Then she removed a contact lens case from her little clutch purse and came to stand at the bar while she removed the purple—violet—lenses. He studied her face while he spoke to the police and admitted himself impressed. He’d never have dreamed different-colored eyes could give her such a totally different expression.
“You look like yourself again,” he said, clicking off his phone. “There’s something weird about purple eyes.”
“Don’t tell me. Gray eyes give me a girl-next-door look, right? Well, plain and ordinary doesn’t get it here, Tyler. I’ve got to look like the sort of woman who expects to receive lots of money and presents from men regularly.”
She reached hungrily for her cheeseburger and bit into it with the enthusiasm usually reserved for plotting the downfall of Farley Brothers, Inc.
Tyler remembered another woman who had eaten hamburgers in his company with that same enthusiasm. He’d found that ability to enjoy ordinary things enchanting, and had thought it boded well for the future. Boy, had he been mistaken. Learning that she thought of him as a friend who would help deceive her father had come as a major shock.
Frowning, he removed his dinner jacket and hung it over a chair. That reminder got his thoughts about Berry Challoner back under control.
Berry tilted her head and considered him. “What’s wrong? You’re frowning again, just when I was beginning to get used to your smile.”
He smiled reluctantly. “I thought you said I had a cute frown.”
“You do, but that doesn’t mean I like it better than I like your smile.” She sipped her cola. “What are you thinking?”
He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had asked him that. If one ever had. They were probably afraid he’d start in on some lethally dull accounting anecdote.
“I was thinking of a new method of analyzing the figures you’re going to bring me Monday afternoon,” he said.
Berry’s gray eyes widened with renewed vigor. “Really? Do tell me about them. And while you’re at it, tell me what figures you’ll need. And how to find them in the computer files—”
“Hold it, hold it.” He should have known. Accounting methods were very much on Berry’s mind right now, in spite of the fact that she knew less than nothing about them. “I was just kidding. Actually, if you should happen to get hold of any balance sheets or company work sheets, I’ll use time-honored, generally accepted accounting principles to analyze them.”
“Oh? Well, how about telling me about those? How do you look at a balance sheet and tell whether a company is doing well or going broke? I’ve always wondered.”
Berry’s slender, golden face held an expression of such powerful interest; Tyler was surprised he didn’t instantly launch into an explanation of generally accepted accounting principles.
“There are several things to look for,” he said. “We’ll take a look at the official Farley Brothers financial statements tomorrow if you’re interested.”
“Oh, I’m interested, all right,” Berry said, looking ferocious. “I’m very interested. If you can tell me what to look for so I can prove they’re lying about everything, we’ll be in business.”
Tyler bit his tongue and managed not to laugh. “We’ll get on it tomorrow after we’ve had your car towed to the tire place.”
“You don’t know how much I appreciate your help.” She fairly glowed with enthusiasm again. “Without you, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what to look for.”
“I thought,” Tyler said carefully, “you were going to be on the lookout for anomalies.”
“I am. But it’ll help if I know what’s likely to be an anomaly.”
Tyler, grinning, had to admit the truth of that.
• • •
True to his word, Tyler had the Mustang towed to a tire shop first thing the following morning. By noon, Berry had her car back with four new tires. In one fell swoop, the Mustang had lost much of its super-sporty look.
Berry jumped out of it happily. “I like it a lot better. No one will recognize it as Daniel’s car.”
Tyler, who had followed her back, climbed out of his Porsche. He looked weary suddenly, and Berry didn’t like it. She had seen him talking on his phone several minutes before and suspected the conversation had much to do with his resigned expression.
“Don’t tell me,” she said. “You’ve got to go to the office, right?”
He looked at her and his frown lightened somewhat. “As a matter of fact, yes. My father claims to have forgotten the spreadsheets for one of our clients are due out on Monday morning.”
Berry didn’t say, “Hah!” but she figured he could read her face. “Doesn’t he know it’s Sunday?”
