Chapter Twelve
Joseph watched their little byplay, both of them thinking they were being so sly. He wondered what had gone on last night. It looked to him like the kids might have gotten close and were both running scared now. Well, he wasn’t going to let them avoid each other, not when it looked like things had finally started heating up.
“Eat up, Lucas. You have a busy day. You need to take Amy to get her car and help her shop for the apartment. Better to get an early start, so it will be ready for her to move into.”
He then looked at Amy.
“I think you’ll be happy there.”
“Mr. Anderson . . .”
she began, but he stopped her.
“Now, Amy, you’re a guest in my home. Don’t you think it’s time you started calling me Joseph?”
“Um, okay, Mr. . . . I mean, Joseph. I was thinking. Mr. Anderson,”
she nodded toward Lucas, “is really busy, and I don’t mind doing this stuff on my own. If it’s a matter of a signature, they could fax you the paperwork. I could just take a cab to the car lot. I really, really don’t mind,”
she pleaded with him.
Joseph watched the steam practically rise from his son’s ears at her statement. It seemed Lucas could dish out attitude but didn’t like getting it back. He quite enjoyed watching his son squirm.
He’d been impressed with Amy from the moment he’d met her, but as she put his son in his place, he liked her even more. She was good for Lucas. He needed a woman who wouldn’t allow him to walk all over her. She reminded him a lot of his Katherine.
Joseph had been a fool when he’d first met his wife, but luckily she’d forgiven him. He couldn’t imagine what he would’ve done had she not. He loved her more each day they spent together.
He didn’t mind pushing his son’s buttons a little, especially if it hurried him along.
“If Lucas is busy this afternoon, I could always give Mark a call and ask if he wouldn’t mind escorting you around. I don’t think that would be a problem. He’s my one child who actually enjoys shopping,”
Joseph said, watching Lucas out of the corner of his eye.
He thought the boy might actually upturn the table, so brightly was the fire burning in his eyes. Good. He needed to be pushed.
Lucas hadn’t wanted to spend the day with her, but her trying to get out of it just plain ticked him off. How dare she not want to be with him? They had some talking to do, and she was damn well going to spend the day with him.
Plus, there was no way he was going to sit by while his brother whisked Amy around town. He could easily see Mark falling in love with her. His little brother had a heart of gold. He vehemently denied he ever wanted to get married, but Lucas saw the longing in Mark’s eyes when they got stuck watching a sappy movie or an affectionate couple were nearby. Mark might say he didn’t want to get married, but Lucas knew it was all talk.
Lucas quickly sat up and addressed his father.
“Of course I’m not too busy to go with Ms. Harper,”
he said, his voice dripping with venom. He finally faced her with a smirk on his face.
“Why don’t you go ahead and get ready so we can take off right away?”
he said, looking her up and down. He knew she was already dressed for the day, but he just wanted to be an ass.
He smiled as he watched the fire enter her eyes. He could practically hear her screaming at him in her head. As much as he didn’t want to react to her, he instantly hardened; everything in him wanted to lift her over his shoulder and cart her to the nearest bed.
He’d thought one night would purge her from his system. He’d been dead wrong and he had a feeling a month straight wouldn’t be enough.
He had some nerve looking down his nose at her! Amy was fighting to keep her emotions in check. She looked just fine, and she wasn’t trying to impress him, anyway. She’d go with him, just to show him she could be in his company without being affected by it.
The only thing keeping her from telling him what she truly thought about him was the fact that she was sitting at his father’s table, and she respected Joseph. As far as Lucas went, he’d better be careful, because her foot might slip on the gas pedal and run him over when she was test-driving her new car.
“I’m ready, Mr. Anderson,”
she said in a voice of honey dripping with vinegar.
“You may want to get ready yourself, though, and clean the jam off your face,”
she added with satisfaction.
His eyes narrowed even further before he got up from the table and walked into the house without another word. She quietly chuckled, enjoying winning their little battle. It felt kind of good to knock the all-powerful Lucas down a notch.
“Well, you kids seem to be getting along rather well,”
Joseph said with complete sincerity. She couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. He seemed to be. Maybe the two of them hadn’t been as obvious as she’d thought. She figured you could’ve sliced the tension between them with a knife, but it was good Joseph hadn’t noticed.
“He’s a great boss,”
was all she said before looking down and picking at her breakfast. She didn’t see the amused grin on Joseph’s face.
“I’m happy to hear that, as the two of you will be spending a lot of time together. I used to love my business trips. Esther was invaluable at keeping everything together for me when we were away. I couldn’t have done my job nearly as well without her. Katherine often accompanied us, especially when we went to the tropical places. That’s how the two of them became such close friends.”
Amy felt a moment of pure panic as Joseph talked about her traveling with Lucas. How could she possibly keep herself together if they were locked alone together on his jet or in a hotel suite? She didn’t even hear the rest of what Joseph was saying. Something about Katherine and Esther. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she might end up on some tropical island with a boss she couldn’t seem to resist.
She tried to relax, thinking back over their conversation. He wasn’t interested in having sex with her anymore. He’d already gotten what he wanted. She could deal with his sarcasm, even his rudeness; she just couldn’t deal with his touch — at least not without melting.