by Leanne Banks
Sexy? Her?
Amanda blinked.
The wardrobe consultant insisted Amanda wear the sophisticated pink plaid boucle suit out the door. With Lilly skipping along beside her, they walked two blocks to Fortune headquarters. The man in front of her held the door and smiled at her. She waved at the security attendant for the elevators for Kate Fortune’s cosmetic company, and he looked slightly bemused as if he couldn’t quite place her.
Another man held the elevator for Lilly and her, and introduced himself before he got out.
Jack’s assistant did a double take. “You look terrific,” Elaine said. “Go on in.”
“Thanks,” Amanda said and led Lilly through Jack’s office door. He was talking with Ned Vandergrift, his top manager. When Jack saw her, he stopped mid-sentence and silence descended.
Amanda almost didn’t believe it, but Jack Fortune’s stubborn jaw dropped and it was clear he was momentarily speechless. Feeling a sudden attack of nerves, Amanda rushed to fill the conversational lull. “Sorry we’re a few minutes late. I hope it’s not a problem.”
“Amanda?” Ned said in disbelief. “You look terrific. Nannyhood must agree with you. Jack was just telling me about your temporary assignment.”
“Thank you.”
“Will you be coming back to the office anytime soon?”
Amanda looked at Jack and saw his mouth tighten. “That’s yet to be determined,” he said. “We can finish this afternoon, Ned. Does three o’clock work for you?”
Ned nodded. “No problem. See ya then,” he said and winked at Amanda. “You’re gonna cause some neck strain today Goddess material,” he whispered as he walked past her.
Amanda felt her cheeks heat and welcomed turning the attention to Lilly. “Show your daddy your pretty fingernails,” she said.
Lilly held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. “I got powder and lipstick, too,” she said proudly puckering her lips.
Jack smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead. “So you did, gorgeous.”
Lilly pranced off to admire herself in his mirror.
He straightened and held Amanda with his gaze. “What have you done to herself?”
By the tone of his voice, she couldn’t be sure if he was pleased or not. “It’s called a makeover. I went to The Red Carpet Spa.”
“Why?” he asked. “You were fine before.”
Fine. What a lukewarm description. She smiled. “I guess I wanted to be more than fine for at least a day,” she said. “It’s kinda fun. Some people haven’t recognized me. Lunch should be interesting. Carol’s taking me to lunch at The Brewery.”
Silence followed. “The Brewery,” he repeated, struggling to keep the disapproval from his voice. The trendy, casual restaurant was a white-collar meat market. Amanda would be walking into a pack of hungry wolves.
“Well, you haven’t said anything,” she said expectantly, unclasping her hands and sweeping them outward. “What do you think?”
“The skirt is too short, the suit hugs your body. Your hair and eyes—” He stopped and swore under his breath. Her eyes sparkled seductively and her mouth could launch a dozen erotic dreams. He’d decided Amanda was quietly sexy, but this had definitely turned up the volume. “You look good enough to eat. I’m thinking of confining you to your room,” he said, pulling her toward him. “No, make that my room.”
He kissed her and felt a hint of new boldness in her response. A kick of arousal ran through his veins. Her tongue swept over his before she pulled back, self-consciously licking her lips. “I forgot about Lilly.”
So had he. “I’m not sure I should let you out in public. Some guy on the street could get hurt looking at you instead of watching where he’s going.”
Her eyelashes swept downward shielding her gaze from him. “You’re so amusing.”
“I’m not joking,” he said. “Are you shopping?”
Amanda shook her head. “I did enough of that this morning.”
“For a man,” Jack said.
Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. “When I’m involved with you?” she asked in disbelief. “I know we don’t have any kind of agreement or anything, but—” She sighed. “I’m sure it’s not wise to feed your ego, but you put them all in the shade. I’ll probably regret saying that, but it’s done,” she said cheerfully. “I need to run. I’ll see you in about an hour. Have fun with your princess.”
With a tinge of unease, he watched her walk out of his office, appreciating the feminine sway of her hips and her long, silky legs. Every guy in The Brewery would be watching her the same way he was. Possessiveness surged through him. He stifled the ridiculous urge to call security and send an escort with her.
Before, he’d considered Amanda safe from being propositioned overly much. Although she was pretty, she did little to emphasize her attributes. Plus, she’d admitted she was in love with him. The combination had made him comfortable, perhaps too comfortable. He frowned.
Lilly tugged at his hand. “I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
“Okay,” he said, allowing her to lead him to the table set up in his office for their lunch. “Did you have fun with Amanda this morning?”
Lilly nodded. “She read me books while a man put her hair in Christmas paper.”
Jack’s lips twitched at Lilly’s version of the experience.
“Some men on the street made whistle noises at her. She didn’t hear ’em, but I did.” Lilly picked up her sandwich and paused. “She’s a good nanny. I want to keep her.”
Jack heard the longing behind the demand in his daughter’s voice. He wanted to keep Amanda, too.
After they tucked Lilly in early that night. Jack chuckled at Amanda and pulled her into his arms. She was still in her makeover clothes. “Have you enjoyed yourself today? Turning half of Minneapolis on their ears,” he said.
