Accounting for Love (Ace of Baes #1)

Chapter 1

TAYLOR

Universal rule number one: when I had somewhere important to be, I was definitely going to be waylaid by a host of complications.

We were a few days into January, and the background hum of the office was already a little more frantic.

Last month, everyone promised to ‘loop back after the new year.’ Now, all those checks were being cashed.

The printer’s whirring was more insistent, the coffee machine buzzed more frequently, and the soundtrack of constantly ringing phones replaced the repetitive holiday music.

The phone on my desk rang for the hundredth time, and I leaned back in my chair, adjusting my tie. The suit was my corporate armor of choice.

“JPL Accounting, Taylor speaking,” I said, doing my best to keep the exhaustion from my voice.

“Hey there!” A bright voice came from the other side of the line. “Just calling to confirm our meeting on Thursday. I know I wrote down the time somewhere, but I can’t find that slip of paper now.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief. It was just Fiona—easily one of my favorite clients. “Absolutely. I have you scheduled for nine that morning.”

Fiona chattered on the other line as knuckles rapped against my office door.

It flew open before I could respond, the gust from Kai’s dramatic entrance blowing over all the piles of invoices I’d already sorted.

He managed to look like he didn’t have a care in the world, despite being in our busy season, with the top two buttons of his short-sleeved button-up undone.

“See you then!” I said quickly to Fiona before hanging up the phone.

Kai shoved the rest of the papers off my spare chair and brushed his long, dark hair out of his face before taking a seat. His haircut made him look like a young Keanu Reeves.

“Kai.” I groaned, throwing a pen at him.

“Forgot your lunch again, didn’t you?”

I looked down at my watch in surprise; it was lunchtime. I swear I’d never eat if I didn’t live with a roommate. Reaching into his lunch bag, Kai produced a banana and a protein bar with a flourish.

I grumbled under my breath but still grabbed the offering when he slid it onto my desk.

“That’s what I thought.” Kai bent over to pick up the now-disordered invoices and placed them in a haphazard stack on the corner of my desk. “Do I need to drag you to the break room, or do you promise to eat?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.” I waved him off as I arranged the snack beside my yellow legal pad and collection of black ballpoint pens. “I have to meet Margo in a few hours, so I’m trying to rush through these emails.”

“It’s so strange your little sister is getting married,” Kai mused. “I feel like she was just a kid when we met.”

“That’s because she was.” My eyes darted to my empty coffee mug emblazoned with the words ‘World’s Best Brother’—the only personal item I kept at work. It was a college graduation gift from Margo, who was only fourteen at the time. “I don’t think I’m ready for her to grow up.”

We were each other’s whole world until she met Benji.

I wasn’t the one Margo relied on anymore, at least not in the same way she had when we were growing up.

Margo, the eternal optimist, insisted she’d always have time for me, and we’d always be close, but I had my doubts.

I knew lovers came first at the expense of everyone else.

Our parents taught me that.

“I think that ship has sailed, babe,” Kai said. “Aren’t you helping her pick out a wedding dress today?”

I narrowed my eyes at him accusingly—he was supposed to be on my side.

He raised his hands in surrender.

“Close the door on your way out,” I hissed, and Kai cackled mischievously as he left it slightly ajar.

I blinked at my screen, trying to remember what I’d been working on before Kai invaded my office, then back at my coffee mug. A third cup couldn’t hurt, could it? I straightened my notebook and laptop before grabbing the mug and heading to the break room.

I popped a mocha latte pod into the coffee machine and leaned against the counter with my back to the room, where tables were full of coworkers on their lunch breaks. The chatter echoed off the ceiling.

Just as the sweet, caffeinated elixir filled my mug, a notification from my email pinged on my cell.

Urgent: Late Payment Notification.

I fumbled my mug, and the scalding mocha spilled over my hand and across the countertop.

“Need a hand?” My boss’s voice pierced through the chaos.

I flushed with embarrassment.

Rachel was a curly-haired, five-foot-two powerhouse, but she was also one of the best bosses I’d had. She was never afraid to get her hands dirty, attacking the spill with an abundance of paper towels.

I shot her a grateful look while wetting a small dishrag to wipe down the counter. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“These things happen,” she said with a kind smile. “Enjoy your time off this afternoon.”

It had been almost a decade since I passed the CPA exam and started working at this firm.

In those nine years, I’d never taken a day off except when Margo needed me: the long weekend when her high school softball team went to the state championships, a whole week for her college graduation and our celebratory road trip to Napa, and a few hours this afternoon to help her choose a wedding dress.

This wedding was the culmination of all my goals—well, almost, but the last one would hopefully be accomplished soon. It hung over me, just out of reach. At least now that I was helping her plan her wedding, we’d be able to spend more time together like we used to.

Once the wedding was over, everything would change.

When I said I was taking the afternoon off work to help my sister, it would have been more accurate to say I was taking the afternoon off to sit in gridlocked traffic.

Office Space taught me that as soon as you changed lanes, the one you’d been in would start flying past you, so I stood my ground resolutely.

I’d spent at least forty-five minutes staring at the same billboard for a motorcycle accident attorney.

I hated being late, especially for Margo.

With a deep sigh, I pulled up my sister’s number on my car’s Bluetooth and dialed.

Margo’s voice teased over the speakers. “Please do not tell me you’re still at work!”

“Of course not,” I grumbled. “I left just after three, but I feel like I’ve been sitting in the same spot for an hour.”

“Maybe there’s an accident? I can check online.” There was a brief pause as Margo scrolled in search of updates. “Oh shit, Channel Seven says a semi overturned and blocked the road. I bet that’s what’s causing the backup.”

