Her Favorite Rival (34 page)

She agreed, but she hadn’t envisaged it happening quite like this, with both of them being encouraged to go for the one job.

“Maybe this is Whitman’s cunning way of making one of us resign.”

“Well, he can be cunning all he likes, but we’re both great at what we do and we both deserve a shot at that job.”

She stared at him. He’d had a haircut over the weekend and he looked even more handsome than usual, his unruly fringe for once behaving itself.

She loved him so much, in so many ways, for so many reasons.

She really didn’t want work to come between them. But he clearly wouldn’t tolerate her bowing out of the competition. And—honestly—she would probably lose a big chunk of respect for herself if she did that. Just as she would hate it if he bowed out because of her.

“All right. It’ll probably end in tears, but if you think we can handle this, I guess we’ve got to do it.”

“We can handle it.”

His knee rubbed against hers, a subtle reassurance. As always, it only took the barest touch and the right kind of smile and her body started to burn for his.

She pushed back her chair, breaking the contact. “Stop using your powers for evil.”

“I can’t help it. I can see down your top from here.”

She snorted out a laugh and stood. “Later.”

“Count on it.”

He meant it, too, which was good, because she did, too. The day she didn’t, she wouldn’t have a pulse.

They talked about the job some more that night, then helped each other finesse their résumés. Audrey felt a lot calmer by the time they’d gone through the process. Zach’s academic credentials far outweighed the piecemeal, part-time education she’d patched together for herself over the years. He was a shoo-in for the job. A cinch.

She would do her interview, but she had already resigned herself to the fact that the job was his. Something she could more than live with.

It was no surprise that they were both invited to interviews, Zach’s in the morning, hers in the afternoon of the following week. Zach tried to fill her in on the questions he was asked in the interim but she stuck her fingers in her ears and refused to listen.

“That’s an unfair advantage, and I always fight fair,” she told him.

Zach had laughed at her, and there was a part of her that regretted her stance as she was being grilled by Whitman and Gary later that day. But it was the right thing to do. And the job was Zach’s, anyway.

Whitman surprised her as she dragged her limp and sweaty body out of the hot seat at the end.

“I’ve been meaning to say to you, Audrey—that report you and Zach coauthored has been instrumental in a lot of the new strategies you’ll be hearing about in the next month or so. I’ve been meaning to thank you for your good work on it for some time.”

She was so stunned she gaped at him stupidly, like an overgrown baby pelican waiting to be fed. “Um. Thank you. That’s good to hear.”

Gary gave her a wink as he followed Whitman out.

Zach and Megan were waiting in her office.

“Well?” Megan asked.

“I have no idea. They asked tough questions. Gary was a bit of an asshole, actually.” Audrey thought of one question where Gary had really hammered her.

“Yeah, he went in hard on me, too. We can egg his car after work.” Zach’s eyes were worried, though, and she gave him a small smile to indicate that she was fine.

He pushed away from her filing cabinet. “Better get back to it.”

Megan made a rude noise once he was gone. She rubbed a hand over her very round belly, a habit she’d developed early in her pregnancy. She was under two months away from delivering now, a thought that made Audrey both sad and glad, since she’d be losing her awesome work buddy to maternity leave but gaining a baby to coo over.

“You guys. I hate it when you do the telepathy thing. It makes me feel like I’m looking through your bedroom window.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“You and Zach have this little Morse code thing you do with your eyes. It’s creepy.”

Audrey laughed. “Okay. If you say so.”

“I know you have probably thought about this, but how will Zach handle you getting the job? In case you hadn’t noticed, the care and feeding of the male ego can be a precarious thing.”

“Megsy, you are so good for
my
ego, but there is no way they are going to pick me over Zach. He has degrees coming out his ears, his department is one of the top five performers this quarter... It’s his.”

“You landed an exclusive on that new European lighting range. You headed the development committee for in-store tutorials and staff training. And your department is the third-highest performer this quarter. Zach’s is fourth.” Megan ticked her points off on her fingers.

“That’s only because he had some sales data that tipped into the next quarter thanks to a reporting snafu.” Audrey dismissed those arguments with the wave of her hand.

Megan leaned across the desk and grabbed her hand. “Don’t be an idiot. You could get this. You need to think about how Zach might feel when he learns you’re going to be earning more than him.”

“If that happens, he won’t care,” she said instantly.

“You sound very sure. Tim would have to go chop wood for a few years to reclaim his macho if that happened to us.”

Audrey doubted that, since Megan’s husband was a sweetheart, but perhaps she didn’t know him the way his wife did.

“I’m sure,” she said.

She and Zach had always admired and applauded each other’s drive and ambition. She had to believe that one of them earning this promotion over the other wouldn’t change that. Even if that person was her.

Gary had indicated they would have an answer tomorrow, and she and Zach went home to pizza and spreadsheets, followed by a cool shower and hot sex.

Lying in the tangled sheets afterward, she rested her chin on his chest and looked at him.

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I love you.”

He smiled. “I love you more than a job, sweetheart. Don’t worry, okay?”

“Ditto. A million times ditto.”