“Only half?” she asked in mock wide-eyed innocence.
“The other half didn’t see you,” he grumbled.
“It was interesting,” she confided. “I’ve never done the ‘babe’ thing before.”
“Uh-oh,” he said. “Has The Red Carpet Spa created a monster?”
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug and smiled. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to stay tuned.”
He would, Jack thought. “I wonder if you’ll remember who knew you were a babe before the makeover,” he mused.
“Who is that?”
“Me,” he said, clenching his jaw.
“Oh,” she said. “I could’ve sworn you said I looked ‘fine.’”
“Nothing’s wrong with fine,” he said.
“How would you like it if the stockholders described your performance as VP of marketing as fine?”
Jack immediately rebelled at the thought. “Fine?”
“Kinda lukewarm and boring term, isn’t it?” she said, wrinkling her nose and smiling at the same time.
Jack frowned. She had misunderstood him. “You’re not lukewarm or boring. You have a quiet beauty.”
Her eyes gentled. “That is lovely, Jack. I appreciate it,” she said, then kissed his cheek. “But there are times when every women wants to knock men off their feet.”
He nodded slowly and squeezed her waist. He would be a fool to underestimate her appeal. “You can knock one man off his feet tonight.”
“How’s that?” she asked, her voice threaded with subtle sensuality.
“Come to my room.”
Her gaze glinted with uncertainty and she looked away, lifting her hand to his chest. “How about if you come to my room?”
He felt a bittersweet mix of regret and tenderness. She would make love with him, but she didn’t want to return to his bed where she had first given herself to him. He had insulted her. He kissed her forehead, resolved. She would come to his bed again. Not tonight, but soon.
The following day, three managers stopped by Jack’s office to tell him they’d heard Amanda was going to be reassigned and each would be pleased to have her as his assistant. If that w
eren’t enough, when he arrived home the phone rang several times—men asking for Amanda. By the end of the evening Jack was drinking a double scotch as he paced his study.
He wasn’t VP of marketing just for show at Fortune. He understood supply and demand. There were many men and one Amanda. It was time to take her off the market.
That evening, Amanda was exhausted. Lilly was clearly coming out of her shell. It was bedtime, and the little girl had the giggles and asked for one more book three times. Amanda relented until the last. “You read it to me,” Amanda said, opening Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
“I can’t read,” Lilly protested.
“Look at the pictures and tell your own story,” she said, falling back on Lilly’s pillow and closing her eyes.
“Once upon a time, there was three bears and a girl named Goldilocks. She went ’sploring in the woods without her mother’s permission and saw a house and went inside and ate yucky porridge because she was so hungry she didn’t care what she ate.”
Amanda chuckled. “Go girl.”
“She ate the papa bear’s porridge and it was too hot. She ate the mama bear’s porridge and it was too cold. She ate the baby bear’s porridge ‘cause it was just right. ’Cept she wouldn’t have eaten any of that yucky porridge if she’d had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
Amanda smiled as she listened to Lilly’s little voice. Lord, she loved that child. She didn’t know how she would be able to leave her, she thought, feeling her heart contract and her smile fade. It hurt to think of not tucking Lilly in at night, missing her sunny smile. She would even miss her prenap crabbiness.
“And when Goldilocks saw the three bears, she screamed bloody murder and ran all the way home.”
Amanda felt Lilly’s breath on her face, then her little finger gently pushed at her eyelid. Amanda caught her hand and Lilly squealed.
“It’s time for you to go to sleep,” Amanda said, “so I can, too.”
Lilly sighed and slid under the covers and hugged Amanda’s neck tightly. “You’re the best nanny in the world. I want you to stay forever.”
Amanda’s chest tightened. She hugged Lilly and fought the sting of tears. “You’re the best little girl in the world,” Amanda said. “Sweet dreams, sweetheart. Your daddy will kiss you after he gets home.”
Sighing, she glanced up and caught sight of Jack beside the bed. His gaze felt strangely ominous.
“Daddy’s here now,” he murmured, then bent down to kiss his daughter. “Good night, princess.”
He wrapped his hand around Amanda’s and led her out the door. “I need to talk to you. Let’s go to the study.”
“Okay.” She studied his solemn expression and felt her stomach dip. “Sounds serious.”
He nodded. “It is.”
They took the rest of the short walk sans conversation. The sound of his hard-soled leather shoes on the hardwood hall floor downstairs heightened her tension. She had seen Jack this way on very few occasions—during his divorce and when his wife died. Frayed around the edges from her long, busy day, Amanda considered asking for a rain check. She wondered if she might do better with a nap and cookies before she faced this.
Jack released her hand as they entered the study. She bit her lip.
“Have a seat,” he said, his voice quiet.
Amanda gingerly lowered herself to the love seat and folded her hands in her lap. She looked expectantly at Jack.
He looked away and began to pace.
“I’ve thought about this a lot. I think it’s the best plan for all the parties involved.”
Amanda nodded, but she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.
