his pockets. “A job like this one, with all the benefits, doesn’t come along every day. It wouldn’t be fair to ask you to give it up just because of what happened. And I don’t date my employees. It’s one of my cardinal rules. One I never break.”
“But don’t you think it might be a little embarrassing, our working together every day?”
“There’s no reason why it has to be. We’ll just put the Friday night incident in the past, where it belongs. And it’s not as if you’ll even see me that often. I probably won’t be back to Colorado for several months.”
“I know. Mr. Addison explained about your work schedule when he hired me.”
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem.” Jared eased off his desk. “Honey, we’re a couple of adults. It wasn’t the first time for either of us. These things happen.”
They don’t happen to me, she wanted to say, but didn’t. Instead she said, “You’re right, Mr. Montgomery. It would be stupid of me to let what happened between us make me give up a wonderful job.”
“Then you’ll stay on here at Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development?”
“Yes, I’ll stay.” As long as he wasn’t around every day, she’d be fine. And when he was in town, she’d just have to find a way to manage.
“Then we have a deal, Ms. Summers. We’re going to pretend Friday night never happened.” Jared held out his hand. “And you’re going to stay on as my administrative assistant.”
She didn’t want to touch him. But she had no choice. If she didn’t accept his handshake, he’d know she was afraid. Willing herself not to tremble, she put her hand in his. Her insides melted. All she wanted to do was wrap herself around him and ask him to hold her close forever.
* * *
That had been the last time Paige had seen him. Four months ago. And in those four months her life had changed forever. She had longed for Jared to return and tell her that his rejection had been a mistake, that he still wanted her as much as he had the night they’d shared such unparalleled passion in the elevator.
Now Paige realized that once she had discovered L. J. Montgomery and her lover, Jared, were one in the same, she should have given up her job as his administrative assistant. She could have found something with another firm. After all, she had a business degree and nearly four years’ experience. If only she’d done the smart thing, she wouldn’t have had to endure talking to him on the phone, which always prompted her to dream about him. And she wouldn’t now be facing the prospect of his imminent return. But jobs that paid the salary she received at Montgomery’s and companies that provided such excellent employee benefits were few and far between.
And now that she was in this situation, she desperately needed her good insurance to pay the doctor and hospital bills.
This situation? Paige laughed aloud. Tears sprung to her eyes. She swatted them away as if they were pesky insects. She was not going to feel sorry for herself. She’d gotten herself into this situation and it was up to her to take care of herself.
If she had a viable alternative to facing L. J. Montgomery, she wouldn’t still be working for his firm. But she needed her job, now more than ever. Her parents weren’t poor, but neither were they wealthy. Her father’s carpentry work supplemented his army retirement and the family got along just fine. But her parents had one son in his second year at the University of Colorado and a younger one was a senior in high school. They could hardly afford to take care of her.
So far she’d been able to keep her condition a secret from everyone at work, including Kay Thompson, with whom she’d formed a genuine friendship. She wasn’t showing—not yet—not so that anyone could tell she was four months pregnant. But sooner or later, her pregnancy would become noticeable, and then what would she tell everyone? What would she tell Jared?
Paige checked her watch. Twelve-thirty. Jared was due at the office at two. An hour and thirty minutes. Maybe she would feel differently about him once she saw him. It was possible that he wasn’t quite as wonderful as she remembered. Maybe he wasn’t as tall and lean and powerful and sexy as she’d thought he was. Maybe she had imagined his killer smile—those white teeth, that darkly tanned face. Maybe he was just an ordinary, attractive man with a nice smile.
Yeah, sure. And I imagined our wild, hot, passionate lovemaking in the elevator. I imagined that what we shared was earth-shattering, unlike anything I’d ever experienced. And maybe I’m just imagining that I’m four months pregnant.
Paige took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and glanced straight at L. J. Montgomery’s big, wide oak desk. Pretending he was sitting in the chair behind the desk, Paige went over her stories—the ones from which she’d have to choose when it became necessary to reveal her pregnancy.
One was a lie. He wasn’t the father. The other was the truth. He was the father.
What sort of woman would lie to a man about something so important? But then again, what sort of woman would make love to a perfect stranger in an elevator? She wasn’t the type to do either. But she’d already done one and might be forced to do the other.
Once she saw Jared again, she’d know the right thing to do. Maybe, if she was lucky, he’d walk into the office, swoop her up in his arms and declare his undying love for her. But something told Paige she wasn’t going to be that lucky.
* * *
Jared had convinced himself that for the past four months he’d been far too busy to become involved with someone new. Although he’d made time for a few dates, not one of them had involved more than a pleasant dinner and a chaste good-night kiss. And when thoughts of Paige Summers drifted through his head, as they so often did, he forced them away, determined to put his Grand Springs administrative assistant out of his mind.
In the cold, hard light of day, Jared was completely in charge of his life. He had learned at his wealthy father’s knee that power was everything, and despite his inherited millions, he’d been determined to prove himself in the business world—without his father’s help. And at thirty-seven, he’d done just that.
But despite his iron will, he could not control his dreams. At night, Paige curled herself around him like a purring kitten and he became powerless against his desire for her. No matter what his good sense told him—that no one, least of all some sexy redheaded working girl, was going to veer him off course and ruin his plans—his body told him the exact opposite—that he should give up everything to possess her.
Years ago, another beautiful administrative assistant had wanted him to play Prince Charming to her Cinderella. If it hadn’t been for Grandpa Monty’s intervention, Jared would have found himself married to a sexy little gold digger. But he’d learned his lesson well, and in the years following, his romantic liaisons had been confined to brief, mutually satisfying affairs with sophisticated women, who like him, wanted nothing more.
Of course, he would marry—eventually. He was damn near close to accomplishing everything he’d set out to achieve when he’d started his real estate and land development company straight out of college. In another five years—when he had achieved all his goals—he’d find a suitable wife, marry and have children.
But he certainly wouldn’t find his life’s mate in an elevator. The woman he made his wife wouldn’t just have a gorgeous face and great body. And she certainly wouldn’t be some unsophisticated, hot-blooded, earthy, emotional redhead. No, when Lawrence Jared Montgomery married, he’d marry a dignified, sophisticated princess who would make him the perfect wife.
And until recently, Jared noted, he’d enjoyed a rich, full social life, with his pick of women wherever he went. Oh, he still had his pick of women, but he’d been too busy to begin a new affair. Besides, he hadn’t met anyone really interesting in quite some time. Not since he’d spent an evening trapped in an elevator with a redheaded temptress.
But Paige Summers was not the reason he hadn’t had sex with another woman in four months. She didn’t mean that