Microsoft Word - Taxes_and_TARDIS-NR_Walker.doc

TAXES AND

TARDIS

N.R. WALKER

Published by Silver Publishing

Publisher of Erotic Romance

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:

Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE

LEGAL copy per device for your own personal reading on your own personal computers or devices.
You do not have resell or distribution
rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher
and the copyright owner of this book.
This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the South African Copyright Law. Distribution of this ebook, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000."

Cover Artist: Reese Dante, Photo credit: DWS Photography Editor: Devin Govaere

Taxes and TARDIS © 2012 N.R. Walker

ISBN # 9781614955894

Attention Readers:
This book uses US English.

All rights reserved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. The Licensed Art Material is being used for illustrative purposes only; any person depicted in the Licensed Art Material, is a model.

PUBLISHER

https://spsilverpublishing.com

NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your purchase of this title. The authors and staff of Silver Publishing hope you enjoy this read and that we will have a long and happy association together.

Please remember that the only money authors make from writing comes from the sales of their books. If you like their work, spread the word and tell others about the books, but please refrain from sharing this book in any form.

Authors depend on sales and sales only to support their families.

If you see "free shares" offered or cut-rate sales of this title on pirate sites, you can report the offending entry to [email protected].

Thank you for not pirating our titles.

Lodewyk Deysel

Publisher

Silver Publishing

http://www.spsilverpublishing.com

For Bridgette.

TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

TARDIS, Dr. Who, Torchwood, Dalek
: The British Broadcasting Corporation

Star Wars
: Lucasfilm Ltd.

X-Files
: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Klingon
: Paramount Pictures Corporation

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

Traffic on a Friday afternoon in the central business district was hell. After two laps around the block, I finally found a parking space. I pulled my truck into the too-damned-small spot, grabbed the old shoebox off the front seat, and walked quickly back to my intended destination.

It's not very often I ventured into the business

district. And as I walked into the building fronted by glass, I remembered why. My reflection was a stark reminder of just how underdressed I was. Compared to the expensive suits walking around filled with their own importance, my work boots and plaid overshirt were somewhat out-classed.

Following the signs, I walked down the expensive

hall to the expensive office with the expensive desk. "Brent Kelly," I said, introducing myself to the receptionist. "I have a three o'clock appointment." I looked at my watch.

"Which I'm a little late for."

I smiled apologetically at her, hoping my scruffy

blond hair, dark blue eyes, and three-day growth would come off as rugged charm. I knew my looks could work in my favor with most women. Not my usual intended target, but hey, whatever worked.

She looked at me, my clothes, and the box in my

1

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

hand, and she smiled. "Take a seat, Mr Kelly," she offered kindly. "Logan will be with you shortly."

Logan. My new accountant.

I couldn't believe it when I'd phoned my old

accountant to make my annual tax appointment and was told she'd taken ill. All her clients were being referred to new accountants downtown. Well, they're not new; they're just new to me. They're quite old and reputable, and I could just picture this Logan as a bean-counting dinosaur.

My accounts were a shambles. I knew that, and so

did my old accountant. I'd gone to her for years. I'd hand over my shoebox of receipts and tax invoices with a warm smile, and she'd just do it all for me. Now I'll have to start from scratch, explaining everything to this new guy.

I was going to be there for hours.

"Mr Kelly?" I looked up to see the receptionist now standing in front of me. "Logan will see you now," she said with a professional smile. She walked toward the open door at the other end of the room, and I presumed I was to follow.

She led me down the hall, and about halfway down

the corridor, she showed me into an office where a guy sat behind the desk, scribbling in a file. With another professional smile, and not another word, the receptionist turned and left, and there I was standing in front of a desk

2

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

and a guy who still hadn't even looked up.

I cleared my throat nervously. "Um…"

Only then did he look at me. "Yes, Mr Kelly, please take a seat."

I noticed his English accent first. And then the fact that he wasn't old like I'd presumed he would be. In fact, he didn't look any older than me, maybe twenty-four, twenty-five. He had short dark brown hair, pink lips, and blue-gray eyes behind dark-rimmed glasses.

He looked at me for half a second, blinked, and

looked back down at his paperwork.

Typical pen-pusher. Typical bean-counter.

Nerd.

Geek.

I rolled my eyes in frustration, took a seat across from him, and put my shoebox on the seat next to me.

"Sorry I was late. I got held up at work then traffic into the city was bad. Took forever to find a parking space."

He looked up from his desk at me. "That's okay."

Then he cleared his throat and shook his head. "I've been going through your files sent over from your previous accountant," he said casually, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I thought the shoe box might have been an exaggeration." He smiled, as though he found me amusing.

