Sometimes It Is Rocket Science (22 page)

The blond Adonis dressed in a blue pinstripe suit rose to his feet.  His long, well-manicured fingers reached for hers.  A broad smile brightened his handsome, perfectly tanned face.  “Hello, Georgiana.”

Phillip Winters.  The man she’d planned to marry so long ago.  The man who’d casually announced, in the middle of a charity Christmas ball, that he was eloping with another woman.  The reminder of why she could never have Robert Norwood.

It only took Georgiana a moment to recover from the surprise.  She’d kept up on the latest gossip on her ex-boyfriend, but it had been years since they’d been in the same room.  Once upon a time her heart had done a funny little flip-flop at the sight of Phillip’s charming smile.   Time and the remembered pain of a broken heart had made her immune that winning smile.

She pulled her hand out of his grasp.  “Good morning, Mr. Winters.”

“Georgie,” he tutted, smile not faltering an inch.  He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.  With his head tilted and brown eyes twinkling, he reminded her of a puppy.

The sudden burst of anger she’d felt upon seeing him faded.  She found herself grinning back.  He’d always been impossible to resist.  “Phil.”

“That’s better.”  He held out the chair next to the one he’d been sitting in.  Once she was seated, he gave the chair a gentle nudge before reclaiming his chair.  “Now, I don’t know what you’ve done to my boss, but if he’s flying me in from London for a routine database contract, then it must be major.”

“
I
haven’t done anything to Prask.”

Phillip tapped the diamond on her left hand.  “I beg to differ.”  He leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankles.  “You know there’s no love lost between my esteemed employer and myself.”

“Because he married your ex-wife or because he shipped you off to Caracas for two years as soon as your divorce was final?”

“Because he’s a snake.”

“Pot.”

Phillip’s contagious, booming laughter filled the conference room.  He playfully tugged on a loose strand of dark hair.  “I like the change, Georgie.  It suits you.”  He tapped her ring again.  “This does, too.  Robert’s a lucky man.”

The smile slid off her face.  Why was Robert a lucky man for taking what Phillip had so cruelly rejected?  She straightened the forms on the table.  “I suppose that’s a matter of opinion.”

He sighed, reached for her but stopped when she flinched.  “I am sorry that I hurt you, Georgie.  I was an ass.  A stupid, selfish, ass.  I was so worried about telling you that I drank too much champagne and then…
God
, when I remember the things I said.  I was wrong.  It wasn’t you.  It wasn’t me, either.  It was us.  We weren’t right together.”

“You humiliated me in front of my friends.  In front of the biggest gossips in Houston.”

“The timing never seemed right before.”

“And the Child Advocacy Christmas Ball was the right time?”

“No.  But we were flying to Vegas the next day.  I couldn’t marry Rachel without breaking it off with you.”

“A text message would have been preferable.  You could have sent it from the runway.”  Georgiana met his beseeching eyes for a moment.  “Stop looking at me like that, Phil.  I’m over it.  You broke my heart.  You didn’t break
me.
”

“I’m still sorry I caused you a moment’s pain.  You didn’t deserve that.”

While it was true that Phillip hadn’t broken her, the breakup had left a thick layer of emotional scar tissue.  One day he’d told her he loved her and the next he announced he was marrying someone else.  He’d cornered her in a hotel ballroom and claimed it was her fault, that she spent more time in the workshop than she did with him and that he needed someone who would support his climb up the corporate ladder.  She hadn’t been social or compliant enough for him.

In many ways Robert reminded her of Phillip.  Logic dictated that if she hadn’t been enough for an eager, ambitious Phillip, she had no chance of being enough for an established and successful Robert.

“Well, I suppose karma got you in the end,” she said, slight smile taking the sting out of her words.  Staying mad at Phillip wouldn’t accomplish anything. 

“Yes, I suppose it did.”  From his briefcase, he extracted a slim blue file folder.  “This is for your eyes only, Georgie.  A peace offering of sorts.”