“As Dad likes to say, when you own your own business, you throw away the key.”
“Fine,” Berry said. “He’s an owner, too. Is he intending to help you with these spreadsheets?”
She figured the real reason Mason Reid was calling Tyler to the office was to feel him out about the bimbo he’d taken to his apartment the night before. Berry simmered with annoyance. The whole thing was her fault, but Tyler would be the one to suffer.
Tyler smiled, but Berry thought the smile looked forced. “He’ll be there. He likes to work on Sunday afternoons when it’s quiet.”
She followed him up the stairs, flimsy high-heeled sandals clicking on the steps. She wore a new pair of white linen trousers and a purple halter-top that was tied beneath her breasts on the grounds that she might run into Felix or a member of Tyler’s family.
“Daniel said you haven’t taken a vacation in the entire eight years since you left school. Don’t you think it’s time you put your foot down?”
“The work has to get out on time.” Tyler unlocked the door to his apartment and opened it so she could flounce inside. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”
“I’m going to practice for my interview and hope that my so-called skills are the exact abilities needed in Felix Farley’s office.”
“According to Daniel, the only skill ever actually displayed by Felix’s secretary was how to select a really nice nail polish from an online display.”
“Really?” She regarded her laptop computer thoughtfully. “Maybe reviewing office procedures would be a waste of time. I’d better run out and pick up an elegant little manicure set. I’d never dream of actually filing one of these phony nails, but it won’t do to disappoint Felix.”
Tyler laughed. “When I get home, I’ll help you practice taking dictation while sitting on a man’s lap.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” Berry promised. “In the meantime, maintain a stoic silence at the office. And if you can let your dad catch you gazing out the window and daydreaming ... ”
“Please. If he ever catches me daydreaming, he’ll have every piece of work I’ve ever done audited and probably have me committed.”
“It would serve him right if you left him to do all that work by himself,” Berry said indignantly.
But to her intense frustration, Tyler went wearily to his bedroom to shed his jeans in favor of dress slacks before heading to his office. She watched, gently boiling, as he went slowly down the stairs toward his car. It was ninety degrees out there. In her opinion, Tyler ought to be relaxing by the swimming pool with all the other apartment dwellers.
She was going to have to do something about the way Tyler’s family took him for granted. She turned away from the window thoughtfully. If nothing else, she’d put a scare into them that would have them scrambling to pamper him and make him feel cherished.
Less than an hour after Tyler had left the apartment, his landline telephone rang. Tyler had said nothing about whether or not she should answer it, since he only kept it in case of hurricanes or other disasters. Berry let it ring three times, then picked it up and purred, “Hello?”
She heard a gasp that preceded a moment of shattered silence. The receiver crashed down in her ear.
Berry grinned and rushed to reinsert the purple contact lenses and
buckle on the flimsy, high-heeled sandals. After a moment of thought, she clasped her new necklace around her neck. The center “diamond” occupied an interesting position at the very top of her cleavage.
Within fifteen minutes, the expected buzz sounded at the front door. Berry took a deep breath and minced daintily across the carpet to open it. Two stares, one of horrified turquoise and the other of interested green, met her.
“Why, Miss Reid,” Berry simpered. “How absolutely delightful to see you again.”
“What are you doing in my brother’s apartment?” Debra demanded.
“Don’t you think that’s kind of obvious?” the other woman asked. “Cut the drama, Deb. Hi. I’m Kelley Reid, Tyler’s sister. It’s nice to meet you.”
Berry allowed herself to look Kelley Reid over thoroughly before putting out one languid hand. Kelley had her mother’s blond hair, and her eyes were green. Berry placed her age at about twenty and noted she shared Tyler’s broad, slashing brows.
“How d’ye do?” she murmured, as if it was almost too much trouble to bother.
“We—uh—just stopped by to see Tyler for a minute.” Kelley was obviously trying not to stare at Berry’s eyes. “But since he isn’t here, we’ll just be on our way.”
