Yesterday's Love by Sherryl Woods

protesting?”
    â€œThe fact that they’d stopped serving hamburgers and fries.”
    â€œYou staged a sit-in over hamburgers and French fries?”
    â€œWhen you were a teenager, could you live without your daily ration of a burger, fries and a milk shake?”
    â€œI can still live without them.”
    â€œI should have known,” she said with a shake of her head. She studied him closely for several seconds, then smiled slowly. “Do you realize you haven’t asked me a single dull question for the last half hour?”
    â€œI haven’t, have I?” he asked, his startled expression making her chuckle.
    â€œIt’s wonderful,” she told him approvingly.
    â€œYou won’t think it’s so wonderful when you have to go to court because I did a lousy job of finishing this audit and getting you off the hook.”
    â€œAnd the only way to do that is to ask boring questions?”
    Tate nodded. “It would also help if I could get some straight answers.”
    â€œMy answers are straight. I would never lie to you,” she huffed.
    â€œI’m not talking about lying. I’m talking about wandering all over the place with your answers until I’m so confused I find myself agreeing with you.”
    â€œDidn’t it ever occur to you I might be right?”
    â€œNot really.”
    â€œThank you very much,” she said, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. She’d thought for a moment that Tate had actually approved of her. Instead, he’d only been laughing at her again. Well, that was just fine. She’d amuse him for another hour or so, straighten out this ridiculous mess, and then she’d drive home. That would be the end of it.
    Except it wouldn’t be. Something about this man appealed to her. Maybe it was nothing more than the crusader in her wanting to cure him of his stodginess and to discover if he had the stuff to be a true romantic hero. She sighed, wishing that was all there was to it. The real truth was that her suddenly traitorous body apparently didn’t give a damn if he had the mind of a computer, as long as it could be held in those muscular arms and feel those sparks going off inside. She’d answer his ridiculous questions from now until doomsday just to reexperience the incredible feelings he aroused in her with one sizzling glance from those intense brown eyes. Right now those eyes were filled with laughter.
    â€œYou ready to try again?” he asked.
    Victoria nodded reluctantly. “Fire away.”
    â€œI know I’m going to hate myself for asking this one, but explain to me how this contribution to somebody named Jeannie qualifies as charity.”
    Victoria couldn’t help grinning at Tate’s expression. He seemed to be holding his breath, obviously hoping for something he would consider a rational explanation. Well, this time she had one.
    â€œOh, that,” she said airily. “Well, Jeannie is this friend of mine, who’s trying to make it as an artist. You’ll have to meet her sometime. She does ceramics. They’re really quite special. She uses the loveliest blues and greens and grays.” She paused thoughtfully, her lips pursed. “I can’t quite figure out how she manages to get those shades, though I’ve watched and watched.”
    â€œVictoria,” Tate said warningly.
    She scowled, but went on. “Anyway, she wanted to help out Children’s Hospital up in Columbus, only she didn’t have any money. So I bought one of her pitchers, and she gave the money to the hospital,” she concluded, gazing at him with eyes that seemed to expect him to understand how the leap from that transaction to her tax return made perfect sense. He supposed in her convoluted mind it did.
    â€œSince the money went to the hospital, even though you gave it to Jeannie, you figured it was tax deductible,” he said, trying not to