Gianna glared at the computer monitor, feeling like she’d just lost something precious. Brant had been gone for three days. He hadn’t called or texted at all.
Had she done something wrong? Was their time together over? Should she call him again or just leave him alone?
From the moment she’d accepted that the sexual attraction wasn’t going away between them, she’d accepted that their time together couldn’t be long term. Brant just wasn’t that kind of a man. He liked variety. She knew that and had…okay, so she hadn’t accepted that about him. She’d hoped. She’d started to dream. She’d gone to that stupid store and…well, dreamed about something more. Something like what Selena had with Reid.
Gianna lifted her tote bag onto her lap, needing more tissues since she’d just used the last one on her desk. “Darn it!” she mumbled, digging through the contents of her purse. But there was too much in there and she couldn’t find the tissues.
Grabbing the magazines, she angrily whipped them out of her purse and…
“What’s wrong?” a soft voice asked.
Gianna glanced up, her red-rimmed eyes peering through teary lashes at her friend. “Selena!” she gasped, shoving the magazines back into her tote bag and shoving everything under her desk. The magazines were bad enough, but the box…no way could she allow Selena to know about that box! Selena was a wonderful person and a good friend, but she was married to Reid. She couldn’t ever let Selena know about the secret box in her purse!
It was silly and…she really shouldn’t have done it. But all was not lost. She could just return it and everything would be fine. No one would ever know!
“What’s in your bag?” Selena teased. “Obviously something you don’t want me to know about.”
Gianna sighed as her shoulders slumped. “Nothing important. Just…”
“Show me,” Selena urged. “You know I can’t stand not knowing about a secret.” She plopped down in the only chair in Gianna’s office, smiling to her friend.
Gianna looked down at her desk, unable to look at her beautiful, happy friend. She couldn’t admit how silly she’d become lately. Silly and hopeful and just…stupid! “You don’t want to know.”
“Of course I do. You’re my friend and you look as if someone has died.” Selena stopped abruptly. “Everyone is okay, aren’t they? Is your family…?”
Shocked, Gianna shook her head. “No, no one died. Everyone fine and is healthy.” She paused and thought about her mother’s heart issues. “At least, as far as I know…my parents haven’t told me anything new. But…” she shook her head and looked down. “I just…”
“Why have you been crying?” Selena asked softly. “Tell me, Gianna. You know it won’t go any further. I won’t tell anyone.”
Gianna blinked back a fresh wave of tears, not sure what to do.
“Just think of me as your big sister,” Selena joked. “In fact, why don’t you come over tonight for dinner and you can show me how to make fresh pasta?”
Gianna laughed. “You don’t want to learn to make fresh pasta.”
“Of course I do! The stuff you made for me last week was incredible! I’ve never had pasta that tasted better than that.”
“I’m glad that you liked it,” Gianna replied, “but…”
“No buts – you are coming over.” Selena reached under Gianna’s desk and grabbed her friend’s purse. “Come on, we’ll…”
Selena stopped, staring at the contents that had fallen out of Gianna’s bag. “Is this…?” she whispered, pulling the magazine out and looking at the titles. “Oh, Gianna! Has Brant…?”
“No,” she replied and took the bridal magazines back, then reached into her purse and pulled the other three bridal magazines out. She stared at them for a long moment, her heart aching. With a frustrated sob, she dumped them all in the garbage can. “What I thought was something more, something wonderful,” she admitted with a sniff, “is over. He is gone.”
“Reid said he was just visiting his brother in the mountains,” Selena argued.
Gianna stared at her friend for a long moment. Brant had told her that he was on a business trip. But he’d actually gone to stay with his brother? In the mountains? What did that mean?
She knew exactly what it meant. The last small kernel of hope died with that news. Lowering her head so that Selena didn’t see the new tears, she pulled her tote over her shoulder. “I have to go. I’m sorry about the pasta, but I will teach you un’altra notte, si?” And she left, not waiting for an answer. She just needed to leave the office and find a place to hide.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she could deal with life and figure out how to move on. But for now, she needed to hide.
Selena watched her friend hurry down the hallway. Gianna pressed the elevator call button, but when it didn’t arrive immediately, she turned and hurried into the stairwell.
That was going to be a long walk down, Selena thought sympathetically, heading towards Reid’s office. They were on the tenth floor of the building. Ten flights of stairs in Gianna’s heels was going to be brutal.
“Hey,” she called out, stepping into Reid’s office. “When is Brant coming back?”
