The Dark Side of the Rainbow (27 page)

Understanding dawned across her face. “What if that is what I wanted?”

Landon reached for her and kissed her with the desperation they had both felt the previous night. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly pulled away.

“You can’t say things like that to me, Brooke. I need time and no more dancing. I shouldn’t have taken you to San Telmo.”

“Someday soon we’ll dance again, Landon.”

He hoped she was right.

* * *

“G
ood morning, Javier,” Landon greeted the general manager as he and Tomas strolled into the office unannounced.

“Mr. Gray, what a surprise! Did my assistant forget to mark your visit on my calendar? Please have a seat,” he invited pointing to the two chairs across from his desk.

“This was an impromptu visit. Tomas and I were reviewing some of the financials. We both came up with similar concerns and decided to make our way to the Lake House to look into the matter.”

“What concerns you, if I may ask?”

He is good
, Landon thought to himself—not a drop of sweat. He was either excellent under pressure, convinced that they would find nothing, or innocent. The president of NLG Property Group hoped for the latter.

“The expenses you reported last quarter are unreasonably high.”

“Gas prices have increased.” It was a simple reply. The tall attractive general manager was completely confident in his response.

“Fuel has gone up, and Tomas and I are here to validate the explanation.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, Mr. Gray.”

“Thank you, Javier,” Landon responded before turning to his vice president. “Tomas, please dispatch the auditors.” Returning his attention back to his general manager, he asked, “So, how are Celia and the children?”

Landon and Javier made small talk, while the auditors confiscated the computers and hard files. The more they spoke, the more his doubts grew. Outwardly, the man appeared as if he was a person with nothing to hide. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this than his general manager’s ability to remain cool under pressure.

When the last of the computers and paper files were placed in the conference room, Landon and Tomas joined the auditors, who were busy downloading everything off the hard drives.

“He didn’t blink an eye,” Tomas commented as he set up his laptop at the end of the long conference table.

“Very calm,” Landon agreed. He was also busy logging onto the company’s network. “I’m starting to have hope that we’re wrong.”

“It would be good if we are, but if there is something to be found, the auditors will find it.”

By five-thirty that evening the team hadn’t uncovered anything that indicated Javier Cesar was embezzling from the company. Up to this point, everything was clean.

The lead auditor, Edward, was giving Landon and Tomas an update on where they stood with the audit.

“We have more to research. I’m impressed with the record-keeping; everything is squeaky clean.” Edward leaned back in his chair while rubbing his eyes.

“Too clean?” asked Landon.

“Possibly. There are some things we would like to recheck this evening. I thought we would press on through the night. Tomorrow we’ll tackle the areas we haven’t yet touched.”

Landon nodded. “I’ll call down to the kitchen and order dinner for everyone.”

When Landon exited the conference room, Javier was closing the door to his office to leave.

“Is there anything I can get for you, Mr. Gray, before I head home?”

“No, thank you. I was about to order dinner for everyone. Enjoy your evening, Javier, and say hello to Celia and the children for me.”

“I will, sir. Have a good evening.”

Before calling to the kitchen, he used the administrative assistant’s phone to dial up to the suite. His pulse began to race when he heard Olivia’s voice on the other end answer with a bright hello.

“Hi, sweetheart. How was the tour?”

“Landon,” she sounded a bit breathless. “It was amazing. I would have enjoyed it more if you had been there.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to join you. On my end, things are either going well or not so well, depending on how you choose to look at it. I’m calling to tell you that I won’t be able to take you to dinner this evening.”

“Oh, I understand.” There was a slight sound of disappointment in her voice. Landon chastised himself when he realized how pleased he was by the sound. She would miss him.

“Would you like to join us in the conference from for dinner? I’m ordering from the kitchen.”

Her voice visibly brightened. “I would love that. Do you mind if I bring my computer with me? I can do some work on the cache of pictures I’ve been accumulating since I’ve been in South America.”

“Of course! Nothing would make my day better.”