She glanced through the typed pages.  There was a great deal done in a code she didn’t recognize.  There were numerous references to a “G” and a “P” and a “T”.  The numbers were familiar, though.  “My personal assets?  The value of the townhouse?  The number of shares I own in CA and in NS?  The value of the house in New Orleans and the condo on South Padre Island?  What exactly is this, Phil?”

“Research Prask had a team of his most senior, trusted, insiders compile.  He wanted to know what he would gain if there was a merger.”

“What does the insurance value on my
jewelry
have to do with a merger?  Oh…”  She froze.  Bile burned the back of her throat.  She swiped his coffee cup off the table and downed the lukewarm contents.  “Your boss has lost his mind.”

“I have considered the possibility.”

She ran her tongue along her teeth.  Bitterness coated the inside of her mouth.  She wanted to roll up the file, shove it somewhere uncomfortable for Prask, and light it on fire.  “How did you get the file?  I highly doubt you’re a member of his inner circle.”

“The thing about Prask is that he is real good at making new friends, but he has a hell of a time keeping them.  One such disgruntled insider knew that you and I used to be involved.  He thought I might find the file interesting.  I didn’t think much of Prask’s plans until I was told I had to come to Houston to meet with you.”

Georgiana rubbed the back of her neck.  The day had only started and a migraine was threatening.  She wished Prask would make a direct move.  If she had to constantly watch for traps, she’d lose what sanity she had left.  “Let me guess, he hoped that I’d take one look at you, throw myself in your arms, and cause a rift in my relationship with Robert.”

“I do believe that was his plan.”

“I hope he can live with the disappointment.  He needs to stop marrying teenage drama queens.  They bring out the adolescent in him.”

“Telling him that the plan was doomed to fail would have been a waste of breath.  Besides, I needed a vacation.  Too much cold, soggy weather lately.”

Georgiana scanned the contract for the database.  It was the same as the last four contracts they’d drawn up.  Her lawyers had already signed their initials.  She scrawled her name on the bottom of the last page, watched Phillip sign his name, and used the tabletop copier on the conference room credenza to make a copy for Phillip to take with him. 

“You know, if you ever get a hankering to work for an employer who actually possesses a sense of morality, there is room for you here,” she offered.  Phillip was a good lawyer.  Before he’d dumped her, he’d even managed to impress her father.

“I appreciate it, Georgie, but I don’t think your fiancé would take too kindly to having me in your building on a daily basis.”

Georgiana frowned.  “What does Bobby have to do with hiring you for our legal department?”

“Same old Georgie.”  He laughed and shook his head.  “Do you have time for a cup of coffee with an old friend?  Prask isn’t expecting me back at the office until later?”

She glanced at the watch on her wrist.  She had another hour before her next meeting.  She needed to check on Yvonne, read through the newest emails in her inbox, and go through the HR reports. 

She and Phillip had never been friends.  They’d met through a mutual acquaintance and jumped right into dating.  Was that why being with Robert felt so different?  With Robert, she had a connection that went beyond flirting and steamy kisses.  They were friends first and potential lovers second.

“Since I finished your coffee, it’s only fair I offer you a fresh cup.”  She gestured for him to leave his briefcase.  Barbara would keep anyone from entering the conference room.  “You can tell me all about Caracas.”

Fifty minutes later, she emerged from the elevator and strode into Yvonne’s office.  She was glad her assistant was missing in action.  Yvonne would have given her a hard time over her silly grin.  She couldn’t help it.  Clearing the air with Phillip had sloughed away the scar tissue that had built up after the breakup and had made her see a few things about herself more clearly.

She was through hiding from romantic entanglements.  It hadn’t worked out with Phillip, but she wasn’t unlovable, as she’d spent so long fearing.  She just needed to find someone who understood and accepted who she was. Unfortunately, it was unlikely Robert Norwood was that man.

Her cell phone rang before she had a chance to boot up her laptop.  Robert’s name flashed on the screen.  She wondered, just for a moment, if he had bugged her office.  “Hello,” she greeted, sinking onto her chair.  “You have five minutes.  Being late to meetings with the accounting department always seems to make them last longer.”

“How did your appointment with Prask’s lawyer go?”

