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“But?”
“But I learned a long time ago that a tiger can’t change its stripes, and you’ve bitten me more times than I want to remember, Anderson. Yeah, we had a shockingly good night together, but one night compared to years of bullying isn’t enough to balance the scales or tip them your way. So, forgive me for being suspicious of you. I have every right to be.”
I hate that she’s not wrong. A single night is not enough, though. As much as I’d have loved for that night to tip her scales in my favor, that would have meant she was a fool. And I don’t harbor crushes on fools. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be insulted by your suspicion. If you weren’t suspicious of me after all this time, then you’d be mentally deficient. But either way, I still need your number to contact you about the payment. And if I were a real bastard about things, I could have gotten your number years ago, if that was my angle.”
“That makes sense. You have more money than you know what to do with. I’m sure getting my number wouldn’t be too hard if you wanted to do something nefarious with it.”
“Precisely.”
“Thank you for understanding about me being suspicious of you.” She gives me her number, and I give her mine. “And I hope you’ll also be understanding about this.” A moment later, my phone lights up with her number on the caller ID.
“About what, exactly?”
“Had to try it. To make sure you gave me your real number.”
I laugh. “The depth of my imagined dastardliness is unfathomable in your mind, eh?”
“There are things I can forgive, but I never, ever forget.”
So she can forgive some of the things I’ve done, but she’ll never forget them? I’m unforgettable? I think I can live with that. Romance has started with less.
Wait? Romance?
I shake off the errant thought. Clearly, I’m under-caffeinated and my brain is rambling nonsense. It’s afternoon, so I’m sure she needs to get back to work. I know I do. “I must make those calls, and I doubt you were doing nothing before you came here, so …”
“Right.” She pauses and frowns. “Thought about sticking around to watch you make your calls.”
“But you know how banks are. This could take hours, June.”
“And that’s why I’m not going to stick around.” She stands up straight and pauses again. “I just wish … never mind. I look forward to hearing from you, Anderson.” She heads for the door.
But she wants to stay. And I want her to stay.
“You don’t have to go?—"
“Yeah, I do. Like you said, I wasn’t doing nothing. Have to get back to work.”
“Alright, then.” Damn. “Talk later.”
She gives a nod and leaves.
That was clumsy of me. I should have insisted she stay for the calls. Or a coffee. Or some other excuse to spend time with her. It probably wouldn’t have taken much of a reason for her to stay. Instead, my mind went to work and logistics.
I am my father’s son. What a depressing thought.
-
Chapter 21
ANDERSON
But nothing is more depressing than being passed from one banker to another.
I’d thought of going with my father’s personal banker, of course. Dad claims the man is a genius with money, and he prefers not to deal with financial issues himself. I, however, don’t mind using the bank’s people under normal circumstances, as they know my bank’s rules more intimately than a personal banker would. This is not normal, though. Not by a long shot.
Once I finally get a hold of the right man, though, he has fewer answers than I’d hoped for. It’s all I can do not to snap the pen in my hand as I speak. “What do you mean you were told to put a freeze on my account?”
“You see, all your accounts are attached to your family firm, and yours have been flagged for transactions over twenty-thousand by the CFO.”
