Corporate Daddy (11 page)

“Logan, I can’t—” she began, but his mouth came to hers once again, his hands sliding over bare skin as they circled her torso. She didn’t even realize that he’d unfastened her bra until he shoved it away. She tried once more
to resist, gasping, “Logan, wait.” But then his hands cupped and lifted her breasts, and lightning shot through her, throwing her head back and stopping her heart.

“Beautiful,” he said in a choked voice. “Sweet heaven, I want you!”

He backed her against the bed and toppled her over. Pulling his T-shirt over his head, he followed her down, bracing his upper body weight on his elbows.

“I want to make love to you, Em. Let me make love to you.”

She could feel herself melting, opening, surrendering. Frightened, she lifted both hands to his chest, holding him off. “I can’t.”

“I need you, Em,” he told her, holding her with his eyes as surely as his body. “I always have, but now more than ever.”

“I can’t,” she said, breathlessly desperate. “You’re my boss.”

He pushed her hands away and lowered his head, rolling it gently side to side, nuzzling her breasts, scorching her with his breath. “We’re a team,” he said, “a good one, the best.”

“You’re my…boss,” she repeated.
And you’ll never love me
.

“I want to be more,” he whispered, his mouth bathing the peak of one breast with moist heat. She was drowning, sinking. Frantically, she dug her hands into the mattress, shoving herself backward, dragging her body against his. He crawled after her, over her. She scrambled backward and right off the side of the bed. He let her go, collapsing onto his side with a huff of disappointment. She got her feet under her and careened away, bouncing off the wall and the corner of the bed, her hands covering her breasts. Logan rolled onto his back, the heels of his hands pressed into the hollows of his eyes.

She saw her sweater hanging off the edge of the dresser and lunged toward it, yanking it on even as she dipped down to scoop up her bra and cram it into her rear pocket. He
came up into a sitting position then, and she leaped back. He looked away, a muscle working in the hollow of his jaw. “That’s just great. I want to make love to you, and you recoil like I’m going to beat you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, stepping closer again. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh, that’s better,” he drawled cryptically. “You just can’t stand for me to touch you.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, either,” she said softly.

He looked at her then, accusing her with his eyes, a thin veneer of anger doing little to disguise the bitter frustration beneath. She had to lace her fingers together to keep from reaching out to him. “You know I want you to touch me.”

He shifted and reached out. “Then what—”

She stepped back, trying not to skitter. “Just because we both want it doesn’t mean that it’s right,” she explained quickly. “You’re my employer, Logan, and that’s a real problem for me. My career is important to me. I’ve worked hard, and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

“You can’t think this is about sleeping your way to the top,” he said scathingly.

“Not at this moment,” she said, “but later, when I’m ready to move up, would you be able to turn me down if I wasn’t right for the position?”

“That won’t happen. I haven’t found anything you can’t do and do well.”

“Maybe. You can’t know what’s coming, though, neither of us can. And it’s more than just the job.”

He frowned, but he folded his hands in a sign of patience. “What then?”

“I’m not comfortable with casual affairs.”

“You find something
casual
about this?” he demanded.

She ignored that. “We’re not really suited for one another, Logan. Without Amanda Sue, we’d never have gotten to this place.”

He couldn’t deny that, and he didn’t try. “Amanda Sue may have brought us together like this, but—”

“It’s the situation, Logan,” she argued. “Can’t you see that? You never looked twice at me until I came into your home and Amanda Sue opened a place in your heart you’d never have willingly opened yourself.”

Again, he couldn’t argue. He sat silently for a moment, then quietly asked, “What if I told you that I was afraid to look too closely at you, Em? That I think I always knew deep down that this would happen if I did?”

She smiled wanly. “I’d say that you’re as good as your reputation.”

He bowed his head. After a moment he got up. “I’m not sure I can put the genie back in the bottle,” he said, “but I’ll try if that’s what you want.”

Emily swallowed relief. “Thank you,” she whispered. He picked up her bag and handed it to her, careful that their hands didn’t touch.

“Will I see you in the morning?” he asked.

