Page 10 of The Heiress Masquerade (Dollar Princess #2)

After having been officially introduced to Harrison Stone, which Aimee had found extremely awkward, Mrs. Holbrook had decided to give her a tour of the building and introduce her to the other employees there.

Whether that was because the lady had sensed the tension between Aimee and Harrison, or it was what she’d already had planned, Aimee had no idea, but she was grateful for the respite nonetheless. And after the tour, Aimee had been sent down to the Accounts section to learn all she could from the Accounts manager. To most, that would be utterly boring, but to Aimee it was anything but.

In fact, if running her father’s business wasn’t her goal in life, she’d have wanted to be an accountant. The language and the logic of numbers was thrilling, and after having spent the past two hours in Robert Stanton’s company discussing the actual financials for the company, Aimee was more fascinated than ever.

The man was a genius with numbers. So passionate and diligent in their application relating to reaping the largest benefits he could for the company that she couldn’t help but be impressed.

“I hope I haven’t been boring you overly, Miss Jenkins,” Robert said, his brown eyes crinkling in concern. “I do tend to go on and on about numbers, and most ladies I talk to about the subject tend to get bored. Not that you look bored,” he was quick to assure her. “I just know from past experience that it is not a topic that interests most.”

“You’re not boring me at all.” She smiled at him. “I feel quite happy to admit to you that numbers are a hobby of mine. In fact, I adore them.”

“You do?” A look of excitement lit up his earnest face, and, in that moment, he looked like a young boy even though he had to be in his mid-thirties. “How extraordinary. I’ve not really met a lady before who enjoys discussing numbers, let alone leafing through dusty old books filled with them.” His eyes glanced down at the ledgers Aimee was flicking through, which listed in meticulous detail all of the London company’s transactions for the last few months.

“What can I say?” Aimee shrugged. “I’m a rather unusual lady. Honestly, if I could trade in never having to attend another ball to read ledgers instead, I’d do so in a heartbeat.”

Robert grinned from ear to ear. “A woman after my own heart.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Stanton?” Robert’s secretary interrupted them. “There’s a phone call for you in your office.”

“Thank you, Emma,” he replied, then turned back to Aimee. “I’d best take that.”

“Am I all right to keep looking through these?” She glanced down to the ledgers still open on the desk in front of her. She’d noticed a few odd entries in the most recent pages over the last month and wanted to study them a bit more.

“Of course.” Robert nodded. “Perhaps I can take you to lunch tomorrow to discuss them?” There was an interest in his eyes that Aimee had seen on men’s faces before, but one she didn’t want to encourage given she wasn’t drawn to him. Unlike someone else in the office , a little voice in her head whispered. She really had to work on silencing that voice.

“Perhaps,” Aimee allowed, smiling at him as he bowed before returning to his office.

Why couldn’t she find herself interested in Robert Stanton? He was sweet and intelligent, and clearly seemed to like her for her, given he had no idea she was actually an heiress. But, instead, her thoughts were preoccupied by a certain six-foot-three, dark blond Adonis, who annoyed her more than any other man she’d met.

“Did you have to lead the poor man on?” a deep voice rumbled from behind her.

Speak of the Devil.

She swiveled around in her chair to face Harrison, her whole body bracing as a fission of energy raced down her spine as she locked eyes with his.

He straightened from where he’d been leaning on the doorframe, wandered over to her desk, and perched on the edge of it. His large frame filled the space so much that Aimee had to push back her chair to give herself some room to breathe.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Please, you had him wrapped around your pinkie. But he’s a good man who’s far more comfortable with numbers than people. So don’t lead him on, all right?”

“I wasn’t doing anything of the sort,” she replied in a harsh whisper, glancing around, only to see the others in the office barely paying them any mind. Thankfully, it seemed the men here in accounting were far more interested in their work than in gossip. “What are you doing here anyhow? Did you come down just to annoy me?”

And it was working, too. She was greatly annoyed at how attractive she found him. How was that possible when she hated him so?

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he answered gruffly. “Besides, you’ve been down here for over three hours now.”

“Paying attention to how long I’m gone, are you?”

“I pay attention to everything that happens here,” he answered. “And it’s nearly home time, so you should go back upstairs to finish off for the day.”

