No Strings__ - By Janelle Denison Page 0,57

and didn’t know how to handle his feelings for her. God, he was pathetic.

“Well, I just heard from Luca,” Perry informed him enthusiastically. “Chloe pitched this brilliant concept this morning that would utilize a traditional matchmaker they have on the island. Luca loved the concept and is going with it!”

Perry went on, but the sudden ringing in Aiden’s ears prevented him from hearing anything else. His stomach churned, making him ill, and his head began to spin. Angry thoughts flashed through his mind, fast and furious. Chloe had pitched without him and behind his back? And Jesus, she’d actually used his concept to win over Luca and secure the account? Used it as her own idea and took credit for something he’d created?

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, trying to see things another way, to think maybe he was wrong. But Perry himself had said, Chloe pitched a brilliant concept using a traditional island matchmaker. There was no other explanation.

How could a woman he thought he knew so well, a woman he’d trusted in so many ways, do something so unforgiveable? And how stupid was he for believing she was any different than Paige when it came to her career when he’d known all along how important climbing the corporate ladder was to Chloe?

After everything they’d shared, her betrayal cut deeper and sharper than a knife, and left him reeling with disbelief...yet there was no denying what Perry had just told him.

He shook his head hard, and forced himself to focus on what Perry was saying.

“...I haven’t had the chance to talk to Chloe yet,” his boss continued. “Luca told me that she missed the afternoon flight out because she’d been doing the presentation. He flew her out by private commuter plane, but chances are she missed her connecting flight in Nassau. I’ll just see the two of you in the office in the morning.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Aiden said, because he didn’t know what else to say. Besides, he was still trying to process the fact that Chloe had double-crossed him.

He disconnected the call and tossed his cell phone onto the counter. Frustration roiled through him. With no way to confront Chloe when she wasn’t back in Boston yet, his anger simmered all night long. By the time he arrived at the office in the morning, he was like a lit fuse waiting to explode.

* * *

AFTER ONLY A few hours of sleep in her own bed, Chloe’s alarm clock startled her awake. It took everything in her not to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Instead she dragged her tired body into the shower. Exhausted or not after her flight snafu yesterday that had finally gotten her back to Boston after midnight, she was expected in the office this morning.

She hadn’t had a chance to call Aiden, or talk to Perry about her spontaneous meeting yesterday with Edward Luca, and she needed to let them both know that she’d already pitched their ideas, and why. She still felt it had been the right thing to do, because there was no way she wanted the Metro boys to have any kind of leverage over her or Aiden.

A hot shower helped to clear her head, but she couldn’t shake the fatigue and jet lag weighing her down. She figured it would probably take a day or so for her body to readjust. Dressed in a leopard print A-line skirt, a black silk blouse and black heels, she grabbed her computer case and headed out the door. On the way to work, she picked up a large skinny vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso, and made it to her office with minutes to spare, even after stopping to say a quick hello to Holly.

She’d just sat down and turned on her computer when she glanced up and saw Aiden heading toward her office, looking as gorgeous as ever in a charcoal-gray suit that fit his broad shoulders and lean frame to perfection. Memories of their time together, the intimate ones where they’d both been stripped bare, emotionally and physically, swamped her. There was no doubt that her feelings for this man had changed drastically during their time on the island, but she still had no idea where she stood with him, and she had to admit, it was a very vulnerable place to be.

His stride was purposeful, his body language tense, but it was the dark, angry look on his face that took