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But he had looked at her. She had seen and felt the curiosity in his gaze. Her mind was whirling. When he’d asked her to forget he was her boss, she’d nearly dropped her wineglass. Did this represent some kind of breakthrough? Did this mean she was no longer invisible?
Taking a deep breath, her defense mechanisms kicked in and she closed her eyes. Probably not a breakthrough, she reasoned. Probably an aberration. She felt a clinch of disappointment at the same time she felt relief. Maybe she really wasn’t the right woman for Jack Fortune. The man might be a master communicator with clients, but he made her nervous.
Carol had once told her she thought Amanda was comfortable with Jack being her unreachable dream. Amanda had pooh-poohed the idea, but now she wondered if there was a grain of truth to it. It was much easier to be silently and secretly enthralled with Jack than it was to try to carry on a conversation with him that didn’t involve work.
She rolled onto her side and sighed into her pillow. He was still the most exciting man she had ever met. Tonight was an aberration. Tomorrow she and Jack would return to the office, and she would become invisible again. Everything would be normal.
The following morning Amanda put on her wrinkled suit, brushed the tangles from her hair and avoided looking into the mirror. She just didn’t want to know what she looked like.
She stepped into the kitchen and found Jack talking with a stern-looking, older woman. “Lilly, Mrs. Downey will take care of you today since Ms. Brown is still sick.”
Amanda glanced at Lilly and immediately saw the little girl’s feelings on the subject. The telltale protrusion of her bottom lip, followed by too-shiny eyes grabbed at Amanda’s heart.
Lilly shook her head, and in the middle of one shake, she spotted Amanda and ran to her. In her timid, whispered voice, she asked, “Can you stay with me?”
Amanda ruffled Lilly’s hair. “Oh, sweetie, I wish I could, but I work for your daddy at his office and—”
Attaching her small frame to Amanda’s leg, Lilly started to sob. Amanda looked helplessly at Jack.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Downey,” he said quietly and moved to Amanda’s side. “Let’s take her to the office.”
Amanda stared at him. “Pardon me?”
“The Eastco deal is done. It will be a light day,” he said.
“Easy for whom?” Amanda asked, knowing how quickly her work piled up in her absence. “I was gone yesterday. Remember?”
“I remember. It will be a light day,” he told her. “I promise. The poor kid’s been through too many changes lately. This one isn’t necessary.”
Amanda felt the intensity of his gaze down to her bones. She hadn’t become invisible again. Yet. With Lilly clinging to her and Jack looking at her that way, she had no choice. “Okay,” she said.
Jack glanced at Mrs. Downey. “We’ve had a change of plans, but I’d like to compensate you for coming out on such short notice.”
After quickly downing cereal, toast and milk, the three of them piled into Jack’s Mercedes and headed for Amanda’s town house apartment on the other side of town. Showing no favoritism, Delilah greeted them at the door, swirling between each pair of legs.
Lilly squealed with delight.
Jack quirked his lips into a wry grin. “The slut?” he asked in a voice for Amanda’s ears only.
“I didn’t exaggerate. Let me get dressed. It will only take a few minutes. Make yourselves at—” She broke off, the comparison between her comfortable but modest apartment and Jack’s luxurious home hitting her. “Have a seat,” she said instead.
Lilly wandered upstairs and watched Amanda lose a battle with a curling iron. When Amanda applied lipstick, the little girl puckered her lips; a silent invitation for Amanda to paint her tiny mouth, too. Amanda smiled and complied, then put on her pearl earrings. Digging through the jewelry box, Lilly selected the gaudy rhinestone drop earrings Amanda had received as a gag gift and never worn.
Chuckling, she clipped the large earrings on Lilly’s little ears. “Oh, your daddy is going to love these. Let’s go.”
They walked downstairs, and Amanda watched Jack do a double take at his daughter. “She has excellent taste, wouldn’t you say?” Amanda asked.
Audibly swallowing his amusement, he nodded. “You look beautiful, Lilly.”
“This is when you say thank you,” Amanda whispered to Lilly.
“Thank you,” Lilly echoed in a whisper.
