Dirty Beginning (Dirty 0.50)

I sigh. Now, not only do I have to learn about the company, I also have to find a way to make sure Tony gets better at making graphs so that he doesn’t get fired .

I give up sorting the mess of papers when I hear Tony end the call. I stand and walk over to his desk with a smile on my face. He looks stressed as he shuffles papers around on his desk before switching on his computer .

“Mr. Browne and Mr. Felton wanted to expand this hotel and casino to allow for more high-roller rooms .”

I nod as I walk over to stand behind him. “Makes sense. So, what’s the problem ?”

Tony sighs as his elbow knocks the papers off his desk. He watches them scatter onto the floor of his office, but he doesn’t bother to pick them up. He just turns to his computer instead. “The numbers don’t support doing an expansion .”

“Do you mind if I take a look at them?” I bat my eyes and smile as sweetly as possible at him .

“Be my guest,” he says, getting up from his chair .

I take his seat, but I don’t want him here when I change everything. I don’t want him to know how badly he screwed up. I need to find a way to t

each him. But that isn’t right now. Right now, I just need to fix this before he passes it along to Killian or anyone else who might fire him .

“Tony, do you mind getting me a coffee?” I ask. I yawn, bringing more credibility to my lie. It isn’t really a lie , I reason with myself. I could use a coffee. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I woke up earlier than I’m used to in order to have a full day here .

He smiles and nods. “I’ll be right back .”

As soon as he leaves, I turn my attention back to the screen. Everything is a mess. Everything is wrong. I pull up a new spreadsheet to just start over because it’s not worth fixing what he’s already done .

I let my fingers fly over the keys as I type in every figure that I can find into the new data points. I love the rush I get as I enter in all the figures. I love how it feels to use my brain for something other than deciding what my next pose should be. When I’m finally done, I press Enter and watch the numbers turn from just numbers on the page into pretty graphs .

I lean back in the chair with a large smile on my face as the graphs now represent a need for expansion of the casino and hotel. In less than twenty minutes, I just did what would take most people several hours to do .

“Here’s your coffee,” Tony says, entering the office with a coffee in each hand and sugar packets tucked under his arm .

I notice a small coffee stain on his shirt. God, the man can’t even get coffee without making a mess .

“Thanks,” I say .

I get out of the chair to allow Tony to have his seat back. I take one of the cups and add a sugar packet to it before drinking it. My eyes dart to Tony as I watch him stare at the screen .

“Holy shit!” Tony says. More coffee spills onto his lap from him being startled by the numbers on the screen. He covers his mouth when he realizes he swore in front of me. “I’m sorry, miss. I just…this is just…how did you do this?” Tony points to the screen .

“It’s okay, Tony. I just rearranged one little thing really. You did most of the work,” I say .

“I need to get this to Mr. Browne right away.” He hits Print, and the paper begins shooting out of the printer next to the computer. He grabs the paper and moves quickly to the doorway. He pauses at the doorway and turns to me. “Come on, Ms. Felton. You need to take some of the credit with me .”

I shake my head. “No, I really didn’t do anything that you wouldn’t have been able to figure out on your own .”

Tony shakes his head. “I’ve been working on this all week. I never would have reached this conclusion without you. Plus, you should meet Mr. Browne. Word is, he is in the running to take over your father’s position .”

I blush when he speaks about Killian. “We’ve already met .”

A wicked smile forms on Tony’s face as his eyebrows rise deliberately. “Ah, Mr. Browne is a very good-looking man .”

I stare at Tony in disbelief. He did not just accuse me of being attracted to Killian. “I am not attracted to him,” I say, answering a question that was never asked. “I’m just not a big fan of Killian. He’s cocky and self-centered and …”

“You don’t have to convince me of those things, Ms. Felton .”

Great, now, we are back to Ms. Felton .

“I have worked for Mr. Browne for the past three years. He is all of those things, but he is also a good man. Give him a chance before you dismiss him .”

I swallow hard and nod even though I don’t agree with him. I don’t want to give Killian a chance. I already did, and instead of being honest with me, he played with my emotions just because he could. A man like that doesn’t deserve second chances .