Ramagos, Tonya - Strictly Accountable [Stud Service 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (13 page)

Swallowing a hungered growl, he dug into the food on his plate even though he knew it wouldn’t do a bit of good at satisfying his appetite. “What happens next?”

“I move on to the 2006. I did some more checking. The IRS implemented a new Voluntary Disclosure Initiative in February that gives offenders until August thirty-first to file all amended returns and pay all taxes and accompanying fees. Unless you object, I’m thinking you should wait until I complete each year and file them all at once. That way you’ll be able to see the bigger picture instead of it trickling in a little at a time.”

“You won’t get any objections out of me. That’s what I hired you for.”

“Good. Then I’ll continue with 2006 tomorrow.” She dropped her gaze, not looking at him as she continued to eat.

Brody remembered his mother’s moods well. He helped raise his three sisters and became the one they came to more often than not, especially after his mother passed away. He knew as well as he did his own name when a woman had something on her mind. He also knew women well enough to realize Sabrina would clue him in on whatever plagued her thoughts when she got ready. That didn’t make waiting for her delicate mouth to spill all any easier. A silence fell between them and stretched on far too long for his comfort. He started to break it, but her head came up, her gaze slamming into his, and he congratulated himself on his patience, no matter how tenuous it started to get.

“I’ve been thinking about your proposition.”

Brody paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “You mean my proposal.”

“I think, given the circumstances, proposition is a better word. It will be a sort of business arrangement, after all, though I still for the life of me, can’t figure out your reason for entering into the, shall we say, contract.”

“You’ll understand it in time.”

Sabrina waved that away. “Whatever. The thing is, if we’re married, even for business purposes, we must be exclusive.”

“I agree.” Brody struggled to sound calm and not let her see the party kicking off in his head. “I’m not seeing anyone. Are you?” Something indefinable moved through her eyes. He put down his fork, leaned over his plate, and watched her more closely.

“Honesty is another must,” she told him. “The standard rules and limitations need to apply if for no other reason than to keep the peace for however long it drags out.”

“I agree.” She didn’t believe him. That’s where the indefinable look in her expression came from. She flat out didn’t believe anything he was saying right now. Forget that she didn’t think the marriage between them would be real. He would make her see the truth of that in due time. Apparently, he would also need to take on the task of earning her trust as well as her love.

“Good.” Sabrina heaved a sigh. “I’m glad that’s settled. Not that I’m agreeing yet, mind you, but I felt like we needed to set some stipulations. Don’t you?”

“Absolutely.” Brody considered her for a long moment before speaking again. “What is it you think I’m hiding from you, Sabrina? What are you thinking I’ve done since I proposed to you?” He didn’t care what she wanted to call it. He freaking
proposed
, no matter how lame it had been, and he damned well intended to call it that every chance he got.

Sabrina sipped from her glass of iced tea, studying him over the rim. “Nothing since. Carlotta did mention you had a date a few days before. I simply didn’t want your
proposition
to screw that up for you.”

“The date was the night before I proposed to you, not a few days before.”

“I sit corrected.”

“Jealous?”

“Why would I be?”

Why indeed? Brody leaned back in his chair, careful to keep his expression blank. He knew better. He all but felt the jealousy coming off her in waves, and when a woman got like that, it meant only one thing. He was well on his way to having her mind, body, and soul already.

Chapter Seven

Sabrina snagged the office phone when it rang, tucking it between her cheek and shoulder as she continued to tap at the keyboard. “Thank you for calling Mason Tax Service. This is Sabrina speaking. How may I help you?”

“Are you with a customer?” Lucille’s greeting came in a friendly, but no-nonsense manner.

Sabrina saved the file she had been working on and eased back in her swivel chair, grasping the receiver in one hand so she could straighten her neck. “No, it’s been a ghost town today.” Two hours down. She prayed to the patron saint of customers she wouldn’t sit for the next six without a soul to keep her busy.

“Good. Call Rita and tell her to come in at noon. She’ll be finishing out the day and working the weekend.”

Sabrina knew she probably looked like a fish out of water to the Walmart patrons walking by, the way her mouth kept opening and closing as she struggled to formulate a response to her boss’s order. “Why? What—?”

“You should’ve told me that you and Brody Holt hit it off on more than a professional level.” Lucille cut off Sabrina’s stammering, her tone teasing. “You definitely should’ve told me you planned to take a weekend trip.”

“But…but, we didn’t hit it off. What weekend trip?” Sabrina’s head spun. She couldn’t seem to grasp rational thought through all the sudden confusion.

“He’ll be there in an hour to pick you up.” Lucille continued spooning out information as if Sabrina hadn’t said a word. “Call Rita in, Sabrina, or do I need to do it myself?”

“No, I’ll do it.” Sabrina managed to catch that quickly enough. Since she had her little powwow session with Rita in the Walmart manager’s office, they seemed to have settled into a fairly decent working understanding. The last thing she needed was for that to change now.