Lilly was a hit at the office until just after lunch, when the little girl’s energy began to wane, boredom began to set in and naptime loomed. After much coaxing, coddling and a promise of cookie and juice after the nap, Amanda was able to persuade Lilly to lie down on a sofa in an office down the hall.
Amanda plopped down in her chair, cradled her chin in her hands and closed her eyes. A nap sounded pretty good to her right now, too.
“Sleeping on the job?” Jack asked in an amused voice.
Chagrined, she immediately straightened.
He leaned against her desk. “How did you get her to take a nap?”
“Complex negotiations. It would require too much of your time to explain.”
“You pulled the cookie trick again, didn’t you?”
“Think about it. If a nap followed by juice and cookies were part of the required schedule for the United Nations, I bet our conflicts would significantly decrease.”
He nodded. “Point taken. I need you in my office. I’ve got a new project in mind for you.”
Amanda’s silly heart leaped at his words. I need you.
“Okay,” she managed, and pulled herself back in line. “Now?”
“Yes,” he said and led the way.
Following him, she waited expectantly after he closed the door. Gazing at her thoughtfully, he remained quiet for far too long.
Amanda’s stomach began to dance with uneasiness.
He slowly walked toward her and stopped. “I need you...” he began, sending her heart into another tripping mode. She wished he would stop that.
“...to move in with me and take care of Lilly for a while.”
Move in with me. Amanda locked her knees. Her head began to swim. Move in with me. His words echoed in her mind. She didn’t even think she’d fantasized hearing those before.
“I know it’s an unusual request, but Lilly needs you. I need you to help her during this time of transition for her. She never really liked Ms. Brown that much, but she adores you.”
Amanda slammed the brakes on her thoughts. This was all about Lilly. This was not about Jack or his feelings for Amanda. The knowledge rubbed at a raw spot inside her. She took a mind-clearing breath. “But didn’t you tell me the doctor said Ms. Brown should get over her flu in a few days? And she’ll be able to take care of Lilly again?”
“Yes and no. She’ll recover, but I called her today and asked her honestly how she felt her position was working out with Lilly. Ms. Brown said Lilly still didn’t seem happy, and she wondered if another personality might suit better.”
Amanda felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. “You didn’t let her go.”
“I did.”
Amanda shook her head. “Oh, Jack. I’m not a nanny. I’m an administrative assistant.”
“But you’re great with Lilly.”
“What about my job?”
“I’ve arranged for a replacement,” he told her.
Amanda felt as if she’d been kicked. “That easily?”
“No!” he said, raising his voice. “Dammit, not that easily.” He raked a hand through his hair. “My little girl has been miserable since she came to live at my house. I can’t help her. The nanny can’t help her. But you did. What choice do I have?”
“You were sure I would agree, weren’t you?”
“I hoped. It’s not forever. It’s just until she adjusts to living with me. Afterward, you’ll have your job back,” he said. “And my undying gratitude.”
Amanda sighed and walked away from him. She felt torn. If she stayed at Jack’s house, she would be in intimate contact with him on a daily basis. It wouldn’t be all business between them. She could end up falling more deeply for him. She could, in fact, fall irrevocably for him. It was a terrible risk to take.
She glanced at him, and the combination of ruthless determination and vulnerability stamped on his face quashed her inner protests.
Carol would either tell her she was crazy or that this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. This could be Amanda’s only chance with Jack. This could be her chance to stop being the invisible woman. Maybe Jack would really see her, and maybe if he saw her, he would also see that she was meant for him.
“I still need to keep up my activities and classes. I will want to keep up with my friends.”
“Consider it done.”
“My cat will have to move in.”
He paused a millisecond. “Okay.”
“I will want to oversee the person temporarily assigned to this position, so I don’t come back to a mess.”
“Makes sense.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve never seen you this agreeable. Should I ask for a million in unmarked bills?”
He chuckled. “You might be surprised. You’ll do it?”
“I need to know that you’ll be spending time with Lilly in the evening and on the weekends.”
