Inked by an Angel by Shauna Allen

about?”
    “I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask him yourself.” The bell over the front door chimed and they both looked over. A new client walked in requesting Michael. “Hey, I gotta catch this one.” He started to walk away. “Listen, will you at least think about taking on Jed as a client? You’ve done a great job and you’re here a lot anyway.” He glanced over at Jed’s office door. “And how can you not help a man in need, Miz O’Neill? Listen to him.”
    Slam!
    “Oh, I don’t know.” But she was talking to herself.
    She turned back to the files before her and tried to make sense of Michael’s turnabout. He’d become every accountant’s dream pretty much overnight. There wouldn’t be any reason for her to be here to straighten out his messes every night anymore. It was exactly what she’d been hoping for—a chance to spread out and grow her business now that she wouldn’t be so tied down. She looked up to where he sat, his large girth overflowing from the small stool as he chatted up his eager customer. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted to Jed’s slightly ajar office door. She could see him frowning over a pile of strewn papers, a pencil tightly clenched in his fist.
    An unbidden feeling stole through her as she studied him. He was so foreign to her in so many ways, so extraordinarily different than her. And yet, she felt drawn to him. She couldn’t seem to help herself. But, as he pushed back his sleeves to reveal the colorful tattoos beneath, she was reminded just how far removed she was from his world.
    Stupid. She admonished herself for fantasizing about him. Again. Charles was her type, and she was his. And he never called her Muffet. There were more things in life then sex appeal, she decided with a reassuring nod.
    She settled back into her desk and clicked open a new file.
    After a couple more hours of watching Jed storm around the studio, Kierstan flirt with anything that had a penis, and Noble ignoring them both, Kyle had had enough. She finished up her account of the inventory and bid Michael a goodnight.
    As she slid her key into the front door of her little condo, she could almost hear her Jacuzzi tub calling her name. She was also debating between indulging in a hot toddy or glass of wine before bed along with her favorite Jason Statham movie, because a girl was allowed a few guilty pleasures, after all.
    The strains of Muzak and the fetid smell of some kind of beef dish permeated the air.
    “Darling!” Charles materialized from the kitchen wearing her apron and a huge smile. He looked ridiculous and her immediate thought was that Jed wouldn’t be caught dead in an apron.
    She set her briefcase down in the hall and pulled off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. “What are you doing here, Charles? And what is that smell?”
    He stepped back. “Aren’t you happy to see me, Sweetheart? I haven’t seen you in a few days and I have some good news. But if this is how you’re going to behave, I can just go.”
    She sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired and I wasn’t expecting you to be here. I wish you would’ve called first.” She managed a tight smile and reached for him. “What’s for dinner?”
    He gave her a weak hug. “Rump roast.”
    She swallowed. “Mmmm.”
    He steered her toward the kitchen. “How was your day, dear?”
    She felt like June Cleaver. My day was fine, Ward. And how was yours? Did the Beav get his report card? “It was all right. Michael wants me to start doing Jed’s books, too. His accountant quit and apparently he’s being audited.”
    Charles shot her a look. “Really?”
    Her hackles rose immediately. “Yes, really. Why not? You don’t think I could handle that? I’ve done a good job with Michael. I’m ready to branch out, start taking on bigger clients and growing my business.” Had she just committed herself to accepting Michael’s idea just to spite Charles? Well, she also needed the business in the worst way. And