“Great! I’ll be down soon and . . .” she paused, “I love you.”

His chest tightened at the sound of her words, filling him with longing. “Hurry, please, and I love you too.”
Olivia
, he thought to himself.

A short while later when he heard the door to the main offices opening, Landon walked out of the conference room, hoping it was her.

She must have changed out of her outdoor clothes. Her legs were clad in clay-colored chinos, topped by a black and white print, button-down blouse. “Hi. You look beautiful.” He smiled at her slight blush of pleasure while he reached for her computer bag. He didn’t give her a chance to respond before adding, “Here let me help you with that. Are you sure you want to spend the evening holed up in a stuffy conference room?”

“If you’re here, then yes I would.”

Landon held her gaze for a moment before lowering his lips to hers. When he pulled away, he said, “I’ve wanted to do that all day.”

She gave him a brief kiss in return. “Me too.”

“Come on in and I’ll introduce you to the team.”

* * *

W
hen the food was brought into the conference room an hour later, everyone stood to stretch their legs. One of the auditors pulled Landon aside and began speaking to him quietly. Brooke wondered if he was updating him on something he discovered.

She smiled inwardly when she remembered how Landon had introduced her to everyone as his girlfriend. It had surprised her to hear him speak the words. Thinking back she didn’t know why it felt surreal to be so intimately connected to him in such a public way; after all, wasn’t becoming a couple the natural progression of things when love was declared? She may not have understood the reasons for her surprise, but she certainly knew it felt wonderful.

The auditor finished what he was saying, then turned toward the food table to make himself a plate. Landon walked toward Brooke. He sat in his chair, next to hers. “Do you want something to eat?”

“I do. I was waiting for everyone else to get theirs first. I couldn’t help overhearing some of the conversation. What is your gut telling you?”

In a hushed voice, he answered. “Sadly, I think something is amiss; proving it appears to be a challenge. At the same time, I want to believe that everything is in order.”

A lock of his brown hair fell on his forehead. Unable to resist, Brooke brushed it away, her fingers lingering on his smooth skin. He smiled at her. She reciprocated with a grin of her own. “I guess it’s official: we’re going steady.”

He laughed at her comment before suddenly becoming serious. “It sounds silly, but I wish I had a letterman jacket or a class ring to give you.”

Brooke knew he never graduated from high school, but obtained his GED via the mail after he left Oregon. What a challenging time for him! Unable to fulfill all the normal senior classman activities were minor compared to what he had to live with; however, it was sad to know he thought about the things he missed out on that last year of high school.

“Shh,” she said, quietly rubbing her thumb along his slightly parted lips. “Your love is the only thing I want; nothing else matters.” Changing the subject, before she embarrassed him in front of his colleagues, she asked, “How far back are you looking into the Lake House’s accounts?”

“The past three years. Why do you ask?”

“When did Javier start with the company?”

“Five years ago.”

“I don’t have specifics for why I feel this way; it’s as if something like this happened in my past, but I think you should look at the entire full year before he started with the company and compare the expenses to the following two complete years. See what changed.”

“No one’s thought of that yet. We’ve been charting all the vendor expenses and booked night stays in order to analyze the data and see if the costs make sense. Some of the auditors have been tasked with calling the vendors to ensure they are legitimate and not dummy corporations. They’ve been asking for statements dating back three years to compare our transactions with theirs. Others are looking into personal expense reports to make sure receipts match. Tomorrow they were planning to tackle payroll.”

“If someone can run the reports for me, I can help with the analysis . . . if you don’t mind,” she offered hesitantly.

“Are you sure?”

“It would help me to feel more useful. In the last hour, listening to all of you talk, I’m more convinced that accounting was what I did before I became a photographer.” Brooke couldn’t help notice the change in Landon’s expression, wondering what caused it.

“If you’re sure, I won’t turn down the extra help.”

“I’m sure.”

