LITMIR.BIZ

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deal today.”

      He walked toward her, and her stomach dipped. For Amanda, stomach dips, butterflies, accelerated heartbeats had become part and parcel of working for Jack. The challenge lay in not letting her feelings show.

      “This isn’t part of your job description, but I need someone I can count on to take care of Lilly now. Today. Will you do it?”

      “Of course,” she said, then gave a light laugh. He truly had no idea of all that she would do for him. “I thought you were going to ask something difficult.”

      He exhaled in relief and shook his head. “You’re one hell of an assistant, Amanda. You can be sure I’ll remember this at your next performance review,” he told her.

      Amanda felt a twinge at his professional tone. “That’s not necessary. My experience taking care of my brother and sisters doesn’t have much to do with my office performance.”

      “No. But in this case, it does with mine. I should warn you Lilly still hasn’t adjusted to living with me.”

      “That’s understandable,” Amanda said, the slight nerves in his voice surprising her and grabbing at her heart. “Her mother hasn’t been gone very long. Not even two months. That will change.”

      “God, I hope so,” he muttered, returning to his desk. “The poor kid hides behind the furniture every time I enter the room. She barely knows me, since Sandra made it difficult for me to see her. The nanny I hired has impeccable references, but Lilly hasn’t warmed to her.” He frowned, then seemed to switch gears. “Use one of the company limos. As soon as the meeting is over, I’ll come home.”

      Amanda nodded, hesitating before she said, “You asked me to remind you about your dinner date with Ms. Sullivan.”

      He frowned. “I’ll cancel.”

      Amanda wrestled with her conscience. Trina Sullivan, a beautiful redhead, was Jack’s current social partner. She swallowed her reluctance and envy in one gulp. “You don’t have to cancel. I can stay with Lilly tonight.”

      He shook his head. “No. I’ll cancel.”

      Amanda bit her tongue to keep from screaming with joy.

      Thirty-five minutes later the nanny, pale and clearly ill, invited Amanda into the marble foyer, introduced her to Lilly, then disappeared to her upstairs bedroom.

      Amanda looked down at the perfectly dressed three-year-old, tightly gripping a worn, stuffed one-eyed cat. Lilly’s blond hair fell past her shoulders in tousled curls. The sorrow in her wide green eyes made Amanda’s heart turn over.

      She knelt in front of Lilly. “I have a cat, too. Her name is Delilah. What’s your cat’s name?”

      “Miss Annabelle,” Lilly whispered.

      Amanda’s stomach twisted at the fear on her face. Lilly seemed such a tiny, forlorn figure especially in the grand surroundings of Jack’s home. “You wanna go outside for a while?”

      Lilly nodded, and when Jack’s daughter put her tiny hand in hers, Amanda’s heart was lost.

      Jack pulled his rain-splattered Mercedes into the tree-lined drive that led to his house. He was so preoccupied that he barely noticed how the warm, spring rain shower that had fallen on Minneapolis most of the afternoon, had made the green grounds of his estate even greener.

      Jack was worried about Stuart. His father had been distracted lately. Profit figures looked great, but tension hung about Stuart like the thick humidity before a thunderstorm. Jack couldn’t tell if Stuart’s concerns were with the Fortune business or his own company, Knight Star Systems. Jack knew little about Knight Star Systems since he’d always felt a responsibility to make his mark at Fortune, especially since his brother, Garrett, had made it clear corporate life wasn’t his bailiwick and had chosen ranching instead.

      If that wasn’t enough, although Jack was jazzed about the new account he’d just bagged, he was worried about Lilly. He had no idea what to do with her. Quiet and withdrawn, she hadn’t even begun to warm to Ms. Brown, the nanny. She hadn’t warmed to him, either, and that knowledge stung.

      As he turned toward the garage, he glanced over the grounds and did a double take. He stopped the car and stared.

      In an alcove of blooming trees beside his house, his secretary and his daughter were skipping through a mud puddle. He pressed the button to lower his window, and the sound of Lilly’s laughter drifted through the air. His heart stopped. He couldn’t remember when he’d last heard that sweet, wonderful sound.

      Amanda’s husky laughter joined with Lilly’s. Getting out of the car, he gazed at his assistant. The rain had slowed to barely a sprinkle, but Amanda had clearly caught the worst of it. Her wet, fine hair hung limply to her shoulders. Her business suit clung to her slim curves, and her shoes and stockings were covered with mud.

      Her face bright with pleasure, she didn’t seem to give a damn that she was a complete mess. The movement of her body drew his gaze again. He noticed the subtle curves of her breasts and hips, her long shapely legs, and felt a tug of awareness. Clearly unaware of him, however, Amanda sang a chorus from “Singin’ in the Rain.” Lilly pulled at Amanda’s stockings, and they both laughed again. Amanda kicked off her shoes, and Jack watched in amazement as his painfully practical and conservative secretary briefly bared her thighs and ditched her nylons.

      He felt the disconcerting tug of awareness again and swore under his breath. He’d never really thought of Amanda as a woman. He’d never really wanted to. After all, she was the best damn assistant he’d ever had and he was too driven with his goals for Fortune Corporation to want any distractions.

      Sure, she had a few nice features more or less—big brown eyes and an easy smile. Her primary value to Jack, however, had always been her organizational skills and uncanny ability to anticipate his professional needs. Her professional skills would continue to be her primary value, he told himself. Suddenly conscious of the fact that he was standing in the rain staring at his secretary, he scowled, got back in his car and pulled into the garage.

      Grabbing a large black umbrella, he walked toward the two mud-splattered females. The bottom half of his daughter looked as if she’d been dipped in chocolate milk. Amanda caught sight of him and pointed out his presence to Lilly.

      “I think I’m late with the umbrella,” he said.

      “We’re a mess, aren’t we,” Amanda said, wincing, then she shrugged and chuckled. “You may not remember this, but when you’re a kid, some days you just need to stomp in a mud puddle. Don’t worry. I think I can get the mud out of her outfit.”

      “And yours?” he asked, his gaze inadvertently drawn to her damp blouse, which emphasized her small breasts and hardened nipples encased in lace. Feeling a slow, seductive curl of warmth in his stomach, he blinked and forced his gaze down to his daughter. Lilly was clinging to Amanda’s leg. Hiding again. Jack sighed. Failure was an alien concept to him, but when he looked at his daughter, all his wins at work turned to dust.

      “Dry cleaning works wonders,” Amanda said, and turned to Lilly. “While you and I were playing in the mud, I bet your daddy bagged another big deal this afternoon.”

      Lilly looked at him with wide, solemn, unblinking green eyes.

      “Hey, princess,” he said, and gently touched her soft, damp cheek with his knuckles. “Did you have fun today?”

      She nodded, but said nothing.

      He glanced down at the bedraggled, stuffed cat she held in her hand. “We’ll need to wash your kitty, too,” Jack said, feeling, as he often did with his daughter, at a loss.

      “Miss Annabelle,” Lilly whispered.

      His heart squeezed. Lilly rarely spoke, even in a whisper.

      “Miss Annabelle needs a bath and you do, too,” he said.

      “’Manda says I get a cookie,”

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