My Fake Christmas Fiance (Kane Christmas #1) - Julie Kriss Page 0,22

I took her hand again. “Relax. You’ll be going as my date anyway. I’ll make sure you don’t commit a faux pas.”

“Right,” Penny said, and she didn’t pull her hand out of mine. “Where are we going next?”

“I want you to meet W.B.”

“You want who to meet me?”

This came in a deep voice. I turned to see W.B. himself coming toward us. He was carrying a file and was wearing one of his usual severe navy blue suits.

I made the introductions, and W.B. said to Penny, “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve looked extensively at the balance sheets for The Christmas Experience while dealing with this merger. That was an extremely well-managed company, and from what I hear, a lot of the credit goes to you.”

Penny blushed and looked both shy and delighted. I narrowed my eyes at W.B. For the first time I realized that he was probably considered a really good-looking guy, if you liked the type that was tall, dark blond, and high-cheekboned. He also had done some time in the military and appeared to be pretty toned underneath that suit. His gaze was fixed on Penny in uptight admiration that I sincerely hoped was purely professional. Otherwise, genius or not, he was out of a job.

“That is very kind of you,” Penny said to him. “I didn’t run the company, though. I was just a junior executive.”

“And yet when I go through the merger documents, most of them are yours,” W.B. said. “The sales projections, the income and expense analysis, the data analysis of—”

“Okay, we get it,” I interrupted him. I felt like grabbing Penny’s hand again. “I wanted you two to meet. I didn’t intend for you to start a mutual fan club.”

“I worked hard on that income and expense analysis,” Penny said. “I’m glad someone appreciates it.”

“If you don’t mind,” W.B. said, oblivious to the lasers I was glaring at him from my eyes, “I’d like to sit down with you at some point and show you some of my spreadsheets.”

“I’m very interested in your spreadsheets,” Penny said.

I was about to put an end to all of this spreadsheet talk when a woman came down the hall from the other side. “There you are,” she said to me, giving me a big smile. “I was coming to give you the sketches for my next round of designs.”

I smiled at Joy, our ornament designer. She had long, dark hair and big hoop earrings. She was wearing a dark red wrap skirt and a black top that flattered her curvy figure, even though it was large and drapey. She wore beaded bracelets that jangled on her wrists, and her wide dark eyes were friendly as she looked at me.

“Joy,” I said, taking the folder of drawings from her. “You’re just in time. This is Penelope Gold, who is joining us from The Christmas Experience.”

“Oh, how nice!” Joy exclaimed, shaking Penny’s hand.

Maybe I imagined it, but it looked like Penny’s lips pressed together. “Wes is my fiancé,” she said firmly.

“Right, okay,” Joy said, and then she caught sight of W.B., standing farther back behind Penny’s shoulder. Her tone went flat. “Oh. Hello, W.B.”

“Joy.” W.B. clipped the word out. He looked at me. “Give me a call later. I’m going back to my office.” He turned on his heel and walked away without another word.

I watched his retreating back. “That’s weird,” I said. “He was just talking about spreadsheets, which is his favorite topic.”

“There’s no accounting for rudeness.” The warmth had left Joy’s voice. She gestured at the drawings in my hand. “Let me know when you’ve had time to look at those. I’ll see you later.” She walked off in the other direction.

Penny and I looked at each other. “Is there something going on between those two?” she asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine. When they first started, they each wanted me to fire the other one. But I thought that was over.” I frowned. “Maybe W.B. pissed her off. I don’t think he’s very good with women.”

Penny crossed her arms. “Do you really not know what W.B. stands for?”

“Nope. Scout’s honor. I even looked in his personnel file. The only name he’s ever given us is W.B.”

“William Butler,” Penny said, guessing.

“Wayne Batman,” I replied.

“Wet Blanket.”

“Winston Brainiac.”

Now we were smiling at each other, and I wanted to kiss her. I bet it would be amazing, kissing Penny. She would taste good, and maybe at first she’d be a little shy, but I’d kiss her the way