. She widened her eyes at him warningly.
Until she knew Ethan’s state of mind, she didn’t want to do anything that could
push him irrevocably away.
    Jill
made a point of sitting at the opposite end of the table from Zach, with an
empty chair for Ethan, but he circled the table to sit by Cynthia Ruiz. Her
heart sank. She’d made all the wrong choices this weekend. Could she regain any
ground?
    Mr.
Strait called the meeting to order and passed out folders with photographs of
the hotel from the client.
    “I’ll
tell you what the problem is,” Zach said from down the table. “This art is
entirely too tasteful.”
    There
was a pause, then a few titters.
    “Definitely,”
Jill added, seeing the comparison he was making. “And the bedspreads and
curtains were designed in this decade.”
    “There
seems to be a lack of shag carpeting,” Zach went on, as the rest of the team
stared.
    “These
views are definitely of something other than a parking lot.”
    “Trust
me, I’ve seen my share of hotel rooms, and the quality of this one, well, it’s
not questionable in the least. I bet they don’t even charge by the hour.”
    More
giggles, the loudest from Cynthia Ruiz. Jill chanced a glance to see Ethan’s
reaction. He studied the photographs, his expression unreadable.
    “Think
you two have an approach in mind?” Mr. Strait’s attention bounced between Zach
and Jill.
    “Tongue-in-cheek,
but yeah, if the client will go for it,” Zach said, tucking the photos back in
the folder.
    The
older man beamed. “Okay, I’m going to put the two of you on this. I want
something by Wednesday to show to the client.”
    “No
problem. Just have to shuffle some stuff around.” Zach grinned down the table
at her.
    She
glanced across at Ethan, whose jaw was tight as he averted his gaze and
gathered his things. Oh, no. She’d made another mistake.
    Part
of her regretted it, but then she got angry. She hated walking on eggshells. If
she’d thought Ethan would be the type to judge her, she never would have
revealed so much of herself to him. She knew how to protect herself, after all.
Why should she change who she was to make him feel better? That he wasn’t the
man she’d thought he was hurt, but better she find out now instead of later.
    She
gathered her own things, pivoted, and strode out of the conference room.
    But
she couldn’t stop herself from waiting for the email that never came.
    ****
    What
the hell was wrong with him? Ethan scrubbed his hands over his face as he sat
in his cubicle, not nearly private enough. If he leaned back in his chair, he
had a decent view of Zach and Jill working together in the conference room. He
heard Jill’s laugh carry now and then, and if he watched for any amount of
time, he saw Zach grin and knew the guy was thinking about fucking her again.
    Ethan
should have been able to think faster on his feet in the meeting earlier, then
maybe he and Jill could be working together instead of her and that asshole.
Ethan had wondered all