“Great.   We signed the standard contract.  There were no hidden loopholes or last-minute additions.  You were right about Prask wanting to knock me off balance, though.”

“Oh?”

How he managed to infuse two little letters with so much meaning, she’d never understand.  His icy tone made her shiver.  “Yes.  He called Phil in to take the meeting.”

“Pansy-ass Phil?”

Georgiana winced.  She was glad her brother was opening up to Robert, but she wished Tab wouldn’t divulge so much about
her
life.  “Tab really needs to stop calling him that.  Dad shouldn’t have said it in front of him.”

“Is that the Phil you meant, Georgiana?”  Robert’s voice was cool and controlled.  “Prask flew in your ex-lover to meet with you?”

“Yes.  He was hoping to end our engagement.  He overestimated my depth of feelings for Phil.  Hard to pine away for a guy when he embarrasses you in front of everyone you know three days before Christmas.”

“I’ll kill him.”

She blinked at his vehemence.  “Phil or Prask?”

“Both.”

“I actually think I should thank Prask.  Seeing Phil again, talking to him, put several things in perspective for me.”

“Did it?”

There was that ice again.  Georgiana was glad there was half a city block between the two of them.  “You’re a lot like Phil, Bobby.  I wasn’t the right type of person for him; I can’t be the type of wife you need.”

“Don’t you think that is something
I
should decide, Gigi?”

“Under normal circumstances, I would agree, but you’re not thinking clearly.  Your father’s poisoning has you rattled.  Your board’s grumbling makes you feel like you’re on a deadline.  You’re settling for the first familiar face you see and that’s not fair to either of us.  You should wait until you find the perfect person.”

“And what does this paragon of femininity possess that you do not?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed, “I haven’t started a list.  I just know that it’s not me.  You need someone more concerned with serving the perfect martini not designing the perfect martini shaker.”

There was a long pause.  Robert’s voice was still calm, but there was heat behind his words.  “I don’t know what idiot told you that, Gigi.  I expect it was pansy-ass Phil.  What he failed to take in to account is that you cannot make the perfect martini
without
the perfect shaker.” 

“Bobby…”

“We need to talk.  We’ll meet for lunch.  I’ll send Allan over at noon to collect you.”

“I have a lunch meeting.”  She didn’t, but she could arrange one.  There was always somebody itching for an hour or two of her time.  It wouldn’t be as enjoyable as staring across the table at Robert, but she needed space.  She needed time to collect her thoughts.  The blue folder Phil had given her caught her eye.

“I’m sending a courier over to your office with a file.  Phil brought it with him.  It seems Prask has had his eye on a Collier-Prask merger for quite a while now.  It almost made me lose my breakfast.”  Hopefully the file would be enough to distract Robert from the impending discussion about their relationship.  She was confident that, given enough time to clear his head, he would see that she was right.

“Dinner, Georgiana.”

“We have the Chestertons’ dinner party.  Ian’s a friend of your father’s.  Dan would be upset if we stood them up.”

“For someone who claims to not enjoy social events, you seem to be rather stringent when it comes to the schedule.”

“I get that from Mom, I guess.  If she accepted an invitation, she had to be on her deathbed before she canceled.  She kept their calendar in her head.  Never forgot a dinner or a party.  Thank God for Yvonne and synched calendars.”

“We will talk about our engagement,” he said.  “Either we do it in private or we’ll have it out in the middle of the Chestertons’ dining room.  I won’t let you brush me off, Georgiana.”

“And I won’t be merely an obligation to you, Bobby.  Look, I really have to get downstairs.  We’ll talk about us later.   I promise.”  Before he could say anything else, she ended the call and tossed her phone in a desk drawer.

Robert listened to the dial tone for a moment.  He scrolled through his contacts and selected a recent entry.  The call rang once before it was answered.  “Tab.  Sorry to interrupt what sounds like a riveting game of Zorkamoid.  How would you feel about having lunch with me?  There are a few ideas I need your input on.  No, no, we can eat anywhere you’d like.  I will have Allan pick you up.”