The Desperate Game: (InterMix) by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online Page B

see him figure out the payroll program by the end of the week.”
    “Now, Larry, you’ve told me yourself that you need the job until you hit it big with your software game.”
    “Maybe I’ll just take my chances and quit.” Larry gazed forlornly into his beer mug. “I could finish the game on my own, Gwen. God knows it was supposed to be a team project. Cal and I were going to make it together, but if he’s flipped out on me, I’ll just have to think about going ahead alone.” He raised frustrated, uncomprehending eyes to meet Guinevere’s sympathetic gaze. “Why would he do it, Gwen? Why would he just leave without even telling me he was going? God knows he was never the confiding type, but to walk out in the middle of a business arrangement doesn’t fit. Cal wanted to finish that game and get it into the market as much as I do.”
    Guinevere leaned forward to touch his hand just as the waitress set down her glass of California bulk burgundy. “Larry, you’ve got to stop fretting like this.” She glanced up. “Thanks, Jan. Can I start a tab?”
    “Sure. How’s it going, Gwen?” The young woman who had just delivered the wine was attractive in an artsy sort of way. She wore her dark hair cut in a trendy style that was carefully designed to stay on the safe side of outrageous. Her clothes fell into the same category. In real life Jan was attempting to make it as an interior designer. She was trying to accomplish that goal in a city that was already teeming with designers. Hence the part-time job as a pub waitress. Jan had once spent a quiet evening in the pub explaining to Guinevere just how tough it was going to be to become successful. After that a limited friendship had sprung up between the two women.
    “I’m surviving,” Guinevere told her easily. “Things have been hectic lately. Have you seen my sister? She’s supposed to be here by now.”
    “Nope. But I’ll keep an eye out for her.” From her vantage point Jan swept the room with a practiced gaze. “Looks like someone else is headed this way, though.”
    Guinevere glanced toward the door. “Oh, hell.”
    “Know him?” Jan asked interestedly.
    “Unfortunately.” From across the room Zac Justis saw her and started forward with unerring accuracy. “You’d think I’d planned a party and everybody decided to come.”
    She watched Zac’s approach with a feeling of impending doom. She didn’t know anyone else on the face of the earth who inspired such a sensation, not even her accountant. But there was something about Zac that gave her the feeling of sinking into quicksand.
    She hadn’t seen him since lunch the previous day, when she’d blithely informed him yet again that she had absolutely nothing to report. She’d tried to impress upon him the futility of the undercover project while making her way through the most expensive items she could find on the menu. It had been hard running up a big tab at the pizza place Zac had chosen, but she had managed it through determination and attention to detail. It wasn’t that she’d actually wanted to eat the extra-large “kitchen sink” pizza, a salad, and garlic bread. Rather, it had been an attempt to convince Zac that taking her to lunch every day was going to prove more than his fledgling business could afford.
    Larry spotted the newcomer. “That’s the boyfriend, isn’t it?”
    Guinevere blinked. “Somehow I never think of him as boyish.”
    Larry flushed, embarrassed. “Sorry. Have they got a good word for boyfriends who look like they’re pushing forty?”
    Before Guinevere could answer, Zac was upon them. “That’s an interesting question. Have you got a good word for me, Gwen?” He smiled at Guinevere as he sank down onto the couch beside her. The cushions gave considerably beneath his weight, and she found herself tilting precariously against Zac’s side.
    “Nothing printable.” She kept her balance with an effort. Zac didn’t look as though he had anything