Sue was with her, and she nodded excitedly. “But what could you expect with Noah Reese hanging around, right?” She got an elbow to the ribs for which she scowled at Kristi. “What? He’s in charge of this whole thing, and no one knew it.” Her eyes slid to Jane with curiosity. “Unless you knew…”
“What? Of course not.”
The woman tilted her head, tapping her finger against her chin. “Really? You two sure spent a lot of time together. He didn’t say anything that might have clued you in?”
Heat rose to Jane’s face, and she fought the urge to give the woman a shove. “He didn’t share those sorts of details from his life with me,” she spewed through gritted teeth.
“Sue, leave her alone. If she says she didn’t know, then she didn’t know.”
Jane didn’t want to wait around to hear the rest of that conversation. She brushed past Sue but didn’t miss the next comment she flung into the space between them.
“She had to know something. She got that promotion. There’s no way that this isn’t connected.”
And just like that, the ache in Jane’s chest returned. She had been right. There would be people around here who would have noticed how much time Noah spent here and the fact that he was constantly helping her out.
With that becoming clear, it made it all the more difficult for Jane to believe that Noah hadn’t given her the promotion for personal reasons. Sure, there was a chance that he had been telling the truth. He might have truly been impressed by her. But it didn’t change the fact that he’d gone about this all wrong.
She was seated at her desk with her head in her hands when there was a knock on the door. Kristi’s head popped into the opening of the door as she opened it. “The front desk has been trying to call you.”
Jane’s eyes snapped to the phone on her desk and noticed the red blinking light. That meant there were messages. Shoot. She’d not turned on the ringer after her meeting with her supervisor. He’d been impressed by the way the event had turned out. And thankfully, he hadn’t bothered to bring up the issues with Noah.
Slowly, she lifted her attention to Kristi. “What is it? What do they need?”
“Apparently there’s someone here to see you?—”
Jane groaned. “Tell Noah I don’t want to see him?—”
“I’ll be sure to let him know the next time I see him,” a low voice interrupted her—a low voice that most certainly didn’t belong to Noah.
Jane’s head snapped up, and she found Mack standing where Kristi had been. He was wearing his jeans, and bits of straw clung to a dark t-shirt. He held his cowboy hat in his hands, and his hair was mussed after he ran a hand through it.
Her friend smirked at her like he had all those years ago when they’d been close as teens. She couldn’t help smiling backdespite the feelings of devastation she was trudging through. “Hey,” she murmured, getting to her feet.
Mack jerked his chin to the side. “I thought I might take you out for lunch, if you’re feeling up for it.”
She shot a look at the clock. It was already lunchtime. She’d lost track of the hours flying past as she chose to avoid interacting with most of the people who worked in this building. There was a meeting with the whole team toward the end of the day, and she was absolutely dreading it because as luck would have it, rumors were circulating that Noah would be in attendance.
“Want to kidnap me so I don’t have to come back today?” she pleaded.
Mack chuckled. “You wouldn’t want that.”
She pouted. “No, I wouldn’t.” She still cared too much about her reputation to play hooky. Jane gathered her purse and strode toward him. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere you won’t need that,” he eyed her purse. “My treat.”
Jane arched a brow then returned to her desk and placed her purse in a drawer with a lock. “Okay,” she drawled, “what is this all about?”
He shrugged. “I just thought you could use some fresh air…”
“And?”
Again, he lifted a shoulder. “And someone to talk to.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Whatever he’s said to you?—”
“He hasn’t been talking to us, Jane. He’s been radio silent. He got up early, did his chores, then he slipped away, and no one has been able to find him. We want answers, too.”
Surprise nearly knocked her off her feet. “You didn’t know?”
