Free Star Kissed: A Crane Series Romance by Nancy Warren

too.”
    “Really?”
    “Sure. First we eat, then we do some ‘boring accounting,’” he said, imitating her well enough that she giggled. While she put the rest of the groceries away, he started cooking.
    “Oh, shit,” he muttered. “I forgot to put fresh thyme on the list.”
    She opened a cupboard that was stocked with some dried spices. “No thyme. Will oregano do?”
    “The recipe doesn’t call for oregano,” he said, wondering if he should run out to the local corner store. Bron came up behind him and kissed his neck.
    “Be a devil,” she said.
    Okay, so maybe he was a little anal sometimes, he admitted as he tasted the pasta dish and found the oregano had done the job. After dinner, she was so desperate to escape the accounting ordeal that she even volunteered to do dishes, but he shook his head. He’d made so little mess that it wouldn’t take long to clean up. “I’ll clean up while you gather receipts, your bank statements, whatever you’ve got lying around.”
    “Do we have to do it now?” she groaned.
    “Yes. Let’s get you organized.” She made a revolted face, but she didn’t refuse the help.
    “So, where’s this fridge you bought and forgot to pay for?” She didn’t even have a place to live, what did she want with a fridge?
    “That was for a girlfriend. She lost her job and then her fridge went. She’ll pay me back when she can.”
    “You’re a generous friend, Bron.” She’d been generous with him, too. Giving him tours of the area, her time, and sharing her body with him. He was enjoying this trip more than he’d dreamed possible.
    “Yeah, well, I’m not an organized one.” She dragged her toe across the floor like a little kid. “I don’t know how to manage money. I make good money so there should be lots. Never can work out where it all goes, so then I don’t know how much money I’ve got, see?”
    “Do you want me to do that for you? Help you figure out what you owe and how much you’ve got coming in? At least you’ll know where you stand?”
    She thought about it and then nodded. “I think that would be amazing.”
    “You don’t think it’s too personal?”
    “What, more personal than you sticking your tongue inside my body? I don’t think so.”
    “Okay. Sure.”
    Absurdly, he fought the urge to blush. She was right, they’d been intimate physically, why shouldn’t he see her bank account if she was willing? It didn’t take him all that long to get her sorted out or to explain to her how to reconcile her account every month.
    “You’d find life a lot easier with a budget, which I can set up for you.” She made gagging noises, but, he noticed, she didn’t turn him down. “As for the fridge, when that collector calls me tomorrow, we’ll work out a monthly payment schedule you can live with. All right?”
    She breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Yeah. Thanks. Really.”
    “Any my advice to you is to let your friend know about the monthly payments. Maybe she – or he – can help out?”
    “It’s a she,” Bron snapped. “And you’re right. I think all my mates think I’m loaded.” She scowled. “But I’m not.”
    When they went through her records, which were mostly available thanks to online banking, since she didn’t seem to keep receipts, he could see right away where her problem was. “You do make good money. But you’re always in debt so you start out the month trying to catch up. I’m going to set you up a budget that starts with savings.”
    “Savings? But you just said I’m in debt.”
    “Trust me. If you start to save first, even a little bit, you’ll begin to like the habit. We’re also going to set aside a portion of your income to pay of your credit cards.” He did some quick calculations. “I think we can get you back in the black within six months if you stop giving money to all your friends and start paying attention. How do you feel about a cash allowance?”
    “What? Like a kid?”
    “No. Like a generous