Corporate Daddy

Had he once thought her oval face was too long? Her mouth too wide? He realized now that it was nothing more than the severe manner in which she had been wearing her hair. Without her glasses he could actually see and appreciate her deeply set, golden-brown eyes and the sweep of high, prominent cheekbones. He was astonished to find that she was, in her own unique way, quite breathtakingly beautiful, and she had been sitting right under his nose for the past two years! He couldn’t help wondering just how stupid it would be to seduce the best assistant he’d ever had. If he did, would she suddenly develop dollar signs in her eyes? Somehow he didn’t think so.

Emily looked up just then and smiled welcomingly. “Look who’s here,” she said to the giggling Amanda Sue. “Daddy’s home.”

Quick as lightning, Amanda Sue flopped over and sat up. She clapped her hands and held up her arms. “Daa-dy!”

Logan dropped the food bag onto a corner of the dining table as he passed by and hurried toward his daughter and her fetching sitter. Going down on one knee, he scooped up Amanda Sue, and laughed delightedly at the exuberant hug and loud, smacking kiss that he got. She smelled clean and fresh, his little girl, like something new and bright and wholly Amanda Sue, and he realized suddenly that parental love was something innate and fierce. She was his little girl and he loved her. It was as simple as that. Never mind that she had turned his life upside down, that only days ago he hadn’t known she even existed. She was his now, and that was all that mattered.

Abruptly, his headstrong daughter twisted around and pointed up the stairs. “Boog!” she announced.

Emily laughed. “She has the memory of an elephant, I swear. I promised her more than an hour ago that Daddy would read her a certain book for a bedtime story.”

“Well, Daddy will just have to do that, then,” he said enthusiastically. His empty stomach rumbled, but he dutifully rose to his feet, Amanda Sue cradled in one arm, and reached down a hand for Emily. She slipped her fingers into his palm and let him pull her to her feet. “I see she’s ready for bed,” he said.

“It’s not always a two-person job,” Emily replied lightly.

“I’m beginning to think there’s nothing you can’t handle,” he said teasingly.

She laughed. “I’m going to remind you of that the next time I ask for a raise.”

“Emily,” he told her seriously, “all things considered, I’d say a raise was the very least I could do for you. Just name the amount.”

She laughed again. “Nah, I don’t want you saying I took advantage of you later.”

“That’s usually my line,” he quipped.

She didn’t seem to find it funny. Lifting an eyebrow, she looked away. “Is that our dinner over there?”

He nodded. “I assume you like Tex-Mex.”

“Love it. Why don’t I put it in the oven while you try to get a certain someone down for the night?”

“I’ll give it my best shot,” he said, “but if I’m not down in half an hour, call the anti-terrorist squad.”

Emily chuckled, turning away. “I’m starved.”

“That makes two of us,” Logan said, following her as far as the foot of the stairs, where he turned and climbed upward while she went on into the dining room and kitchen. He carried Amanda Sue across the landing and down the hall, talking nonsense to her while she babbled back.

“What’d you do this afternoon, Amanda mine?”

“Mimy do sum-sum-sum.” She waggled her little fingers above her head.

“Did you play with Emily, hmm?”

She nodded sharply and went on talking. “Up fruffle and pickers. Go see.” She pointed to the door to her own room. Logan carried her inside and flipped on the overhead light.

It looked like something out of a fairy tale. A curving canopy had been erected above the white crib, which now sported frothy pink ruffles over and under. The rocking chair had been similarly adorned, and the window, as well. A lamp in the shape of a carousel sat atop the dresser, surrounded by baby dolls and stuffed animals. The shelves below the window had been filled with small books and colorful toys. A music box had been attached to the side of the crib. Pictures of baby animals adorned the walls. Amanda Sue pointed her little finger at each one and labeled it.

“Pupup. Kitty. Hosey. Sicgen. Pigky. Pish. Moo-cow.”

Logan laughed and hugged her tight. “That’s right!” He pointed and confirmed each name, correcting her pronunciation. “Puppy, kitty, horsey, chicken, piggy, fish, and a little cow.”

“Moo-cow!” Amanda Sue insisted.

“All right, moo-cow. What a smart girl you are, Amanda Sue.”

