business move,” he assured her. “I was desperate for an accountant. I’ve been looking for one since the day I bought this place. Now that I’ve found you, I want you to keep working for me after you get your degree, not run off to work somewhere else,” he said, and that was the truth, but only part of it. He was desperate for an accountant, but he was also oddly desperate to have her live here, close to him, where he could see her every day, even on days she wasn’t working, and G.G. wasn’t sure why. At least . . . well, obviously he liked her. He liked that she cared enough about her friends that one of them being attacked had made her go vigilante. He liked that after being pulled from Montana and dragged down here, she’d risked getting in further trouble to help strangers in peril. And he respected her like hell for taking responsibility for her own actions and accepting the punishment for them rather than trying to blame someone else.
G.G. also liked her determination to get the education she wanted. A lot of people would have given up after being pulled from the same classes for the second time and losing the money they’d worked hard for and invested in those classes, but she was already signed up for the next semester. Angelina Ildaria Sophia Lupita Garcia Pimienta was smart, and brave and determined and he liked her. In fact, he already liked and respected her more than every one of the women he’d dated over the years.
Which was scary as hell when he thought about it. Ildaria was an immortal, and G.G. was a mortal who had no intention of turning. This could not end well.
Pushing that worry aside, he finished what he’d been saying by pointing out, “Many companies pay for upgrading skills or degrees of their employees. I’m happy to pay your full tuition.”
Ildaria bit her lip briefly, obviously considering the offer. But in the end she said, “Thank you, but no. I probably will continue to work for you after I get my degree. So far, it seems like a great working environment, but no. I’ll pay for my own education. All of it.” She hesitated and then added almost apologetically, “It’s something I have to do myself. A pride thing. I hope you understand.”
G.G. nodded slowly, getting it. It had been important to him to pay his parents back for the Night Club in England. He’d wanted to succeed on his own and suspected she felt much the same way. “Yeah. I understand.”
She relaxed and smiled as she added, “But I will take this apartment and not the one-bedroom. With what you’re paying me, I can afford it. In fact, it is much less than I expected to have to pay for an apartment. Less even than I thought I’d have to pay to share an apartment with someone. And it would be nice to be able to invite Jess and Raffaele here to visit.”
He noticed that she didn’t mention Vasco, and wondered about it, but before he could ponder it too hard, Ildaria said, “Well then, it looks like I don’t have to search for an apartment after all.” Grinning, she asked, “When can I move in?”
“Whenever you want. Here are the keys,” he said, unhooking this apartment’s key ring from the larger ring and offering them to her. “Bring some stuff back with you tonight, or hire a truck when you can to bring it all.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as she took the keys. “I’ll bring a cashier’s check for first and last months’ rent when I return tonight.”
G.G. shook his head. “Use that to buy furniture or anything else you might need. I’ll take first and last out of your first paycheck. Payday is every two weeks, by the way.”
“Oh.” She beamed and then frowned by turn, and headed for the door, muttering, “I need to go shopping.”
G.G. smiled to himself and then glanced to where H.D. was nosing his way around the room. He whistled for the dog to come, and then followed Ildaria out of the apartment, the little fur ball chasing after him.
“You cannot sleep on a sleeping bag,” Marguerite said with exasperation. “Take your bed. It can be my housewarming gift to you.”
“That’s so sweet, Marguerite. But I bought a new bed on my way home,” Ildaria assured her. After hitting the furniture store for a new bed . .