“Of course.”

He nodded and stepped aside, his gaze averted. Emily slipped from the room and grabbed her coat up off the living room chair. She was hurrying down the walk toward her car when the disappointment caught up with her, but even as the tears clouded her vision, she knew she’d done the right thing. She couldn’t doubt it. But, oh, how she wished it could be different! If only he could love her as she loved him, but she had more sense than to believe that. For two years now she’d watched him wander from one affair to another. She knew who and what he was. Amanda couldn’t have changed him that much.

But even as the denial grew within her, she felt the truth echoing in her heart. If only he could love her as she loved him. If only. If only.

She was at the town house by seven Monday morning. Logan was dressed for the office, a bath towel draped across his chest and clothespinned at his shoulders.

“I’m feeding Amanda Sue her breakfast,” he explained with a wry grin.

She followed him into the house, wagging the heavy bag in which her lazy cat reclined contentedly. She put the bag down in the living room, then accompanied Logan to the kitchen. When they walked in Amanda Sue opened her mouth like a nestling spying the mother bird’s approach. Laughing, Logan sat down and forked up a syrupy piece of toaster waffle, which explained the elaborate protective measures for his clothing.

“She slept through dinner last night,” he explained. “I thought it was best not to wake her. Obviously we overtired her in the pool yesterday. So she was up with the birdies this morning, demanding the early worm.” Amanda Sue was practically gulping the mushy waffle bites. Logan carefully spaced them to keep her from choking and offered her sips of milk at intervals. When she began to slow down, he began to speak again. “I want to discuss something with you. Unless you object, I want to use our own personnel department to screen the nanny applicants. They’ll have to outsource the applications, of course, but I think they’ll be able to weed out the obvious losers for us. It may take some time for them to come up with some prospects, however. I hope that’s all right.”

“It’s fine by me,” she said, helping herself to coffee from the pot he’d made.

Amanda Sue was through, so he removed the towel, got up and carried it to the sink, where he wet one corner before carrying it back to Amanda Sue’s chair. Apparently she’d been so hungry that she hadn’t fought him for possession of the eating utensils and food that morning, because he had only to wipe her face and hands to have her cleaned up.

“One more thing,” he said, pulling his daughter out of her chair and setting her on her feet. “My housekeeper will be in this morning. I’ve explained the situation, so she’s expecting you. I just wanted to be sure you were expecting her.”

“That’s fine.”

Amanda Sue dropped down and crawled under the table.

“Her name’s Consuelo,” Logan said, folding the towel, “but she prefers Connie.”

“Connie, right.”

Goody finally put in an appearance, slipping into the room on silent cat paws and heading straight for Amanda Sue beneath the table. The child let out a yelp of delight, and Emily went down on her haunches to observe the meeting. Goody circled Amanda Sue, rubbing against her shoulders and chest, before plopping down across her legs with a sweep of her tail. Amanda Sue patted the cat’s side and wrapped an arm around its neck. Goody purred and pretended not to be enraptured. Emily shook her head in wonder.

“A mutual admiration society,” Logan observed, stooping to peer beneath the table.

“Absolutely. I’ve never seen Goody take to anyone like this, not even me.”

“Well, that’s my Amanda Sue for you,” Logan said proudly. He reached out for her. “Come on, sweetheart. Daddy has to go.”

“Go,” Amanda Sue said, crawling out from under both the cat and the table.

Logan swept her up into a fierce hug. “Umm. I love you, ’Manda mine, but I have to go to work. Emily’s here to spend the day with you.”

“Go,” Amanda Sue said, reaching toward the door. “Mon Mimy.”

“Not this time, baby,” Logan said. “Daddy has to get some real work done for a change. You stay here and play with Emily.”

Emily stepped up and offered her arms. “Goody wants to play. Let’s go play with Goody.”

Amanda Sue leaned into Emily’s arms, acquiescing calmly. “Gooey! Pway. Mon.”

