“Yes. We should. Kiara says he may be able to come home, but if he does, it will be…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, her voice catching.

“Yeah.” Shelby rubbed her forehead, her eyes burning. “I know. I’ll pick you up after work.”

“Okay.”

Shelby put down her phone and bit her bottom lip, fighting back the tears. The office was no place for tears. She had a hard enough time being taken seriously without sitting there sobbing, but damn, it was hard. Adam was a great guy, a talented lawyer, a faithful, devoted husband, fun to be around. He and Kiara were so much in love. It was so not fair, and Shelby hated the helplessness of not being able to do anything to stop this tragedy from happening to her friends.

“Shelby? You okay?” Once again Andrew appeared in her cubicle at the worst possible moment. She quickly swiped the moisture from her eyes and faced him.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“How did your meeting go?”

She sighed. “Not that well.”

“Are you that upset about it?” His brows jerked together.

“No, no. I just got some bad news from a friend.”

His frown eased into concern. “Oh. Is everything all right?”

“No, not really.” She gave a small sigh. “I’ve mentioned my friends Kiara and Adam. He’s just been hospitalized. This might be the end.”

“Oh.” His face softened even more. “I’m so sorry. Do you need to go?”

“No.” She shook her head and lifted her chin, pressing her lips together. “We’re going to see him tonight.”

“Okay. But if you need anything, let me know.” His eyes fastened onto her intently, and she sensed the sincerity of his offer and once again was seized by guilt at the act she was putting on.

“I will. Thanks. So, um, the meeting this morning was a bit difficult. The new payment system has to meet the needs of both Short Term Benefits and Long Term Disability. Davis and Bram were almost coming to blows when I was trying to determine what their needs are.” She shook her head. “Why is there so much competition between them?”

“Always has been between those two departments,” Andrew replied, leaning one shoulder against her cubicle wall and crossing his arms over his chest. “Come to my office, and we can talk more about it.”

“Sure.” Trying to put aside her thoughts and worries about Kiara and Adam, she followed Andrew to his office. There was no privacy for sensitive discussions in cubeland.

Andrew shut the door of his office behind her and held a hand to the chairs at the round table. “Have a seat.”

She lowered herself to a chair.

“Sure you’re okay?” Concern shadowed his eyes. “You know you can take off if you need to.”

“I’m fine. I will probably need some time when…” And she, too, wasn’t able to finish the sentence. Geez, this was hard.

“Of course.”

She was grateful for Andrew’s understanding and flexibility.

He told her some of the history of the rivalry between the two departments, how Short Term Benefits always felt as if they never got their share of budget, staff, or any resources, for that matter. Davis Cooper seemed to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it came to negotiating anything with the division that handled long term disability claims. Understanding some of the history helped, but Shelby knew it was going to take a lot of effort to get both men on board with the project and cooperating. Great. She so much wanted this project to be a success, but conflict among the business units involved was not a good start.

“Have you decided who your team is going to be?” Andrew asked her.

“Well, that’s a bit of an issue too. I’ve talked to a few people, but Davis says he can’t let the staff I want go. They’re too busy to take on any additional work.”

Andrew frowned. “He can’t do that.”

Shelby bit her lip. “I know he’s not supposed to, but that’s what he told me.”

“This project is important. Its success is important. We were promised whatever staffing resources we need to make it successful. I’ll talk to him.”

“No.”

Andrew looked at her, brows raised. “No?”

She shook her head. “I want to handle it. If you’re telling me that I’m supposed to have access to whatever staff I need to resource this project properly, then I’ll deal with him.” During the meeting, the two men had argued over top of her and ignored her attempts to mediate their disagreements. “If I’m going to manage this project, I need them to know I’m in charge. Having you intervene won’t help that.”

“True,” he said slowly. “Okay. You handle it. But let me know if you need anything from me.”

“I will.” Shelby glanced at her watch. “Oh, look at the time. I have to go.”

“It’s lunch time,” Andrew said. “Why don’t we go get a bite and we can talk about strategy for dealing with Davis?”

She gave him a cautious smile. “I actually have lunch plans. Sorry.”

“Oh.” Andrew’s dark blond eyebrows pushed together. He studied her for a moment and she resisted the urge to blurt out, I have a date! With my boyfriend!

“All right. But if you want to talk more just let me know.”

“Of course. Thanks, Andrew. I appreciate your support.”

She rose and left his office, hurrying to her cubicle for the suit jacket she’d left hanging on the back of her chair and her purse.

She pushed her arms into the lightweight gray jacket as she walked through the office, then lifted her hair out from under the collar. With another glance at her watch, she made a quick stop in the ladies’ room. Jake had said he’d come by at noon. She brushed her hair and touched up her lipstick, straightened her gray pencil skirt and smoothed the silk blouse beneath her jacket. The meeting had frustrated her, the phone call from Riley had dragged her mood down, but anticipation at seeing Jake again brought on flutters of excitement inside her.

Jake figured the chances of running into Andrew were slim, given the size of the Gold Shield offices, but he was standing in the small reception area on the twenty-first floor, not really reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal, when Andrew walked through the door leading to the offices. Jake waited, knew the exact moment Andrew’s gaze landed on him. His eyes narrowed, his step faltered ever so slightly, his jaw tightened.

After a brief hesitation, Andrew approached him. “Jake. Hi. Here to meet Shelby for lunch, I take it.”

“Yeah.” Jake smiled.

The two men sized each other up. “What are you doing with her, Jake?” He spoke in a low voice, aware of the receptionist across the room.

Jake lifted one eyebrow. “What do you mean, what am I doing with her? What do you think?”

“I know what you’re like with women. You don’t do relationships.”

Jake tossed the magazine down on the table, shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit trousers and rocked back on his heels, frowning. “I had a relationship once.”

Andrew opened his mouth then closed it again. He looked at Jake, and goddammit if Jake didn’t see pity there, just like he’d seen on Gianna’s face at the picnic. Oh, for Chrissake, they both felt sorry for him. Still. What kind of sad loser did they think he was?

“No reason I can’t have a relationship again,” he added, trying to sound cheerful.

Andrew gave him a stern glare. “Listen, she seems like she’s really into you. Just don’t hurt her.”

“You’re telling me that?” Jake’s fingers curled into fists.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, you’re her boss. Leave her alone.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Andrew’s voice rose incredulously. “We work together.”

“You know what I mean.” Jake kept his voice low in the small reception room, but the warning in his tone was clear. Andrew’s mouth dropped open, and then Jake looked up as the door opened again and Shelby walked out.

She spotted him immediately, smiled, then noticed Andrew, and her smile faded as she tap-tap-tapped across the tile floor. Jake directed his attention to her, because she was much more pleasant to look at than Andrew—her hip-hugging, knee-grazing skirt, high-heeled pumps and fitted jacket, all very professional, couldn’t fully hide the lush body beneath, and certainly did nothing to hide her long blonde hair and sexy eyes and mouth. A mouth that was now tightened into a straight line.