Page 25 of Without Apology

“You look—I mean do they work?” I’d been about to call her adorable.

She shrugged. “Seem to.”

“How late will you be?”

“Another hour most likely.”

There was the unfamiliar feeling again. Guilt. “What about Cooper?”

“My brother-in-law picked him up. Cooper’s staying the night with the girls.”

I hated the way our conversation was so stilted now. Unnatural. “Have you eaten?”

She studied me as if trying to figure out my motive. “No. Not yet.”

“I could order something in. Or at least ask Emma to. You okay with Italian food?”

“Yeah. Sounds good. Thanks.”

I went back upstairs and sent a message to Emma to order. When I received a text that the delivery was in the lobby, I went down to fetch it from the delivery guy. Grub in hand, I went back up to her office.

“Food’s here.”

Peyton was in the exact place I’d left her twenty minutes ago. She glanced up but didn’t move.

“Thanks. I have one remaining item I need to finish. But I’m not sure how you want the deferred revenue schedules.”

I set the bag down and walked around her desk to see the Excel sheet up on her screen.

She pointed. “If you look here, I have the column for the full amount, then each month and the deferment schedule. Then if it’s recurring, I have it colored coded by year.”

My gaze focused on what she was showing me. However, my body was reacting to being so near to her. Hunched down over her shoulder and inches from her face.

“Do you mind if I take a closer look?”

“Nope.” She slid out of her chair, allowing me to sit and take over the mouse. I couldn’t help noticing her desk was a complete disaster with paper everywhere. I tried not to let the clutter make me twitch. The light floral scent of her was a nice distraction.

I clicked through her spreadsheet and saw how her deferment schedule for revenue was laid out. I might not be an accountant, but I knew numbers. This was an impressive way of keeping track. “This doesn’t come out of the financial system?”

“Unfortunately, our accounting software is ancient. Which means we have to keep track manually in Excel and upload the deferments each month. There are less than forty, but if the number grows, it’d be best to invest in a better accounting system.”

“This looks good. Your last one?”

“At least until the questions and walk through starts on Monday. I don’t suppose you have someone other than Tom I’d get to deal with?”

“You’re in luck. We have a forensic accountant named Lyle who’s coming on Monday. He’ll be the one you’ll work with. Tom supervises him but doesn’t get his hands dirty in the details.”

“Thank God.” She smirked as she watched me gaze over her desk, piled high with folders and papers.

“Is my mess making you uncomfortable?”

“No. It’s fine.”

“Uh-huh. I can practically see you organizing it all in your mind.”

I grinned as I’d been doing just that. “How can you possibly find anything?”

She shrugged. “It works for me. It might look like chaos, but I can locate everything.”

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