Anybody But Him Read Online Free PDF Page A

will.’ He smiled again as he turned to leave.
    â€˜Yowie,’ Nicola said when he was definitely out of earshot. Leaning closer to Lainey shewhispered, ‘I could fancy him.’
    Lainey shrugged. ‘Don’t waste your time. He’s a flirt, but I don’t think he’s ever asked anyone out from here. Apparently, he has expensive tastes. His girlfriends are usually rich, and often married as well, so I’ve heard.’
    Hmm. Well, she wouldn’t get her hopes up. Still, it was a boost for a girl’s ego to have a hot-looking man flirt with her, and her ego had taken quite a battering in recent times.
    â€˜I’d better go and familiarise myself with the computer software,’ she said. ‘It’s not the accounting package I’m used to. See you at lunchtime.’
    When she reached her office Nicola opened the door between it and the adjoining one where her assistant accountant worked. ‘Do you mind if we leave this open?
    Travis looked at her in surprise. ‘Harry always kept it shut.’
    â€˜Did he? Well, if it’s all the same to you, I won’t. This way I can shout out if I need you.’
    â€˜Need me?’
    â€˜To talk. About work,’ she added. He was neat, tidy, and from the brief conversation she’d had with him earlier, methodical. All good traits for an accountant, but she hoped he had some personality too or it could get pretty boring around here.
    â€˜Actually, now that I think of it, I’d like to go through last month’s financial reports. Can you come in now?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    After Cliff back in Sydney, Travis was a pleasure to work with, and when he confessed that he didn’t feel he had the experience to apply for the chief accountant’s position, she resolved to mentor him and prepare him for the opportunity that her departure would offer.
    He tapped his pen against the pile of papers in his hand. ‘Can I ask why you became an accountant? You don’t look like the typical bean counter.’
    â€˜Oh, believe me, I used to look like a real nerd. Actually, I have dyslexia.’
    Travis’s eyes widened. ‘I’d have classed accounting as a nightmare career option then.’
    â€˜Ah, you might think so, but there are different types of dyslexia, and in my case I had – well, still have – below average reading and writing skills, but they discovered that I was in the top one per cent for numerical skills, as well as spatial relations, deciphering codes, finding patterns, and so on. Basically any non-verbal or written skill.’
    â€˜Wow. So that’s how you came to be one of the youngest ever financial controllers of an Australian blue-chip company.’
    She tilted her head to look at him. ‘How did you know about that?’
    â€˜Corinne told me. She was very impressed that you’d agreed to join Birchmoors.’
    â€˜Temporarily.’
    â€˜Sure, but it’s still a coup for us, and—’
    The door opened before he could continue, and Lainey poked her head around it. ‘Nicola, you said you wanted to go to lunch at twelve. It’s five past. So …?’
    â€˜Oh, I’m sorry.’ She grabbed her handbag and as she rose Travis scrabbled around on the floor collecting papers he must have dropped when she wasn’t looking. ‘Sorry to rush off like this, Travis. I’ll be back in an hour.’
    â€˜No problem,’ he said without looking up.
    Â 
    At the takeaway shop around the corner, Nicola asked for a toasted sandwich.
    The pink-haired girl behind the counter shook her head. ‘Sorry, our sandwich toaster isn’t working.’
    â€˜Oh.’ She’d been looking forward to a toasted sandwich ever since she’d left the office. ‘Is your hotdog maker working?’
    â€˜Yes.’ With an enthusiastic nod, the girl said, ‘Yes, that’s working just fine.’
    â€˜Great. I’ll