Berry rested her hand, with the long, pink nails on display, on the doorjamb and smiled a secret smile. “I’ll tell him to call you tomorrow, if you like. He’s going to be busy tonight.”
Debra sucked in her breath.
Kelley elbowed her sister sharply. “It’s not important. Please don’t bother telling him we came by.” She gave up all pretense of not staring. “Man, those eyes are to die for. Do you mind if I ask where you got them?”
Just what she needed, Berry thought irritably. A sister so likeable, she was going to have a hard time keeping up her bitchy act.
“Why, of course not,” she gushed. “I was born with them. Bye.”
She shut the door with a sharp click and remained with her ear pressed against it. Outside, she could hear Kelley adjuring Debra to get a life and butt out of Tyler’s.
“He’s thirty years old,” Kelley argued. “Who do you think you are? His mama?”
“She’s nothing but a low-down gold-digger!” Debra wailed. “Just look at her. I’ll bet Tyler’s the one who bought her that awful necklace. Somebody has got to do something.”
“Well, it isn’t going to be me,” Kelley declared. “If Tyler doesn’t know his way around by now, he’s sure not likely to learn anything from us.”
Berry watched the two women head for their car and fingered the maligned phony diamond necklace. It had been well worth the money, she decided, grinning.
She spent an otherwise boring afternoon Googling Farley Brothers for the six hundredth time, updating Mary MacGregor’s Facebook page with several selfies and some breathless posts about the excitement of being in Houston and alternating between near-hysteria and calm determination when she thought about Felix Farley. Perhaps she could giggle and refuse to play footsies with Felix until after five o’clock. Then, at precisely four-fifty-nine, she could race for the elevator.
She set the computer aside. It was almost six, and Tyler still wasn’t home. She went to her bedroom, removed the purple contact lenses, and changed into a pair of her own jeans, a soft, knit shirt, and a pair of flat slippers. She’d had enough discomfort for one day.
In the kitchen, she got out two steaks and prepared them to go into the broiler the minute Tyler got home. If he’d spent this long slaving over spreadsheets, he was bound to be hungry and tired.
Also, she thought craftily, if she presented him with a delicious hot meal, he might be less likely to jump on her for having some fun with his sisters.
• • •
Tyler walked into his apartment at seven, dead tired and wishing he’d stopped to pick up hamburgers or a pizza. But Berry was waiting, and he probably ought to take her out to eat. It would also make for a better atmosphere when he lectured her about answering the telephone and the door when he’d specifically told her not to.
He shut the door behind him and sniffed the air in astonishment. He hadn’t smelled that odor in his apartment ever. When he got home, he was usually either too tired to cook or rushing to get to the gym for a workout. He dropped his briefcase on the sofa, scowling at Berry’s open computer, and peered into the kitchen.
She stirred something on the stove and looked like herself again, with her own gray eyes smiling at him and her cheeks red from bending over the broiler. She waved a potholder at him.
“Go put on something comfortable,” she said. “I’m exhausted after tippy-toeing around in high-heels all day. We need to relax.”
She was going to feed him a home-cooked meal, Tyler thought in astonishment. It would be the first time he’d ever eaten anything other than a frozen dinner or takeout in his own apartment.
He changed into a pair of khaki trousers and a blue knit shirt and joined Berry in the kitchen. Now that he thought about it, the lecture he planned to give her would go down better in privacy.
“Go ahead and sit down.” She reached into the refrigerator. “The steaks will be done in a minute.”
She set a bowl full of tossed salad before him and set out two bottles of dressing. He regarded the dressing in a dazed way. He hadn’t been aware that he harbored any salad dressing in his cabinets.
“I’ve got fresh broccoli coming up,” Berry informed him. “I’ll bet your diet is atrocious. All frozen dinners and takeout.”
“Don’t tell me. You majored in home economics for a while, didn’t you?”
