Putting It to the Test Page 10

  And Matt was determined to invoke a lot of marvel when it came to this project. Whatever he had to do to land this management job, he’d do it. If it was impressing Hall with another project well done, then he’d hand it over with all the glitz and chutzpah that satisfied clients. That part was easy. The hard part was getting into Hall’s head to see exactly what kind of plan he was brewing and how likely a candidate Matt really was in taking on this new team.

  For days he’d been waiting for the right moment to broach the subject with Hall, but so far the opportunity hadn’t come up. And though Matt could be patient, he didn’t want Hall to sink too far into any decisions without the chance to throw out a few ideas or sway the vote in his favor.

  “Setting up early, as usual.”

  Matt turned to find Brayton Hall standing in the doorway clad in Friday blue jeans and a pink button-down shirt he couldn’t quite pull off.

  “Yes,” Matt said. “I don’t like dealing with surprises while the client’s waiting.”

  Brayton stepped across the threshold, pulled back a chair and took a seat. Maybe this would be the opportunity Matt had been waiting for.

  “That’s why you’re one of the best,” he said. “You think like a true businessman.”

  Matt folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, trying to conjure a comeback that might segue into the topic of this new management job, but Brayton went on. “How are you feeling about this project, by the way? Things coming along as you’d hoped?”

  Matt shrugged. “Better, actually. Lucky for us, the Singles Inc. in-house development team wasn’t a hard act to follow. From what I understand, they’re data programmers, not Web designers. Most of them are thrilled to have this taken off their plate. I guess Singles Inc. has been growing faster than anyone expected and they don’t admit to having much Web-design experience or the time to deal with the site maintenance. They’re busy enough with the back-end data.”

  Brayton snagged a wayward paper clip from the table and began tapping it against the arm of his chair. “It’s always nice to work without resistance. Outsourcing isn’t always so well received.”

  “We don’t have any problems where that’s concerned.”

  Brayton looked up at the screen. “I think Andy will like what you’ve done so far. Not only is the image updated, you’ve made quite a few good improvements to the design.”

  “The drop-out rate was one of the first things we looked at,” Matt explained. “Far too many people were starting the survey, then not finishing.” He flipped back to one screen in particular. “At the beginning of the registration process we’ve got information letting people know how long to expect the survey to take.” Advancing forward, he added, “Then we’ve got the option on every screen to save the answers and come back another time. We think people don’t realize how comprehensive it is, get halfway through and quit out of the program, not coming back because they don’t want to do the work all over again. With the new design they not only know what to expect from the outset, but if they run out of time, they don’t have to redo the questions they already answered.”

  “That’s a great idea. Completely obvious but apparently overlooked in the original design.”

  Those had been Carly’s ideas, as well. He hadn’t expected they’d complement each other so well on the job, never having worked on a project with her before. Where he had the eye for art and design and was good at the bells and whistles, Carly focused on human behavior, asking herself who were the users, what did they want, where would they go and what turned them on and off. She had a knack for bringing up all kinds of angles he hadn’t thought of, points that seemed so basic but had completely missed his radar.

  A side of him wanted to bring her back to review some of the projects he’d recently worked on just to see what she’d come up with.

  If only she’d talk to him.

  “And how are things with you and Carly?” Brayton asked. “Everything all right there?”

  Matt swallowed and put on a good face. “It’s going fine,” he murmured, hoping his smile helped sell the statement.

  “I know Andy and I have been giving you two a little riling over those survey results.”

  A little? They’d been making such a deal out of it Matt had expected a minister to walk through the door any minute and marry them on Brayton’s command.

  “No one expects you to fall in love,” Hall went on. “But I did find it ironic that Carly ended up matching your survey closer than anyone.” He grinned. “It proves my instincts.”

  Matt grinned even though he had no idea where Hall was going with this.

  Brayton stopped tapping the paper clip and instead began snapping it under his thumbnail. “If you recall, I hired you with the intent of pairing you two up someday. I always had that feeling you would be dynamite as a team.”

  They were explosive all right.

  “Which is why I’m somewhat concerned about the tension between you two.”

  “Tension?” The word came out two octaves too high.

  Brayton shrugged. “I could be wrong. I’m just sensing you might be having trouble working as a team. That could be my fault. I haven’t exactly pushed either of you to do much consulting on your projects. You both do a pretty good job on your own. Maybe it’s hard having to suddenly share the decision-making process instead of running with your own ideas.”

  Matt narrowed his eyes. “Has someone expressed concerns?”

  “Only my observations, though I don’t have any complaints about this project so far.”

  Clearing the nerves from his throat, Matt sat up in his chair and responded with assurance. “Carly and I are getting along fine. Sure, maybe it’s awkward having to run things by someone other than the client, but I think we’re weathering the bumps and will do a superb job for the company.”

  “Yes, and I’ve got ideas for expansion and I can’t carry out those ideas if my best designers can’t play well in the sandbox with each other.”