“I will. I would have before, but you know that Sandra made it difficult,” he said, meeting her gaze. “Anything else?”
“Just one thing,” Amanda said.
“Here comes the million in unmarked bills,” he said cynically.
“Not quite,” Amanda said, surprised at the slight edge of bitterness in his tone. She’d never heard it directed toward her before. “Once a week I’ll bring Lilly to your office and you will have lunch with her.”
Jack looked at her as if she were an alien he could never hope to understand. “I was certain you’d ask for more compensation,” he muttered. “Is that all?”
“Yep. I’m warning you, though. If your goal is Lilly in starched pinafores and speaking when spoken to, you’ve just gotten yourself into a doozy of a mess.”
His expression turned thoughtful, and she saw a rare glimmer of vulnerability in his strong features. “My goal is to make Lilly happy.”
Her heart caught. “I’ll do my best.”
The following week Jack took an overseas trip for the purpose of cultivating an international account. Although his days were filled with meetings and business lunches and dinners, his mind frequently wandered to thoughts of Amanda and Lilly. He placed a couple of transcontinental calls home and was relieved to hear all was well.
His meetings went so well he arrived home one day early. Jack entered his foyer to the sounds of laughter and the “Limbo” song. Delilah greeted him by weaving between his legs and purring. Following the sound of the music, he walked into the kitchen and saw his daughter and Amanda doing the limbo underneath a jump rope stretched across two kitchen chairs.
Amanda, barefoot and dressed in jeans and a cropped shirt, shimmied under the rope, her movements baring her belly to his gaze. “I don’t know about this, Lilly,” she said. “I’m not sure I can—”
Distracted by the curve of her waist, he watched her stumble. Hearing her little squeak, he automatically grabbed her to keep her from falling. Amanda stared at him.
Her hand clung to his, and he secured her with his other hand on her back. No bra, he idly noticed. His staid, conservative secretary wasn’t wearing a bra. A strange sizzling sensation spread through him. Her mouth formed an O of surprise. She had a pretty, lush mouth, he thought. He hadn’t noticed it before.
“You’re home early,” she finally managed, still holding his hand.
“I wrapped things up quickly.” He pulled her to her feet.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and her cheeks turned pink. She looked down at their joined hands. “Oh,” she said, and removed her palm from his as if it had been burned.
Jack would have sworn he’d seen her fingers tremble slightly when she’d lifted her hand to her forehead, but that couldn’t be true. And he sure as hell wasn’t feeling a kick of arousal.
Amanda made a sound resembling a faint chuckle, then, seeming to gather her composure, she turned to Lilly. “It must be your day, sweetie. You beat me at limbo, and your daddy’s here!” She cut off Lilly’s tape player and put her arm around his daughter. “He has been cooped up in an airplane for a long time, and I bet he rushed back just so he could see you. I bet he also needs a hug.”
Hesitating, Lilly eyed him with a mixture of wariness and childlike sympathy. With slow steps she moved toward him, and when he bent down, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Jack’s heart dipped. He picked her up and squeezed her small frame to him. “Hi, princess. Have you had a good time with Amanda?”
Lilly nodded.
“Have you been a good girl?”
Lilly nodded.
“Very good,” Amanda added. “Plus she was smearing me during the limbo dance. Since it was going to be just us girls tonight, Lilly asked if we could have spaghetti instead of the chicken cordon bleu the housekeeper left. I can heat up the chicken for you if you like?”
Jack shook his head. “Spaghetti’s fine.” He set Lilly down when she began to squirm. “I’ll clean up and be back down.”
After dinner and kissing Lilly good-night, Jack poured a drink in the den. Hearing the soft click of a door closing, he glanced out the window and saw Amanda on the back porch. He picked up a newspaper and skimmed it for a few minutes, then checked the window again. She still sat on the porch. He strolled outside.
“Nice night,” he said.
“Almost every night,” she said, rolling her shoulders. “I found out there’s less glare from the city lights here, so the evening sky looks beautiful.”
“I hadn’t really noticed,” he murmured.
“You’ve been busy making conquests,” she said, looking at him.
“Conquests?”