“Actually, I just took two courses, one in basic nutrition and one in basic cooking techniques. I figured if I didn’t, I’d never learn anything about how to eat. Daddy and Daniel both thought opening cans was the height of the art of cooking.”
“I thought it was peeling back the foil on a frozen dinner.”
He stared in a dazed way at the pot on the stove. Fresh broccoli. She was steaming fresh broccoli and broiling steaks. The next few weeks took on an added interest.
“So tell me about your spreadsheets.” Berry checked the broiler. “Was it work that really needed to be done, or was it a ploy of your father’s to get you out of my clutches?”
If Tyler hadn’t been so tired, he’d have laughed. “It was a little of both, I think. He never said a word about you, but he did give me a lecture about allowing my focus to be shaken.”
“That’s always been my ultimate desire—to shake a man’s focus. Do you think I’ll succeed in shaking Felix’s focus?”
“If you don’t, it’ll be because he’s drunk.”
“That’s the nicest thing any man has ever said to me.” She lifted the lid on the pot and peered inside. “Seriously, Tyler, what should we go after first? I might have only one chance to get into the company books. I’ve got to make it count.”
“Just bring me whatever you can manage to get your hands on.” Tyler shook himself mentally. He was too tired to think. Or maybe he was drowning in unaccustomed comfort. “If you do find anything, it’ll probably be something unexpected. You can be sure they’ve already doctored the books to make most of the data conform to the figures they’re publishing.”
He rubbed his face and reflected that he had gone as off-the-wall as Berry Challoner, not to mention aiding and abetting in some sort of criminal behavior. Farley Brothers was not involved in anything illegal. Any data Berry managed to filch and bring to him for analysis probably wouldn’t tell him a thing.
“That sounds almost like a scientific theory,” Berry said enthusiastically. “You get up your theory, and if you can find one instance where the available data doesn’t fit the theory, that theory is no longer valid. Accounting sounds a lot more scientific than the business stuff Daniel was always studying.”
Tyler thought on this for a moment, blaming his slowed thought processes on a day spent clicking his computer mouse and peering at tiny numbers on-screen. “I suppose that’s about wh
at it amounts to. An auditor’s job is to make sure all the available data matches what’s listed in the books.”
“And anything that doesn’t match means somebody’s cooking the books, right?”
Tyler grinned. “Possibly. What it definitely means is that somebody has some explaining to do. Which reminds me.”
She sat down across the table from him and reached for the bottle of Thousand Island dressing. “Yes?”
“You have some explaining to do, young lady.” He put on his best frown. “What the devil do you mean by opening the door to my sisters this afternoon?”
Her clear, gray eyes met his without a sign of embarrassment. “Do you call your sisters ‘young lady’ when you go to scold them?”
“Just answer the question.” He had already lost control of the conversation, just as he always did when it came to feminine misbehavior.
“It ought to be perfectly obvious what I’m doing.” She regarded him with amusement. “I’m setting you up for the vacation of your life.”
Chapter 6
She was scheming to get his father to give him time off for a vacation. Tyler couldn’t get over it. He even went to bed thinking about a travel-brochure vacation where he went snorkeling in clear blue water over white sand off some exotic Caribbean beach then spent the night dancing beneath swaying palm trees. The woman with him had dark, curly hair and violet eyes.
How he had gotten there, he wasn’t even sure.
After a night spent with dreams of tropical paradises interspersed with fits of wakefulness, Tyler snapped awake to the odor of frying bacon. He showered swiftly and threw on his clothes. By the time he got to the kitchen, the odor of toasting bread had entwined itself with the bacon.
“Are you seeking alternate ways of paying your share of the rent?” he asked, sniffing hungrily.
Usually, he bought a doughnut and a cup of coffee on the way to his office. A real breakfast was a rare treat these days, available only in his mother’s kitchen.
“I’m trying to be a good houseguest,” Berry said, smiling at him. “Besides, doing normal things like cooking a meal is very calming to the nerves.”
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