Page 26 of Furever Loyal
Kincaid smiled, trying to smother the pride he felt over the backbone she was showing now. Although he approved of her fire, of the determination to see this through, the truth was that he could have moved a hell of a lot easier if she wasn’t with him. Plus, he could do things she wouldn’t approve of.
“I got it,” he said when she gestured for him to speak.
“Good.” Then she crossed her arms, still glaring at him. “The next time we do this, by the way? We’re going toobeythe rules.All of them. Do I make myself clear?”
He opened his mouth to protest, to tell her just how impossible that was going to be. It would be tough for him to not breakhisrules, and they were vastly different than the ones she was used to, the ones that up until that morning, had governed her world.
“Those are my terms,” she said, cutting him off before he could even make a sound. “Take it or leave it. If you want my help, we do it my way.”
“You’re going to help?” he asked, feeling a little surprised.
Haley regarded him silently for a few moments. “I’m going to do my best to stay neutral. I want to find the truth, whatever that may be. I don’t care if you’re guilty or not, I just want to know what’s a lie, and what isn’t. We will find the truth in this matter, one way or another.”
She was good. Really good. But he caught it. The tiniest of hesitations before she said she didn’t care. It was enough though, to betray her as putting up a façade. She was starting to believe him, he could tell. Maybe in time, she might stop hating him, though he wasn’t about to ask for that as a Christmas present.
“How did you get into accounting?” he asked abruptly. “You’re a very good speaker.”
Caught completely by surprise, Haley’s mouth worked several times silently before she found the words. “I wanted to go into politics originally,” she admitted.
He waited a moment, but that was all she was going to give him, he realized.
“I think you would have been good at it, from what little I’ve seen. You’re a natural speaker. Why did you stop?”
She glared at him. “Bad choices.”
Kincaid couldn’t help himself. He laughed out loud. “You would have been perfect then!”
The glare grew darker. He definitely wasn’t going to be asking for that Christmas present now. Still, he knew a little bit more about his intriguing accountant. It was a shame she seemed convinced he was an ass and treated him as such. If she was a little bit less of a bitch, he realized, he might take her to bed.
Those legs would look mighty nice without that skirt. Plus, I wouldn’t mind seeing what that top is trying so hard to conceal.
She was quite attractive, and he suspected she would be even more so if she wasn’t always giving him dirty looks or calling him a traitor.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any time to waste in pursuing her, a regret he truly did feel. Right now, his focus had to be on proving himself innocent, so he could reclaim his rightful spot within the house.
Kincaid knew what he had to do. But despite all that, he still had exactlynoidea how to go about it.
13
The silence in the room had grown deafening, but what really irritated her was that Kincaid not only seemed not to care, he didn’t even notice! The huge man—or shifter, as she wasn’t really sure what to call him now—had become distracted, speaking slowly to himself.
“Hey, do you want to share your revelations with the rest of us?” she asked caustically. She might not be some ultra-powerful being who could change into a beast, but Haley wasn’t about to let herself be dismissed either. She had said she was in, and now she expected to be in.
“I’m trying to figure out how to prove my innocence. We got sidetracked there, and truthfully, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to get back to that. Is that okay?”
She grated her teeth together. “Of course. We wouldn’t want anyone to know how much of an ass you really are, now, would we?”
“Honestly I’m a pretty likable guy,” Kincaid said jovially. “It’s not my fault you can’t see that.”
“Pretty sure it’s precisely your fault,” she muttered under her breath. “I can’t believe I agreed to help you.”
“Well, you did. So, help.”
Not for the first time, she wished she had something heavy enough to hit him with. “How would you like me to do that? We already said we can’t hack everything. The office was a bust. What exactly does that leave us to work with?” She grinned fiendishly. “Or do we just go back to the Queen and tell her you’re guilty?”
Kincaid’s visage cracked as a hostile glare made its way through, directed fully at her. Haley basked in it, enjoying it. She was finally starting to worm her way under his arrogant exterior, and it feltgoodto be able to repay him.
“Well, let’s see what we do know.”
