She looked down at the baby, still peacefully asleep, oblivious to the turbulent emotions it stirred in Amy. She looked at the plastic bag at the foot of the capsule. It was printed with fun Disney characters. Today, Jake Carter could have fun with his nephew. The game with her was over and she didn’t care if he fired her for it. In fact, if he dared to try any pressure on her over minding his nephew she’d get in first and dump him.
It would probably be a new experience for him, getting dumped by a woman. And he wouldn’t be expecting it, either. There hadn’t been any exit signs for him to spot.
A savage little smile curled her lips.
She was about to give Jake Carter a red letter day.
And serve him right, too!
AMY barged into her boss’s office, wishing the capsule swinging in her hand was a cudgel to beat him with. It infuriated her further to find him leaning back in his executive chair, feet up on his executive desk, hands cupping the back of his head, gazing smugly at the panoramic harbour view through his executive windows.
No work was being done. The mail she had printed out for him had been tossed on the in-tray. He looked as if he was revelling in recalling the pleasures he had undoubtedly indulged in over the weekend. While she had been dealt one killing blow after another.
It wasn’t fair!
Nothing was fair!
But by God! She’d make this man honour his commitment!
Her unheralded entrance drew a bland look of inquiry. “Some problem?”
Welcome to hell on wheels! she thought, marching straight up to his desk and heaving the capsule onto it. She did refrain from knocking his feet off. She didn’t want to wake the baby. It wasn’t the infant’s fault that his uncle was a male chauvinist pig.
With her hands free, she planted them on her hips and took her stance. Apparently fascinated by the vision of his normally cool personal assistant on the warpath, Jake stayed locked where he was, which suited Amy just fine. She opened fire at point-blank range.
“This baby…is your responsibility.”
Her voice shook, giving it a huskiness that robbed it of the authority needed. She hastily worked some moisture into her mouth and resumed speaking with more strength.
“Your sister elected you to be her son’s baby-sitter.”
She stretched her mouth into a smile designed to turn Medusa to stone. It must have worked because he still didn’t move. Or speak.
“She trusts you implicitly,” Amy said sweetly. “As she should since you’re his godfather. And a staunch family man.”
It gave her a fierce pleasure to throw that claim back in his face, an even fiercer pleasure to see him look so stunned and at a loss for a ready reply. Join the club, brother, she thought, and fired the last volley.
“Looking after your nephew is not my job. Hire someone who specialises in baby-sitting if you can’t do it yourself. In the meantime, he belongs with you.”
She swivelled on her heel and headed for the door, her spine stiff, her shoulders squared, her head tilted high. If Jake Carter so much as breathed at her she would wheel and attack him again.
There wasn’t a sound.
Silence followed her to the door.
She didn’t look back.
She made her exit on a wave of righteous fervour.
It wasn’t until the door was shut and she was alone in her own office, that the silence she’d left behind her took on an ominous quality in her mind.
Silence…
Like the silence after Steve had walked out.
She’d lost her man.
Amy closed her eyes as the realisation of what she’d done rushed in on her.
She was about to lose her job.
Lose everything.
This black day had just turned blacker.
AMY lost track of time. She found herself sitting at her desk and didn’t remember sinking into her chair. It was as though she’d pressed a self-destruct button and her whole world had slipped out of control, shattering around her.
Vengeance…that’s what she’d wreaked on Jake Carter…paying him out for what Steve had done to her. And she’d had no right to do it. No right at all.
A personal assistant was supposed to personally assist. That was what she was paid for. Any other day she wouldn’t have blinked an eyelid at being left with a baby to mind. She would have taken it in her stride without so much as a murmur of protest, cynically accepting that Jake, the rake, wouldn’t want to be bothered by a baby. Besides which, in business hours, his time was more important than hers. He was the one who pulled in the profits.
She slumped forward, propped her elbows on the desk and dropped her head into her hands. Dear merciful God! Was there some way out of the hole she’d dug for herself?
She couldn’t afford to walk away from this job, not now she was alone. Steve’s departure meant the rent on the apartment would double for her unless she got someone else in to share the cost. These few weeks before Christmas was not a good time for changes.
Besides, who would pay her as much as Jake did? Her salary was more than generous for her qualifications. And she would miss the perks that came with meeting and doing business for rich and famous people.
Her gaze lifted and ruefully skirted the photographs hanging on the walls; celebrities on their luxury yachts, on board their private jets, travelling in style to exciting places, wining and dining in classy surroundings, perfect service on tap.
Of course Jake was in all the photographs, showing off his clientele and what he had provided for them. The man was a brilliant salesman. The photographs were public proof that he was the one to deliver what was desired.
And the plain truth was, however much he provoked her with his teasing and wicked ways, Amy did, for the most part, enjoy the challenge of matching wits with him. He kept her on her toes, goaded her into performing at her best, and the work was never boring. Neither was he.
She’d miss him.
Badly.
Especially with Steve gone.
She’d miss this plush office, too.
Where else would she get a workplace that could even come near to matching what she had here at Wide Blue Yonder?
Her
