Valentine's Day. Nicola MarshЧитать онлайн книгу.
no more worthy.
He signalled Roger, below, leaned back, and zipped to the floor. He fumbled his way out of the climbing gear in his haste and left it where it lay.
And he got the hell out of there before he asked Bradford the only thing he really wanted to know.
How did you get over her?
* * *
A year.
An entire year had gone past since she’d last sat in EROS’ broadcast studios. Actually, it wasn’t the same studio, it was a twin, the mirror image of the one through the tinted glass that she’d first sprinted from twelve months ago when Dan turned her proposal down.
Back then she’d thought that nothing could be worse than standing in the elevator with the aghast curiosity of the station’s entire staff directed at her, begging the doors to close.
But coming back in here, today, was infinitely worse.
Back into Zander’s territory.
The man she hadn’t seen for over two months. A man she’d longed for over Christmas and cried for at New Year and absolutely dreaded seeing as Valentine’s Day approached.
A day of love and celebration.
Ugh.
‘Can I offer you a coffee?’ the segment producer said.
Yes. A warm drink would take the February chill from her fingers even if it couldn’t do anything for the one in her heart. She knew because she’d been trying these past months. ‘Tea, please?’
The producer shot a look at the teenaged girl by her side and she scarpered off to make Georgia’s tea, flushing.
‘Work experience,’ the producer grunted, tossing her hair.
Dogsbody, Georgia thought and instantly sided with the kid.
‘Have a seat,’ the woman said, and then, as Georgia sat, she added, ‘So you were sent the questions?’
‘Yes.’ And she had notes for her answers. ‘What was the best activity? What will I be keeping up after today? What did I learn from my year?’
‘If there’s anything off-script you’d like to add, you can go for it.’
Anything about Dan, she meant. The station was as good as their word—he’d not been mentioned since she first signed the contract.
‘If it comes up,’ she agreed. But nothing more. She wasn’t going to be pressured on her last moments under EROS’ power.
‘I’ve heard Zander’s final segment,’ the producer said. ‘It’s good.’
Georgia tried not to stiffen at the mere mention of his name.
‘Speak of the devil...’ one of the announcers murmured without the slightest change in facial expression and she did stiffen, then. Fully. But turning to look would have been too obvious.
The producer also pretended not to notice his arrival in the studio next to theirs, but her eyes flicked briefly to the darkened glass behind Georgia. ‘Great. Nothing like being watched to improve performance,’ she muttered while slightly diverting her face.
The announcer laughed.
The disrespect at Zander’s expense irked Georgia. She might have cut all ties with him but this was their boss they were sniggering about. A decent—if complicated—man, with a tough job to do.
‘Don’t worry,’ the producer said, misreading her face and leaning in to pretend to adjust Georgia’s headset. ‘He can’t hear us until I press the button. Soundproof.’
‘Then you’d better hope he can’t lip-read,’ she murmured.
Defending him was strangely pleasurable. Was she that desperate for a connection between them? Walking in here today was fifty per cent pain and fifty per cent anticipation that she might find him standing in the hallway.
Where she’d first seen him.
But no, he’d been predictably absent.
Until now.
‘Guess he’s more interested than usual because they’re his segments.’ The producer tried to cover her gaffe.
Or he just wanted to see her without being seen.
Hopeless optimist.
‘Have I got time to go to the Ladies’?’ Georgia asked, out of nowhere, then tried to add veracity to her lie. ‘Nervous pee.’
The producer huffed. They’d just got her settled and all wired up. ‘If you’re quick.’
She scooted up out of her seat and crossed to the door without paying the tinted glass the slightest attention. Outside she turned right and walked in the opposite direction to the staff toilets.
She opened the next door without knocking.
‘Zander...’
He spun by the tinted glass in the half shadows. The studio on the other side was fully lit and much easier to see than he had been in reverse. She did her best to stay back in the shadows, out of view of gossipy eyes.
‘Georgia.’ He swallowed. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m good. And you?’
‘Good.’
Excellent. That meant they were both crap. ‘I wanted to ask you about the cheque.’
‘That money is yours. You shouldn’t be penalised for your thrift.’
Thrift. That made her sound about as exciting as a dusty old book. ‘Twenty thousand pounds, though?’
He shrugged. ‘You earned it. What will you do with it?’
She hadn’t let herself think. ‘Maybe back to Turkey?’
‘You should. See it properly.’
‘There’s so many options once you have actual money in your hands,’ she breathed.
‘You can do whatever you want. I hope you enjoy it.’
His sincerity struck her. And why not? She wouldn’t have fallen in love with a man who wasn’t genuinely lovely.
‘Why are you hiding in here?’ she asked.
‘I’m not hiding, I’m monitoring.’
‘That seems to have upset your staff.’
He smiled, not the slightest bit sorry. ‘I’m sure. Some of them are big on fame and short on accountability.’
Silence fell. Next door the work-experience girl reappeared with her cuppa and glanced around anxiously.
Georgia pushed away from the wall. ‘Well, I should go.’
‘Are you nervous?’ he asked.
Yes, and not just because she was going on air. ‘A bit. This is going to be hard for me.’
‘I’ve been very clear on the limitations. Anyone who mentions Bradford will be collecting unemployment next week.’
The kindness touched her. And his total obliviousness hurt her lungs. ‘Thank you.’
‘I heard about his new girlfriend,’ Zander risked. ‘How do you feel about that?’
Feel? ‘I’m happy for him.’
‘I worried for you. That you might—’
‘Take it personally?’
He dropped his eyes.
‘I’m not going to say I loved the implication of him finding someone so soon. That it must have been me that made the two of us a bad fit.’
‘That’s not how it works.’