Bucking, she demanded to be put down. He bent and set her feet on the floor. She promptly led him on a tour of the room, pointing out every item for his approval. Finally they made their way to the rocking chair and the book that lay upon the seat. Amanda Sue snatched the book up and held it by one corner, patting the seat cushion with her free hand. “Daddy ’own.”

Logan obediently sat, then gathered the child into his arms. She snuggled into the crook of his elbow and crossed one little ankle over the opposite knee, ready to be read to. He was halfway through the brightly illustrated book about—what else?—baby animals, when Emily slipped into the room. Amanda Sue beckoned her over so that Emily stood behind the chair and peered over their shoulders at the pages of the book. Amanda Sue pushed her head back, looking up at Emily. “Cav,” she said, adding, “Moo-cow, cav,” as she pointed to the mother cow and the baby calf.

“Good grief, she’s bright,” Logan said proudly.

“She certainly is.” Emily moved away then, walking softly. “Mind if I turn down the light?”

“No, go ahead.”

“How about a little background music?” she asked as she switched on the lamp and switched off the overhead light.

“Sure.”

Suddenly the mood was entirely altered, softened, as tinkling music filled the air.

“Keep your voice low and rock gently as you read,” Emily counseled in a whisper as she clipped Amanda Sue’s pacifier to her shoulder and placed Sugar Bear in her lap. The child immediately popped the nipple into her mouth and got a hammerlock on the toy. Logan began to rock, carefully, quietly reading and turning the pages. Soon he realized that Amanda Sue was no longer paying attention. She had dropped off, her face turned into his chest. As he watched, she pushed the pacifier out of her mouth with her tongue and sighed. Suddenly Emily was at his shoulder, whispering into his ear. “Just get up very slowly.”

He laid aside the book and slowly rose, carefully shifting his sleeping daughter as he did so. Emily floated across the room to fold back the covers on the crib. Logan followed and gently lowered Amanda Sue to the mattress. She stirred, sighed, and collapsed into deep slumber, Sugar Bear atop her chest. Logan tucked the covers around her as Emily rewound the music box. He turned on one monitor. She picked up the other and slipped from the room. Again Logan followed, gently closing the door behind him.

“She loves that room,” Logan said as they moved away, keeping his voice low. “She had to show me every little thing, and she kept saying, ‘Mimy do, Mimy do.’ I didn’t realize she was talking so much, not that I could understand much of it. She knows all the animals, though. That much, I got. Did you teach her?”

Emily shook her head. “No. You’ll have to credit her mother with that and much more. Amanda Sue has been handled with great care. She’s been read to on a regular basis and taught all the basics. Tonight when I brushed her teeth, she didn’t protest a peep, just opened her little mouth and patiently waited for me to finish, then rinsed her mouth and gave me a big smile. She kept talking about you this evening, too. ‘Daddy come? Daddy come?’ I kept assuring her that you would, but I could tell she was missing you.”

Logan felt a lump rise in his throat. “She’s amazing, isn’t she? I can’t get over how bright and loving she is.”

“When she’s getting her way,” Emily said cheekily.

He chuckled. “Too true. No one will ever run over Miss Amanda Sue, you can bet on that.”

“Not that they’re likely to get the chance,” Emily said, looking back over her shoulder at him as she began descending the stairs.

“Meaning?”

“They’d have to go through her daddy first, now wouldn’t they?”

He found that he liked the idea. A natural protectiveness seemed to come with the job. “It’s so strange,” he said. “She didn’t exist for me just days ago, and now…” He shook his head, unable to put it into words. He didn’t have to.

“I know,” Emily said, reaching the bottom of the stairs. “A child changes everything.”

He couldn’t argue with that. They walked on into the kitchen, where she had laid out plates and flatware. Emily poured the iced tea while he got the food out of the oven and set out the containers. His stomach rumbled again as the aromas of refried beans, rice, tamales, guacamole and spicy enchiladas mingled. They sat down and dug in. The first pangs of hunger were satisfied before his mind turned to other things.

“You were quick to credit her mother earlier,” he said to Emily, “but I couldn’t help noticing how well you handle Amanda Sue, as well as you do everything else, in fact. You said something yesterday about nieces and nephews, but I have a nephew, and I haven’t learned what you have about kids.”

She smiled and put down her fork. “Maybe we should put this into perspective. You see, I’m the next to youngest of seven children, and we’re pretty spread out, so I have nieces and nephews only a few years younger than me, and quite a few even younger ones. The count went to sixteen, total, this year, some of whom have children of their own.”