She had a crappy night’s sleep, and had to force herself to eat breakfast. They drove to work together and broke convention by kissing each other long and lingeringly in the car before heading inside.

“Go get ’em, champ,” Zach said as they parted.

She was edgy all morning, jumping every time the phone rang. Lucy kept checking in with her, along with Megan, and after a while she promised that they would be right at the top of the list of people to know when she heard. At midday her sister called, and for a second Audrey wished she hadn’t told anyone what was happening. But only for a second. Getting to know Leah—and her man, Will—had filled holes in her life she hadn’t even known existed. She would never regret their new closeness.

It was nearly three before Gary called and asked her to come to his office.

Whatever you do, don’t look disappointed. Even if you feel it.

Honestly, it was hard to know how to feel, because she wanted Zach to have this opportunity, too.

“Grab a seat,” Gary said when she entered.

She did, gratefully, since her knees were feeling distinctly rubbery.

“As you know, it was a tough choice. Both you and Zach are outstanding candidates. At the end of the day, experience tipped things in your favor, though. That, and your nose for innovation. Everyone’s been very impressed with your tutorial initiative.”

Audrey sat and blinked, not quite sure if her ears were working properly. Did Gary just say “in her favor”? Had she heard that correctly?

“Sorry. This is going to sound dense—but are you offering the job
to me?
”

She was aware she sounded like Oliver Twist, putting her bowl out for more, but she was genuinely dumbstruck. They had picked
her
over
Zach?

“We picked the best man—person—for the job.” He shook his head at his own political incorrectness. “And that person is you. Congratulations, Audrey.”

“Wow. I’m not—I didn’t—I thought Zach would—”

“So I gather. But he didn’t.” Gary smiled indulgently.

“Okay. Thanks. This is amazing. Really, really cool,” she said dazedly. She realized she was rambling and she stood, smiling apologetically.

“You have stuff to do. So I’ll go. But...thank you. Thank you.”

She left Gary’s office, waiting until she was around the corner before she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, one hand pressed to her crazily beating heart.

Bloody freaking hell, she’d gotten it!

Hard on the heels of jubilation came trepidation.

Because her getting it meant Zach missed out. That was always going to be the outcome for one of them, but the reality of it hit her in the solar plexus.

She needed to go talk to him. She needed to tell him her news and look into his eyes and see for herself what this meant to him, if this was going to be a problem for them or not. And if it was... She had no idea what she was going to do, because now that Gary had dangled the carrot, she wanted it, so badly.

She walked to Zach’s office on wooden legs, stopping in the doorway and swearing under her breath when she found it empty. She swiveled on her heel and scanned the open-plan area, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. It occurred to her that maybe he was waiting in her office, maybe he’d gotten wind that something was up. She raced across the department, but he wasn’t there, either.

Maybe he does know, and he’s gone somewhere quiet and dark to punch a hole in the wall so I don’t see how disappointed he is.

The thought filled her with dread. She had a vision of them over dinner tonight, both of them choking down obligatory champagne, pretending it was just dandy that she’d come out on top.

Desperate for someone to download to, she went to Megan’s office, but her friend wasn’t there, either.

“Has someone sounded the evacuation alarm or something?” she muttered to herself.

Disgruntled and worried, she drifted toward the staff room. Maybe she’d find one of them in there.

She saw the banner the moment she turned the corner—a run of printer pages strung together to spell out the word
Congratulations
. Then she registered the crowd—all her colleagues crammed into the one small space, grinning madly as they tooted on noisy horns and popped party favors and yelled out “Congratulations, Audrey!”

And in the middle of them all was Zach, grinning like the lunatic he was, looking so proud and happy for her that she knew instantly, with one hundred percent certainty, that this was okay with him. That this was more than okay, that he celebrated for and with her, that her happiness meant everything to him, more even than his own.

But Zach had always been a giver, right from those early, dark years when he’d had to shoulder the burden of looking after his lost, broken mother. How could she have expected anything less from him?

“Sweetheart, don’t cry,” Zach said, his face creased with concern as he moved to comfort her.

“Zach.” She looked into his eyes, wanting to tell him all the things in her heart right now, but very aware of all the people watching them.

She wanted to tell him she loved him, beyond measure. That she couldn’t and didn’t want to imagine her life without him. Most of all, she wanted to tell him how lucky she was. So damned lucky.

“I know,” he said, taking her into his arms. “I know, sweetheart.”

Then he kissed her, right in front of everyone.

Screw being professional.

* * * * *

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Love in Plain Sight
by Jeanie London!

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PROLOGUE

Before Hurricane Katrina

P
APA
ALWAYS
SAID
love changed lives. I knew what he meant because love was all around me.

Every morning, Mama packed Papa’s lunch. Always the same sandwich, container of leftovers from dinner, fruit and fresh-baked pastry. She stacked them in his lunch bag in the order he would eat them through the day.

A fruit for the morning to keep him healthy.

Leftovers for lunch with the sandwich, too, if he worked really hard. Sometimes he saved half for later.

He ate the pastry with his
con leche
in the afternoon when he needed a sweet for strength.