Dirty Addiction (Dirty 2)

“There is nothing going on,” Killian and I both say in unison.

This makes Tony chuckle again. “Not yet.” He winks at me. He takes a step closer to Killian. “Anyway, I have another call I need to get to. Have a look at the numbers. I think we finally have the data you need to present tomorrow to get the expansion you and Robert wanted.”

I watch as Tony leaves, leaving me alone with Killian. I turn to leave as well.

“Wait…” Killian says.

I don’t know why, but I wait. When I turn back to him, his mouth has dropped open slightly as he stares at the papers in his hand.

“These numbers…they actually work,” Killian says. He runs his hand through his hair. “How did he do it?” he asks himself. Forgetting I’m there, he begins typing on the computer again. “This is genius.”

I smile. Good for Tony. I take another step, but the heel of my shoe clicks along the floor, bringing Killian’s attention back to me.

Killian stands then and walks until he is blocking my exit. “How did he do this?” He holds up the papers.

I try to scrunch my face in a quizzical look, like I have no idea why Tony wouldn’t be competent at his job. But like I’ve said before, I make a terrible actress, a terrible liar. I shrug and look down, avoiding Killian’s eye contact.

His hand lifts my chin until I’m staring back at him as he furrows his eyebrows, searching my face for the answer.

“Who did this?” he says slowly while holding the papers up.

“Tony,” I say quietly.

He shakes his head. “Tony sucks at numbers. He couldn’t have done this, not even by accident.” He moves his body closer to mine so that we are almost touching. “Who did this?”

“I don’t know.” My voice is shaky.

I don’t know why he cares who did it. Killian moves closer, and I take a step back, unable to hold my ground any longer, but he grabs my elbow, holding me in place and keeping our bodies pressed together. I can feel his body breathing slow and easy against my chest, compared with my fast, quick breaths. I even think I feel his heart beating in his chest in a perfect, steady rhythm, unlike my now erratic heartbeat. He’s not affected by my body, like I am by his. It disappoints me.

He raises his eyebrows at me. His lips graze mine, and I stop breathing.

“Who did this?”

I close my eyes. “Me.”

I feel him suck in a breath. It wasn’t what he had expected. When I finally open my eyes, he’s gone. He’s back at his desk, looking everything over again, like he must have missed a mistake. If I created this, it must be wrong.

“What are you doing?” I ask when I have caught my breath again.

“How did you know how to do this?”

I roll my eyes. I hate that he just answered my question with another question.

“It’s not that hard. I just took the data that Tony had and started over. When it was organized, it was obvious to see the trends over the last six months. But based on the numbers, you should add a thousand rooms to the expansion, not five hundred. It’s a waste of money to do such a small expansion. You’ll reach positive cash flow faster with one thousand. It’s sustainable in the long-term, too, even without the holiday spikes. And one good holiday season would more than triple sales with the additional guests staying in the hotel. So, the casino expansion looks spot-on with the data.”

Killian is frowning at me. I nervously run my hand through my hair as I bite my lip. I should have kept my mouth shut. He thinks I’m wrong. He thinks I’m an idiot.

“What was your major in college?”

I narrow my eyes. “You already know the answer to that.”

He raises his eyebrows though, waiting for me to answer.

“Theater,” I say.

He nods. “You didn’t take any business classes on the side? You didn’t minor in anything?”

“I minored in French, but I didn’t take any business classes.”