“Why?” Reid asked, standing up from his desk so that he could wrap his arms around her.
“Because Gianna was upset about something. She won’t tell me what but…”
“Stay out of this,” Reid warned, adding a kiss to soften the message.
Selena pulled back, but she didn’t step out of his arms. “Stay out of what? What’s going on? Why is Brant visiting Mack when Gianna is so upset? Did he do something?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at her husband. “Did he break up with her? Is that why she’s crying?”
“He didn’t break up with her. At least, not officially.”
She rested her hands on his shoulders, confused. “Maybe you should fill in the missing pieces.”
Reid shook his head. “I can’t. Not yet anyway.”
Selena wanted to question him further, but someone knocked on Reid’s office door. They both turned to find a tech guy standing in the doorway, holding a folder.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir. But I can’t find Brant and he asked me to bring this to him as soon as I had it.”
Reid nodded and extended his hand. “I’ll make sure that he gets it.”
The man gave the folder to Reid and quickly retreated. Selena peered around her husband’s arm curiously. “What’s that about?”
He didn’t try to hide the report as he skimmed down the page. “It’s a list of the data that someone has downloaded over the past few weeks. But this doesn’t give me the information Brant wanted.”
“What was he looking for? I’m sure Gianna could get it for him.”
Reid sighed and turned, pulling her back into his arms. “Honey, the information is about Gianna. Brant thinks that she’s been spying on the company, stealing information.”
Selena stared wide-eyed up at her husband for a long moment before bursting into laughter, shaking her head as she pulled away. “No,” she laughed. “Um…” lifting a finger, she gestured for him to wait. It took her a few more moments to get her amusement under control, but finally, she turned to look up at him. “Okay, so let me get this straight: Brant thinks Gianna is stealing company information?”
“Right. Brant couldn’t figure out what Gianna was hiding. This report was supposed to give us a clue.”
“And Gianna thinks that they’ve broken up?”
Reid’s eyes were emotionless and Selena knew that meant he was conflicted. He wasn’t sure what to think.
“I can’t confirm that. I haven’t spoken to her in the past few days.”
Selena took her husband’s hand. “Come with me.” She led him down the hallway to Gianna’s office. The light was still on since Gianna hadn’t taken the time to turn it off in her rush to get out of the office. “This is what she was hiding,” Selena announced, gesturing to the trash can.
Reid looked around, not sure what was wrong. He didn’t notice the magazines, trying to figure out what his wife was telling him. “Are you saying that Gianna used a different computer?”
Selena blinked, not sure where he was going with that. “Another computer? You have excellent security, Reid.” She huffed slightly. “No, I’m not talking about what you and Brant think of her. I’m trying to show you what Gianna thought of her relationship with Brant.”
Reid still looked confused.
She laughed and lifted up on her toes, kissing him briefly before pulling away. “You’re handsome and brilliant in many ways. But in others, you’re clueless.” So instead of asking him to guess again, she pulled the bridal magazines out of the trash, handing them to him. “I suspect that this is what Gianna was trying to hide from Brant.” She leaned forward. “There is no corporate espionage. Just a woman in love with a man, Reid. And I have to tell you that Gianna has plans. Big plans. Plans that didn’t include staying here in Denver. So if she was thinking along these lines,” she said, once more pointing to the magazines, “then she’d fallen hard for Brant. Harder than even I knew.”
Reid stared hard at the magazines covered in flowers and beautiful, happy brides. “This is what she kept shoving out of sight?” he muttered. He flipped through the magazines briefly, then looked at his wife, his expression changing from confused to amused. “Oh, he’s going to be kicking himself sideways when he finds out.”
Selena shook her head and grabbed the magazines. “Oh no! You’re not telling him about these,” she said and dumped them back into the trash. “Come on, dear.”
Reid frowned over his shoulder at the trashcan, thinking that he should tell Brant about them.
“No!” Selena warned. “We’re going home. Besides, I tried to convince Gianna to show me how to make pasta, but she was too upset. So now, you’re going to cook me dinner.”
Reid pressed the button for the elevator, smiling down at her but his expression was more wolfish than pleasant.
“Ah, so dinner is my choice, right?”
Instantly, Selena knew where his mind was going. And just as fast, her body responded to that idea liking it. A lot! But still, a woman had to play hard to get, even if it was with her husband, right? “No, you can’t have me for dinner!” Her rejection was tempered when she moved closer to Reid, stepping into his arms and smiling up at him.