“Anyway.” Andrew shook his head. “You wanted to talk about the project.”

Oookay. He didn’t want to talk about personal stuff. It appeared the easy, friendly relationship they’d had was gone. She’d succeeded in what she’d wanted when she’d told him she had a boyfriend, when she’d let Jake play that part. This cool, impersonal relationship was just what she wanted from her boss. So if he didn’t want to talk about it, wanted to go on as if nothing had happened, she was so down with that.

“So I thought about the information you gave me yesterday,” Andrew said, lowering his big body into a chair across from her. He eyed her coffee for a lingering moment. “And I’ve come to the conclusion that we have to cancel the project.”

She gaped at him. “What? Cancel it?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “It’s clear that it’s not going to be successful unless we deal with the problems with the intake process first. Everything is so closely tied together. If we don’t fix that first, the project is doomed to fail.”

“But I…”

“I already asked Brad Amando to head up the new project,” he said. “Working on the intake process. He may ask you to be involved.”

She stared at him, speechless. “He may?”

Andrew shrugged. “It will be up to him.”

“But—”

He held up a hand. “Sorry, Shelby. I know you were invested in this. But we just don’t have enough resources to do both right now.”

She knew that! That’s why she’d come up with Plan B! “But…”

Andrew looked at his watch, shifting his gaze away from her and standing. “I have another meeting right now.”

Dear sweet Jesus, it was happening again. Was he blaming her for having to kill the project? Black spots danced in front of her eyes and she felt like her head was floating off her shoulders.

What was she going to do? She still had some things she was working on from her last project, still some follow up and analysis to do, but…

She lifted a hand to her forehead. She stood too, since he was clearly ending the meeting, turned and tried to walk to the door, barely able to see.

“Shelby.”

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

“Your coffee. And notes.”

“Oh.” Blinking rapidly, enveloped in a haze of heat, she scooped them up and stumbled out of his office. Susan wasn’t at her desk, thankfully, so she didn’t have to pretend things were okay. She staggered down the corridor to her cubicle, wishing she had an office with a door. She was going to have to hide in the ladies’ room. Or maybe even go home. Yeah. That’s what she should do. That flu-like feeling was taking her down.

Swallowing hard, her throat tight, head pounding, she sent a quick email to Andrew and Susan to let them know she was going home sick. Even in her bewilderment, she couldn’t just walk out. Though she wasn’t sure if she was ever coming back.

Jake sat in his office, unable to focus on anything except what he’d done to Shelby. And Andrew and Gianna, even though him having that drink with Gianna was evidently the least of their problems. He felt like crap about it. The six or eight beers he’d drunk the night before didn’t help. Other than that, he felt great. Really great. Pumped. Ready to move forward with his life and his new business.

Yeah, right.

But he’d done it. Even if everything else in his life was fucked up, this was one thing he could do. One positive step. One thing he could make right.

His phone rang and he reached for it. “Jake Magill.”

“Hi, Jake. It’s Courtney at reception. There’s someone here to see you.”

Every nerve ending in his body went on alert. Shelby? It had to be Shelby!

“Who is it?” he demanded.

“Andrew Haddon.”

Huh? Jake frowned. “Andrew?”

“Yes.”

Jake licked his lips. What the hell was Andrew doing there? “Ah. Okay. I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks, Jake.” Courtney’s perky voice didn’t fit with the disturbing news she’d just delivered.

He thrust both hands into his hair and stood like that for a moment. Okay, whatever. He’d face him and get it over with. Curiosity about why Andrew was there led him out the door of his office and down the hall.

Andrew sat on one of the chairs lining the reception area. They didn’t get a lot of visitors on this floor, so it wasn’t all luxurious, just basic tables, chairs and a few ancient copies of the Wall Street Journal and Time.

“Andrew.”

Andrew looked up. He stood. The two men faced each other.

“Got a few minutes to talk?” Andrew finally said in a low voice.

“I’m pretty busy.”

“Oh for shit’s sake, get over it, Jake.” Andrew kept his voice down, but Courtney still sent them a puzzled glance.

Jake sighed. “Come on in.”

He led the way to his office. Inside he gestured to one of the chairs and he threw himself down into the one behind his desk.

“What’s up?” he asked, ignoring the rapid thump of his heart.

“That was a pretty ugly scene last night.”

Jake’s mouth twisted. “Yeah.”

Andrew’s eyes shifted and it seemed he wasn’t sure exactly what to say. Jake folded his arms across his chest and waited. He wasn’t going to help the guy out.

Finally Andrew spoke again. “What’s with you and Gianna?”

“Maybe you should ask her that.”

“I did.”

“And?”

“She wasn’t speaking to me last night.”

“Great.” Jake rubbed his forehead. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

“Bullshit.”

Jake sighed inwardly. “It’s the truth, Andrew. I told you last night—we were just having a drink.”

Andrew gave him a hard stare. Jake met his gaze head on and challenged, “And what about you and Shelby?”

Andrew’s brow furrowed. “What about me and Shelby?”

“What were you doing with her?”

“We were having a drink.” And then understanding dawned. “Oh.” He was silent for a moment, and then once again went on the offensive. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Did what?”

“Hurt Shelby like that.”

“I can’t believe you were trying to get with her, you asshole.” Jake leaned forward, arms going to his desk. “You’re married! You’re her boss! What the hell were you thinking?”

Andrew half rose out of his chair. “Are you fucking kidding me? I wasn’t after Shelby! Do you think I’m that stupid? She works for me! Ever heard of sexual harassment? Jesus Christ.”

“You’re saying you weren’t?”

“Yes! That is what I’m damn well saying!” Andrew rubbed his jaw. “Shelby is a very bright and talented project manager. I hired her. I want her to do well. And besides, I’m married.” He glared at Jake.

“You were making her life miserable.”

“What?” Andrew’s mouth fell open.

“People are talking about you. Maybe you’re walking around with your head so far up your ass you don’t know what’s going on, but everyone at Gold Shield thinks—or should I say, thought—you two were having an affair. You gave her the best projects. Passed over people with more seniority. You two go out for drinks after work, business dinners with clients. She gets to travel and take long lunches with you. No wonder people were talking. She’s still new there and everyone hates her guts.”

“They do not.” Andrew’s forehead furrowed. “Do they?” Confusion lined his face.

“Okay, nobody hates Shelby, she’s too sweet to hate, but it was damn uncomfortable for her. I was doing her a favor, making people think she had a boyfriend.”

Andrew lowered his chin and gave Jake a yeah-right look. “A favor?”

“She told you she had a boyfriend to get you off her back. I volunteered to act the part for the barbecue.”

“To get me off her back?” Andrew’s eyes widened. “Is that what she said?”

“Well not in those exact words. She said you never did anything inappropriate. She just felt uncomfortable.”

“Holy shit.” Andrew passed a hand over his hair. “Holy shit. I didn’t know how I was coming across. But I swear to you, Jake, it was just professional interest. Mentoring. Shelby came to Gold Shield with not a great track record from her last job.”