I sighed. "Uh… no. It's been my filing system for

3

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

years…"

"Yes, that's what it says here," he said, tapping the file in front of him.

"Oh." I couldn't help being a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, um… accounts are not my forte."

He pulled out a clean piece of paper, pushed his

glasses back up on his nose, and looked at me. "So, Mr Kelly," he started.

"Please, call me Brent."

"Okay, Brent, I'll need some background

information."

So I started at the beginning. I told him I'm an

electrician by trade, self-employed and sub-contracted to one of the biggest construction companies in San Antonio.

He asked questions about superannuation, taxes,

and insurance. He pulled my shoebox over and started leafing through the mess inside while he talked about income, expenditures, write-offs, and whatever else, stopping every now and then only to push his glasses up on his nose.

His accent made everything he said sound musical

and soft, which was a weird thing for me to notice. As was the color of his shirt. It was a normal long-sleeve business shirt, but it was the bluest blue I think I'd ever seen. He wore a darker blue tie and had a black vest on over top.

4

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

I watched his fingers, his long, slender fingers, as he tapped them lightly on the page in front of him and how he held the pen, and I watched his lips as he spoke. He had pink, even lips, and his pale British skin was like cream. He really wasn't my type at all. I'd never been one for the studious kind. I preferred the athletic, adventurous type, but I found myself staring at him.

I don't know why I couldn't stop staring as he spoke, the way his lips moved, his accent… God, his accent…

how the too-blue shirt looked against his slender, pale neck, how the shirt highlighted the flecks of blue in his eyes, how his glasses didn't make him look geeky, just smarter, cuter.

I stared at him as he talked numbers… wondering…

daydreaming… fantasizing about what he smelled like, what he tasted like…

"Brent?" My name snapped my attention back to what he was saying, rather than where my mind had just gone.

I shook my head. "Yeah?"

"I asked if you'd categorized your tax holdings?"

"Oh, sorry." I shrugged. "You lost me at superannuation."

He smiled and put down his pen. He really did have a pretty smile. "It's obvious you're not interested—"

"Yes, I am," I said too quickly, interrupting him.

5

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

Interested? In him? Oh, hell…

He blinked, seemingly surprised by my quick

response. "Interested in your accounts?"

Oh. "Oh, um, I try to be," I said with a shrug, looking around the room. "It's just that I'm not very good at it."

"Hmm," he hummed with a thoughtful nod. "This will take some time…" he murmured, though I think it was more to himself than to me. His long, delicate fingers rubbed over the smooth skin of his jaw. "I guess I could work on it over the weekend."

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother," I told him honestly. One eyebrow lifted behind the dark rim of his glasses, as though he didn't believe me. "If there's anything I can do…" I stopped talking when I realized how stupid I sounded. "Well…" I cleared my throat. "If there's anything I can do besides being better at my accounts."

He looked at me and grinned. I think he almost

laughed.

I nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, I'm really not very good at anything with numbers."

He chuckled that time and looked pointedly at the

shoebox of receipts. "I can see that."

I smiled at him and nodded, and in that moment of

silence when I should have not said anything, I opened my

6

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

mouth. "Your shirt is really blue."

He blinked, taken aback by my not-related-to-

accounts comment. "Oh," he mumbled, a little embarrassed. "It was a birthday gift from my sister."

"It's very blue. Is it like a peacock blue?" God, why couldn't I just shut up?

"Um, no," he shifted in his seat. "It's TARDIS

blue."

TARDIS…
TARDIS
… what the hell was a

TARDIS? "TARDIS?"

He swallowed loudly. "Time and Relative

Dimension in Space," he said quietly. "The telephone box from
Dr. Who
."

"Really?" I snorted. Was he kidding? Oh, my God, no, he really wasn't.

He stared at me, unmoving, and mumbled, "Yes. I happen to like
Dr. Who
."

Oh, fuck. "Oh, sure," I amended quickly. "I'm sure it's great. It's just that I'm not that familiar with it, that's all." I groaned inwardly. Talk about awkward. I changed the subject. "So about these accounts…"

He pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "I'll have a look over them this weekend," he told me.

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt your plans." Then because my brain-to-mouth filter was on vacation, I said,

7

Taxes

and

TARDIS

N.R.

Walker

"If your girlfriend doesn't mind…" His eyes widened as the stupidity poured out of my mouth, so I tried to fix it. "Or your boyfriend. I mean I don't want you to think you have to do it this weekend. I'm sure I can take my box of stuff and sort them, at least…"