Chapter Eighteen #3
Cost of ingredients + cost of running the shop = total expenses
Revenue (money in) – total expenses (money out) = profit or loss
Pay myself back for things I buy = Paying less taxes (do this!!)
She turned the notebook toward him with an expectant look on her face.
“That’s perfect,” he said. “We’ll talk about that last part another time, because it’s not just paying yourself back. It has to be accounted for, which means receipts and proper tracking.”
A proud smile spread across her face. “This makes so much more sense than talking about ledgers and income statements. This, I get. Maybe I am smart enough to do this.”
“There’s no maybe about it,” he said. “Once you understand the basics, the rest is just a matter of putting the pieces in the right places. When you know your profit margin, you’ll be able to analyze if your expenses are too high, or if you have room to increase spending on marketing or products.
Sometimes you have to spend more to make more, but we don’t need to get into that yet. ”
“I have a feeling this is all leading to that awful general ledger,” she said with narrowing eyes.
She was so damn cute, he wanted to haul her into a kiss. “It is, but let me take some of the fear out of the general ledger for you.”
As he walked her through how to log expenses and income, she leaned closer. So close he was aware of her every breath, that summery scent, and the way she leaned into him every time she smiled.
When he showed her where those numbers were reflected on the ledger, she blew out a breath and leaned back in her chair, her eyes bright. “I officially understand enough to be dangerous.”
She was dangerous all right, but the reasons had nothing to do with accounting. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
She leaned against him again, grinning like she’d won a prize. “I guess that means we’ll be getting together to study a lot.”
He’d never stood on a sharper blade than he was in that moment. “If you want to learn it properly, it’s probably a good idea. I can help you any evening except Mondays.”
She pushed to her feet, her hand sliding down his arm as she leaned in and whispered, “Oh, I definitely want to learn it properly. But the thing is, I don’t want an iceberg, and I definitely don’t want just the tip.
” She lowered herself to his lap, sideways, not straddling, and wrapped her arms around him, loose and affectionate.
“I prefer a white-hot volcano, and I want the whole thing.”
Heat flashed through him, but he forced himself to lock it down, restraint vibrating through him. “Trouble,” he warned.
“Stop fighting it, Ragnar. You know you want to kiss me. I can feel it.” She pressed her lips softly to his.
He tried to fight it, tried not to kiss her back.
But her lips were soft and enticing, and she was his Trouble, the most alluring woman he’d ever met, and he fucking loved kissing her.
He returned her efforts, taking the kiss deeper, earning a sexy moan that had his fingers threading into her hair.
She ground her ass against his rigid cock, her hands moving over his chest, making his body roar for more.
More he shouldn’t take. Her hand slid down to the button on his jeans, and he cursed, forcing himself to pull back.
“I should go.” He grabbed her by the waist as he stood up and set her on her feet.
She blinked several times. “That’s it?” she said, pouting. “You’re just going to teach me accounting and leave after I did so well? No good-girl orgasms?”
Her feigned innocence nearly did him in. “I’m trying to do the right thing by you.”
“Sorry, Ragnar, but you’re failing.” Her smile was devastatingly sweet. She hooked her finger into the waist of his jeans, tugging herself closer. “The right thing would be to let me give you a reward for being such a phenomenal teacher.”
Every iota of his being wanted her, his resolve rapidly shredding. He needed to regain control. He grabbed those sexy hips, lifted her up, and set her on the table, standing between her knees so neither of them could escape what he said next.
“Listen to me, Birdie,” he said gruffly. “You deserve more than this.”
“You mean like multiple orgasms,” she said saucily. “I like that kind of math.”
Christ, she was killing him. “I’m serious, Birdie.
I’m so fucking into you, I can barely see straight when we’re together.
But I don’t want to be the guy who comes over and hides with you.
That’s not fair to you, and it’s not who I am or who I want to be.
You’re an incredible woman who deserves to be treated special and to be with a guy who can take you out and show the world he’s proud to be with you. ”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” she snapped. “Because I’m fully aware of what we can and can’t do, and I still want to be with you. I’ll take whatever time we can get together any way I can get it.”
He swore under his breath and stepped closer, dropping his forehead to hers. “Damn it, Trouble. Why can’t I say no to you?”
“I think you might have Whiskey Fever,” she said sweetly. “That’s what my cousin calls it when girls go gaga over her brothers, but no one has ever had it over me, so I didn’t really believe it existed.”
“I don’t know about any of them, but with you?
With us? It’s more like an epidemic, and I’ve got a raging case of it.
I don’t know how you haven’t had a hundred men tell you how incredible you are.
” He framed her face in his hands, gazing deeply into her eyes.
