Page 119 of Filthy Hot Escort

Skylar laughed. “Why, so you can strip my jeans off me? Because that’s what you look like you want to do.”

“Of course I do. You’re you. And I’m me.”

“And that’s all it takes?”

“Apparently.” He reached out for her, frowning when she evaded him.

She grabbed a pillow and dared to thump him on the head with it.

“Come on, sleepyhead, we can have Round Two, but only after I’ve shown you something.”

“Something better than what’s beneath your jeans? Because I highly doubt it.”

“You’re right. It’s not better than that. But it’s still something you’re going to want to see.”

She disappeared out the bedroom door leaving him to follow her. He found her in her office, behind her computer. He leaned against the doorframe.

“Work? You pulled me out of bed for work?”

“No, I pulled you out of bed for a story. One, I want you to run— on Hardy.

54

An hour later, Julian finished reading through the pages that Skylar had given him.

Fuck. She’d done it. Found evidence of Hardy Priese’s embezzlement from theEmpowered in Financecharity. The man had created an entirely new fund and siphoned off all the charity’s money into it, then began to spend like there was no tomorrow. The trip to the Cayman Islands. Expense reports that didn’t add up. Multiple bank accounts created using the charity’s tax ID and business name, and most of those banks were offshore.

How the fuck Hardy thought he’d get away with it, Julian didn’t know.

But he supposed it had been happening so long that Hardy had just pushed his luck.

Julian looked at Skylar. “How long have you had all this?”

“I saw something a while ago that gave me pause. And then something else happened yesterday before I agreed to go to the retirement party with Kelly. I was going to dive into it afterward, but first, I found every single document I could that even had a chance of supporting Hardy’s wrongdoing and printed them out. I brought them here when I changed for the party.”

“Shit, Skylar. This is going to be huge. Thank you for trusting me with this, but we can’t run this story.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because it will cause a full-scale investigation of not just Hardy but Embrette Investments. The company where you work. The company that you want to run someday.”

“And you think that’s a reason not to expose Hardy? I know I gave you the impression that it was that first night at the awards banquet, but we can’t let him get away with this. Fuck my job.”

“Baby, you say that now, when the discovery is still fresh, but—”

“Nobuts, Julian. Hardy Priese is a criminal. I’m not going to cover up what he’s doing because of my own self-interest. Besides, I’m not even sure I want to work at Embrette anymore, let alone run it.”

“Oh really?” he said, his skepticism clear.

“Really. I love finance, but I’ve been climbing the corporate ladder for years, and you know what’s made me the happiest? Mentoring the girls throughEmpowered in Finance.If it’s what really makes me happy, why shouldn’t I use my knowledge and experience to expand the charity or create a similar one?”

“Well, that certainly would be a boon for everyone else. And if it really is what makes you happy, then you, too.”

“So you’ll run the story?”

He hesitated, then said, “I’ll take what you’ve given me and dig further. Cover my bases. That’s going to take time.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

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