Shay's mind started to wander back to high school when she had been so desperate to fit in that she had been an easy mark for Brody Peyton. The habit of her bad decisions had followed her through most of college until Brody had a chance to study abroad. Thankfully, he hadn't asked her to go with him, and they had somehow lost touch.
It was not a relationship she missed. She shuddered at the thought of the boy she had known. There was no doubt that he was a boy because now she knew what good men were. She only had to look at her brothers and father and now Nate to see the difference. Nate was a good man.
Memories of things she would rather forget started to flood her mind, and she was so desperate to ignore them that she began to replay her conversation with Amanda in her head instead.
What was it Amanda had said about a payoff? Surely if there were a payoff, there would be proof. Seaton wasn't the type to use his own money.
Shay grabbed her laptop and set up a workspace in the main room. Then she changed into her loose-fitting pajamas and ordered room service. Shay was good at numbers, and she might be able to follow the money if she could use the password Nate had given her to access the financial records for the company. She wouldn't have the admin ability to change anything, but she could run just about any report imaginable.
Two hours later, Nate returned to find Shay hunched over the computer while eating ice cream. He stopped in his tracks as he looked at her. It was a great imitation of a deer caught in the headlights. The poor man didn't know which way to go.
Shay smiled at him before turning back to her computer.
"Why?" he asked, motioning to her and the workstation now strewn with papers.
"Amanda said something about a payoff," Shay said, setting her ice cream down and wiping her mouth as she waved him over. "I think I found it."
"Payoff?" Nate asked, joining her and looking over her shoulder.
"Yes, the Communications Director left because of harassment. She threatened to sue, but Amanda thought she might have been paid off because she never heard another word about it," Shay spun the computer toward him. "I think it came out of a few different accounts. Splitting it up made it less noticeable, but the payout sums are still large enough to catch the attention of someone who was really looking."
"And you were really looking?" Nate asked as he skimmed the computer screen in front of him. His arm brushed hers when his hand reached down to scroll through the page.
Shay took a deep breath inhaling his clean scent. He looked so handsome in his custom-cut suit.
"Why were you looking?" he frowned as he noted something.
"It was better than being left alone with my thoughts." Shay shrugged pushing her chair back to give him more space, but it wasn't enough space for her. She hadn't realized she had been stooped over the computer for so long, and she automatically stretched, which made her braless state very apparent. She ended her stretch and hunched her shoulders forward as she realized what was happening.
Nate had appeared not to notice, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"How was the rest of the party?" Shay asked as she stood up and took a step back. His nearness made her blood sing, and he had put on his glasses to see better. Shay was a goner when he put on his glasses. It was a little bit like when Super Man wore his glasses. It only enhanced his attractiveness.
"Boring," he said automatically.
"I'll leave you with it. Let me know if your find anything else." Shay turned to walk toward her room.
"Shay," he called.
When she turned, it was to find him watching her and not the screen in front of him.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Thank you."
Shay nodded and then continued to her room. When he was as close to her as he had been, it drowned out all the bad stuff and made her start to dream beautiful things instead.
*******
Nate's eyes were still trained on the door that Shay had closed. Oh, how he wanted to follow her. Walking into the room and finding her looking warm and cuddly eating ice cream made him wish he had stayed and not gone back to the party where Jolene had constantly followed him like a lost puppy dog.
Jolene wasn't her name, of course, but it suited her.
Nate had heard a good part of Shay's conversation with the unidentified man earlier in the week, but he thought it best not to bring up the idea of them playing kissy-face in any way, shape, or form. The fact that she had referred to the faceless voice as a pill that killed people left him feeling that it was a close but not serious relationship.
He had to admit that he was concerned about her earlier comment that hunting down theft was better than being left alone with her thoughts. What kind of thoughts did she have that were so bad she did math to escape them?
Had Shay's run-in with Seaton been that detrimental? She had seemed concerned but not overly shaken by the event.
Nate shook his head. He wasn't much better than Seaton because when Shay had stretched, all he had wanted to do was stare at her beautiful body. He had forced himself to keep his face averted because the last thing she needed was another lecherous man eyeing her beautiful curves.
His phone rang, and he looked at the number to discover it was Ellen calling.
"What are you doing up so late?" Nate asked as an opener.
"I'm in labor and need something to take my mind off the fact that I'm about to push a watermelon through a hole the size of a lemon," Ellen grunted.
Nate closed his eyes and groaned. "Maybe you should call me back later," he suggested.
"You're just like every other man! You don't want to hear any of the details, do you? You just want to hold the baby and pretend that the stork delivered him!" she hissed.
"Yep," Nate agreed.
"How's it going with Shay?" Ellen asked, changing the subject.
"Good, so far, she has discovered a history of lecherous behavior by Seaton in Chicago and uncovered how he was stealing company funds to pay off the victims so that they wouldn't sue." Nate threw the comment out as if it was just another day at the office.
"Wow, talk about overachieving. How did she uncover the lecherous behavior?" Ellen grunted again.
"He cornered her and made some rude suggestions then tried to detain her physically." Nate was still looking at the numbers.
"How did she get away?" Ellen asked.
"I happened along at the right time, which will make things much easier for all involved." Nate leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses. "I'm more worried about you right now. How is it going?"
"I'm not going to lie. It pretty much sucks." Ellen sounded close to tears which wasn't like her.
"But the reward you have at the end will far outweigh this brief uncomfortable moment in time." Nate smiled.
"UNCOMFORTABLE!" Ellen screamed.
"Um...s-s-someone is a-at the door," Nate said in a rush. He had obviously said the wrong thing. "Call me t-t-tomorrow and l-l-let me know everything is alright." He hung up the phone and threw it on the table like it was a hot poker.
He would never understand women, he thought as he looked at Shay's closed door once more before calling it a night.
YOU ARE READING
Trust In Me (Triplets book 2)
Romance#1 in Chicklit One day, in the elevator at work, Shayne Richards saw him. He was handsome and quiet, and he drew Shay like a moth to a flame. It became her one bright spot in an otherwise dull existence to see him every day at the same time in the s...