Logan kissed his daughter’s cheek and turned away. Two
steps later, he turned back, but this time his regard was all for Emily. With a sigh, he retraced his steps, bowed his head and kissed her on the forehead. “I may be your boss,” he said, “but I’m also your friend. I’d be the worst sort of ingrate not to feel that much. You may not want more from me, and that’s fine, but you’ll just have to deal with at least this much.”

She smiled, deeply touched. “Have a good day,” she whispered.

Nodding, he skimmed a hand over the braid hanging between her shoulder blades and took his leave with a wave to his daughter. “See you later, angel. Both of you.”

The day passed quickly. When Logan walked in the door at twenty minutes past five, Emily walked out ten minutes later, minus her magically disappearing cat. “You’ll just be bringing her back tomorrow,” Logan pointed out. “She might as well stay.” He didn’t say that Emily might as well stay, too, but the thought was there, unacknowledged, between them.

Tuesday followed much the same pattern as Monday. On Wednesday she took Amanda Sue into the office to meet a prospective nanny. Hal had a notepad full of questions for Emily, and she felt gratified to find that she was not as easily replaced as it had seemed. The nanny said that she preferred to work with newborn infants but would consider Amanda Sue if nothing else came up in the immediate future. Logan told her that wouldn’t be necessary, and Emily fully agreed. Three more applicants were interviewed during those next two days. One of them was, frankly, perfect, but Emily couldn’t bring herself to argue when Logan passed up the young, pretty, Swiss-educated woman on the grounds that she might eventually decide to return to Europe. Emily hated to admit, even to herself, that she couldn’t bear the thought of Logan actually living with such an attractive female. Simply put, she would be jealous of any woman who possessed any chance of fixing Logan’s interest, which was more than
enough reason to refuse Logan’s invitation to accompany him and Amanda Sue to the ranch for the weekend.

“Mom’s called nearly every day,” he said, telling Emily nothing she didn’t already know. “Now she says she’s given us long enough to make the adjustment and it’s time to introduce her granddaughter to the rest of the family. I can’t argue with that.”

“I agree,” Emily said from the armchair in his living room. “It’s time the rest of the Fortunes knew what a treasure they’ve got, but I really can’t go.”

“May I ask why?” Logan pressed gently, watching Amanda Sue pretend to be a cat and Goody pretend not to notice.

“I’m hoping to get together with Cathy,” she said.

He nodded. “Is that the only reason?”

“No.”

Sighing, he folded his hands. “Well, have a good weekend, anyway.”

“You, too,” she said, getting up to go.

He plucked Amanda Sue off the floor and followed Emily to the door. “Tell Emily ’bye,” he instructed sweetly. Amanda Sue hugged Emily’s neck and kissed her.

“’Bye-bye, sweetheart. See you Monday.”

“We’ll miss you,” Logan said just before she went out the door. She tried not to look back—and failed.

I’ll miss you, too
, her heart whispered.
I already do
.

“E
den.” Logan threw his free arm around his younger sister’s neck and hugged her, knocking his hat askew. “Haven’t seen you lately. How are you?”

She laughed, and the sound of it was so infectious that Logan laughed, too. “Well and busy,” Eden said. “I’ve so wanted to meet my niece, but Mom asked all of us to give you some time alone with her.” She pulled back when Amanda Sue shoved at her. “Possessive already, sweetheart?” She grinned at Logan. “You always did have a way with the opposite sex, didn’t you, brother dear? And your little girl seems to have fallen victim like all the rest.”

“Well, not
all
the rest,” Logan muttered, thinking of Emily, but then he smiled and stepped through the open doorway of his mother’s large Colonial-style home. Eden shut the door. Obviously she had been watching for him, anxious to be the first to make the acquaintance of her niece. He didn’t disappoint her. Tugging his hat into place, he said, “Amanda Sue, this is your aunt Eden.” Amanda Sue put her hand in her mouth and stared, wide-eyed, at the dark-haired Eden.

“Logan, she’s gorgeous.”

“What’d you expect?” he teased. “She’s got Mom’s hair, but it’s getting darker.”

“And those eyes!” Eden gushed. “I expect she’s a real charmer, too.”

