Poisoned by Gilt Read Free

ridiculous conclusions.
    I'm not always rational when it comes to Burke Stratton.
    The man is bad news. If you continue to work with him,
    you'll regret it. But that's your decision. And this has been
    a hell of a lousy way to resume our friendship, S.S."
    "Yeah. Cruddy circumstances." The men shook
    hands. "Thanks for stopping by."
    "Technically, since I'm the finalist judge till they accept my resignation, I shouldn't have said a word about
    this. But I felt you deserved the heads-up. It was the least
    I could do, really." He gave me a thin smile. "Sorry that
    I'm forced to be so cryptic, Miss Gilbert."
    Not knowing what else to say, I muttered, "Thank you.
    Drive carefully."
    The moment the door closed behind Richard,
    P o i s o n e d b y G i l t 11
    Sullivan dropped into his desk chair, shot me a look of
    disgust, and snapped, "That was awkward."
    "Yes, it was. And I'm sorry, but truth be told, my questions seemed completely reasonable to me."
    "He'd just gotten through telling us that he shouldn't
    even have been talking to us in the first place! That he
    wasn't at liberty to discuss any details!"
    "No, he hadn't, Sullivan. He must have told you that
    over the phone. All he said at first in my presence was that
    he was sorry to be so vague."
    "It's the same thing!"
    "No, it isn't. Apologizing for being vague is not at all
    the same as being ethically or perhaps legally under a gag
    order."
    He made no comment and returned to his work--
    rifling through several pictures of formal dining room
    sets in order to whittle down the selection process to the
    best two or three for our client. His every motion was
    made with extra zeal and noise. I reclaimed my seat at my
    desk, which was at a right angle to his, and tried to get
    back to work, too. I gave up within only a minute or two.
    "Why are you angry at me, Sullivan? Could you please
    explain to me what's going on here?"
    "I don't know what Richard knows, Gilbert. But I do
    know he always tells it like it is. Always. So we need to listen." He paused, still so edgy I didn't dare interrupt. "I
    wanted you two to like each other. He's a great motivator . . .
    has such great vision. He believed in me when no one else
    did, including myself. There was a time when just having
    him look over my shoulder at a project I was struggling with
    would suddenly help me to find the answers. Somehow, it
    feels like the exact opposite is happening. As though he's
    12 L e s l i e C a i n e
    looking over my shoulder right now, and I'm suddenly seeing all our flaws."
    My heart leapt to my throat. "Our flaws? You don't
    mean in our relationship, do you?"
    He ignored me. A silent yes!
    I stared at him in profile. "Are you having second
    thoughts about our decision not to see other people?"
    He lifted his hands in exasperation. "Damn it, Gilbert!
    I happily quit seeing other women because nobody measured up to you. But when I'm with you, I'm not measuring up to your standards, and--"
    "That's not true," I cried, but he was talking over me.
    "I'm always screwing up. It's always wrong! You were
    right before. We shouldn't date."
    His words seemed to hang in the air. I swiveled in my
    chair to face my monitor and hide my expression from
    him. "Oh. I see."
    The phone rang.
    "I didn't mean 'we shouldn't' as in 'we won't.' Just
    that . . . you were right that it's not working."
    "No, that's fine."
    "The words just slipped out. I didn't mean to hurt your
    feelings, Erin."
    "I'll get over it." Just like I could dive face-first through
    the window and probably survive. Two years of harboring
    a crush on this one man had just crushed me. Despite my
    overwhelming urge to cry, I picked up the phone.
    Sullivan had risen and was now leaning on my desk.
    He whispered, "But I didn't mean that the way it
    sounded."
    I was too upset to listen. I cleared my throat and said,
    "Sullivan and Gilbert Designs" into the phone.
    "I don't want to stop seeing you."
    P o i s o n e d b y G i l t 13
    A woman was speaking. I