L. A. Cinderella

Chapter Seven

“What the hell is this?”

Natalie had been prepared for Chase’s reaction, but she’d thought he’d be relieved. She hadn’t expected anger. She straightened the crumpled letter of resignation he’d tossed on her desk.

“I… It’s obvious, isn’t it?” She kept her eyes on the paper.

“No, it’s not.” He paused and his tone softened. “Damn it.”

Her eyes jerked up to his. Anger and frustration poured off him. His usual smiling face seemed tired this morning.

“I don’t have time for this right now. You will have lunch with me today to discuss this letter.” He acted like letter was a four-letter word. Without waiting for her answer, he disappeared down the hall.

Natalie glanced down the other way to see if anyone had witnessed his blowup. No one was around. Relief flowed through her. Well, she knew it would be awkward to see Chase this morning. Whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t been anger. He hadn’t gotten that upset when she’d told him about the fraud.

She folded up the letter, which gave two weeks’ notice, and stuffed it in her purse. She’d just have to give it back to him at lunch. It would be much easier to talk to him in a crowded restaurant than in his office alone or, worse, at her desk where everyone at work could see, and the memory of last night’s kiss lingered in the air.

Tugging a pile of documents closer, she sighed and began adding up the numbers again. She tried to lose herself in her numbers, but her mind kept jumping from the fraud to the kiss. She hadn’t known what to say to Mr. Morrison. Yeah, Mr. Morrison, we found a bunch of expenses that just shouldn’t be there. Don’t worry, though. I’m fairly certain you were the one that put them through.

Every squeak of Mr. Morrison’s chair made her heart skip a beat. Already keyed up by the fact Chase had demanded she have lunch with him, she kept expecting Chase to pop in front of her any moment. Then, what if Mr. Morrison figured out what she’d discovered by sneaking up behind her and seeing what she was working on?

When her desk phone rang, a small scream escaped her throat. Maybe she should have just stayed home. Picking up the phone and glancing around to make sure no one had heard her scream, she said, “This is Natalie. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Natalie. This is Jared Anderson from Element Magazine. I hear you’re new at Pandora and was wondering if we could meet for lunch sometime.”

A reporter? Calling her? “Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

The man’s voice remained cajoling. “Look, we could have a mutually beneficial relationship. But I don’t want to discuss it over the phone. They can’t be paying you that much.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think so.” A flash of movement in front of her desk captured her attention. She looked up into Chase’s eyes. Her lips parted. The spark of desire flared to life. Her whole being shook with the force of his gaze.

Jared’s voice continued in her ear. “We’re always looking for someone to help us find the good stories. We’re not asking you to rat out your boss or anything. Just a bit of an inside scoop on how Chase runs things down there.”

“I can’t. Really. I don’t know anything about…” Her gaze dropped from Chase’s quizzical expression. What if he thought she’d called the magazine? “…that and don’t really want to talk to anyone at your…” She glanced up at Chase. “…business.”

“Why don’t you write down my number? Just in case you change your mind-”

“I won’t. Thank you for calling.” She set the phone back on the cradle. The papers in front of her could be straighter and were a lot easier to look at than Chase at the moment.

“Let’s go, Natalie.”

Her heart leapt in her throat. She nodded slightly, still not making eye contact. Picking up her purse, she moved to follow him out of the office. She kept her head down, not wanting to meet anyone’s gaze. Her pulse jumped as she brushed against him when he held open the door for her.

Her resolve to hand in her resignation increased. She couldn’t be expected to work with this man and not want him. Maybe every other woman in the office wanted him and just coped daily with it, but she wasn’t like those women. Maybe he’d kissed every one of them, too. Hell, he could have slept with all of them.

Her chest crushed in on her heart. Though she wasn’t a part of the gossip mill at Pandora Productions, she was certain someone would have mentioned that particular trait of Chase’s. Or Rachel would have told her, since that kind of behavior wouldn’t have escaped the attention of people like Jared Anderson. Why would a reporter call her?

Chase’s hand lightly brushed the small of her back, guiding her to his car. Her breath caught, and she stumbled a little. He gripped her elbow to steady her.

He stopped them. After a moment, she looked up at his chin.

“Are you okay?”

No. “I’m fine.” She pressed her glasses back up her nose and examined the concrete beneath her feet.

When he didn’t continue to the car after a few moments, she dared a peek up at him. The wind tousled his blond hair, giving him that just-rolled-out-of-bed look. Her hair whipped loose from its clip and slapped her across the face.

“Do you ever say how you really feel?” His hand smoothed her loose hair behind her ear. His touch sent tingles coursing through her body. He glanced over her shoulder and frowned.

