Page 35 of On the Fly
Ander just stared at her, shaking his head before he resumed walking down the garden path. “No, it makes sense. You’re hard to get along with and argue with everything.”
She furrowed her brow and sneaked a peek at his face. The tiniest of quirks perked up the side of his lips, showing he was teasing. She elbowed him in his side, satisfied when he grunted. How could she be mad at the truth? Those had been her strong suits while practicing. She didn’t let her personal feelings get involved in cases, and she never let a first answer stand when she could sense there was more underneath. Some called it arguing; some called it in-depth inquiry and investigation. Potato, potahto. Besides, digging to find the truth may have been the only positive point of the whole job. It certainly wasn’t interacting with people irritated to have a lawyer in front of them. And since leaving the field, it had been easier to keep it from people until they got to know her or absolutely needed to know.
“How did you get from law to social media?”
“It’s a long, boring story that starts with me working for the IRS doing company audits and ends with me angry all the time. I understand analytics—my brain thinks that way—so I needed a change and social media was an easy way to make money while trying to find what I want to do when I grow up.” Social media numbers were easily understood and manipulated. Everyone always thought it was social engagement, and that was just the wrong way to make any social platform work properly. She enjoyed strategizing and implementing and seeing the positive return on her efforts.
“How’s that new career path coming?” he asked, his cheeky grin back, proving he knew the answer.
“Now you’re just trying to make me mad,” she said, returning his sass. “I was going to offer my services to you. I’ve investigated company financials with an eye toward discrepancies since graduating law school. Top of my class in international and domestic taxation, if you must know. Strategies and policy building are my strong suits. I was pretty good at finding the holes in companies. Rora has a lot of waste, I’ll grant you. Remedying that alone might help your bottom-line issue.”
He looked at her in amazement, like she said something no one else saw. “Thank you.” His hand came up in a high five, which she returned.
“I suspect you’d be good at trimming the fat,” she said, taking a step around him then walking backward until he started moving again. His chest puffed up as if he took pride in carrying the termination axe. “I’m not sure that’s something to be smug about.” She wagged her finger at him.
“Depends on where you’re standing and what’s at stake. Look, I think you could help, which really only helps you in the end since all jobs are on the line. You’ve got a background that would be invaluable at this stage, and you’re only moderately difficult to work with.” The edge of his lips quirked up again as if he were fighting a smile. “Stick around for the next week or so. Delay your flight home. I could use another set of eyes on what I have and best ideas on how to restructure. I can’t say I’ll take the advice, but I don’t want to limit it either,” he said as she pivoted on her heels so they were walking side by side again.
Another week with Ander. Her instincts screamed what a bad idea that would be. She liked him, liked spending time with him. He was sexy and fun, a real man, something she’d never quite found in another male before. Sure, they’d have to dig into the company’s issues, and she could do that with her eyes closed, but…if she spent another week, how blurred would those lines get?
He must have mistaken her hesitancy as her entering negotiations mode. “I’ll make it worth your while. My brother’s flying out in a few days. He’s a communications guy—you need to meet him anyway. He’ll be over the public relations department. Where my dad seemingly hired anyone he met at the local convenience store to be his senior team, he refused his family any job in his precious company. We had to earn our way in the real world first. Maybe not even then, since none of us have worked for the airline.” Ander shrugged. “Best case scenario, I’m doing this on my own for a good few weeks.” Ander took her hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb. Goose bumps sprang up and warning bells rang a little louder. “Help me.”
“If I say no?’ she said, her voice sounding breathy to her as he lifted her hand, his lips skimming her knuckles with a brief kiss. Those blue eyes implored her to do his bidding. He was good at wooing to get what he wanted, charm oozing from every pore.
“I’d say you owe me. Look what I did for you this weekend.” His eyes held a twinkle of mischief. Along with the playful grin, he obviously thought he’d just won the argument.
“Ugh.” She eyed him closely, pausing, trying to find another angle to fight, but not really wanting to. The one thing she could do was set the parameters. “I don’t want to do this long term. I like my job.”
“Deal.” He held out his hand for a fist bump.
She extended hers, leaving inches between them as she asked, “What are you paying me?”
His hand fell away, and he started to turn away. “What? Don’t you get a salary?”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “As an attorney, my rate is significantly higher,” she called out to his back. She stayed rooted in her spot, not giving an inch.
“You’re a mess,” he said over his shoulder.
“I’m serious. You try adapting your life to that amount of an income difference.”
He stopped and turned back. There had to be twenty feet between them at that point. “So how long are we required to stay at this thing?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the party still going strong. “Let’s finish this conversation in the car, what do you say?”
“The car? Aren’t we staying here one more night?” She had a reservation through tonight before her Monday flight back to Georgia. Besides, the room she’d set up camp in was his private suite, not even part of the bed and breakfast portion. But it wouldn’t take much to convince her to get out of this dress and away from the reception early.
“I figured we’d head back to Sacramento so we could get started at the office first thing tomorrow. If we stay here, we’ll be wasting the morning hours trying to get away from my mom during and after breakfast.”
She’d moved closer to him as he’d spoken. He lifted a hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She froze, refusing to show the shudder that moved through her at his touch.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Come on. Say yes.”
She barely contained the moan threatening to escape at the caress of his warm breath over her bare neck. She would have to deal with her wayward emotions and desire to spend more time with Ander later. Emma placed her hand in Ander’s outstretched palm as he turned and strode across the manicured lawn toward a back entrance.
~~~
“You’re being quiet,” Ander said, cutting his gaze between the road and Emma. She glanced over at him briefly before turning her attention back to the cell phone in her hand. Her thumbs never stopped typing on the small screen.
“I’m asking my friend to gather my mail and water my plant until I get home,” she said distractedly, typing way more words than would be required for such a simple task.
“You have a friend?” Ander shot back, not missing an opportunity to tease her. He reached over, gently squeezing her thigh to reinforce the joke in his words. Since they’d opted to leave her rental at the house and have the car company pick it up at some point during the week, he’d thought they’d spend the time talking on the ride back to the office. Instead, her phone absorbed her attention.
