LITMIR.BIZ

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office, right next door to Daddy Eddie, and on her tenth birthday, he’d placed a gold plaque on the door, engraved with her name.

      “How ‘bout that, Ellie girl,” her dad had said. “One day, all this really will be yours.”

      Now that same office was stacked high with statistical manuals and files of client information. Soon, as her father had always promised, that old plaque would come down and the new one would replace it. The one that said, “President.”

      “Daddy’s retiring in a week,” she suddenly whispered in a rush. “We don’t have much time, Robby. I want him to know…how things are between us.”

      Dammit, why was she so spineless? So closemouthed? Why couldn’t she just say she really wanted to get married? After all, her best friend, Susannah, had been married for six years now, even if her and J.D.’s road had turned a little rocky. And yet…even though she was a modern woman it wasn’t really a woman’s place to ask a man for his hand. Hell, she was going to be the president of a company by this time next week, but there were still some things in life a man had to do.

      Besides, there was another uncomfortable fact, in that Robby was going to report to her. As macho as he was, she could only hope he wouldn’t have trouble dealing with that. Certainly, they’d traded a lot of jokes about the possibility. And he didn’t seem to mind…

      Why should he? she thought now. The company had been in her family for a century, and she’d grown up under the strict tutelage of her father. Oh, Robby was good, of course. Better than she at some aspects of the job, in fact. Maybe he was even completely on a par. But the bottom line remained. Having a Lee in the top spot was an unbroken tradition. “Really,” she began again. “We need to talk to Daddy.” She started to continue, but something in his eyes stopped her, and instead, she squinted and said, “What?”

      “I…I have something to ask you.”

      Her heart pounded against her ribs. He was going to ask her to marry him, she realized. Right now. In this very instant of time. Inadvertently, her lips parted and she breathed in deeply, bracing herself. She wanted to savor this moment, so she could remember it always. “Yes?”

      “Would you mind terribly if…”

      Her cheeks heated, her heart bursting with feeling. He was such a guy. A man’s man. Of course it wasn’t easy for him to ask…“If?” she encouraged.

      “If your dad gave me the job?” He paused. “You know, running the company.”

      Everything froze. For a second, all thoughts were vanquished from her mind. Surely, she hadn’t heard right. “What?”

      “He…pulled me aside last week.”

      “Last week!” That was impossible. Daddy Eddie had pulled her aside last week.

      “I know you’re going to be mad, but just hear me out. I think he knows, or suspects, or…”

      “Suspects what?”

      “That we…”

      Barely aware of her actions, and working on sheer revulsion, she squirmed out from under him and got up, taking the sheet with her. “That we were sleeping together?” she managed, whirling to face him. Not that she knew why, but just now, he’d become a stranger before her very eyes.

      “I think it’s possible,” Robby said, reaching and trying to grab her hand, which she snatched away. “Oh, c’mon, don’t be a spoilsport,” he teased.

      “Spoilsport?” she could only echo, turning on him, then leaning to gather her clothes. Quickly, she slipped a knit dress over her head and shoved her feet into ballet flats, not bothering to find her panties as he rose from the bed and closed the distance between them.

      Two large hands clamped on her waist, and against her will, she shuddered as he drew her against him. She might hate him at the moment, but his body was hard, hot, male and naked, and he’d left her half aroused. Suddenly, she ached for him.

      “Your dad and I talked about it,” he said firmly.

      Didn’t he understand that he might as well have slapped her in the face? That this was the ultimate in the loss of trust? “Whatever we’ve done here…” she managed to begin, her voice raspy, altered by the horrible sting of betrayal. “In this bedroom, and at my house…”

      “I didn’t tell him anything, Ellie.”

      “That’s not the point.”

      “And the point is?”

      “Look, we never talked about it. But mixing business and pleasure was a really bad idea. I see that now,” she managed.

      His grip tightened. “Liar. You know how serious this is,” he muttered, sounding stunned.

      “Well,” she defended. “I guess I did feel we had an understanding…that you and I were a couple.”

      “We are.”

      “But we were going to tell Daddy about us. You and me, Robby. Together.”

      Dammit, this was par for the course. Like when her dad and brothers created their own little club. Her mom had tried to turn her into a girly girl, but Ellie had inherited her father’s talent and knack for business. And now…she was nowhere.

      Left out in the cold. If the job was really Robby’s…she could never look at him again.

      Her words were barely audible. “How could you?”

      He knew what the family company meant. It was in her blood and belonged to her.

      “You think I sabotaged you?”

      “Did you?”

      He was starting to look furious. “He came to me, Ellie, not the other way around.” Despite the fire in his blue eyes, which were turning to ice, an uncharacteristic pleading tone had crept into his voice. Not that she cared. He was the one who’d put himself between a rock and a hard place.

      He added, “What should I do, Ellie?”

      “Take the job, I guess,” she burst out. So what if Daddy Eddie was her father, not his? So what if she’d worked around the clock for years, just as Robby had? Once more, her lips parted in astonishment. Suddenly, she blurted out, “I don’t believe you—”

      He was incredulous. “You think I’m lying?”

      “Yes. It just can’t be true.” Quickly, she wiggled from his grasp, strode to the bedside table and lifted the phone receiver.

      She caught him squinting at her. “What are you doing, Ellie?”

      “Calling Daddy Eddie.”

      Robby’s face fell. “Don’t.”

      “Why?” Her eyes pierced his as Daddy Eddie’s phone rang.

      “I’m sure he wanted to tell you.”

      “Well, he didn’t, now did he? And I think you’re lying.”

      “Why would I?”

      She offered a mean shrug. “Spite?”

      Robby’s gorgeous blue eyes widened a fraction. “Look, Ellie, I know you’re upset, but we can work through this…”

      Ellie didn’t see how. Thankfully, her dad finally picked up. “Daddy?” Before he could respond, she continued. “I…uh, stopped by Robby Robriquet’s place just now, to…uh, pick up some files for work—”

      “This early in the morning?”

      “Yes. And it’s not that earl—”

      “For a Satur—”

      Damn her dad for interrupting and trying to distract her. “Daddy,” she said in a rush. “Robby swears—”

      “I didn’t swear,” interjected

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