Page 55 of On His Team

She leans back in the chair and crosses her arms. “Aggressively.”

“I said three words.”

“Your face added several more.”

“My face?” I question.

“That is exactly the problem with your face.”

I laugh and look back at my laptop. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

The kitchen settles again. I make it through two pages of the reading. Gianna clicks around. I hear her mutter something that sounds like stupid fucking formula.

I don’t look up.

Another minute passes.

“So,” she says and hesitates, keeping her eyes on the screen.

My eyes drop back to mine. “You can handle it.”

It’s awfully quiet. I look up.

She’s glaring at me.

I smile.

She says, “That was rude.”

“You said you could handle it.”

“I can.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“I just want to know if there’s a faster way.”

“Sounds like you need help.”

“It’s not help exactly. I just need information.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Different thing.”

“Completely.”

I close my laptop halfway and turn toward her. “Show me.”

She hesitates just long enough to make sure I know this was her decision, then rotates the computer between us.

“It’s Finance,” she says.

“I can see that.”

She points at one section of the spreadsheet. “We have to build an operating budget and then calculate the variance between projected and actual expenses. I know how to do the variance. I’m trying to make it automatically flag the category when it goes over.”

“You used the wrong reference.”