Page 12 of Her Prince in Disguise
"What’s wrong?”
Andi looked up, startled to find Laith staring at her.
“Nothing,” she replied, wishing that was true.
Andi held her breath as Laith walked around the conference room table to her side. Every time she pointed out a problem, he would put one hand on the table beside her and the other on the back of her chair. It felt almost like an embrace, and it was really messing with her head!
Of course, he did the leaning in thing again. He was so close, Andi could feel the heat radiating from him and smell his spicy aftershave. The man was intoxicating! She tried to focus on the numbers in front of her, but his presence was overwhelming.
As he leaned in, his voice dropped low and smooth, and Andi’s heart pounded in her chest. She could barely concentrate, her awareness of him overshadowing everything else. His fingers shifted the back of her chair slightly, sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. Still, Andi fought to maintain her composure, hoping he didn’t notice her trembling.
“Andi?” he prompted.
She looked up at him, trying to keep her expression bland. For a long moment, she forgot to breathe, staring into his dark eyes, thinking of the way he’d touched her in the elevator the night before. It had been just a casual brush of his hand against her arm, but she hadn’t been able to sleep afterward. Shekept replaying the moment in her head. She was acting like a silly school girl experiencing her first crush!
“Are you okay?” he asked, his deep voice huskier than before.
Was that just her imagination?
Of course it was! Andi inhaled deeply, then froze, his scent filling her lungs.
“What’s going on?” he asked, touching her shoulder. “You look flustered.”
Oh no! He couldn’t know that it was him that she was thinking about. A naked him!
“It’s this expense here,” she blurted, trying to focus on the numbers, but at the moment, they were only a blur.
“What do you suspect is wrong?” he asked, leaning closer.
Andi’s gaze was drawn to his jawline, fascinated by the hint of a five-o’clock shadow. And his scent! Damn it, he smelled delicious.
He gazed down at her, waiting. It was like his eyes could see into her soul. It took her a long moment to realize that he was silently asking a question about the data.
“Umm…” she blinked, forcing herself to concentrate. Numbers! Data! She looked down at her notes, saw the calculations scribbled on the margin of the report…and the issue came flooding back to her. “The variance on this cost has increased thirty-five percent over the past two months. Butwhen I contacted the vendor that supplies this project, they told me that the cost hasn’t gone up at all.”
Laith straightened and Andi breathed a sigh of relief. However, that sensation was short lived because the dratted man pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. In this position, one of his knees was perilously close to her thigh. She pulled her eyes away from the fraction of an inch that separated them, trying to recall what they were discussing.
His eyes narrowed, causing a wrinkle between his eyes. “Are you thinking embezzlement?”
Andi breathed in again, and then held her breath because she couldn’t handle his intoxicating scent. Nor could she look at him anymore. She was fascinated by everything this man did. Even the stupid wrinkle between his eyes was mesmerizing!
Was there a drug for this kind of stupidity?
Andi ran her teeth over her bottom lip, trying to concentrate. “I don’t know. I haven’t figured out if the error is on the side of the vendor or the accountant, or someone in between. Yesterday, I found an issue where the vendor was charging double the amount for the chemical used to treat and soften the material before the fabric went into the machines.” She tapped her pen against her notebook, wishing that the man would scoot back just a few inches. “I handed that issue off to Lawrence and he’s already negotiated a repayment from the vendor for the incorrect costs, along with interest and penalties.”
Laith grunted, leaning back as she continued, “He also found a new vendor,” she continued. “We won’t do business witha company that charges double because no one was reviewing the invoices. Even if they are willing to pay back the difference.”
“I agree. We shouldn’t do business with them. That’s an unethical business practice. They just didn’t think they’d get caught.”
Laith started to stand up and Andi breathed a sigh of relief. But that relief was short-lived because he put a hand to her shoulder and said, “Good work. This is exactly the kind of issue that I need you to keep finding. Because, now that the word has gotten out to the other vendors, they’ll start to hide their antics.”
His praise caused Andi’s heart to soar with happiness and triumph. She’d never felt this kind of confidence in her work before. Laith was a hard task master, but he was wonderful about giving credit where due.
He walked away and Andi could barely take her eyes off of him, but before he left the room, Lawrence pushed in through the glass doors carrying…a box.
She recognized the shape of the box in the lawyer’s hands, a wave of icy dread going down her spine. “Damn it!” Andi hissed, sitting up straighter in her chair.
“Hey, Andi,” Lawrence called out, looking down at the box with open curiosity. “This was just delivered for you.”
