Cajun Spice by Desiree Holt Read Free Book Online

had been continuously intriguing. Of course, getting fired had not. Now, tainted by the same brush as Craig the louse, she wondered what her options would even be.
    So, how should she answer him?
    “Daisy?” Marc prompted. He chuckled. “I didn’t think that was such a hard question.”
    She sipped her café au lait. “What I do isn’t very exciting.” She set her cup down carefully. “I’m a bookkeeper. That’s all. Nothing special.”
    Well, either that would chase him away or not. Surely a man like him could get all the glamorous women he wanted.
    He reached across the table and cupped her chin. “You’d make anything glamorous.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip, catching a smear of powdered sugar and licking it with a slow swipe of his tongue. “Delicious.” His eyes darkened. “And I don’t mean just the beignet. Also, I happen to have a thing for bookkeepers.”
    She laughed. “You’re teasing me. Either that or you’re nuts.”
    “Not at all. I happen to find bookkeepers very sexy.” He winked. “So, what kind of bookkeeping do you do?”
    Daisy stalled again, slowly chewing another bite of the mouthwatering hot pastry. Should she tell him? She was sure the story was all over the place by now. Her boss had already been fielding calls from reporters when she left his office. No. She had come here to get away from that mess.
    “I do account reconciliations and projections.” There. That was pretty innocuous. “Like I said, pretty boring.”
    “Oh, I don’t know.” Marc studied her as he swallowed a mouthful of his own beignet. “So, where do you do this so-called boring work.”
    Busted .
    “I, um, am between jobs at the moment.” She sipped from her cup again. “Examining my options. I, um, have some offers on the table.”
    Yeah. Find a place to live because the condo payment is due in two weeks. And look for a job where they don’t care I’ve been disgraced by someone else’s actions.
    He cocked an eyebrow? “Looking to make a change, are you?”
    Daisy looked at Marc quizzically. Was he making idle conversation, or did he have a deeper interest? What would that be, anyway? They weren’t doing anything more than having fun for a few days, right? Maybe his feelings were beginning to run deeper, the way hers were.
    Daisy, don’t give yourself a headache. Go with the flow.
    She licked the powdered sugar from the corner of another beignet, bit off a small piece, and chewed while she decided how to answer. She actually had something in mind, but should she share it with a veritable stranger?
    “I’ve actually thought about going into forensic accounting,” she said at last. “Do you know what that is? Most people either have a vague idea or none at all.”
    His eyes narrowed, the reaction so slight she would have missed it if she wasn’t watching him carefully.
    “I’ve heard of it. Any special reason for that interest?”
    She shook her head. “Just something I’ve always been interested in. Do you have anything to do with it in your business? I mean, um, whatever your business is.”
    “My company uses it sometimes in cases of suspected fraud.” The words were said in a casual tone, but he was watching her intently.
    A tiny frisson of cold air skated over her skin. What was up with this, anyway?
    “Really? What business is your company in?”
    He shrugged, a casual gesture. “You could say we’re project managers.” Then he leaned forward and unleashed that lethal smile on her.
    “Don’t you have a project here in New Orleans? When you said you had business here, I figured you’d have meetings and such. Is it okay that you’ve been taking so much time with me?”
    “Don’t you worry, sugar. I’m taking care of business. Things are going well right now, and I’m right where I need to be.”
    “I know you got a couple of texts this morning. Are you sure there isn’t some kind of meeting you have to attend?”
    “No. For sure. Lookin’ to get rid of