Page 6 of Her Big Fat Hunky Billionaire Boss

He wasn’t used to people being so direct. “I’m just checking on things.”

“And if we’re not making you enough money, you’ll close us down.”

“I never said that.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t have to. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

He sighed. He didn’t want to lie to her. For some odd reason, he kind of liked her. She wasn’t like any of the women he’d dated. There was a subtle beauty about her. And she was straightforward. Something told him she was smart as well. If he continued to lie, she wouldn’t believe him anyway. “Something like that,” he finally said.

She frowned and turned to look out the window. “The people in this town wouldn’t like that very much.”

“Look. My father bought this newspaper years ago. I’m just trying to figure out why he’s kept it for so long. It’s not a big money maker.” Damian sat, shocked at the words that came out of his mouth. Why was he telling this stranger these things? Especially since she was an employee? He really needed to keep his mouth shut.

Harriet bustled over to him and set down a cup of black coffee, several melting ice cubes floating in it. “Here you go, sweetie.”

Damian stared down at the mug as Harriet walked away. “What the…?”

Kat covered her mouth with her hand, but it didn’t help. Her laughter escaped anyway. He stood and pulled his coat tighter around him. “Very funny.”

Kat continued to laugh as she followed him out the door. “The look on your face!”

He turned to her, the snow coming down faster now. “You’re telling me there are no coffee places here at all? Not even a Starbucks?”

“Sorry,” she said, sobering. “No fancy coffee shops. But Harriet’s coffee really is good. Come on, I’ll pay for another cup.”

He ground his teeth together, trying not to say something he’d regret. “Forget it. Let’s just get to work.”

“You’re the boss,” she said, brushing past him.

Damian entered the newspaper behind Kat. Lydia approached him and handed him a thumb drive. “Here are all the files. You’ll see everything is in order. I’ll have to get a key to the building made, though. I can have that to you by Monday.”

“Sounds good.” He pulled out his laptop and shoved the thumb drive in it.

“Let me know if you need anything else.” Lydia walked back to her office and Damian looked around. A couple of reporters, one guy selling ads, and a woman at the front desk. Was that all this operation took?

Damian spent the next three hours going over the books and looking at the advertising revenue coming in, versus the money going out. This place definitely wasn’t a big money maker, and he couldn’t see anything special about it. Questions swirled around in his head.

At noon Lydia sent Kat out to get sandwiches from Dale’s because no one wanted to drive anywhere for lunch. When she came back, she set his food on his desk. He unwrapped the foil and took a bite. At least the diner could make a good ham on rye.

Damian ate his sandwich, then balled up the wrapper and looked for a trash can. He spied one under Kat’s desk. Maybe he could get some information out of her if he got her talking. He stood and crossed the room. “Can I toss this in your trash?”

Kat eyed him. “Sure.” She slid the trash closer to him with her boot.

“Can I ask you something?” He leaned on her desk.

“Okay,” she said tentatively.

“How does a newspaper work when you don’t have any printing presses here?”

“We outsource our printing. The newspaper in New Haven prints ours for us, and then they deliver them to the parking lot where the carriers get them.”

He’d figured it was something like that. Now he knew what the big expenses to New Haven Press were. They could probably make more money if they owned their own printing operation. But there was no room for one here, so they’d need a new building.

Why was he thinking about that? Making this tiny business successful wasn’t his objective. He needed to find out why his father even cared about it. “What do you know about Lydia?”

Kat stiffened. “Why are you asking?”

“Just curious.”

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