Logan chuckled. “Extremely charming—as cyclones go.”

Eden laughed and clapped her hands delightedly.
“You’ve had Daddy on his toes, have you, sweetheart?” she said to her niece, and Amanda Sue grinned, taking advantage of the moment to reach for her father’s hat.

“Ah-ah-ah.” Logan leaned back out of reach, pushing away her hand. “You can’t have Daddy’s hat.” As expected, Amanda Sue shrieked and threw herself backward, sobbing in protest. He was ready for her and simply held on, waiting it out with an apologetic shrug for his sister. Amanda Sue had used every weapon in her arsenal since he’d first put on the blasted hat, but he was determined not to give in on this. A cowboy’s hat was sacred, dammit, and even if her daddy wasn’t the working variety, she’d be spending her life around the real thing, so she had to learn. Besides, some lessons were uncompromising by their very nature.

“Poor baby!” Eden crooned, and to Logan’s disgust Amanda Sue launched herself into her aunt’s arms, the very ones she’d pushed away only moments earlier. “Daddy just doesn’t understand that no woman can resist a cowboy hat,” Eden commiserated. “No Fortune woman, anyway, and you’re definitely that.”

“Mimy,” Amanda Sue whined. “Oan Mimy Gooey.”

“What’s she asking for?” Eden said.

“Emily. Emily Applegate and her cat.”

“Emily, your assistant?” Eden asked, obviously surprised.

“And Amanda Sue’s temporary baby-sitter,” he said, removing his hat and jacket and stowing them in the foyer closet along with the small diaper tote.

Eden lifted her slender eyebrows. “How did that happen?”

“Did you ever interview nannies for Sawyer?” he asked cryptically.

“Ah. It isn’t easy, is it?”

Logan shook his head, really looking at his sister for a change. At twenty-seven and five-feet-and-seven-inches, she was a willowy beauty. Her long dark hair was looped into
a soft roll on the back of her head, accentuating her high cheekbones and aristocratic features. Her expressive blue eyes rivaled Amanda Sue’s for color and sparkle. Logan marveled, understanding for the first time what she’d been through, what she’d accomplished, as a single mother to her young son with only the help of a housekeeper/nanny. “Have I told you lately just how much I admire you?” he asked softly.

Eden studied him, gently embracing her niece, who had become interested in the byplay since the hat had been put away. “I’ve never seen you like this,” his sister finally said.

He spread his hands. “I’ve never been like this.”

Amanda Sue took it as an invitation and swayed toward him. Smiling, he pulled her against his chest. She patted his cheeks with both hands and said pleadingly, “Oan hat.”

He put his nose to hers and said, “No.”

She stuck out her bottom lip, and he kissed it. She wiped the kiss away with an angry swipe. He kissed her again. She swiped again. He rained kisses all over her face, and she succumbed to giggles.

“Oh, this is too wonderful,” his mother said from behind him. He turned to embrace her, grinning ear to ear.

“Mother.”

She looped a hand behind his head and pulled him down for a kiss, then turned her attention to her granddaughter. “Hello, my beauty. Grandmother’s so glad to see you.”

Amanda Sue seemed to remember her. Confident that she was adored, Amanda Sue even puckered up for a proper kiss but clung securely to her father’s neck.

“Let’s take her in to meet the others,” Mary Ellen said. “Then I want some one-on-one with both of you, if that’s not a contradiction in terms.”

Logan chuckled and proudly carried his daughter into the family room, flanked by his mother and sister. He’d expected his brother and sister, but the room was crowded with other Fortunes, too. Both his cousin Matthew and his wife Claudia were there, along with the mystery child they’d
named Taylor. Their own infant son Bryan had been kidnapped on the day of his christening, and Taylor had been returned to them in his stead. Bryan’s whereabouts remained as much a mystery as to whom Taylor belonged. They knew he was a Fortune, because of his hereditary crown-shaped birthmark and rare blood type, but so far no Fortune had claimed him. For the first time, Logan was fully aware of how Matthew and Claudia must be suffering, and he was touched that they had taken the time and trouble to welcome his daughter.