“I figured you would say that.” Sabrina heard the smile in Lucille’s voice. “Tell her if there are any problems this weekend to call me. Enjoy your time off, and I’ll talk to you on Monday.”

Lucille hung up before Sabrina could utter another word. Fit to be tied, she put down the phone more forcefully than she intended only to yank it up again. She didn’t stop to think as she consulted the list of numbers taped to the desk and dialed Rita. Her employee’s response didn’t help to perk her mood. Rita always complained she wanted more hours and griped when she got them.

“Ungrateful twit,” Sabrina muttered, hanging up the phone. She quickly shot a glance right and then left, letting out a small sigh of relief when she noted that no one heard her. “Controlling, infuriating cowboy,” she added the next instant when her rapidly growing anger settled on its true source.

Sabrina knew precisely what Brody planned. She had been off her period for a full week but hadn’t found the time to get to the courthouse. Not that she ever actually agreed to his proposition in the first place. The whole marriage of convenience thing seemed so historical to her, like something out of an old-school Harlequin novel. The difference between her and the many heroines who played out their roles in fiction through the years came in her refusal to hope her marriage to Brody would turn out anything like theirs always did. She knew full well the difference between fiction and reality, damnit.

A trumpet tune sounded from her cell phone lying nearby on the desk, alerting her to a new text message. She grabbed the phone, swiped her thumb over the touch screen to unlock it, and glared at the message.

Did Lucille call u
?

“Did Lucille call you?” Sabrina mocked aloud as she thumbed up the onscreen keyboard and started to type her reply message.
Yes, & noticed u didn’t
.

Mad?
Brody’s response came instantly back.

Fuming!

Reason I didn’t call
.

Sabrina hung her head. Damn the man for making her laugh when she was so pissed at him. Her phone trumpeted again.

Uve got hour to calm down
.
Then headed to ch
.

Apparently he decided it didn’t matter if she agreed or not. They were obtaining the marriage license from the courthouse and getting married this afternoon. “This domination stuff isn’t going to cut it, boy,” she said aloud, ignoring the simmering flames in her system for a whole different sort of domination out of him, as she typed in her response.
Need to go home and change first
.

Sry, no time
.
Ch closes 430
.
Will have to change in car
.

She didn’t bother to point out her place was less than ten minutes from Walmart, and he intended to pick her up a good four hours before the county courthouse closed.
Nothing to change into
.

Will bring something with
.
See u soon
.

Sabrina didn’t bother to reply. She already knew it wouldn’t do her any good.

* * * *

At precisely twelve o’clock, Brody whipped the Mustang into the Walmart parking lot, sliding up to the sidewalk in front of an awaiting Sabrina. He pulled up the emergency brake, set the five-speed shifter in neutral, and left the engine purring as he hopped out. “Ready?”

Sabrina’s answer came in a sidelong look that made his dick instantly hard. “My, you do clean up nice.”

Hell, if he had known wearing dress pants and a button-up shirt would get him that kind of appreciation out of her he would’ve put the getup on weeks ago.

“I’m impressed.” She walked beside him as he rounded the front of the car and pulled open the passenger door for her.

He caught her chin before she could bend to slide inside and pulled her face up to look at him. “It’s not every day a man gets married. Thank God,” he added and watched in lustful fascination as her lips uncurled in a dazzling grin.

“Just because I’m smiling doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You’re one infuriating man.”

Brody leaned in and stole a quick kiss. “You can fuss at me in the car. We’re short on time. Now get in.” He waited for her to settle herself in the seat, then closed the door and double-timed it back around to the driver side.

“Is your clock broken?” she asked when he put the car in first gear, released the emergency brake, and punched the gas.

Brody glanced at the dashboard clock. “It looks like it’s working fine to me.”

“So it does,” she agreed, reaching for the “oh shit” handle above her head. “It also says it’s only a little after twelve. Why exactly are we in such a rush?”

“I’ve got a preacher who agreed to marry us today, but we have to be there no later than four.” He shot her a look. “When is the last time you did anything at the county courthouse?”

She chewed her lip for a moment. “When I bought my car. It took me over three hours to get the title and registration straight.”

“And you think getting a marriage license will be any faster?”

“Probably. There can’t be that many fools in the Chattanooga area looking to get hitched this weekend.”

“I’m not willing to take the chance.” Brody looked pointedly in the rearview mirror. “The dress I brought for you is in the backseat.”

“I’m not changing in this little car.”

“I guess I should’ve brought the truck.”

“Ha, ha. You can give me five minutes in the courthouse bathroom to change after we get the license. It’s the least you can do after springing this on me without any notice.”

“I gave you an hour,” Brody argued. He had known better than to give her a second longer than that. “Hell, Sabrina, it was the only way I could get you out of that place early enough to get this done.”