Page 1 of Miss Treated

Chapter One

Kelsey

Nerves plagued me as I walked through the doors of the shiny office building in San Diego’s financial district. I wore my best navy suit and my black patent pumps. It had been months since I’d been in work mode, and I’d thought I was ready to get back to it. But now I had to remind myself I was a damn good forensic accountant, and I’d been chosen for this position for a reason.

Of course that reason had a lot to do with my older brother’s connections. Ugh, no. I couldn’t afford to dwell on how I’d gotten this job. Instead I would square my shoulders, lift my chin, and believe I was good enough. My therapist’s words more than mine, but I was getting there, one session at a time.

Some people assumed once you hit rock bottom there was nowhere to go but up. Maybe true, but they underestimated just how small were the steps in the ascent. Today was like taking ten at a time. I had to believe I could handle the jump up.

As I approached the lobby security desk, I reached to get my driver’s license out of my backpack. In an uncharacteristically clumsy move, I unzipped the side pocket while it was pointing down, and all its contents poured out onto the marble floor.

Rattled, I knelt down to gather my keys, a tube of lipstick—and watched in horror as a pink-encased tampon skidded along the polished surface to land in the hand of a stranger who’d knelt down to retrieve it.

Of course it couldn’t have been another woman who picked it up, or an older gentleman who would smile at me like, “there, there, we’ve all had embarrassing moments.” Nope, the man was young, gorgeous, and dressed in a three-piece suit, tailored to perfection. His baby face—with dimples—left me dumbfounded.

I straightened up and forced myself to speak. “Thank you.”

He held on to it, mischief spread all over his GQ-model face. “How can I be sure this is yours? Can I see some ID?”

His flirtation might’ve been cute if it had been a makeup compact or a pack of gum, but for a tampon, not so much. He inspected it curiously. “What is this?”

Good grief. Pretty boy never had a woman in his life long enough to educate him? It was then I noticed the stunning blonde next to him looking quite annoyed at our exchange.

“It’s a tampon, Nic. Can we be done here?”

If I wasn’t so humiliated, I might have been amused by the way his neck flushed red. “Well, then, here you go.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, inadvertently touching his hand in the process of taking it from him. Jesus, was that a tingle?

I’ll take “pathetic” for two hundred.

Before digging out the driver’s license I’d been after to begin with, I saw him and the blonde with legs for days head toward the exit. He glanced back to give me a wink.

I quickly lowered my gaze. Here I’d always thought my sex drive had been numbed by years of taking antidepressants, but sixty seconds with the hunk in a suit, and it was clear the problem had been the man in my past.

Ten minutes later, I’d mentally shaken off the encounter with the handsome stranger and was on the twenty-first floor taking a seat across from Gerard Chambers, owner and CEO of Chambers Technology.

“Pleased you decided to take this assignment. You come highly recommended.” The gray-haired man in the expensive suit sat in a lavish leather chair only outshined by his mahogany desk, which appeared to be hand carved and well used.

That recommendation came from my biased, yet powerful, older brother. But while good old-fashioned nepotism might have gotten me this job, I had every intention of proving myself more than capable of it. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

I had no idea what the assignment entailed, but given my background, I was sure it would be forensic.

“I brought you in here because I want to ensure my accounting books are clean.”

Although I understood the need to tidy up the books, it didn’t make sense for him to hire me alone for such a project rather than a team of auditors who could finish it in a fraction of the time. Since my specialty was fraud, something I knew my brother would’ve passed on to Mr. Chambers, I had to ask, “Do you suspect someone is stealing?”

He sighed heavily. “Yes, but I have no proof. But expenses are up and I can’t figure out where. It’ll be easier to investigate if everyone thinks you’re in here to audit our processes rather than to look for fraud.”

“Okay, however you’d prefer it.” Normally in a large company, I didn’t have to fly under the radar, but I’d leave it to him to set the tone. While investigating fraud, I’d come up with suggestions for better accounting processes going forward.

“Any of your findings should be for my eyes and ears only. Not my son, not the accounting director, and not any of the other staff.”

“Your son?” No children had come up in the research I’d done on the company staff.

“Yes. My son Dominic is my new chief of operations. Time for him to get serious and commit to a career.”

I instantly pictured a spoiled rich kid being told to follow the footsteps if he wanted to keep Daddy’s credit card. Not what I needed to deal with, but I’d make the best of it. “Can I ask if he’s a suspect?”