L.A. Cinderella (3 page)

Natalie pushed back her chair abruptly and stood. Her boss did not need to know that she’d ogled him all weekend. “We were just heading to lunch. We’d better hurry if you want to get back to work on time.”

Rachel turned bright blue eyes to her. “We don’t have to leave right now.”

Ugh. Natalie didn’t like the look on Rachel’s face as Rachel turned her smile back to Chase. Frustrated, Natalie blew her bangs out of her face and glanced at Chase. His teasing grin had returned.

“Thank you,” he said politely to Rachel before turning back to Natalie. “So, Natalie, which movie was your favorite?” His interest was far too intense. Was it because of Rachel or because he was interested in her?

Resisting the urge to shrink behind Rachel’s tall figure, Natalie quickly ran through the titles in her head, trying to remember which one he was completely clothed throughout the entire film. “
Night Blooming
.” Ha.

His eyes focused in on her lips and she realized she was smiling. His comment earlier froze the smile on her face. What if he really liked her?

“Don’t be silly, Natalie. Of course, she loves
Riddle Beach
. I mean who doesn’t.” Rachel’s eyes practically devoured Chase. “After all, how often does a woman get a feast for her eyes?”

Screw the papers; maybe the floor would swallow her whole. She tugged on Rachel’s arm, trying to get her to back off and just go, but Rachel jerked her arm back.

“I figured Natalie’s favorite would be
If Only
.”

Her eyes snapped up to Chase’s face in amazement. To
be honest, it
was
her favorite. She loved the story. The love, the purity, it gave her body tingles just thinking of the kiss at the end. Such perfect buildup, such beautiful emotions. Such an unattainable love.

Her mouth opened, a thousand questions on her tongue tumbling over each other to find their way to the surface. She clamped her mouth shut before they spilled out.

She managed to get out, “We should go.”

“Natalie, stop being rude. Of course, Natalie loves that one, too. It never leaves the DVD player. That last scene…Natalie, what’s that last line?”

Natalie pressed her lips together. Not that Rachel would notice, as her full attention remained on Chase.

Rachel continued without even blinking an eye. “Oh, what is it? There’s that song going on in the background, and she’s almost out the door, but she stops when he says it? Natalie, you know what it is.”

“‘I can’t lose you.’”

Natalie’s head jerked up at Chase’s voice. He wasn’t looking at Rachel. He was looking at her. His green eyes touched her so deep. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Yeah, that’s it. But there’s more,” Rachel said.

Chase continued as if Rachel weren’t there. “‘I’d give up my entire world for one more moment in your arms. One more night by your side. I want it all. All of you. I want you to have it all. All my love, all my heart, all of me.’”

Her purse hit her foot, jerking her out of the moment. It felt like he was really saying it to her, not Elizabeth, the heroine in the movie. Which was ridiculous even to think. Actors acted. He was just acting. She pressed her glasses back up her nose and reached down to pick up her purse.

“Wow, you are good.” Rachel’s appreciation was too much for Natalie. This whole situation was too much for her.

“Let’s go, Rachel. Chase has more important things to do.” Again Natalie took hold of Rachel’s arm. “’Bye, Chase.”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Rachel finally took the hint. “It was nice meeting you, Chase.”

“Natalie?”

She risked looking at him again. The flames engulfing her face hadn’t died down the entire time. “Yes?”

“Think about what I said.” He nodded to Rachel and headed down the hallway.

T
hink about what he said? How could she think of anything else? Even with Rachel prattling on across the table about how surprised she was that Chase looked that good in real life, she couldn’t get those words out of her head.

Maybe he didn’t mean to make her obsess about the ending lines that gave her that feel-good feeling when she needed a pick-me-up. Seriously, the man did not need writers making him sound romantic when he could just say “come here” to a woman and she’d be all over him. But if it wasn’t that, what else had he said?

Besides, the kind of love found on the movie screen was nowhere near what real life was like. Men like Chase didn’t go for women like her unless something more was going on, or it was part of a script.