W
hile they ate dinner, Landon informed the lead auditor about Brooke’s idea, explaining that she had a good knowledge base of accounting practices. Edward thought it was worth looking into further. By nine-thirty everyone, including Tomas, began packing up their laptops, calling it a day.

Brooke was so engrossed in the numbers that she didn’t notice until Landon touched her arm, causing her to look up from her computer. The lead auditor was approaching to shake hands goodbye.

“Goodnight, Mr. Gray. Thank you for the hospitality. Ms. Johnson, it was nice meeting you, and I’m looking forward to knowing how things turn out with your numbers. I guess I’ll be seeing you in the morning?”

Brooke looked at Landon, not wanting to overstep. When he winked at her, she told the lead that she would definitely be here in the morning.

When everyone was gone, Landon asked Brooke if she was ready to pack it up too.

“Do you mind if I take these reports with me to the suite? I only have about six more months’ worth of numbers to crunch.” She didn’t want to tell him that she was on to something until she had a chance to finish inputting the data and running some more analysis. Brooke wanted to be absolutely sure.

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” he asked with a grin.

“I really, really like this. Apparently, I have a fascination with numbers.”

“Let’s go upstairs.”

Tomas was watching a soccer game when they entered the suite.

“Who’s playing?” Landon asked as he tossed his laptop bag onto a chair and removed the tie he had already loosened hours ago.

“Manchester United and Chelsea.”

“Good game?”

“Have a seat and see for yourself,” Tomas invited.

“I think I will, after I change.” Landon looked over at Brooke who was already opening her laptop. “Are you sure you want to keep working on the numbers?”

“I’m positive. Watch the game. You’ve been at this all day; I’ve only begun.”

Three hours later, Brooke wanted to shout,
Bingo
. She was fairly confident she had discovered something. She was certain enough to say something to Landon about it. Looking up from her computer, Brooke saw him fast asleep on the couch. Tomas had gone to bed an hour ago.

Saving her files, she closed her laptop, then switched off the television before making her way to the couch. Brooke paused for a moment, looking down at Landon’s sleeping form. He was beautiful. How could she ever have thought that Tomas was more handsome? When he slept he was even more wonderful to look at with the weight of the world no longer resting on his shoulders. He looked at peace, and void of all his past pain and sorrows. He looked free.

Landon may be in love with her, but something held him back. The truth worried Brooke. All day on the guided tour a tiny sense of doubt tried needling its way into her joy. She had refused to succumb, fighting for her happiness.

There was enough room on the oversized couch for her to sit alongside Landon’s sleeping form. Carefully, she lowered herself to his side. Brooke hesitated to touch him. Instead she studied him for a little while longer. In the stillness of the late night, with nothing to distract her, she wondered if he would tell her what was holding him back. What was it that he needed in order to be truly free? Did he need her to remember who she was first?

He loved her. She not only believed it, she felt it to the very core of her being. Somehow she knew she had never before experienced anything like it. Those odd moments of certainty, that sixth sense of feeling made her absolutely positive that there had not been, nor would there ever be, another man for her.

Knowing he would awake but needing to touch him, Brooke smoothed the hair from his brow, the way she had earlier in the conference room. She savored the way his warm smooth skin felt on the tips of her fingers. Bending slightly she kissed his forehead, her lips lingering for the briefest of moments.

Landon’s hazel eyes flickered open for a second before closing again. To Brooke’s surprise, he reached for her, pulling her down to him so that her head lay in the crook of his arm and chest. Except for his breathing he was motionless for quite a while; she thought he had fallen asleep again.

With her own eyes feeling a little heavy, she knew she had to wake Landon. It was getting late and they had an early morning.

As if sensing her thoughts he murmured in a sleepy voice, “Lay here with me for a little while longer.”

Turning so she was lying lengthwise alongside him, she nestled her head against his solid strength and laid her arm across his chest. His was wearing a t-shirt. Wanting to feel him, she placed her hand on his upper arm. Hanging onto the edge of wakefulness, she heard him say, “Since we’ve taken on this high school theme to our dating, how about we do something high-schoolish?”