Neve again. ‘I asked Neve to help me out. A fresh pair of eyes. She ran with it,’ Jake said. ‘I was happy for her to do it.’ Not strictly true, but he didn’t want Alec to know his domestic situation. If he hadn’t been sleeping with Neve, he probably would have branded her a manipulative bitch.

‘She rescued the situation, Jake,’ Alec pointed out. ‘She got you out of the shit.’

Not quite, it seemed.

‘I need another project,’ Jake said. ‘Something sexy. Something savvy. I’ve got ideas for the new Blow aftershave. I know we got the contract.’ It was a big one and everyone in the office would be chasing it.

Alec pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

Jake sat forward on his seat. Positive body language. ‘I want to get back into the fray.’

Alec nodded some more. ‘That project has already been assigned.’

Jake felt it like a body slam. This was news. ‘Assigned? When? To whom?’ And then suddenly he didn’t need to ask. ‘Neve.’

‘Yes,’ his boss said. ‘Neve.’

Jake sat and stewed while all the time trying to keep his face neutral.

‘She’s good,’ Alec said. ‘Very good. We need more people like her. People who aren’t afraid to go after what they want.’

He gave Jake a mysterious look. Jake tried a smile in return.

Alec stood up and wandered back to his window. ‘You need to think about your situation here, Jake,’ he said, back towards him. ‘Dunston & Bradley only want players on its team.’

Jake was a player. He’d always been a player. He was one of the most ambitious people in the office—bar Alec. And, of course, Neve. His plan had been to hold on to his boss’s coat-tails and go with him for the ride. He’d wanted to make himself invaluable to Alec and couldn’t believe how this had all gone so wrong.

‘Think about what you really want, Jake,’ Alec advised.

As if he hadn’t been doing that every day and every night.

‘Maybe you’ve lost your edge,’ his boss continued. ‘Maybe you need some time out.’

This did not have a good feeling about it. He was being asked to jump before he was pushed. Alec wanted him out. And it sounded as if he wanted him out sooner rather than later.