“Oh, on the blogosphere this morning, Chase and Alexis were seen at Hyde on Friday night and at Spago on
Saturday. Not to mention the Golden Globes. God, I wish I had her body and that dress. Wow.” Rachel took a bite of salad. “Mmm. Their reps wouldn’t comment on their relationship. You know what that means?”

Maybe it was lunch. That’s right. He’d asked her to lunch sometime right before Rachel had appeared. Probably a thing he did with all new employees. It wasn’t like she was special in some way.

“Natalie. Natalie!”

“What?” She focused on Rachel’s eyes. Rachel’s eyebrows were raised and she stared at Natalie like she was from outer space.

“Where are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m right here. With you. Having lunch.” Natalie glanced down at her plate, surprised to find it still full.

“No, you weren’t. You were in la-la land.” Rachel speared a cherry tomato with her fork. “Besides, you didn’t answer my question.”

Natalie sifted through the last bits of conversation she’d heard. Something about Alexis and Chase?
You know what that means?
“What does it mean?”

“It means that Alexis and Chase are on again. That’s the way of the world, you know. They break up, and then after their next big movie, they get back together and finally get married. Maybe have a kid, if it’s fashionable at the time. Then have a messy divorce where they swear they’ll stay friends for the children.”

“So, Alexis and Chase are an item again?” Natalie ignored the knot in her chest.

“Of course. But they won’t say anything about it for a month or so.”

“Oh.” She tamped down the disappointment that rose to
the surface. She knew she’d been dreaming, but… Okay, so she’d hoped a little of his attention had been because of that spark in his eyes. Not that she was any good at reading men, but maybe, just maybe someone like Chase for two seconds thought of someone like her.

She stabbed her fork into a pile of lettuce and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. It tasted bitter.

Uh-oh
. Natalie reread the numbers and double-checked the signatures.
Uh-oh
. She picked up the expense report on top of the other stack and lined up the signatures again. Not good.

“I’m heading out.”

She snapped the papers together and leaned over her stacks as Martin walked out of his office. Wide-eyed, she tried to keep her face neutral and forced a slight smile.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Is there anything you need?”

“Of course not. Why would there be anything I need? I’m good. I’m real good.”
Stop babbling!
Clamping her lips together, she smiled tightly again.

“Fine.” He tucked a newspaper under his arm and narrowed his eyes on her again. “How’s the audit going?”

Realizing she was hovering over her work like a protective mother, she stiffly leaned back in her chair. Every night he asked the same thing and she was beginning to understand why. “Fine, I’m almost done with this stack and then I’ve got those over there to go through, but everything looks fine. Just fine.”

“Well, as long as you finish by Monday. Chase and Robert want a full report.” He locked his office door. “Have a good night.”

He disappeared down the hall. She breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing left and right down the hallway to ensure
no one was watching, she picked up the last document she’d been working on.

After working through tons of documents with Martin Morrison’s signature and handwriting, she was confident she recognized his writing. Paul Alan, an extra, had similar handwriting and had been paid in cash per Mr. Morrison’s instructions.

So had another extra, Jan Robbins. The handwriting is what caught her attention. Both Jan and Paul had eerily similar handwriting, and it bore a strong resemblance to Mr. Morrison’s.

She needed to know how cash payments were handled. Glancing over her shoulder at the closed door, she knew she couldn’t ask Mr. Morrison even if he were here. If he were guilty of fraud, he’d know she was onto him, and she’d get fired. If she told him what she suspected and she was wrong, she’d still end up fired. Being fired a month into her first job would look really bad on her résumé.

It was after five-thirty on Thursday, which meant the office was practically empty with the exception of her. And possibly Chase. The office staff left early on Thursdays for happy hour.

She hadn’t been alone much with Chase this week. Even though she felt relieved, that little part of her couldn’t help being disappointed. The past few nights, Robert Addler had walked out with her and Chase, which was perfect for her. Chase couldn’t bring up lunch again if they weren’t alone. Unless it was purely business. So if he hadn’t brought it up, did that mean it was personal?

