How
old are you? Thirty-Four
How
did you come by your current occupation? I had a horrible home life growing up and I ran away. The man who took
me in paid for me to go to college where I received a degree in Business. I was
pretty gun shy about people so that allowed me to focus on school and being at
the top of my class I got a great job with Peterton Financial.
Do
you like your job? Why or why not? Yes.
I love my job. I used to love it because it was a job with structure. Numbers
don’t let you down or change and then turn on you. They either add up or they
don’t. I love my job even more now that Phillip Daniels has arrived.
Who
is the person you dislike the most? My
father.
Who
is the person you respect the most? Phillip
Daniels.
Is
there anyone special in your life? Phillip
Daniels. He’s amazing.
What’s
your favorite meal, and do you fix it yourself or have someone fix it for you? I don’t really have a favorite meal. I love food but I’m too lazy to cook. Phillip loves to cook so he would be the one
making our meal. And it would turn out flawless…like him.
Football
or baseball? Football. But only
watching it. I might get killed if I tried to play it. I’m a numbers guy not a
pigskin guy.
Favorite
exercise? Using my calculator. I’m kidding. I like jogging.
I
hear you’re planning a winter vacation. Where are you going? Is anyone going
along? Big Bear, CA. I’m a little
nervous because I’m not an outdoor macho type of guy. I’m going with Phillip.
He invited me up there for Christmas. I’ve never liked holidays. Until now.
If
you had one wish, what would it be? That
I’d been born with different parents so I wouldn’t distrust people so much. My
entire life would have been different. But I would still want to have met
Phillip Daniels. Knowing him has given me hope.
Senior
Analyst Taylor Williams knows there’s an embezzler at Peterton Financial, and
he’s been doing everything he can to catch the crook. Unfortunately the numbers
keep adding up to him being the thief.
When corporate sends in Regional Manager, Phillip Daniels to catch the
crook, it’s obvious he suspects Taylor right off the bat. Phillip is gorgeous,
sexy as hell and a hard ass. But when it comes to sexual attraction logic can’t
compete. Even though Phillip suspects Taylor might be the thief, he can’t keep
himself from bringing him into his bed, time and time again. Will the numbers
add up to a happy ending for these two?
EXCERPT:
“What the hell is this?” I asked, scowling as
Randy dumped a huge, sloppy pile of files and data sheets onto my desk.
“He wants us to go through all of these, ASAP,” Randy said.
“Who wants
us to go through all of these?”
“The new hard-ass is here.” Randy’s voice had
the usual respect he afforded the higher-ups. None.
I swiveled my chair and peeked out of my
office to see a man standing with the bigwigs in front of the shimmering
Christmas tree in the lobby. The new guy was about forty, black hair, at least six
feet tall, with broad shoulders impeccably encased in what was probably a
two-thousand-dollar designer jacket. His jaw was tense, belying the air of
relaxed confidence he was doing his best to sell.
The guy allowed a polite smile as Sally, the
receptionist, pulled a piece of shiny silver tinsel from his shoulder. Knowing
Sally, she’d be positioning him under the mistletoe first chance she got.
“Where did he come from?” I asked.
“Your dreams?”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me he was already
here?” I asked, ignoring Randy’s taunt.
“I am
telling you.”
“I mean sooner. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Did you explain to him we’ve
compiled this already?”
“I tried. He’s good-looking, but he might be
lacking in smarts.”
“It makes no sense to go through these. We
have it all in digital files already.” I grumbled, flipping through the sheets.
“What is this, 1984?”
“You can take it up with Pretty Boy yourself.
Looks like he’s making the rounds, and he’s coming this way.”
Great. This was who they sent? We’d
been hemorrhaging buckets of money, though those losses were largely due to
theft. Reviewing data printouts of losses we’d already reviewed a hundred times
was a waste of energy and cash. Peterton Financial was a large, well-oiled
machine, which meant it took a lot of money to pay for all that square footage.
I guess I’d have to shut up and let the new boss take a stab at fixing our
branch’s problems. And when he left, like the last two, I could get some actual
work done.
“Ten bucks says he doesn’t last the week,”
Randy whispered, waving a bill in front of my nose.
I eyed the new guy’s perfect haircut and
aquiline nose. Maybe he was tougher than he looked? Probably not, but it was
only ten bucks.
“You’re on.”
“Like taking candy from a baby,” Randy said,
tucking the money back in his pocket.
Lucinda Mercy, the office manager, stopped at
my office with Mr. Haircut.
“Taylor Williams, I’d like to introduce our
new regional manager, Phillip Daniels.” She smiled at me, lipstick on her
teeth. “Taylor is the senior financial analyst for the New York project.”
“Nice to meet you, Taylor.” Daniels took the
lead. His shake was firm, the skin of his manicured hand smooth. I got a whiff
of grapefruit, lavender, and lemongrass. He smelled terrific, I wasn’t going to
deny it, but his gaze appeared tepid at best.
It had been a long time since I’d met someone
as good-looking as Phillip Daniels up close and personal. In fact, I hadn’t
been up close and personal with anyone in quite a while. But that was no excuse
for being rude and leering at the guy.
“Hope we can accomplish some fine work
together.” Was it me, or did I sound like I was coming on to him? Crap, I
needed to get laid and fast before I embarrassed myself any more.
“I see Randy dropped off the files I want you
to comb through,” Daniels said in a velvety voice.
“About that, we’ve got all this on the
computer. I don’t need to go through the hard copies,” I said, meeting his cool
stare.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”
I gave a surprised laugh. “No, I mean it’s
been done several times already.”
“Then one more time won’t hurt anybody, will
it?”
I hesitated. Did he have bad hearing or
something? “I’ll see if I can get to it.”
“On the contrary, I want you to make this a
top priority.”
He might be gorgeous, but he was either dumb
or an arrogant prick. “Maybe I’m not making myself clear. These have already been gone through and saved to the computer.” I spoke slowly,
in case he was having trouble understanding the big words.
“Look, Taylor, is it? We need to get
something straight right off the bat. I’m your boss, and I’m giving you a
direct order.”
“I understand that, but I have a lot of work
and this is a waste of my time.”
Lucinda gasped and looked nervously between
Phillip and me.
“Do you want to catch the thief, Taylor?” he
asked.
“What does that have to do with—”
“You should be willing to do whatever it
takes. Since you’re so familiar with the data, it shouldn’t take you long.”
“It’s not as simple as that. Going over all
this is extremely time-consuming,” I said. “I have other things I need to get
to.”
“I’m sure you’ll work it out. I expect a
report ASAP.”
He turned his back on me and walked to the
next cubicle, perhaps to spread his good cheer.
“Wow, you like the rough stuff.” Randy
snickered.
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