  This was the exact segue Matt had been waiting for in his quest to bring up this rumored design team and their need for a new manager. Unfortunately, he was feeling as though he was being scolded, and bucking for a promotion right now suddenly seemed like a bad idea. Obviously, Brayton had concerns that Matt needed to resolve.

  “I assure you, Carly and I are fine. She’s a brilliant designer with some fantastic insights. In fact, I’m finding our strengths support each other in ways I hadn’t expected. I doubt even after this project is through I’ll design another Web site without getting her take on it—and I’d like to think she’ll come away from this project feeling similarly. If you’re sensing tension, it’s probably the intensity we’re bringing to the table, wanting to make sure this project goes off without a hitch.”

  He took a breath and hoped his assurances had worked. Everything he’d said was true. He had begun to uncover a newfound respect for Carly. All he had to do now was get Brayton to focus on the project they were doing instead of this little rift that had come between them, at least until he made one more concerted effort to square things away with her. It appeared now that his future depended on it.

  Brayton tossed the paper clip back on the table and rose from his chair. “That seems fair enough.” Nodding toward the monitor, he added, “You’re definitely doing a good job here. Keep it up.”

  Then he walked out the door, leaving Matt feeling as though he’d just dodged a bullet. He had no idea any of his problems with Carly had made their way to Brayton’s office. Apparently, the walls at Hall Technologies were thinner than he’d expected. He’d hoped time would loosen the strain between them, but it now looked as if he didn’t have much. Glancing at his watch, he speculated if he should try to get her to open up before they gave their presentation. Surely, if she knew Hall was expressing concerns, they could at least agree to put up a front for the sake of their careers.

  He had almost a half hour before the meeting. Would that be enough time? Pushing away from the tab
le, he decided to give it a shot.

  10

  CARLY AND BEV stepped into Lone Dog, one of the last independent coffee shops in the area that hadn’t been taken over by the big chains. It was busy this time of day between the tail end of the lunch rush and those dropping in for an early-afternoon coffee, and after ordering two double lattes, the women tucked themselves next to a partition while they waited for their order.

  “So, big meeting with Singles Inc. today?” Bev asked.

  Carly nodded. “We’re running our mock-ups by their marketing director to see if he likes the direction we’re going in.” She checked her watch. “In fact, I hope these coffees don’t take too long. The meeting’s in twenty minutes, and I should try to get there early to see if Matt needs any last-minute help.”

  Bev scoffed. “Matt needing help? Would he admit to it if he did?”

  “Probably not, though I have to say he’s been more cooperative than I’d expected. I thought I’d have to fight tooth and nail to get him to accept my ideas, but—shock—he’s actually liked some of them.”

  “Why wouldn’t he? You’ve got good ideas.”

  “I guess I always thought Matt wouldn’t like any idea that wasn’t his, good or bad. That’s the way guys like him usually are.” Although Carly had to admit this wasn’t the first time Matt had thrown a wrench in her definition of guys like him. Though she’d always seen him as cocky and flippant, more than once since they’d landed on this project together he’d surprised her with a gesture that came off very warm and considerate, as if inside that arrogant exterior a kind and thoughtful man existed.

  Still, her smarter side warned her not to let her guard down, remembering that Matt Jacobs served only Matt Jacobs and she’d best keep that in mind lest she turn a blind eye and end up burned.

  “I think you’re too hard on him. Sure, he’s not the warm, fuzzy type and he hasn’t gone out of his way to mingle with the crew, but you haven’t cut the guy a break since he knocked you off that first project.” Then Bev smiled. “Except for your detour in the lab, of course.”

  Carly took a deep breath and sighed. “I suppose I should try harder to get along.”

  “That or get him back in the lab.” Bev winked.

  Carly opened her mouth to tell Bev to drop her ideas about she and Matt ever having sex again when a comment from the other side of the partition caught her attention.

  “You should see the crack security around Singles Inc. It took me all of four minutes to break into the survey data, and most of that involved figuring out how they’d separated our survey results from their mainstream population.”

  It was Brian Shanahan, and Bev and Carly shared a silent glance wondering what the man was talking about—and, more importantly, to whom.

  “So you’ve really got everyone’s answers?”

  It was a woman’s voice. Carly suspected it was Suzie Novak, one of the summer interns they’d just hired.

  Though Brian lowered his voice, they both heard him reply, “Sure, how do you think Matt and Carly ended up with the project? By chance?”

  Their jaws dropped, and without waiting for another word, Carly stepped around the low wall to find Brian and Suzie sharing a late lunch, Brian nearly choking on his focaccia sandwich when he caught the look in Carly’s eyes.

  She put on a smile for the intern but stared at Brian in a way that would frighten small children and most adults. “May I have a word with you?”

  Brian swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. “Carly, I was just telling Suzie here—”

  “Outside,” she ordered, pointing toward the door.

  He didn’t miss the insistence in her tone. Setting down his sandwich, he excused himself while the two women escorted him out the door and down the sidewalk, away from the café tables and lingering crowd.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Carly asked.

  “That wasn’t how it sounded,” insisted Brian.