She glanced at the wall clock and was surprised to see it was nearly two o’clock. “Oh, so it is. Goodness, the day went quickly.” She’d make use of the early Saturday finish to send a telegram to her accountant to get some funds wired to her, and then she’d rent a room at the Mayfair Grand and have a bath. It would be nice to have a Saturday free from having to attend a ball.

“And how has your first day gone, Miss Jenkins?”

Oddly, he seemed genuine in wanting to know. “It was a good first day,” she answered truthfully and as her eyes locked with his, she couldn’t help but notice his strong jaw and lips. Lips that annoyed her and enticed her. “Now, as you mentioned, I better go upstairs and finish up for the day given I have some errands to run this afternoon.”

“You’re not planning on traipsing about on your own, are you?” He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

That was exactly what she was going to do while she was here, having never had the freedom of not having a chaperone with her in New York. “I am. What of it?”

“I’ve promised your uncle I’ll make certain you’re safe. Allowing you to traipse about London on your own is not honoring that promise.”

“You don’t have any say about what I do outside the office,” Aimee replied, infuriated that the man had taken on a self-imposed protector role. “I’m more than capable of looking after myself, and I’ll be perfectly safe.”

“You’re the niece of one of the richest men in the world; someone could try to kidnap you and hold you for ransom.”

“That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“A highly unlikely one.” She’d never had an issue with being possibly kidnapped as herself, so the chance of that happening while masquerading as Evie was even more remote. “Besides, no one knows who I am, so I’ll be safe.”

He blew out a breath. “I suppose you’re right, but do be careful.”

“I have my derringer, so I’ll be fine,” she reminded him for what felt like the tenth time. “In any event, you never answered my question about why you’re down here in the first place.”

“I had to come and see Robert about a meeting I have on Monday.”

“Ah, the meeting with Wilheimer.”

His whole body went rigid for a moment. “How do you know about that?”

“Aside from you and Ben mentioning it yesterday?” She pursed her lips. “I’ve been privy to conversations my uncle and aunt have had on the matter.” If eavesdropping on her parents was what one considered being privy to. “I’ve also read some of the correspondence you’ve sent to my uncle about it.” And by some she meant everything, though she didn’t think he’d appreciate knowing that, either.

“Thomas has let you read my correspondence about it?” There was a sense of incomprehension in his expression.

She nodded. “How else would I read them?” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Her father did leave his study unlocked, so it could be inferred he was giving her permission to sneak down and read them. “Plus, it’s all anyone has been able to talk about most of today.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh .”

“Do you always have to be so contrary?”

“I was agreeing with you, which is contrary to being contrary,” she replied with a straight face. “Isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is.”

She grinned up at him. “Are we agreeing about something, Harrison Stone? We should mark this day in our calendars, for I doubt it will happen again.”

“Perhaps we should, Yvette Jenkins,” he agreed, again.

They stood there staring at each other for a moment, and Aimee found her body begin to ache with need, almost begging for his touch. Dragging her gaze away from his she glanced pointedly over to Robert’s door. “Well, then, don’t let me keep you.” The quicker she could get Harrison to depart, the quicker she could recommence breathing properly.

Without warning her stomach growled, a loud yawning gurgle that startled them both and broke the tense atmosphere, making them grin.

“Have you even had lunch yet?”

Aimee shook her head. “No, I’ve forgotten to. Time tends to slip away from me when I immerse myself with numbers and ledgers, which are far more fascinating to me than food.”

He peered at her oddly for a moment. “That happens to me, too.”

“You also forgot to eat lunch today?”

“I did.” He nodded. “I was caught up in reading my notes and figures for the Wilheimer deal and lost track of the time.”

“Good gracious, Harrison Stone, first we agree and now we also have something in common? Whatever is happening? Perhaps we aren’t destined to be enemies after all.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. For so long she’d built up this persona of him in her mind and hadn’t liked him at all. In person, though, it was a whole other story.

“I’ve never thought of you as my enemy, Yvette Jenkins.”

That’s because he’d never had to compete for her father’s praise like she had. Though that wasn’t entirely fair. Her father often praised her, just never relating to business deals like she wished. “Your behavior suggests differently.”

“You think I’m your enemy because I came to your rescue the other day? Or was it because I criticized you for going into the alley in the first place?”

