Page 45 of Enticing the Fixer

“Yes, I am. I was starving and today sucked ass.” Her face fills with heat, making her cheeks and ears turn an adorable shade of red. “That came out wrong. There was nothing wrong with now or in my office earlier today. Those moments were both phenomenal.”

I waggle my eyebrows and wink. “Thank you.”

“Stop. I can already tell you have a big head. I won’t be giving you any more compliments.”

“It’s not like that. I’m not a dick. And I don’t run through women. I’ve been too busy over the years with….” Shit. I’m supposed to be an accountant, not a billionaire with multiple companies and an attorney’s license in multiple states. “School and work.” I cringe as I say the words. I should tell her the truth. It’s not like the bet means anything to me.

“It’s fine.” She rests her hand on my knee. “Neither one of us we’re born Friday night.”

The door bursts open, and Kinsley’s friend raises her eyebrows. “Well, you two look cozy.”

The faint sounds of the kitchen and band float up the stairs. Along with the scent of freshly fried foods. Why didn’t I toss this cold stuff out and get her something warm?

Shit. I might not have this dating thing down as good as I thought.

Kinsley stiffens as if she’s been caught with her pants down–even though she put them back on five minutes ago. We had to toss the panties into the trash.

“Hello.” I nod.

“Hey.” She eyes me up and down as if she’s gauging my worth and finding me lacking.

“Ann, this is Leo. Leo, this is my cousin and best friend, Ann.” After we nod at each other, Kinsley says, “We’d better go.” She shifts to stand.

“Sit.” Ann glares at her, shuts the door, and marches to the recliner, flopping onto it and tapping her fingernails on the armrests. “So, you’re friends with August.”

“Yes.” I nod. This could go either way–good or bad. At this point, it’s hard to say.

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Yes, he is.” I rub Kinsley’s shoulder with my thumb to let her know I’m not hiding our relationship with anyone. And in hopes that she doesn’t want me to.

She tilts her head. “He says you’re a good guy.”

“I like to think I am.”

“He says you’re smart.”

“Ann?” Kinsley finally moves and shifts forward as if she’s blocking her friend from attacking me. Even though it’s only words and not fists.

Ann’s eyes dart to Kinsley and then back to me. “What do you intend to do to help Kinsley? The board of directors is a bunch of assholes.”

I cup Kinsley’s face and turn it to meet mine. “Am I free to talk?”

“Of course, Ann knows everything.”

“Okay.” I drop my arm to my side and shift to face Ann. “I was hired by a security company to investigate Kinsley’s business. I don’t know who the client is. My contact won’t tell me, so I’ll keep an open mind.” I lace my fingers through hers as going without touching her is already out of the question. “When I got onto the computer system, I discovered two things. A virus that’s cultivating client information.”

“Which he disarmed.”

“Whoever installed it was smart. A novice programmer wouldn’t have noticed the backdoor program running below the surface. Luckily, I have a lot of experience with software and programming.” I lick my lips and swallow. “And when I went to input data into the accounting software, I discovered a glitch siphoning off one cent from each transaction. It’s not a lot, but with the number of transactions in a day, it adds up.”

Ann’s hands ball into fists on her lap. “Who’s doing it?’

“I don’t know…. Yet.”

She shifts her attention to Kinsley. “Who do you think is responsible?”

“Whoever it is either trying to make me look guilty or is greedy.” She shrugs. “Maybe both. Or maybe it’s two different people. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure it out.” She jumps off the sofa, allowing my hand to fall from hers. She’s too worked up to notice. “Marge Graham is the only one on the board who is nice to me, but she treats me like a little kid. Ethan Rossi is outright hostile at every meeting. He’s pushing hard for the rest of the stakeholders to sell, it’s like getting whiplash.” Her eyes darken as if there’s a perpetual cloud hovering over her head. “And the rest of them are no better. Curtis. Preston. Dean. They’re all the same. I can’t even trust Valeria. She was with my father for two years, but I can’t trust anyone.”

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