  Bev folded her arms across her chest. “It sounded to me like you were on the verge of blabbing about Carly cheating on the survey.” She eyed Carly. “I told you he had loose lips.”

  “What’s the big deal?” Brian asked. “The survey’s over and done with. Nobody cares how you two got assigned anymore.”

  “Oh, Mr. Hall would care all right,” Carly scolded. “And Matt! Do you have any idea what Matt would do if he knew?”

  Brian’s caged look left Carly with a sick feeling in her stomach.

  “You didn’t.”

  “No, I didn’t. He’d heard it somewhere else before he said anything to me about it.” Pointing a finger, he defended, “I assumed one of you told him.”

  Her sickness welled. “Matt knows?” She placed her fingers to her temples to keep her head from exploding. “I can’t believe this. He’ll go straight to Hall.”

  Brian shrugged. “He hasn’t yet. If he was going to run to Hall, he’d have done it ages ago.”

  Carly’s ache halted, replaced by something more dire. “What do you mean ages ago?”

  “Since he found out about the survey. He said he’d keep it to himself and he obviously has. I think you’re overreacting.”

  Carly stood and stared, trying to sort through the information.

  “You’re telling me Matt’s known about this for a while?”

  “Yeah, I guess. It was just a couple days after the results were announced. It’s like I said, if he was going to do something about it, he would have by now. It’s old news. You shouldn’t sweat it.”

  Carly’s eyes met Bev’s, the look on her face confirming every angry thought beginning to pool and boil.

  “He knew days after the results,” Bev said, as if Carly hadn’t heard it or might have missed the significance of that fact. But she hadn’t missed a thing. She knew exactly what that meant. It meant Matt had known they weren’t the least bit compatible when he’d seduced her in the project room. He’d known the whole thing was a farce when he’d whispered those suggestions in her ear, the idea that they were perfect for each other, that they should explore this thing between them, that they should rip their clothes off and see exactly how compatible they were.

  “Brian, I’m serious. Are you sure he knows we fudged the results?”

  “He came up and asked me about it. I thought one of you had told him.”

  “When exactly was that?”

  “Practically the day after they announced the results. Like, that following Monday. See? He’s known all along and you’ve been fine.” Brian quickly darted back inside the Lone Dog.

  Fine?

  She clenched her teeth as her throat closed up in a mixture of anger and humiliation. He’d known. He’d known all along. And instead of confronting her with the truth or turning her in to the boss, he’d used the information to get her out of her skirt, to take advantage of her in the most intimate way possible.

  The thought made her dizzy—or maybe it was because she’d begun to hyperventilate. “I can’t believe this,” she said. “I cannot believe this.”

  Closing her eyes and swallowing back tears, she wondered how she could be so naive. How could she have allowed herself to be used by him? A hot rush of embarrassment swept through her. She’d stood naked in front of him, offered herself to him after he’d gone on about the chemistry between them. How could she be so stupid? She’d seen his answers to the survey. She knew he was a self-serving, egomaniacal jerk. How could she have forgotten and gone along with him so willingly? She should have suspected something.

  “Carly,” Bev said, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking concerned. “You’re pale as a ghost. Are you okay?”

  Carly shot out a mock laugh. “I’m ten miles from okay. The only question now is, how quickly can I kill him?”

  “Okay, Carly, we need to think about this first,” Bev warned, but fury had already taken over Carly.

  “There’s nothing to think about. Matt Jacobs is a scumbag and it’s about time everyone knew it.”

  “Don’t do anything ras
h. Let’s go back in, get our coffees and talk about this.”

  “I lost my taste for coffee,” she said, then turned toward the curb and began storming across the street. She heard Bev make one last pitch, but she was beyond logic and reason at that moment. All she cared about was dealing with this—all of this—right now, because the more she considered what she had to be angry over, the longer the list became.

  Starting with Brayton Hall and his foolish idea for the survey. If he’d just assigned the project to her as she’d deserved—as he’d done for Matt—she wouldn’t have had to cheat her way on it in the first place. In fact, she didn’t even consider what she’d done as cheating. She’d simply made restitution, righted a wrong, and she refused to look at it any other way.

  Stepping off the curb, she darted around a large stone planter filled with marigolds to avoid colliding with a group of workers from AutoTronics, a large component manufacturer that leased the building next to hers. She chose the detour over slowing down and nodding pleasantries, and as she rounded the corner at the Happy Lantern, another rush of tears threatened to spoil her anger.

  She couldn’t believe that she’d actually fought a crush over the man. Too many times over the last week she’d reflected on their lovemaking, wondering how she might be able to go back for seconds without getting her heart broken. He’d apologized for the things he’d said, and on more than one occasion she’d nearly apologized, too, her need for a second taste strong enough to make her compromise her ultimate needs.

  Thank God she hadn’t. The only thing worse than being manipulated by a shallow snake like Matt Jacobs would have been actually groveling to the man, offering a truce in the hope of getting him in the sack again.

  Just the thought angered her more, and as she pushed through the glass doors of Hall Technologies, she swallowed back the vise on her throat, took her anger and used it to feed her ire.