Chapter 11
Aiden scowled at the financial spreadsheets. He’d been staring at them too long. I’m bored out of my skull, he thought. Thank God it’s Friday. He closed the file and leaned back in his chair. It was ten thirty. He could go and collect the keys to his new apartment. He’d meant to move in for the last week, but with his father’s extended stay in hospital and the trouble with Davy Tollington-Rees, he hadn’t got around to it.
He stood up, stretched, and pushed open the door to the outer office. Tallulah appeared to be absorbed in what she was doing, and he studied the top of her blonde head for a moment before she looked up.
“Sorry. I didn’t see you there. Did you need something?”
“I’m going to sort the flat out. I’ll just get some coffee first.” He headed for the pot in the corner.
“I can bring it through to you.” She jumped up from behind her desk, the full, flared skirt of her orange dress swirling around her legs.
“I can—”
She interrupted him. “Besides, that pot’s been heating since eight o’clock. I’ll make a new one.”
“It’s okay.” Aiden picked the pot up. “I’m perfectly capable of making a pot of coffee.”
“It’s my job,” Tallulah muttered, but she sat down again. At least she’d stopped calling him ‘sir.’
“I’m getting cabin fever.” Aiden measured out the coffee.
“What are you working on?” Tallulah asked. “Is it anything I can help with?”
Aiden stared at her. At least she’s stopped glaring at me.
Maybe she could help. He couldn’t think of anyone else. He didn’t know the juniors well enough to be able to tell whether they would gossip, and he knew the seniors well enough to be unsure of their integrity. It was highly unlikely Tallulah would have anything to do with financial irregularities. She hadn’t been around the company long enough to commit a crime, and she wasn’t a gossip; she was the opposite if anything. He definitely needed someone; the routine work kept him occupied long past the end of a normal working day, and he’d barely made any inroad into the accounts. “Can you be discrete?”
“Of course I can. No one would employ me a second time if I spread confidential information around.” She swivelled her chair around so she faced him.
The coffee started to percolate, and he took milk from the small fridge. “Do you want some?” He picked up the mug from her desk before she could answer.
“What do you want me to keep quiet about?”
“I’m combing through the financial records looking for things that don’t add up. My father thinks someone’s been less than honest.” He watched the slow drip of dark liquid through the coffee filter.
“What do you mean?” Tallulah leaned forward, her eyes sparking with interest. She didn’t look as though the prospect of criminal activity surprised her. “Something shady? Does he have anyone in particular in mind?”
“If he did, he didn’t share it with me,” Aiden said. “All he told me was that the company’s financial position was not as healthy as it should be based on project costings and projections. He thought there was a cash leak somewhere.”
“White collar crime?” Tallulah almost bounced with excitement. “Embezzlement?”
“It’s not a good thing.” He stared at her reprovingly, wondering if she was as bored as he was.
“Sorry.” She bit her lip. “I probably read too many crime novels.”
“Where the investigator ends up dead in a puddle of his own blood?” Aiden raised an eyebrow.
She laughed. “I hope not. It’s just that it would be exciting to track down a criminal.”
“Exciting’s not the word I’d use,” Aiden said. “Especially as it involves checking columns of numbers until my eyes cross, and if we do find a problem, it’ll probably involve one of my father’s trusted friends.”
“You should go out and ask questions.” Tallulah ignored his concerns. “You’d make a good interrogator.”
“Me? Why?” Aiden couldn’t help smiling at the ridiculous idea. “Steely eyes? Nerves of iron?”
“Nah. You can make people cry.”
“Anyway,” Aiden continued, “I’m spending most of my time looking at figures. That’s why I keep asking you to get the files for me. Do you think you’d be able to spot anything that doesn’t add up?”
Tallulah nodded. “I’ve worked in accounts departments before. I know how these things work. I could go through some if you like?”
“It’s pretty boring,” Aiden warned her.
“Most paperwork’s boring.” Tallulah accepted the mug he handed her and sipped at the coffee. “You’re right. You can make coffee.”
He tasted his own. “Could you stay a bit later than usual tonight, and I’ll show you what I’ve been doing?”
“I can’t manage tonight.” She chewed at her lower lip. “It’s Friday. I’m going out.”
“Fine.” He wondered where she was going and with whom, but managed not to ask. “What about Monday?” He could see the thought processes going through her mind. “I’ll make sure you’re paid overtime. Based on your inflated danger money, of course.”
She grinned. “You can’t shame me into turning it down. Money is good when you don’t have any. I accept. Time and a half after seven?”
“Done. You’re so mercenary.” He drained his cup and lifted his bag. “I’ll see you later. I’m going to sort out my flat.”
“Mercenary? I’m a good negotiator,” Tallulah said. “Is that all your luggage?”
“I don’t need much. I’ll get the rest of my stuff when I visit my father.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Looks awful, but his medical team seem pleased.” Aiden slung the bag over his shoulder and headed for the door. “I’ll be back late this afternoon. I’m visiting the new development after lunch. I’ve a meeting with the construction team if anyone asks.”
~ ~ ~
After he’d gone, Tallulah drained her coffee cup and set it aside. She’d talked to Aiden as though he was a friend again. Why do I do it? How do I just forget he’s my boss? She thought about his drink invitation the previous evening and enumerated the reasons it was a bad idea.
First, he’s my boss. I know he was looking at me with more than professional interest, but that doesn’t mean I have to do the same. Second, I’ve got better uses for my time than drooling over cute businessmen. I’ve a degree to work for. Third, men like him, from rich families, don’t have relationships with women like me. They use them. She rested her elbows on the desk, staring at the screen of her computer. Fourth, he’s out of my class. He’s gorgeous. I’d get attached. Fifth, I don’t do that at work. It’s unprofessional. Sixth, I… Her computer beeped, pulling her out of the introspection.
She thought about writing the list down and sticking it to her computer monitor. She sniggered as she imagined Aiden reading it.
Picking up her cup, she rinsed it before settling down at her desk again and forcing herself to concentrate. She finished most of her regular work by four o’clock and pulled up the list of the files she’d passed on to Aiden.
How will we look for irregularities? There must be masses of ways to rip money from a company the size of this one, especially if you were an insider. She guessed that most senior people did it legally through things like the bonus system or share options. It was a pity she had planned to go out; she wanted to make a start on sleuthing.
Aiden arrived back at five o’clock. He brought a couple of chocolate brownies with him and handed one to Tallulah. “Eat this before you go.”
Tallulah bit the end of her brownie. It was rich and intense in flavour. “I need tea with it.” She filled the electric kettle and took a box of teabags out of the cupboard, raising an eyebrow at Aiden.
“Me too.”
They drank tea and ate their brownies in companionable silence.
Why does he have to do things like bring me chocolate? If he kept himself in snappish mode, she’d have no problem viewing him as part of the office furniture.
“Did the move go okay?” she asked as she swallowed the last crumbs and licked the chocolate from her fingers.
Aiden’s glance lingered as she hastily wiped her mouth. “It was fine. Everything all right here?”
“Very quiet.” Quiet was what she normally wanted from a job. No intellectual or emotional strain. She saved her resources for her art. “I’d better go. Do you need anything else? The files from the dodgy accounts are on your desk.”
“Have you printed them all out?” Aiden asked.
She nodded.
“Okay. I’ll see you on Monday. Have a good weekend.”