“Wow!” He shook his head, wondering what else he didn’t know about this woman. Funny, he’d spent more time with Emily Applegate these past two years than any other person of his acquaintance, and yet he knew next to nothing about her.

She picked up her fork and cut a piece of tamale. “That won’t last long, though,” she said.

He brought his mind back to full attention. “What’s that?”

“Sixteen.”

“Nieces and nephews, you mean.”

She nodded, chewing and swallowing her tamale. “My little sister has just announced that she’s in the family way again.”

“Your little sister?”

Emily nodded again. “Her name’s Lola. She’s twenty-three and has been married four years already. We marry young in Kentucky.”

“Kentucky,” he echoed, thoroughly irritated with himself for not knowing where she was from. Why had he never asked? “Didn’t I hire you out of Dallas?”

“That’s right. After college I worked in Kingsboro, then Memphis, Tennessee, and then Dallas.” She toyed with her guacamole, then forked up a tiny bite. “I was the only one who couldn’t wait to get out of Kentucky—well, not counting Cathy.”

“Cathy? That one of your sisters?”

Emily shook her head, a tiny smile curving her mouth. “Cathy Wazorski,” she said, eyes twinkling. “She was my very best friend. We grew up plotting ways to get out of Kentucky.”

“And you found your way out through college,” he surmised correctly.

“True. It wasn’t easy, mind you. We were poor as church mice. Mom and Dad just couldn’t afford to help, so I’m still paying off the school loans, but it’s worth it.”

Logan shifted uncomfortably. He knew the value of hard work. He’d earned his way to the top of the family company, and no one could say otherwise, but he’d never had to worry about money, certainly not as a college student. Now he wondered if Emily was not somehow a stronger or better person than he for having done it all on her own. To turn aside his thoughts he changed the subject of the conversation.

“And did Cathy make it, too?” he asked.

Emily grinned, making him feel that she’d just been waiting for him to ask. “You could say that, seeing as you probably know her as Ciara Wilde.”

He dropped his fork. “You’re kidding! The actress?” He fleetingly pictured the tall, shapely star with the flowing blond hair as he’d seen her in her last movie, enveloped in satin and furs, and tried to reconcile that with a picture of Emily’s childhood friend from Kentucky.

“The very same,” Emily confirmed proudly. “In fact, as I’m sure you’ve heard on the news, she’s filming a movie here in San Antonio right now, and we get together as often as our schedules allow.”

He shook his head. “I’m absolutely amazed.”

She laughed. “Don’t let the movie star persona fool you. Cathy’s nothing like her public image. She’s really a sweet, down-to-earth person.”

He picked up his fork. “I wasn’t talking about Cathy, or Ciara.”

“No? What then?”

“You! What else don’t I know? Not only are you the best executive assistant I’ve ever had, you’re an expert with children, and you came by that expertise as a poor kid from a big family in Kentucky who pulled herself up by her bootstraps and now hobnobs with movie stars. Add to that your looks, and Emily Applegate is an altogether unexpected bundle of surprises.”

She frowned at him, leaning forward slightly over her plate—and unwittingly giving him an excellent view of the deep cleavage between her breasts. “What about my looks?”

As if she didn’t know. “You hide them, that’s what,” he said. “You pretend to be this mousy, prim, pseudo librarian type, when you’re really quite beautiful.”

Emily gaped at him, then pointedly clamped her mouth shut and swallowed. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, then, thank you—I think. I was unaware, however, that my efforts to present a professional appearance offended you.”

“I didn’t say that,” he protested. “I just meant that you look different without your glasses and with your hair down and…” He cleared his throat and switched course. “You just surprise me sometimes, that’s all.” He lifted his napkin to his mouth and changed the subject. “Let me know whenever you and your friend want to get together, and I’ll see to it that you’re free.”

Emily bowed her head, her long, silky hair sliding across her shoulders in a multicolored cascade of biscuit brown, sand and gold. “Thank you, Mr. Fortune. I appreciate that.”

He liked the way she said his name, but he suddenly decided that it was not enough just to hear her say it in casual conversation. No, indeed. Before he was through, he would hear her whisper his name with longing and shout it with ecstasy. Wise or not, he was going to find a way to have Emily Applegate in his bed.

Then he would know all her secrets.

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