Robert wasn’t here today. She stood and stretched her stiff muscles. Maybe she could just root through the files and figure it out. She stared at the large filing cabinets that
stored this year’s bills. Four long drawers filled with paperwork sorted by vendor.

Maybe if she knew the rules on picking up cash and how it was given to the extras… She heaved a sigh. Walking around her desk, she stared down the hallway to the only light left on in the office. Her heart thudded against her chest. He would know how the process worked. Besides, she’d have to tell someone sometime. Someone above Mr. Morrison.

Wondering if she was making a huge mistake, she headed to Chase’s office. Even with the little trill of anticipation to see him again, she walked slowly down the hall. Not only was she going to accuse the CFO, who had been here a lot longer than herself, of embezzling, but she had to make sure she didn’t make a fool out of herself over Chase and her little attraction.

Every time she was near him, her body responded as if she were a cat in heat, and her brain went on vacation. She hadn’t figured out how to control it yet.

Natalie paused outside the slightly open door.

His low voice reached her ears, freezing her hand in mid-knock. “Alexis, I don’t think so…. No… I know how important this is to you, but I just… Yes… Have you tried Robert?… No, I’m not saying… If you would just… Sure, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

The phone click, as it was returned to the cradle, barely penetrated the fog in her brain. What did it mean? Were they back together? She rolled back on her heels and tried to slip back before he noticed her.

One step. She stopped at a rustling in the office, followed by footsteps. She squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, yeah, like that really hid her. She opened her eyes. A blue shirt filled her view. Oops.

Tentatively she raised her eyes to his bemused expression. As always, heat flushed through her and her heart slammed against her chest.

“Eavesdropping?”

“No, of course not. I was coming to ask you a question. Just a question. I didn’t mean to overhear…. Not that I heard anything… I mean…” Oh, God, someone stop her.

His grin seemed to increase the further she dug herself into the ground. Seriously, someone needed to make an emergency escape hatch one could fall into after one embarrassed oneself sufficiently.

“It’s okay, Natalie. Come on in.” He stepped back into his office.

He gestured to the leather guest chair before sitting behind the desk. She slid into the chair, and her eyes darted around the room. She crossed her legs and clasped her hands in her lap.

She’d never been in here before. The tiled floor from the hallway flowed into the nice-size office, not huge but bigger than Mr. Morrison’s. Beige paint and framed movie posters covered the walls.

Finally her eyes rested on the man behind the desk. Somehow he seemed closer than when he’d walked her to her car. Maybe it was his uninterrupted attention on her. A low thrum of energy sizzled through her body, and she involuntarily shivered.

“What was your question?”

Question? Oh, yeah, question
. She’d had one. Things seemed to flit out of her brain when he was around. What had she been doing?

“Yes, umm…”

His mouth turned into a soft smile. “Take your time.”

“Well…” She chewed on her bottom lip. Mr. Morrison.
“When extras are paid in cash where does the cash come from?”

The smile faded from Chase’s face, and he came to attention behind his desk. “We don’t typically pay extras in cash.”

Her hands tightened. “These are for expenses. You know, expense reports turned in and instead of a check they request cash?”

“Where are these expense reports?” Suspicion lurked in Chase’s eyes.

She recrossed her legs and swallowed. “On my desk. I just noticed it today. Isn’t that the way it’s typically done?”

Chase stood and ran a hand through his hair. “Get the reports and meet me in the conference room. We need to figure this out.”

“We?” she squeaked out.

He walked around the desk and gripped her elbow, helping her out of the chair and steering her toward the door. “Yes, we. Now, go get the documents, and I’ll order us some Chinese.”

“But I should go home soon.” The conference room wasn’t very big, so he’d be close, which made that little piece in her trill again. But if she were alone with him, she was sure to make a fool of herself. His hand on her elbow burned through the silk of her blouse. Why had she taken off her jacket? She’d definitely make a fool out of herself if left alone with this man for any length of time. But she did want to get to the bottom of this.

“Hot date?” Chase’s voice sounded slightly gruff.

A fresh wave of heat swallowed her face. “No, but—”

His green eyes settled on hers. “I won’t take no for an answer.”