His cousin Dallas and new wife Maggie were there, too, looking radiantly happy as they watched their five-year-old son Travis tumbling on the carpet with Eden’s dark, handsome little Sawyer who was the same age. His cousin Vanessa and her new husband Devin, the FBI agent assigned to helping the local sheriff, Wyatt Grayhawk, find baby Bryan, were also in attendance. Knowing how concerned Vanessa was about her nephew, how concerned they all were, Logan was astounded at the size of the gathering.

His brother Holden and sister-in-law Lucinda were the first to step forward. “Wow!” Holden said. “She looks just like Mom!”

Lucinda, with her smooth bedside manner, already had Amanda Sue reaching for her. She was more used to delivering babies than treating them, but she took no time at all to announce that Amanda Sue was beautiful, healthy, and well cared for. When Vanessa tried to coax Amanda Sue away from her, though, the child reached for her daddy again. Holden laughed and exclaimed, “She actually likes him!”

Logan couldn’t help smiling. “Of course she does! In fact, she loves me. Don’t you, sweet girl? Amanda Sue loves Daddy, doesn’t she?”

She nodded dutifully, placed both hands on either side of his face, gave him a loud messy kiss and crooned, “Daddy hat?”

Eden snickered, and Logan rolled his eyes. “Emily says
she has a memory like an elephant,” he complained, explaining the hat situation.

“Sounds like Vanessa,” Devin commented dryly.

“Stubborn and beautiful,” Vanessa’s brother Dallas supplied.

“Willful and intelligent,” Vanessa’s other brother Matthew chimed in.

“Sounds like Eden to me,” Holden cracked.

“She’s a Fortune, all right,” Logan declared, chuckling. “No doubt about it.”

Everyone laughed, and Amanda Sue joined in, though it was obvious to all that she didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on. Her giggles brought all eyes back to her, however, and she seemed to enjoy the attention. She played to her audience, smiling at each with an attack of the cutes that had her batting her eyelashes and gyrating her shoulders. The five-year-old boys giggled at her antics, and it was only then that Amanda Sue seemed to notice them. She looked at her daddy, eyebrows raised as if to ask why he hadn’t told her there were other children present, bucked and demanded, “Down!”

Logan set her feet on the floor, and she took off at her usual run, bowling right into the boys with her arms spread wide. They made appropriate noises and went down. She threw a leg over Travis, who was by far the largest, and climbed onto his back as though he were a horse. Sawyer thought that was terribly funny. Travis got up on all fours and rocked back and forth, snorting like a bull. Amanda Sue held on to his shirt with both hands and invited Sawyer aboard. “Mon,” she said. “Mon.”

“That is a very secure child,” Lucinda observed.

“Donna deserves a lot of credit,” Logan said, “and Emily, too.” Then he had to explain about each woman, and conversation progressed from there.

Play got a little too rough at one point, and Amanda Sue bumped her head. Logan immediately came off the couch, where he was sitting with Eden and Mary Ellen, and knelt
beside his daughter. She clambered up into his arms, complaining loudly about the affront. He kissed her bump, told her to play more carefully and asked if she needed a diaper change. She pretended not to hear him, ensuring that she did. “I’ll do it,” Eden said, but Amanda Sue shook her head wildly and struggled to get away.

“No! No ditee! No ditee!”

“Just hand me a clean diaper and the wipes, will you, Eden?” Logan said. Catching Amanda Sue with the long reach of his arm and gently laying her down, he quickly opened her corduroy jumper and stripped away the soiled diaper. Amanda Sue struggled constantly, but the diaper appeared quickly, and Logan had her cleaned up and changed in short order. “There,” he said, rolling the soiled diaper into a plastic wrap and wiping his hands clean, while Amanda Sue scrambled up and launched herself at the boys again.

Logan got to his feet, and it was then that he noticed the absolute silence. He looked around him at the rapt faces. “What?”

Everyone burst into laughter. “You’re better at that than I am!” Matthew exclaimed.

