Page 4 of Miss Treated

He leveled me with a look but passed a piece of paper my way. “Here’s her résumé. Shouldn’t you be giving her a tour like I asked?”

My gaze skimmed over her history. She had a degree in accounting from NYU. Was a CPA and held a number of other auditing credentials. Her last job had been with an auditing firm in New York six months ago. I wondered what had brought her out to California. Was it only this one assignment, or was she living here now?

“She skipped the tour, preferring to get straight to work. I figured that would please you immensely. I’ll take her to lunch later, though, and introduce her around to some of the staff.”

“Good. Also plan to fly with her to our New York office. She’ll tell you when it makes sense to do so. I want her to meet with Barb and the billing team there.”

I studied my father. As usual, he was in his element at the office, but recently he appeared tired to me. Maybe there was something amiss? “Everything okay, Dad? Is there a reason you brought in an external auditor?”

He fastened his gaze on me for a moment, hesitating, but then resumed reading his email. “Everything is fine. Always good to have an outside set of eyes to give suggestions for improvement in our accounting processes.”

“Does Sophia know yet?”

As if on cue, my father’s doors opened and in flew the accounting director, Sophia.

The irritation on my father’s face appeared immediately. “How many times have I told you to knock?” he barked.

She dismissed him per usual. “How many times have I told you to lock the door if it’s confidential? Good morning, Nicky.”

“Good morning, Aunt Sophia.” With a smile, I was already backing out of the room. There were few people who pressed my father’s buttons, but my mother’s sister was one of them.

“Did you really bring in an outside auditor? You want to tell me how to do my job, Gerard?”

With the argument escalating, I took my leave. My aunt was like a mama bear when it came to her accounting staff and operations. I wasn’t surprised she was getting prickly about an outsider coming in to tell her how to do her job better.

Back in the day, when my father had started the business, he’d needed someone to handle the accounting. My mother had taken it on at first, but as the company grew, she hadn’t been able to keep up, only working part-time. It had been her idea to hire Sophia, a CPA, to run the accounting department. Over twenty years later, I knew my aunt and my dad respected one another, but their fights were epic, as only family could manage. If you were to ask me, not that many people did, I’d say they were too similar. Both worked long hours, took few vacations, and lived and breathed their careers.

My steps led me back to my floor. Instead of returning to my office, I paused at Kelsey’s door and knocked.

“Come in,” came a voice from the other side.

I opened the door, surprised to find her muscling the large desk around. She’d turned it ninety degrees from its original position.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to turn my desk to face the door.”

Watching her small frame attempt to maneuver the heavy desk was amusing. “Want some help?”

She blew the bangs out of her face, which I found adorable. On the other hand, her expression indicated she was about to turn down my offer to help.

“Moving furniture is in my job description.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

It actually was. After all, I was in charge of all operations, including facilities, reception, marketing, and human resources. The only thing I didn’t oversee was accounting. My father had always acted as both the CEO and CFO.

“Here, take one end, and I’ll take the other.”

She did as I suggested, and we had the desk turned in seconds.

“There we are. What else can I do?”

“Nothing. I’m good now.”

I cocked my head to the side, taking in her beauty. My father was right about her not being my usual type, yet I was completely drawn to her. Her dark hair with glints of gold highlights, her petite body in a navy pantsuit with a crisp white shirt—more like a New Yorker than someone from Southern California. But it was her face which was the most compelling. Eyes the color of dark chocolate, long lashes, a button nose, golden skin, and full lips I couldn’t help staring at.

Thankfully, she hardly noticed attention, instead intent on plugging in her laptop.