at a better time. She’d be able to move out of her mother’s house and finally live independently like a normal twenty-six year old.
“Thank you, Mr. Falstaff. Thank you!” she gushed as she accepted his outstretched hand. She vigorously pumped it up and down. “I won’t disappoint you. I promise.”
His lips tightened. “Make sure you don’t.”
Chapter Two
BY THE TIME she arrived at Hayden Distributing, Max had already set up shop in the conference room. A few manila folders, power cords, and a flash drive of the previous audit’s spreadsheets and memos spread out over a long oak table.
“Have you seen Falstaff?” she asked with a little trepidation. She draped her trench coat over the back of an adjacent chair.
“I think we’re the first,” Max replied, “I haven’t been here long myself, but Beth said…”
“Beth?”
“The receptionist.” Max smiled. “You probably waved to her on the way in.” He tugged on the bottom of his striped tie. “I just spent a few minutes checking to see what’s happening.”
Angie’s lips quirked. When Max turned on the power of those long lashes, few girls stood a chance. The receptionist would just be another in a long line of conquests.
“Hayden Distributing hired us to audit their financials, Max, not to flirt with their personnel.” She unpacked her briefcase and added some papers to the items on the table. “Just be careful you don’t get caught. You know the rules.”
“Relax.” Max leaned back with a lazy smile. “I’m just being friendly. Besides, I doubt a receptionist makes key financial decisions. Even old Falstaff knows Beth is no threat to our independence.”
“Independence is an important ethical principal among accounting firms,” she lectured, crossing to the opposite side of the room. “If it even looks like you might have a reason not to be objective on the job, or that someone connected to the company could be influencing your decisions, you could be reassigned or fired.”
“Or both?” Max teased.
She smiled, mentally stepping from the soapbox. “Just be careful.” She stooped, mindful of her short skirt, to rifle through a boxy audit bag on the floor. “Have you seen that file with—”
The conference room door opened sending loose papers sailing on the sudden air current.
“Let me introduce our audit team,” Falstaff said. Angie stood hastily, tugging discreetly at the back of her skirt.
“Angela, come over here.” Falstaff waved her forward. “I want you to meet—”
“You!”
Her gaze rose to clash with familiar steel gray eyes. Shock congealed to a lump in her throat.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Her disgruntled passenger from two nights ago looked her up and down. “I thought you said your people were well-qualified,” he snarled to Falstaff.
“Angela is a wizard at analyzing data,” Falstaff said. “Very competent. She’s—”
“So grateful to be assigned to Hayden,” Angie interrupted, extending her hand for a handshake. She forced a smile on her face. “Pleased to meet you, sir.”
The memory of stumbling over how to address him two evenings ago warmed her cheeks.
His hand enclosed hers in a firm grip. Please, please , she tried to telepath . Don’t say you’ve met me before . His gaze bore into her, but she held her own, enthusiastically pumping his hand.
His brow rose. “Angela?”
“Angela Blake, the auditor in-charge,” Falstaff droned. “I assure you, her experience makes her uniquely qualified for this engagement.” He gestured to her associate. “Max Keller here is one of our newest hires.”
Renard’s gaze never left hers. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
He recognized her. She had no doubt. She could see it in his eyes and in the slight twist in his lips. He’d admitted as much by his reaction when he entered the room. No. He was trying to make her squirm and, unfortunately, was succeeding admirably.
“I don’t believe so,” she replied