Free All Work and No Play by Coleen Kwan Page A

rose. “Congratulations?”
    “On the permanent job. I heard
about it this afternoon.”
    “Oh.” He looked perplexed.
    “You deserve it,” she pressed on. “And, of course, everyone
at FrogLeap will be glad to have you.”
    Giles glanced down at his fingers that were still tapping on
the counter. “Actually,” he said quietly, “I won’t be working at FrogLeap after my contract ends next week.”
    “What?” Anna was flummoxed. “But...I don’t understand. Is it
the money? Didn’t Marcus make you a good enough offer?”
    “No, Marcus offered me more than I expected, but it wasn’t
the money.”
    “Then, what?” A horrible thought
dawned on her. “It... it isn’t something to do with me,
is it?”
    He tilted his head. “Yes, it’s you.”
    “But I haven’t said a word about what happened,” she burst
out in confusion. “And I treat you the same as I always do. I don’t understand—”
    “Anna,” he broke in, his voice suddenly intense and urgent.
“That’s precisely why I can’t stay at FrogLeap . I
can’t stand it that you treat me as if nothing ever happened between us. I
can’t bear the thought that after such an incredible night together you can
sweep it all under the carpet and carry on as before.”
    Stunned, she gaped at him. “But that’s what we agreed,” she
said faintly.
    “I know, but I can’t do it. It’s killing me, Anna.”
    “ Killing you?” She
frowned. “I hardly think so. You haven’t done or said anything out of the
ordinary as far as I can tell.”
    “That’s because I’m a good actor. But I can’t act forever.” He
paused to rifle his fingers through his hair, and for a moment he seemed tired
and tense. “I can’t hide my feelings forever.”
    “Feelings?” A wild emotion gripped
her heart, something that felt like a mixture of hope and fear.
    Giles closed the gap between them and clasped her shoulders.
The feel of his hands against her bare skin sent waves of desire crashing
through her.
    “Anna, I came here to ask you if you’d like to have dinner
with me tonight.”
    “Dinner.” She could only echo him,
amazed at what she thought he was really asking her.
    “Yes, dinner.” A faint smile eased
some of the tension from his face. “I want to take you on a proper date. Lots of proper dates where everyone can see us and see how crazy I
am for you.”
    She started to shake as confirmation of what she’d secretly yearned
for began to trickle into her brain. “Oh, Giles,” she murmured. “I would love
to go on lots of proper dates with you.”
    Relief spread across his face. “Thank you.” Leaning forward,
he placed a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose. “You’re gorgeous.”
    “I’m sweaty and smelly and a total mess.”
    “Like I said, gorgeous.” His gaze
swept over her. “I almost had a heart attack when you opened the door wearing
so little. That tank top moulds to every inch of you, darling, and those shorts
are enough to give me a heart attack.”
    She laughed breathlessly. “I was cleaning the house.”
    “Excuse me, but if you tried cleaning around me in that
getup, you’d never get anything done.”
    He wrapped his arms around her and dipped his head to press
a tender kiss on her mouth. She melted into him, giddy with disbelief at the
sudden turn of events, and kissed him back with all the fervour she’d been
forced to suppress these past weeks. The kiss was threatening to get out of
control when her mobile phone started to ring. She was tempted to let it go to
voicemail until Giles reluctantly loosened his hold on her.
    “You’d better get that,” he sighed.
    “Always the professional,” she teased him as she reached for
her phone.
    “Anna,” Lionel’s voice boomed in her ear. “Hope I’m not
interrupting anything?”
    “Um, no.” She took a couple of
steps away from Giles in order to regain her composure. “What can I do for you,
Lionel?”
    “I realised I forgot to tell you something important at