“I never would have believed it,” Holden said, clapping Logan on the shoulder as if proud of him.

It was Mary Ellen who put the cap on the moment, however. “I knew you’d be a wonderful father,” she said, embracing him.

Logan couldn’t help grinning. “You knew more than I did, then,” he said truthfully. “Emily says I’ve come a long way, though, and what she doesn’t know about kids hasn’t been learned yet. She’s taught me lots.”

“I have to meet this Emily,” Eden mused thoughtfully.

“What are you talking about?” Logan said. “You’ve met her.”

“Well, of course, I’ve
met
her, but I’d like to have a conversation with her. You know, a visit.”

“I’m sure she’d like that,” Logan said. “She’d probably
appreciate the adult company since she’s at the house during the days with Amanda Sue while I work. We got a temp to take her place in the office.”

“Oan grink.”

“Okay, sweetheart.” He swept her up into his arms and looked to his mother. “What’ve you got for a little girl to drink, Granny?”

Mary Ellen traded a significant look with Eden, but then she smiled. “Why don’t we go see?”

He followed his mother toward the kitchen, Amanda Sue held close to his chest. He didn’t hear the comments and speculation voiced by the others in his absence. If he had, he might have realized just how much he’d changed since Amanda Sue’s arrival in his life. He might even have realized that he had finally lost his heart—to someone besides his little girl.

It was Mary Ellen who suggested that Logan and Eden pay a visit to their uncle Ryan at the main house on Sunday and introduce him to Amanda Sue, since he’d missed the family gathering. Ryan had much on his mind, she pointed out, and needed all the support he could get. Logan was only too eager to continue showing off his little daughter, and Eden was always ready to lend her support when anyone in the family needed it. They drove the two miles over to the big, sprawling hacienda, enjoying the rolling fields of mesquite and cactus interspersed with hardy grasses and the occasional tree.

“Isn’t it funny,” Eden said, “that no matter where we go or what we do, this place is still home?”

Logan nodded. “I’ve been thinking I’d like to live out here summers so Amanda Sue could experience growing up here.”

“It’d be a long commute,” Eden said.

“True, but I think it’d be worth it.”

“What does Emily say?”

“Haven’t mentioned it to her yet. I think she’d agree, though.”

Eden smiled in that secretive way she’d developed of late.

“What?”

She just shook her head.

He thought to himself that Eden was acting oddly, but then he fell to wondering what Emily would really say about his idea of living summers on the ranch. Should he think about building his own house, or would it be better for Amanda Sue to live in the house with his mother and his brother’s growing family? He loved the idea of Amanda Sue running through the same house in which he’d grown up, but maybe it would be best to build his own place. Maybe he’d ask Uncle Ryan about it after everything settled down. He was in no hurry, after all.

The house came into view, and it really was a magnificent sight, wholly at one with its surroundings and seeming as old as the land itself. They parked in front of the door and got out.

As expected, Rosita Perez, the housekeeper, let them into the house. Logan threw his free arm wide, Amanda Sue snuggled against his side with the other.

“Rosita, my love!”

Rosita poked a plump finger into his ribs. “Ha! Don’t think you can charm me, Logan Fortune. I’ve known you for a scamp since before you could walk, and I can still burn your backside when you need it.”

He grinned, but then he said, “Well, better get out the paddle, then, Rosita. I’m afraid I’ve brought proof of my perfidy this time.”

“I’m betting she’ll forgive you for this one,” Eden said with grateful knowledge. Rosita stepped forward, reached up and wrapped both arms around Eden’s shoulders. Eden had to bend forward to accommodate the plump housekeeper’s short stature.

“How are you, my Eden? We don’t see you enough.”

Eden kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Rosita. I’m well and busy.”

Rosita looked into her eyes, nodded and stepped back, lifting a hand to smooth the wide, white streak in her neatly braided and wrapped, ink-black hair. Once more she turned her attention to Logan and, this time, his daughter. Folding her hands at her waist, Rosita tilted her head, studying Amanda Sue, who had her hand in her mouth as usual.