“Lilly needs a permanent female figure in her life. She needs more than a nanny. I respect you and care for you. I admire you,” he said, and cleared his throat. He raked his hand through his hair. “My attorney advises a prenuptial agreement. I assure you it will be fair. You’ll be taken care of regardless of any eventualities, and you would have all the benefits of the Fortune name.”
Amanda’s brain locked up on prenuptial agreement .
“I want you to be my wife and Lilly’s mother,” Jack said, pulling a jeweler’s ring box from his pocket. He opened it, and a large oval diamond flashed in the light. “Will you marry me?”
Amanda felt as if she were hanging upside down from the top of the Perris wheel. Certain her heart and lungs had stopped functioning, she stared blankly at Jack.
He waved his hand in front of her face. “Amanda, did you hear me?”
She blinked and took a shaky breath. “Pardon?”
“I asked you to marry me,” he said.
Amanda caught sight of the ring and gulped. Bowing her head, she rubbed her forehead, wishing she could clear her head. “I—uh—I’m so surprised,” she said. What an understatement. She wasn’t certain her heart was working yet.
“I can see that,” he said, amusement slipping into his deadly serious tone. He gently moved her hand away from her eyes and met her gaze. “Amanda, I think we can all be good for each other. We can have a good life together.”
Amanda nodded. Everything Jack had said played through her mind. Lilly, marriage, prenuptial agreement, respect, care, admire.
But not love.
Her heart fell in disappointment. He wanted marriage, part of her argued. That meant something. That meant she was special to him.
But not love.
This was an unproposal. She glanced at the ring, pulled back her hand and sighed. “I’d like to think about it.”
Surprise crossed Jack’s face. “You want to think about it,” he repeated.
She nodded.
“You want to think about it.”
“If that’s okay,” she said.
“Yes,” he said in an unconvincing voice. “Of course it’s okay.” He snapped the nng box closed and nodded. “You think about it.”
She forced her lips to approximate a smile. “Thank you.” She stood, clasping her hands together. “I’ll think about it. Good night.”
Amanda put one foot in front of the other. She climbed the stairs and went to her room. She stood in the dark for five seconds, then ran to the bathroom and lost her dinner. Amanda rinsed her mouth and held a cool washcloth to her face while she sat on the edge of the tub.
The man she loved, her dream man, the man who put every other man in the shade for her, had just asked her to marry him. If she ignored his lack of emotion, it would have been a dream come true. She had the chance to spend the rest of her life as his wife. She could be euphoric.
If he loved her.
Amanda’s hands trembled. She thought of Lilly, and her heart clenched. Maybe Jack would grow to love her, she thought, and wondered if it was dangerous to hope. She loved him. She wanted him happy and fulfilled, and if she could be a part of that, she couldn’t imagine being happier herself. If he didn’t love her, though, wouldn’t he ultimately grow tired of her?
Amanda thought of Jack’s somber attitude when he’d proposed to her. She’d watched him deliver sales presentations with more enthusiasm.
She buried her face in her hands. Heaven help her, she didn’t know what to do.
Eleven
Amanda brooded over Jack’s unproposal for the next few days. When he arrived home at night, she felt him watching her, waiting silently. The more she thought about it, the more she sadly concluded that marrying Jack might very well not make him happy.
Although her heart rebelled at the idea of denying him or Lilly something so important, she knew Jack saw their marriage more as a business deal. His unproposal would likely lead to an unmarriage. She didn’t want that for herself or Jack.
With each passing day the tension in the house mounted. Although Jack knew it was best from a negotiational stance for Amanda to come to him, her evasiveness stuck in his craw. The woman loved him, for Pete’s sake. The decision should have been a snap for her.
After a week Jack confronted her in the hallway just after she came ou
t of the bathroom. She wore a short white nightgown that reminded him of her innocence. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him.
“Hi,” she said in a quiet voice.
“I’d like us to talk,” he said in the most reasonable tone he could muster. “My bedroom or yours?”
She was silent for so long he wondered if she would refuse. “Mine,” she finally said.
He closed her bedroom door behind him and leaned his back against it. Crossing his arms over his chest, he drank in the sight of her, surprised at how much he’d missed her.
“You want to know my answer, don’t you?” she asked, standing on the opposite end of the room.
“Yes.” His gut twisted at the indecision in her voice.
“Well, your proposal was very generous, but I’d like to make a counteroffer.”
Suspicion trickled through his veins like poison. Did she want more assurance of money? The thought brought a bitter taste to his mouth. “What’s that?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Why don’t we just live together for a while?”
Floored, Jack stared at her, speechless for a long moment. He shook his head. “Part of the purpose of the marriage is to provide a permanent, stable relationship for Lilly, you and me.”
“But you don’t really want to marry me, Jack,” Amanda said quietly.
“That’s not true.” Unable to remain still, he pushed away from the door. Why was this woman arguing with him? He would never have anticipated this in a million years. He’d thought Amanda was thoroughly traditional in her attitude toward marriage. “I have carefully considered this and think it’s the best option for all the parties involved.”
Amanda nodded and gave a sad smile. “Option, parties. This sounds like a business deal.”
Jack felt a twinge of discomfort, but brushed it aside. “In some ways marriage is,” he said. “There are legal issues, financial issues, responsibilities—”