“Are you sure you want to do this? You want me, and all the shit that comes with me?”
“More than I’ve ever wanted anything,” she said breathlessly.
“Christ, you wreck me.” He crushed his mouth to hers in a long, passionate kiss, fingers tangling in her hair, needing her to feel how much she mattered to him, to know he wasn’t just dishing out lines. “Let me take you out tomorrow,” he said between ravenous kisses. “Somewhere else. Another town.”
“Okay,” she said, a little dazed and breathless. “I know just the place. How do you feel about roller skating?”
His mind stumbled over that. Most women would want to go out to dinner and a movie or a show. He drew back, arching a brow in curiosity.
“I know it sounds weird, and it’s okay if you don’t skate.
” The words tumbled out fast. “But there’s a rink about an hour from here that has eighties nights on the weekends, and nobody will ever go with me.
” Her voice dipped with uncertainty, and she lowered her eyes.
“Is it too juvenile? Maybe it’s ridiculous.
Forget I said anything. You pick someplace.
I’ll go anywhere. I just want to be with you. ”
Something in him cracked open, and his protective urges rose up fast and fierce. She thought she was too much, but he knew how rare it was to find someone this real in a world that rewarded masks and performances. And the more she showed him, the more he wanted.
He tipped her face up, holding her gaze, and said, “Then it looks like we’re going skating.”
He kissed her again, harder, deeper, with a freedom he probably hadn’t earned. They made out with reckless abandon, kissing, groping, and moaning. She broke the kiss to slip off the table, nimbly finding the button on his jeans.
“Now that that’s settled, Professor Ragnar,” she said wickedly, “time for our reward.”
“Birdie, you don’t have to do that,” he said as she unzipped his jeans.
“Do I look like I don’t want to do this?” Her eyes sparked with heat, and she tugged down his jeans and boxer briefs, sinking lower with them. His cock sprang free over her head.
She laughed as she popped to her feet, tugged a chair over, and fisted his cock as she sat down. “Well, this is convenient.”
A laugh rumbled out, but it turned to clenched teeth as she dragged her tongue along the length of his cock and circled the head, teasing him as she stroked. “Fuck, Trouble. Your mouth fucking kills me.”
She grinned and took him to the back of her throat, working him faster, tighter, those gorgeous eyes never leaving his. He tangled his hands in her hair, gritting his teeth against the pleasure mounting inside him. “So fucking sexy, sucking my cock.”
Fire flashed in her eyes, and she moaned, the vibration rocketing through him.
His hips bucked, and she squeezed tighter with every stroke, moaning again and licking, slowing to swirl her tongue along the head.
When she dipped lower, licking his balls as she stroked him, he nearly lost it and growled, “I need my mouth on you.” Yanking her up by her hair, he took her in a brutal kiss.
He made quick work of stripping off her jeans and panties, and shoving the chair out of the way.
He lifted her onto the table and spread her out, feasting on her.
“So fucking sweet,” he rasped. She writhed and rocked as he teased and devoured, using his fingers, teeth, and tongue until “Ragnar—” shot from her lips, and her arousal drenched his mouth.
Her taste, the sight of her coming, and the sounds she made had his cock aching to pound into her.
But as she came down from the peak, he was too greedy for more and sent her soaring again.
He stayed with her until she was breathless, panting out, “Need you.”
She reached for him as he sheathed his cock.
He hauled her to the end of the table, aligned their bodies, and sank into her in one thrust. “Jesus, Trouble, you’re so fucking tight, I want to climb inside you and stake claim.
” He pounded into her, soaking in her lustful moans and sinful sounds.
Needing more of her, a deeper connection, he pulled her up and into his arms. His legs were trapped by his jeans, so he thrust into her right there, standing up.
She used his shoulders for leverage, riding his cock like she was put on this earth just for him.
He gripped her ass, earning a loud, sultry sound that had him tightening his grip.
“Yes,” she panted out, riding him faster, driving him out of his fucking mind.
His fingers moved between her ass cheeks, teasing her tightest hole, testing her boundaries.
She slowed her pace, arching her back, pressing down against his finger.
He took the hint, breaching that entrance, and her pussy squeezed so tight, he cursed.
“Kiss me,” he commanded, and she did. Their tongues tangled, her greedy, pleasure-drenched sounds spilling from her lungs into his.
Fire raced down his spine just as her orgasm hit, and her head fell back as she cried out, “Rag—”
“Give me your mouth,” he demanded.
Their mouths collided, their bodies pumping and grinding to the same frantic beat as he gave in to his own powerful release. They rode out their pleasure, feverishly clinging to each other, his finger and cock invading her body, his tongue claiming her mouth like he owned it.
And damn, did he want to.