Page 34 of Miss Treated

The sight of the blush staining her cheeks was worth the effort of the long line at Starbucks.

“How did you know?”

“I have my sources.”

She took the cup from my hand. “Mm, perhaps a Starbucks barista who is sweet on you. At any rate, thank you very much.”

It was the second time I’d noticed a tinge of jealousy in her words, and now I wondered if my flirtatious nature had been a deterrent for her. I’d always been a flirt, but she was dead wrong if she thought that made me a player. “You’re welcome. This is a thank-you for yesterday on the plane.”

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling today?”

“Much better. I apologize again for skipping out on dinner. Hope you had a good evening.”

“I did. Hit some bars, went out to a club, and got in about two hours ago.”

My mouth opened and closed until I saw the twinkle in her eye. “Jesus, you had me going for a second.”

She full-on laughed, and it hit me straight in the solar plexus. Was it possible to fall in love this quickly? I wasn’t sure as I’d never been in love, but if it was a mix of wanting to throw up and spend every second I could with her, perhaps it was possible.

She rolled her eyes. “Bars and clubs are definitely not my scene.”

“Mine either.”

She quirked a brow. “I find that hard to believe.”

I leaned down, enjoying the way she blushed again. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me yet, Ms. Maxwell.”

We walked the two blocks to the office and were greeted in the lobby by the office manager, Barbara. She’d been with my father since the beginning, and although not related by blood, she was considered family.

“Nicky, I’m so happy you’re here.” She patted my cheek and engulfed me in a big hug. Her thick Jersey accent always made me smile.

“Me too, Barb. You look lovely. How are the grandkids?”

“Grandkids are amazing. We have number four due in a few months.” She turned to Kelsey. “Always a charmer, this one. And you must be Kelsey. Nice to meet you, my dear.”

Kelsey smiled. “Nice to meet you too.”

We went straight up to the fiftieth floor and into a large conference room. “Figured we’d get you settled in here and then have the people you want to meet come to you. We’ll start with the accounting manager, then move on to the billing manager.”

“Great, thank you for setting this up.”

By midday I’d learned more about billing than I ever thought possible. I’d imagined this would be boring, but I found myself completely enthralled with the way Kelsey worked. Once again, I was hit with the idea she was out of my league. She needed someone more her equal on an intellectual level. Not a guy with commitment issues and no sense of direction faking his way through a year at his father’s company.

At lunch, it was only the two of us over a delivered meal in the conference room. “What is the next step in this process?” I asked Kelsey. “You’ve met with everyone, so now you form some questions about their processes and document it?”

“Yes, I form questions and ask for samples of data. For example, I’ll pick five vendors set up during the past year and ask for the backup and approvals to test if the stated process is being followed. Same with billing. I’ll randomly select five invoices and ensure they too reflect the process. Then if one doesn’t for some reason, I widen the sample. Then I’ll—” She stopped herself, blushing.

“What? I might not be a numbers guy, but I can follow your logic. You’re first documenting the processes and then ensuring they’re followed. Like I said before, you’re good at your job.”

“It wasn’t a matter of you being unable to follow along. My work means a lot to me, and sometimes I start to ramble.”

I wished I could say the same.

Chapter Fifteen

Kelsey

I’d had to stop myself from explaining more to Dominic in the conference room because I’d almost mentioned how I’d started to look for fraudulent transactions.