She followed his gaze and saw Mr. Morrison standing next to the door, cigarette in hand. He lifted his hand and waved. Chase’s lips tightened, but he didn’t say anything, just steered her toward the car again.

Chase remained silent while they were shown to a private corner booth. They’d come in the back entrance and hadn’t drawn any attention.

Sliding into the seat, Natalie knocked over an empty glass. Chase caught it before it rolled to the floor. Her skin flushed pink as he slid in after her.

The table was small, but she tucked herself as far away from him as possible. He didn’t know whether to be frustrated or to laugh. What he really wanted to do was pull her back into his arms and keep her there for several hours. But he knew they’d both be better off if they repaired their working relationship and forgot about the tantalizing prospect of that kiss. At least until this mess with Martin was over.

She picked at the napkin and stared at the menu.

The sweet, clean smell of her lingered in his nose. His fingertips itched to turn her face up to his. He cleared his throat. Her gaze leapt up to his, her eyes wide and wary.

“Do you know what you want?” He smiled, trying to reassure her and calm her down.

Her eyes widened further, and she leaned away from him. She looked like she was ready to bolt.

“To eat, Natalie. What do you want to eat?” He picked up his menu. “I typically get shrimp scampi, but everything here is really good.”

“I’m sure it is.” Her eyes darted back to the menu. How could he make her relax?

The waiter stopped by and filled their glasses. They both ordered, and he left, leaving them quite alone in the secluded booth.

She started to fiddle with her fork. He laid his hand over hers, stilling her fidgeting. Her eyes were warm pools of chocolate as they met his, but her body tensed.

“I’m not going to pounce on you.”

Panic and disappointment warred on her face before her shoulders dropped slightly. “I know,” she said, as if she knew he’d never do something like that.

He wanted to shake her. His whole body ached to pull her into his arms again and prove to her that even though he said he wouldn’t, he wanted to.

“Natalie.” He waited for her eyes to meet his again. “You are a very attractive woman. No, don’t deny it. I find you incredibly attractive, but-”

“There’s always a but,” she said under her breath.

He blew out a breath and took a drink of water. He’d never have this much difficulty on a set. Everything was scripted already. He knew exactly how the other person was going to react. Natalie eluded him. He couldn’t figure out her character, couldn’t put her into a category.

“As I was saying, you work for my company. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you last night.” He should say he’d never do it again, but something stilled his tongue.

The moment their lips had met he’d felt something he’d never experienced before. Desire and passion had been full-force in the front, but something had lingered in the back of his mind keeping him awake all night pondering the feeling. He’d felt protective and possessive. Feelings he had no right to have, but she’d felt right in his arms. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t be tempted again.

“I could have stopped you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The hesitation in her voice increased his pulse rate. He had to change the topic. “Have you had a chance to go through the papers again?”

Her body relaxed, and her hands stilled. “Yes, and I came up with the same number. As soon as Mr. Morrison leaves for the evening, I plan to go through the bank statements and figure out if he used a check to get the cash or if he made a withdrawal.”

The confidence she exuded when talking about her job always amazed him. The pink receded from her cheeks, and her eyes were animated. This is the way she should always be. This is the way she should be with him.

His body tightened, but he shoved the desire back. For now, she couldn’t be a part of his life except through work.

He remembered the look on Martin’s face in the parking lot. He wasn’t sure if the man suspected anything was going on between them, but he wouldn’t put it past Martin to say something to the press.

“We’ll have to take things carefully, if the files continue to point to Martin.” Chase turned his thoughts back to business, a much safer subject. “He has his fingers in everything at Pandora. Robert and I talked this morning. We’ll need a list of every bank account he has access to.”

“I was just hired to help out. He hasn’t given me a lot of things to do or shown me much.”

The waiter reappeared and set down their lunches.

“The biggest thing is what he will leak to the press when he leaves. There’s no telling what he’ll make up or what he suspects.” He hoped that was enough to warn her. He didn’t want her to start with the two weeks’ notice again. Martin probably wouldn’t try to bring Natalie into it, anyway.

He needed to make sure Martin wouldn’t insinuate anything. That look on the man’s face when he’d seen them in the parking lot had worried Chase. Surely, Martin wouldn’t think anything was happening between Natalie and Chase. Maybe he should stay away from her desk during the day.

They ate in silence. When the waiter removed the plates, Chase turned to Natalie.

“We’ll need someone to help with the transition until we get a new CFO if Martin is implicated. Can I trust you to stay with us until then?”

She hesitated for a moment, and he held his breath waiting for her reply. “Of course.”

“Natalie, will you give me-Pandora Productions-another chance? I think you have a brilliant mind and would be a great asset to our company.”

The red crept up her cheeks. She nodded slightly and lifted her eyes to his. “I’ll try.”