Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter One

      The man had to go.

      Jodie Allman glared at Kurt McLaughlin, head of the marketing department of Allman Industries, as he went on talking earnestly to Mabel Norton. Office hours were long over and Mabel was on her way home, her handbag slung over her shoulder. Kurt didn’t glance Jodie’s way as he conversed with the director of Hospitality Services, but she knew that he knew she was standing there across the office floor, waiting for further instructions.

      “One…two…three…” she whispered to herself, tapping her foot as she counted. Counting to ten was a primitive but well-honored way of keeping control of her temper. It was probably time she moved on to more sophisticated methods—such as finding a way to get the man out of her life.

      “It’s such a simple thing,” she told herself for the hundredth time that week, pushing her thick, blond hair back behind her ear in a gesture of impatience. “My father owns this company. Why the heck can’t I get him to announce one particular layoff?”

      Of course, she hadn’t actually tried. Thinking about having Kurt thrown out on his ear was infinitely satisfying. But actually watching him pack up his meager belongings in a cardboard box and carry them sadly to his truck while the female support staff sobbed helplessly and shot daggers at Jodie would be another thing entirely. She wasn’t nearly the tough-as-nails independent woman she would like to pretend.

      The frustrating thing was, it really seemed that no one else could see through Kurt McLaughlin the way she could. Even the others in her family didn’t seem to take the threat he posed seriously. And all her coworkers around here adored him. The fact that he was over six feet tall with a build right out of a woman’s fantasy and a face handsome enough to turn heads in the cafeteria didn’t hurt. The auburn hair that always looked a little wind-ruffled, and the green eyes that seemed to scan a woman right down to her heart and soul, were added attractions that muddied the waters for most females. They were so busy being bowled over by his admitted charms that they didn’t notice what he was up to.

      She’d only been back in town and working for him for a few weeks, but she’d gotten his number right away. Once you realized what his game was, it was just so obvious.

      Suddenly she noticed he was looking up at her, though he was still talking to Mabel. And to her astonishment, he was crooking his finger in her direction. Crooking his finger!

      Well, that did it. There was no way she was dashing up, like a little, woolly dog, to a man who crooked his finger at her. She wasn’t going to wait around any longer, either. It was way past time to go home. The three of them were probably the only people left in this ancient building, as it was. With one last baleful look in his direction, she turned on her heel and strode for the elevator, heading back up to her office to get her things.

      “Hey.”

      It took her a moment to realize he was coming after her. Quickly, she jabbed at the Close Door button, and the doors began to move. But he was too fast for her, stepping into the elevator, and reaching across her to jab at the “stop” button. She hit the Close Door button again, just for emphasis, and he turned to grin at her as the doors opened, closed and opened again, before finally grounding together with a screeching of gears.

      His grin faded fast.

      “Uh-oh,” he said, turning to look at the control panel.

      The elevator shot up a dozen feet or so, then shuddered to a stop, complaining loudly.

      “Uh-oh,” Jodie echoed, agreeing with him for the first time in recent memory.

      An eerie silence reigned while they both stared at the control panel, hoping for a sign of life. Then Kurt sprang forward and tried one button after another, getting absolutely no response. Alarmed, Jodie stepped forward, as well, and did the same, pushing every button twice. There was absolutely no indication that the buttons were connected to anything.

      “Look what you did,” Kurt muttered darkly. “We’re stuck.”

      “What I did?” she responded, throwing him a smoldering glare. “You’re the one who forced your way onto my elevator ride.”

      “I had to do that. You were trying to escape.”

      “Escape!” she choked, as she fought back the retort she was tempted to make. She took a deep breath.

      Calm. We must remain calm. This is, after all, your current boss. Such as he may be.

      “I was standing there waiting for you, trying to catch your attention for ages, but you were talking away to Mabel Norton as though it was the most important thing you’d done all day.”

      “It was. The most important thing in my world, at any rate.” His face softened. “I was getting some advice on finding child care for Katy.”

      “Oh.” She winced, knowing only too well how he felt about his young daughter.

      “I’ve been having some trouble finding someone to care for her during the day.” His look sharpened. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who might like a baby-sitting job, would you?”

      She backed away, hands out. “Sorry. I don’t know much about babies. Or about those who like to care for them, for that matter.”

      “Yes, I realized you weren’t big on babies from the first,” he said dryly.

      That startled her a bit. She didn’t know what she’d done to give him that impression, and something about the unemotional way he’d put