Page 15 of Wicked Takeover
He rapped lightly on the open door. “Hey.”
“Hi. I hate to bother you again…”
“You’re still not.” He grinned easily. “What did I do this time?”
Besides haunt her every waking moment? His easygoing smile and attitude made her long to know him better. And that scared the crap out of her. He chased away her worry about money and the future, if only for the few moments they were together, and she found herself craving that more and more. “I don’t understand your newest notes.” She pointed to the spreadsheet.
He gripped the back of her chair and leaned toward the computer.
His warmth enveloped her. Light-headed, she strained to breathe.
“This is about paperwork that needs to be filed with the State.” He highlighted the portion on the screen. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of it. This one is for the Feds.” He put the cursor on that part.
“Did we get fined for doing something wrong?”
“Nope. This stuff comes up regularly.” He gave her a curious look. “Do you want me to explain it to you? I’d be happy to.”
“What about your customers?”
“I don’t have one for ten minutes.” He pulled a chair over. Their knees touched.
The heat from his body registered clear to her scalp.
He looked at her expectantly. “Ready?”
Before she could speak, she had to clear her throat. “As much as I’ll ever be.”
“It’s easy.” He took her hand.
Her pulse sprinted. “Maybe for you. But I need you to start at the basics.”
“No prob. This is a computer screen.” He pointed her finger at it. “And this is the keyboard.” He moved their hands over it.
She laughed. “Duh.”
“Ah, you’re ready for the advanced explanation, huh?”
Her heart kept skipping at his teasing. Her hand tingled where he touched her. “Not if you’re going to take the laptop apart and show me its guts.”
“That’s your second lesson.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Your third will be a computer tech teaching both of us how to put it back together. It’s best we keep this simple for now. This is a desk…”
Laughing, she slapped his arm. “Be serious.”
“Sure you want that?”
Her insides went gooey, but she couldn’t succumb to her attraction. “If I want to learn the business, I better.”
“That settles it. No more fooling around, right?”
She nodded grudgingly.
He didn’t look too happy, either, but did go through each note he’d written and explained the paperwork to her. Something to do with local codes and regulations.
She didn’t catch much of what he said, too attuned to how near he was. His deep voice stirred something inside her. His playful manner made her want everything he had to give.
What seemed like mere seconds later, Jasmina rapped on the jamb. “Dante, your customer’s here.”
“Thanks.” He turned back to Lauren. “I hope that all made sense. Let me know if you have questions about anything else.”
