Love Me Last

by Parker, Weston

  Chapter 25

  Hayden

  I didn’t mean to brush Mallory off when she came in asking about lunch. It was only as she was leaving that I realized how I’d probably sounded. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in going to lunch with her, it was just that she happened to walk in right as I was on to something. It was part of why I loved the work that I did—it was like detective work with numbers. First, you figured out where the money was disappearing from, and then you figure out who it was disappearing to.

  At this point, I had managed to figure out where the money was disappearing from. That was the easy part. Now, it was just a matter of figuring out whether someone was actively taking the money or if there was just a mistake in the books.

  But as Mallory walked out, I realized she probably thought something crazy like I didn’t want to go to lunch with her. Of course, she had been the one to rush out of my place that morning, leaving me wondering if she really wanted to be dating me or not. But she had kissed me as she was leaving. It was only that she was worried about being late, and worried that her employees might figure out why.

  She liked to keep her personal life personal, and she liked to be on time. Neither of those things surprised me.

  It wasn’t like I had purposefully blown her off, though. My work was my work, and when I was focused, it was all I could think about. Surely Mallory would understand that. After all, she wanted me to fix the books just as much as I wanted to fix them. And it wasn’t like I had unlimited time to do so. She would appreciate the fact that I was hard at work.

  Or so I hoped. Because damn, every time I let my thoughts slide back to her, I started to realize just how much I liked her. There was just something about her.

  I shook my head and forced myself to concentrate. Much as I would have liked to go after Mallory to clarify what had just happened, that would only be a further distraction. I’d make it up to her later. I owed her a ride home already, maybe I could turn that into something more.

  For now, I stared down at the numbers, making a few more calculations on my scratch pad. Yes, I was sure that I knew where the money was disappearing from. And what’s more, I was sure that it was deliberate. The errors, once I knew where to look for them, were systematic. Repetitive. Easy to see.

  Not only that, but it was surprisingly easy to trace them back to a name. I didn’t know the guy, but when I checked into the current payroll list, I could see that he was still working there. Which was good, in a way. That meant I wouldn’t have to track the guy down to learn more about him.

  But on the other hand, I knew how this place was run. It was like they were all one big family. I’d been burned in the past by employers who didn’t believe me when I told them that the dishonest person was someone they trusted. I had learned that I needed to have irrefutable proof, and a lot of it before I started pointing fingers at people.

  Of course, I knew that Mallory was fair. And I had a feeling that she would trust me if I told her what was going on. But I didn’t want the foundation of this investigation to be our relationship. I wanted cold, hard facts to present to her and Charlie. So I needed to do a little more sleuthing.

  First, I needed to figure out all the errors, and that was more than enough of a task for the afternoon. Maybe even for the week. If I could figure out how deep the corruption led, that would be a good start.

  I didn’t realize the afternoon was already gone until Mallory came back into my office. I winced as I straightened up, flexing my shoulders. I needed to quit hunching over while I was working. Ace had smacked me upside the head enough times when he had caught me sitting with bad posture while playing video games or working around the house. I knew better.

  “You still working?” Mallory asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

  “What time is it?” I said, glancing at my watch even as I asked her. I whistled low in my mouth. “Wow, yikes.”

  Mallory shook her head. “If you don’t stop overworking yourself like this, you’re going to get me in trouble for being an unfair boss,” she joked.

  “Yeah, or a terrible dad,” I said. I knew that Booker would be at the hockey rink for afterschool practice, followed by dinner with his teammates to celebrate one of the boy’s birthdays. But it was almost time for me to pick him up, and I’d planned to grab dinner myself before that point. Oh well. At least I’d made good progress.

  “How are things going anyway?” Mallory asked, as though reading my mind. I hurriedly flipped my notebook shut as she approached the desk, and she froze, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “I’m still looking into things,” I told her. “I think I made some progress today, but I want to put together a full report before we talk about it. And Charlie should probably be there as well.”

  Mallory looked horrified for a moment. “Charlie isn’t the one causing the problems, is he?” she asked weakly.

  I quickly shook my head. “Oh no, don’t worry,” I promised her. I cracked a grin. “I don’t think he would have brought me on if he was the one at the heart of it. He’s a smart guy, and my reputation precedes me.”

  Mallory looked relieved. To my surprise, she dropped into a chair across from me, shaking her head. “You know, I still can’t believe someone would skim off profits for themselves,” she said. “Most of these guys have worked here forever—but I guess that’s what everyone says at a time like this. You must have heard a dozen stories in your time in this business.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I hate to say it, but it seems to always be the most loyal ones that end up being the problem,” I admitted. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I guess I should get you home, huh? You could have come to get me sooner, you know. And I’m sorry I blew you off at lunch. I didn’t mean to, I was just on a roll.”

  Mallory grinned. “I guess next time I should be more insistent about the lunch thing. Can’t have you starving yourself. I like your body the way it is.” She winked at me, and my dick stirred with interest. But we weren’t going to do that again, not here. I didn’t want her to start thinking that this was just some office fling and all about the sex.

