Love Loyal and True (Must Love Diamonds 2)
Page 19
“Or not,” he murmured sarcastically.
When she lowered the glass and licked at the wine on her wet lips, he fisted his hands against the urge to grab her and kiss her. Would she taste as good as she smelled?
Whoa. No way. Time to get the fuck out.
He spun around and headed for the door.
“Hey!”
Her exclamation brought him back around to find her watching him with an intensity that made his heart thud hard. She knows. She’d read his mind and knew he wanted to kiss her and taste her and touch her until—
Fuck, man, stop thinking!
“You’re an accountant, right?”
He blinked at the unexpected question. “Uh…yeah.”
“I can’t get my numbers to add up.”
Confusion creased his brow as lust still revved his pulse. “What?”
“My numbers.” She waved her hand as if he would magically understand. “Downstairs on my computer. I can’t get the numbers to work, and it’s driving me crazy.” She lifted her glass. “Driving me to drink cra-zee.”
He moved closer again, and braced one palm on the kitchen counter. “Are you talking about your business?”
“Ye-es.” She nodded while drawing out the word as if he was an idiot.
“Don’t you have an accountant to manage your books for you?”
“She left me.” After another sip, she lowered the glass and pouted. “She got married and left, and now everything’s all messed up. What am I doing wrong?”
“First off, it sounds like you should’ve gotten another accountant,” he said wryly. “Second, I’d have to actually look at the numbers to tell you what you’re doing wrong.”
Not that he would, though.
Her head tilted, those pretty brown eyes of hers full of surprising curiosity. “Do you actually like numbers?”
“I do.”
“Why? They’re so annoying when they don’t add up.”
A reluctant smile tugged at his mouth. “But they’re perfect when they do.”
She squinted as if trying to make sense of that in her head. “But why do you like them?”
And the wine wins.
“One plus one equals two. The answer is either right or wrong, there are no gray areas. They can’t say yes one minute and change their mind the next.”
Her confused frown was almost comical.
“Numbers don’t lie like people do,” he explained simply. “What you see is what you get.” Unlike both of his ex-fiancés.
Now her eyebrows lifted as she gave a sage nod. “I can see people.”
The simple statement started his pulse racing again, even though her words told him she still didn’t grasp his meaning.
“I can see if they’re happy or sad or mad. Sometimes, if they’re good, or bad.” Her brow wrinkled. “If they hurt and need help.”