Two Against the Odds Read Free Page B

box. She sauntered over to the table and plunked them in front of him. “Here you go.”
    Four of the six receipts were useless for tax purposes. He added the other two to his meager pile. “Fourteen down, God knows how many to go.”
    Lexie slid onto a chair and pulled her legs upbeneath her. “So, Rafe, did you always want to be a tax agent when you grew up?”
    â€œYes, accountancy fascinated me from an early age.”
    â€œReally?” Lexie asked, with a dubious frown.
    No. But he had a facility for numbers and after graduating from high school, accounting had seemed like the quickest ticket out of the small country town of Horsham where he’d grown up.
    Rafe shrugged. “It’s a living.”
    â€œIt can’t be nice going to people’s houses and threatening them with the police if they don’t hand over their receipts.”
    Another twinge in his stomach. He clenched his teeth to control the wince. Nobody got it. Sure, it wasn’t the most thrilling job but it wasn’t fair that people saw him as the bad guy. “I’m here to help you. You’ve gotten yourself in trouble and I’m bailing you out. At taxpayers’ expense, I might add.”
    â€œSo you think you’re doing a good thing?”
    â€œYes, I do.” His fingers tapped the keys as he inputted her details at the top of the spreadsheet. “Where would we be without roads, hospitals, schools? I’m not the bad guy here.”
    She laughed incredulously. “You’re saying I am?”
    â€œYou don’t take your responsibilities seriously. Absentmindedness is no excuse for failing to file a tax return.”
    â€œHumph.” She stood up in an indignant tinkling ofbells, swished away a few paces then spun around, her skirt whirling. “You’re just like my family. That scatterbrained Lexie—she can’t handle her finances, she can’t take care of herself, much less a baby. Maybe I have different priorities. Maybe money and…and receipts…aren’t the most important things in life. Maybe people are.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m saying. People who need hospitals and schools and roads.” His hands rested on the keyboard as he stared at her. “What baby?”
    â€œPardon me?” Her skirts settled, her hands clutching the fabric. Color tinged her cheeks. “I didn’t say anything about a baby.”
    â€œYes, you did.”
    â€œNo, I didn’t.”

CHAPTER TWO
    R AFE STARED after her as she hurried from the room, wondering if he’d imagined her saying that about a baby. There was no evidence of an infant or a husband about the house, at least that he could see at a glance. She’d actually mentioned a friend’s toddler, not her own. Maybe she was pregnant and didn’t have a partner. Maybe she was worried about her future and wasn’t sure what to do.
    He shrugged and shook his head. Lexie’s baby—real, imagined or pending—was none of his business. Kids. He shuddered.
    He could hear her banging pots around in the kitchen and glanced at his watch. It was already past noon. The smell of food emanating from the kitchen was making his stomach rumble.
    Lexie returned, carrying a tray loaded with two white-and-blue Chinese soup bowls. Steam rose, spoons clinked gently. “My mother always says that a hungry man is a crabby man.”
    She set the soup in front of him. Two-minute noodles with a few slices of carrot floating on top. He glanced at her bowl and saw that she’d given himthe larger portion. Either she was on a strict diet or she was hurting for money.
    â€œYou didn’t have to feed me,” he said. “I planned to go into the village and find a deli for lunch.”
    â€œI was cooking anyway.” Picking up her spoon, she concentrated on scooping up the slippery noodles.
    This was awkward. Rafe didn’t usually dine with clients. That