  Because I was rapidly realizing that I wanted it to be much more than that.

  So instead, I just shook my head, a grin on my face. “Come on, let’s get you home, minx,” I told her, and she smiled broadly back at me.

  As we drove towards her place, I could tell she was thinking hard about something. But I stayed quiet, letting her sort things out in her head. Finally, she looked over at me, biting her lower lip. I wanted so badly to kiss her, but I forced myself to keep my eyes on the road, aside from the occasional glance over at her.

  “You know, we’ve got this annual tradition at the winery,” she finally said. “A Valentine’s Day party. And I know that you and I are, you know, whatever we are. But I was thinking that maybe it would be a good time to let everyone know that we’re—” she trailed off, and I couldn’t help grinning.

  “You know, whatever we are?” I suggested, and she laughed.

  “Sorry, I just don’t really know what you’re thinking,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m thinking, frankly. But I like you. I like spending time with you. And the sex is, just wow.”

  I smirked. “Definitely wow,” I agreed. I tossed the idea around in my head. What she was basically saying was that we were dating, and she wanted people to know. Nothing more, nothing less. I could tell that this meant as much to her as it did to me. And there was a part of me that definitely liked the idea of telling people, even if they were random people at the winery that I barely knew.

  So I nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” I said.

  “I mean, I don’t want to make a huge deal of it,” Mallory hurried to say. “I just thought that maybe we could go together. Or something.” She cleared her throat. “You could bring Booker too. It’ll be a lot of adults drinking wine, but we could have grape juice for him, and there’s always plenty of candy around and some games and stuff. I think we had a piñata one year, although in the
end the consensus was that a piñata around a bunch of drunk adults was not the best idea.” She grinned ruefully at me, and I laughed.

  “Sounds like fun,” I said. “I’m sure Booker would love that.” I really liked that she wanted to include Booker in it as well. This relationship might still be new, and we might not have admitted more than that we liked each other and wanted to see where things went, but at the same time, there was something special about it.

  But now, we were pulling into Mallory’s driveway. “I’d ask you in, but I’m sure you have an evening planned with Booker,” Mallory said, sounding wistful.

  For a moment, I almost invited her to come with me to pick him up. Maybe we could watch a movie afterwards or something. But she and I had just been on a date the night before, and I didn’t want to put too much pressure on this. Besides, now that we were actually dating, I had to figure out how to explain things to Booker. As much as I liked seeing the two of them together, I also was worried that if this wasn’t a long-term thing, Booker might get too attached to her, and then it would break my heart even more if we ended up calling it quits.

  But Mallory seemed to understand. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for all your work today. And for the ride home. And for, well, everything,” she said, grinning shyly at me. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow? Have a good evening.”

  “You too,” I said, as she turned to get out of the car. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 26

  Mallory

  As much as I wanted to seek out Hayden first thing on Tuesday morning, I told myself to wait. I knew he needed to get work done. He told me that he was making progress. Despite my sense that he was being secretive about the progress he was making, I had to trust him. I had to let him get things done without being a distraction.

  Especially since not only had I been in there to bother him the day before, but then I’d gone and asked him to go with me to the annual Valentine’s Day party. Of course, he would have been there anyway. Probably. It was an all-employee event, and pretty much everyone showed up every year. Because it was the slow season for us, right before things started picking up again in the spring, we had plenty of time to plan a really good shindig.

  Not only that, but the wines that had been casked and aging would be pulled out and sampled at the party. So it was a little reminder of how all of our hard work from the previous year had paid off. The wines that we’d be pulling out this spring would be particularly good, I was sure, thanks to a great harvest and some good-quality barrels to age them in. I couldn’t wait.

  Honestly, even when I didn’t have a date, the Valentine’s Day party usually ended up being the highlight of my year. So I could only imagine how perfect it would be with Hayden by my side and Booker running around, probably hyped up on too much sugar and excitement.

  My first task for the morning was pretty simple—a tour of the winery for some folks who were in the area on vacation. Of course, it wasn’t the most exciting time to visit given that there wasn’t much going on out in the fields, but at least the weather was pretty nice, considering it was the middle of winter. The sun was shining, and it wasn’t too chilly.

  I met the group in the driveway and led them on the tour. I didn’t always take the tours since we had plenty of other people able to handle the groups, and I had a lot of other things on my plate. But I tried to do at least one every couple of weeks. I liked interacting with our guests and getting to hear first-hand what they liked and didn’t like about our wines. And being a tour guide was kind of fun, in its own way.

  Especially when it came to tours like this. It was one big group, a bunch of happy couples celebrating the marriage of one of the last single members of the group. There were a few children mixed in as well.

  I couldn’t help thinking about Hayden and Booker, and how much fun Booker had when they had toured the place. These kids were excited, sure. But not like he had been. Then again, I wasn’t letting these kids drive the golf cart. That probably made all the difference.

