Romantic Acquisition Page 0,5

he was referencing. It only took her a moment to see the report and figure out what he was asking about. This one wasn’t very intuitive and she’d complained about it previously to the head of the accounting department. Unfortunately, that man liked the report and wouldn’t change the format. “This data comes from the accounting system,” she explained and went on into detail about how the invoices from the various vendors are processed, entered into the system and divided up by department. Peter listened avidly and took notes on everything she said.

Jeff had a question next and she went through several more explanations. The morning flew by and the next thing she knew, she was being handed a sandwich by Carlo, who hadn’t asked her anything at all during the morning work session.

Kate blushed as she took the offered sandwich. The intensity of his gaze as he handed it to her made her feel as if he could look into her soul and know how hungry she was, not just for the food either. She wanted to touch his face and see if he was made out of stone or actual human flesh. Was he warm blooded? Did he ever smile or show any other emotion on his face? She didn’t think so although he was the most handsome stone statue she’d ever seen.

By the afternoon, Kate came to the conclusion that Carlo Attracelli was not a statue. Statues didn’t work this hard. Carlo was a work horse and a slave driver. He never asked for any information. He reviewed everything that Jeff and Peter handed to him, making notes in his computer. He entered numbers into a mysterious spreadsheet and rarely stopped to take a break.

And he almost never spoke.

By six o’clock that evening, Kate was exhausted. She was wearing four inch heels today with a pencil slim red skirt and a ruffled shirt that was much more office oriented than her outfit of the previous day. Unfortunately, jumping up and getting the information, or helping the others understand what and how things work, took a toll on her feet.

Jeff and Peter packed up and politely thanked her for her help during the day. They left, leaving Kate to stare fixedly at her computer so she didn’t have to look at the intimidating man at the end of the conference room table she now was calling Attila.

“What are your plans tonight?” Carlo asked.

Kate was so surprised by his question she actually jumped. “Nothing,” she smiled, wishing she could admit that she wanted to toss her shoes into the garbage and soak in a hot tub.

“Can you answer some questions for me tonight if I buy you dinner?” he asked, leaning back in his chair and observing her.

Kate’s sore feet were instantly forgotten. In fact, everything was forgotten including the fact that she had decided she didn’t like him. “Dinner?”

Carlo smiled and his whole face was transformed. He was handsome before, but his smile showed off white teeth and eased the seriousness from his expression. His eyes crinkled at the corners and his shoulders seemed to relax slightly. “Yes, dinner. Do you eat?”

Kate was too fascinated by his smile. She wanted to sigh with pleasure. “Eat?” she asked, not sure what they were talking about.

Carlo chuckled. “Come on, you must be famished.”

The man standing up and towering over her reminded her of how dangerous he was. “No, really. I don’t need anything.”

She stood up abruptly but because she hadn’t eaten anything since eleven o’clock that morning, and hadn’t had breakfast, she was a little lightheaded. “Oh, my,” she said and almost fell backwards. If it wasn’t for his quick feet and strong arms, Kate would have fallen down onto the floor.

He was holding her by her waist, waiting for her eyes to clear up. She focused on his chin, too afraid to look higher. “I’m okay, now,” she whispered, intensely conscious of his hands burning holes in her clothing where he touched her waist. Her body was on fire just from his simple touch.

“I know,” he said and reluctantly released her. Putting a hand on the small of her back, he guided her out of the room. “Come on, you need a break and something to eat,” he said, handing her the tiny purse with a gold chain she’d dropped in the chair earlier that morning.

Kate walked along side him, worried about leaving the building with Carlo. She didn’t know what the rules were on dating the enemy but