Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) by Shelley K. Wall Page A

here.”
    “I don’t blame you. I’m not very good at that kind of thing either, but it’s good that you went.”
    “Yeah, I know. I’m glad I came, too.”
    They hung up. Trev found it interesting, and vaguely odd that Callie entertained a life Sophie didn’t know about. They seemed to be best friends. Normally your best friend is the first one you talk to about that kind of fling. They might find it exciting to talk about this bad boy, sex-capade thing, wouldn’t they? Maybe not.
    Thursday, Trev waited outside the front door of the Benton & Stanley building, perched against one of the concrete abstract art pieces that graced the front of the building. He considered it might be disrespectful to lean against something they likely paid several thousand dollars to put in, but to him it was just a chunk of ugly concrete. Apparently the birds agreed with the analogy. The top of it was completely covered in bird crap. At least three birds roosted on it at that moment, about five feet above. A sign in front of it talked about the artist and what the piece represented. Amazing that people actually get paid for this stuff.
    Sophie found him looking up at the birds to make sure he didn’t become a target when she approached.
    “Hey there,” she said with a hint of a smile. Apparently, she was over her angry mood from the other night.
    “Hey yourself. Ready to go?” he responded lightly.
    “I thought I’d just give you the data and then you can be on your way, if that’s okay.” She started to reach into her purse.
    “No.” Trev grabbed her arm and glanced around the area looking for familiar faces, of which he saw two. An older, gray-haired gentleman on her staff, along with her assistant. Both seemed to be rushing off to lunch, headed in different directions. “Let’s get out of here. I have some questions for you.” He pulled her into step beside him and walked with her toward his car, parked down the street.
    “Why can’t you ask me here?”
    “Too many people around. I think it would be better to be somewhere where no one sees you handing me data from your office, don’t you?”
    “Oh, okay. Although I don’t know that anyone would notice.”
    “Probably not. Better safe than sorry.”
    “You make it sound so clandestine.” She giggled. “Like we’re spies and I’m passing you secret information.”
    Trev grinned to lighten the mood a little. No need to alarm her unnecessarily. “Do I? Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
    “Where are we going?” Sophie asked later as they drove down the street headed south, out of the city.
    “I don’t really know. I didn’t make a plan.” Trev thought about taking her to dinner, or maybe a movie, but that would be kind of “date-ish” and as much as he’d enjoy it, it wouldn’t fit what she expected of him. This merely presented a chance for her to give him the data so he could start digging into the transactions. Still, he was hungry.
    “Then why don’t I just give you this,” she pulled a USB drive out of her bag and placed it on the car’s console, “and you can take me home.” He clenched his jaw at her apparent rush to get away from him.
    “I could do that.” He said it very slowly then looked at her sideways. “Do you have plans this evening that you’re in a hurry to get to?”
    “What?” she seemed startled. “No, not really. I just didn’t want to take up any more of your time.” Her stare made him uncomfortable. She kept looking at his mouth. His thoughts shot back to the kiss he’d forced on her in the parking lot last week.
    “If I was worried about that, I wouldn’t be here.” Trev pulled the car into a small parking lot and killed the engine.
    “Oh, well … ”
    He turned to face her. “Listen, you’re uncomfortable because I kissed you, right?”
    “Well. Yeah, of course.”
    “Just forget it. Consider it over with. It was just to help you out of a bind, okay?” He watched her face, noticing that her cheeks seemed to