  Still, I smiled as I led them around, listening to the kids chatter and helping make sure everyone got plenty of pictures and wine to taste. Meanwhile, in the back of my head, I was still thinking about the party. Sure, Hayden and I had already been on a date. Two if you counted the disastrous one that Ace had set up. Three if you counted the day we had picnicked up the tree here at the winery. Plus, we’d already had sex a couple of times as well.

  But the Valentine’s Day party, with all of my employees looking on, would really be the start of us as a couple, in my mind. That was when things would be official.

  And as much as I didn’t want to put any pressure on the budding relationship, there was a part of me that wished I could predict just how things would turn out for us. Was there even the slightest possibility that one day he and I might be as happy as one of these couples? That we might travel places together, the three of us together, as a family?

  I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. But the more I thought of it, the more my heart ached with yearning. That was what I wanted.

  Of course, that was no surprise. Like Leslie had said before, I had always eventually wanted to have a steady relationship. I wanted to be a wife, and I wanted to be a mom. I was focused on my career, too, but at the end of the day, I knew that no matter how many changes I made here at the winery, no matter how much I left my stamp on the place, this was only part of my life’s work. An important part, sure.

  But part of why the winery was so important, part of why I wanted it to flourish, was because one day in the future, I wanted to hand it down to my own child, the way my grandfather had handed it down to my mother, and the way that my mother had eventually handed it down to me.

  After the tour was over, I headed back inside. But I paused outside Hayden’s office. I didn’t want to disturb him, but at the same time, I knew that he had a tendency to work straight through the day without a single break. A couple of minutes wouldn’t kill him. I didn’t want him to work himself too hard, even though I appreciated the effort he was putting in.

  And besides, it wasn’t like I was just stopping in for a personal chat. I was genuinely curious to know what he had found out so far. He had hinted that there was something. Now that he knew where to look, maybe I could help him out a little. I knew he was on a time crunch, and I just wanted to make sure that we could get everything done before the IRS turned up.

  So I knocked on the door and went inside. Hayden looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, how was your morning?” he asked. He sounded a bit preoccupied, but no more than I would have expected. He focused on me as I sat across from him.

  “It was good,” I told him. “Sorry I keep interrupting you, I was just curious how things were going. You said you might have figured out the problem. Have you?”

  “Yeah,” Hayden sighed. He shuffled his papers together. “You’re not going to want to hear this.”

  “Try me,” I said, already steeling myself for what he was going to say.

  “I think Tim is the one cooking the books,” Hayden said.

  I stared at him for a long moment. My first thought was to demand to see his evidence. Tim? Seriously? “He’s been with the company since my grandfather started it,” I said faintly. Of course, Tim would have had access to the books. He was one of the lead CPAs, among the other tasks that he did for the winery. But at the same time, I just couldn’t believe it. Tim? Really?

  Well, no. It wasn’t that I couldn’t believe it. It was hard to believe, that was for sure. But if Hayden believed that it was Tim, then there must be a compelling reason for him to have reached that conclusion. In that moment, I realized just how much I already trusted Hayden.

  Could I seriously trust him more than I trusted Tim? But then again, it wasn’t like Hayden had a stake in the company. It wasn’t like he was trying to cover his own ass. And I could never believe that Charlie had hired Hayden just to cover his tracks. I trusted Charlie more than anyone else. So, if Hayden believed tha
t Tim was the one doing it then I believed it too.

  I shook my head, though. “There’s got to be an explanation,” I told Hayden. “Something that you missed. Tim is our lead CPA, maybe he’s been doing something with the books to help us tax-wise. You know, something that you don’t understand. I’m sure he’s not just taking the money.”

  Hayden stared at me for a moment, and I worried that I’d insulted him. I knew that he was just doing his best to piece together the information based on what he knew. But was it really possible that Tim had been maliciously laundering money for years now? It couldn’t be.

  Hayden shrugged expansively. “Look, I’m only telling you what I’ve seen so far. Because you asked. I’m not saying that he for sure is doing something wrong. But I will need some more information on him, if you can help me with that.”

  I stared at him for a long moment. He was dead serious. I still couldn’t believe that Tim could possibly have been fudging the numbers on us. But honestly, I was sure enough of it that I figured if I helped Hayden gather the information that he wanted, it would clear Tim’s name easily enough. Then we could focus on whatever the real problem was. Or clarify the records. Or do whatever it was that needed to be done.

  “All right,” I said to Hayden. “What sort of information do you need?”

  Chapter 27

  Hayden

  The more I looked into Timothy Bradshaw’s background, coupled with what I already knew about the company’s books, the more certain I was that he was bad news. In fact, after Mallory told me he had been with the company ever since her grandfather started it, I went back and looked through some of the older company logs, even the ones that the IRS would no longer require when they audited. Sure enough, it looked like things had been a problem for a lot longer than anyone had realized.