I chewed my lip and thrummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “Crap. I have to get off this freeway.”

“Hey, no need to panic.” Margo laughed. “This is the first dress shop I have an appointment at. You know my picky ass isn’t going to find the one on the first try.”

“Says the woman marrying her college sweetheart.”

Margo and Benji had met in a graphic design class in her senior year and were obnoxiously in love.

I hated that my anxiety was waiting for everything to crumble, like I knew all relationships did.

Maybe their soulmate bond was a karmic apology for putting her through the absolute nightmare of childhood leukemia.

“I’m going to head into the appointment now,” Margo said. “It lasts an hour, so hopefully, you can make it before I drink too much bubbly and they kick me out.”

“I promised I’d be there. I’ll figure it out.”

The car was too quiet after I ended the call with Margo, and I put my head down on the steering wheel to think through my options.

If I could get over three lanes before the next exit, I could get around the accident and make it to the dress shop before her appointment ended.

She said it didn’t matter, but I had been there for all her significant milestones.

I couldn’t miss this one.

A honk from beside me startled me out of my contemplation. At last, traffic had begun to inch forward. As I caught up to the car ahead of me, I glanced around to find the source of the honk.

In the car beside me, grinning and looking right at me, was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

Curly dark hair, brown skin, a nose ring, and a tank top that showed off the toned arm he rested on the center console of his yellow VW bug.

The low-hanging winter sun shone from behind him like a halo, and my eyes widened as he gave me a playful salute and returned to singing along to the radio.

Despite the brief forward momentum, things reached a standstill again. I couldn’t help but sneak furtive glances at the yellow bug, hoping to glimpse the mesmerizing stranger. Every time I caught his eye, he smiled wider. And was that a wink?

No way this guy was flirting with me on the highway.

I glanced away quickly, caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

“Dammit,” I muttered.

Too distracted looking at handsome men, I missed my opening to change lanes.

And again. And again. Why couldn’t I pull myself away?

When I noticed the progress flag hanging from the man’s rearview mirror, it gave me a glimmer of hope—which I immediately shut down. What was I supposed to do, roll down my window and shout some cheesy pickup line across the freeway? Absolutely not.

I tired long ago of playing pointless dating games. If fancy algorithms couldn’t track down my soulmate, the patron saint of the California Department of Transportation and an overturned semi certainly couldn’t pull it off.

Besides, there was too much on my plate between overtime and wedding planning. Once I had spare money in the budget and Margo no longer needed me, I could think about dating. She was my priority, not some sexy stranger.

I needed to get out of this damn traffic and get to that dress shop.

The next time I got the courage to look over, the man was rummaging in his glove box. He pulled out what appeared to be a small sheet of paper, scribbled something quickly, and folded it into a paper airplane.

When he looked up, he smirked—as if he caught me staring. Hopefully, he couldn’t see me blushing from so far away.

The stranger gestured the universal sign for ‘roll down your window’ and laughed at my perplexed expression. It was like my brain-to-hand connection had been severed under his attention. Once my mind rebooted, I hit the button to lower my window.

My heart skipped a beat as the little paper airplane left the yellow bug and floated into my lap. I unfolded it gently, and my cheeks flushed as I read a number and a name. Gabriel.

Shit, now the ball was in my court.

I stared down at the number. Surely Gabriel didn’t expect me to call him now.

I looked back over to see him holding his hand up by his ear and mouthing, ‘Call me.’

Ok, then.

I swallowed hard, rolled up my window, typed the number into my phone, and dialed.

The phone rang a few times, and doubt crept in. Maybe I’d misunderstood him? What was I doing calling him in the first place? The phone kept ringing, and he appeared to be staring at his car radio in confusion.

He snapped out of his trance, and I saw him tap his dashboard. “Hello?”

“Uh, hi.” I sent a little wave when he looked back over at my car. “This is Taylor. Your next-door neighbor in this absolute clusterfuck.”

“I didn’t mean for you to call this instant, but I can’t say I have any complaints.”

With a self-conscious shrug, I moved one hand from the steering wheel to the back of my neck.

“So, Taylor, where are you heading this afternoon that’s got you so stressed?” The way he said my name sent a chill down my spine in the best way.

“Everything is going wrong today, and now I’m late to meet my sister. She’s trying on wedding dresses, and if I don’t get out of this traffic soon, I’ll miss it.”

Why was it so easy to unload my stress on him? His soft smile and relaxed voice eased the ache in my shoulders—usually, talking to strangers piled on the stress rather than alleviating it.

I couldn’t help the hint of desperation in my voice. “I can’t miss it.”

“LA traffic is a real bitch sometimes.”

“Yeah, and Margo says there’s a big accident ahead, so I don’t think we’re going anywhere anytime soon. I need to get off this freeway as soon as possible, but I’ll admit, I’ve been distracted.”

“I’ve been known to be very distracting.” He grinned when I looked his way, and I let out a loud, surprised laugh.

I huffed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Whatever you say, cutie. I’ll let you merge in front of me once this car moves, but in exchange, I wanna see you this weekend.”

The words “It’s a date” left my mouth without my permission, and I turned my face so he couldn’t see me wince.

Too bad I was going to ghost Gabriel. He seemed so sweet, but that’s what had to happen.

All the wedding talk had put me in a mood. I wasn’t actually lonely. Love was not for me, and I knew that. I had Kai, who would be single for the foreseeable future, right along with me, and I had Margo, at least for a few more weeks. I knew how falling in love worked out in the end.

And I was never going to put myself through that.