“No—” But then she stopped short. She couldn’t very well tell him the truth that she hated him because her father treated him like the son he’d never had. The son she could never be. “Well, perhaps. What gives you the right to berate me regardless of the circumstances? Especially when you didn’t even know who I was then.” Not that he knew who she really was now, either.

He gave a half shrug and pulled out a coin from his pocket. “Do you blame me for disagreeing with your questionable decision?” He began to roll the coin between his knuckles, using only the fingers of his same hand to do so. It was just as mesmerizing today as it had been yesterday.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat.” And she would. “Though I’d confront the man with my pistol.”

“Let’s hope there’s not another time.” He sighed. “Perhaps if you keep your nose buried in those ledgers for the rest of your trip here, it will keep you out of trouble.”

She blinked several times, freeing her eyes from staring at his fingers as they deftly manipulated the coin. Would his fingers be able to so deftly touch against her skin as they were doing to the coin? The very thought sent a heat spreading through her, warming her from her head to her toes. She really shouldn’t be thinking about Harrison Stone touching her, period.

“I’d be happy with that, for I adore numbers,” she finally replied. “They speak to me on the page and capture my attention in a way little else does.” Perhaps apart from him…though in a purely annoyed way, she quickly tried to assure herself.

“I feel the same. As does your uncle.” He was quiet for a moment. “You’re very much like him, did you know that?”

“I’ve been told that before.” Her mother always said that Aimee and her father were like two peas in a pod, both as stubborn and exuberant as they were impatient about life.

“Over the years, whenever we acquired another company,” Harrison began, “I’d watch him spend the next day pouring through all their financial ledgers cover to cover, forgetting to eat, so absorbed by the numbers on the page.”

“That sounds like him.”

“He’s a good man, your uncle,” Harrison replied. “He gave me a chance when no one else would, taking me under his wing when I was a boy.”

“Yes, I’ve heard everything about you since I was young—” When his eyes narrowed slightly at the corners, she realized her blunder. “—ger. Younger.”

“He’s one of the best men I know.” The statement was simple, but Aimee could see the absolute truth radiating from his eyes, which was at odds with her belief of him and his intentions regarding her father’s company. “Like a second father to me, given my own father passed away when I was young.”

“I couldn’t imagine what that would feel like to lose your parents.”

He seemed taken aback. “But aren’t you an orphan, too?”

At this rate, he would discover her ruse and ship her home. “Of course I am, but what I meant was… Well, you see, my parents died when I was a baby, so I have no memory of them.” Evie had told her so, and it sounded plausible, she hoped. “Whereas you grew up with your parents until you were eight, so I imagine you remember them to a certain extent, and um, that’s what I meant when I said I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like… Because I couldn’t, given I don’t remember my parents at all, so I don’t remember losing them.”

She was blathering like a fool in his presence, and lying to him, which she hated, but what else could she do? Perhaps try not to talk to him at all for the next six weeks? The man was so sharp that if they kept conversing, he probably would put two and two together and her opportunity of a lifetime would be ruined.

“I suppose sometimes the memories I have of them are both a blessing and a curse,” he responded before falling back into silence for a moment. Then he stood up. “In any event, I’d best go and see Robert. Now go and get some lunch before it’s time to finish work.”

“But aren’t you worried someone might kidnap me?” She didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in her tone.

“Very funny. But, like you said, no one knows who you are, so you should be fine. Though, I can accompany you if you wan—”

“No, that’s not needed.” The last thing she wanted was for him to go with her. Her body already felt like it was wound up like a clock being this close to him; she could only imagine what she’d feel like if she spent another hour in his company. “I’ll go myself, thank you.”

She was enjoying this aspect of the masquerade, being able to go outside without a chaperone or a companion. It was exhilarating. A tiny bit of freedom she rarely had as herself but planned to take full advantage of while pretending to be Evie.

“Just don’t go rushing down any alleyways trying to save more animals.”

“How hilarious you are.” She narrowed her eyes at him, while he winked and tipped his head to her, before striding across the large room toward Robert’s office.

Reluctantly, she found her eyes following his athletic figure, unable to do much but admire the man’s backside, and a darn fine backside it was. A backside any woman would admire, and the fact Aimee was doing so meant absolutely nothing.

Not a darn thing.