“I’m not leaving.”

“Yes, you are.”

Too late. Maggie arrived at the door, Jake behind her. One look at him and Lucy’s heart pounded and her palms began to sweat. He must have come right off the job site.

Construction dust clung to his jeans, and his work shirt bore dark stains. Wow. Did he

look hot.

Maggie stepped aside to let Jake in the office. Spying her father, Jake leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Lucy’s lips. Her feet melted to the floor.

“Hey, babe,” he said with a wink before turning to her father and raising his hand.

“Mr. Fairchild.”

Lucy looked to her father, who ignored Jake’s outstretched hand, shook his head and stormed from the office.

Jake shrugged and stepped in.

Maggie hung at the doorway, her mouth hanging open. Lucy told Jake to have a seat and then looked toward Maggie. “That’ll be all, Maggie. And close your mouth.”

“Oh. Sorry. But, wow, Lucy, he’s fine.”

Lucy couldn’t help but beam, knowing exactly how Maggie felt. “Yes, he certainly is. Hold my calls, please.”

With a vacant nod, and a dreamy smile on her face, Maggie walked away and Lucy closed the door.

“Hi,” she said as she sat in the chair across from Jake, her mind stuttering for something to say. Just looking at him occupied every brain cell.

“Hi, yourself. Nice office.”

“Thanks.”

His gaze traveled the length of her. “Sexy as hell little suit, too.” She looked down at the navy blue pinstripe, wondering what he found sexy about a basic two-piece suit. Though she warmed considerably at his compliment.

“Thanks. Sexy as hell jeans and T-shirt, by the way.” He laughed. “Thanks.”

Why was he here? And why couldn’t she manage to open her mouth and ask? She was way too old to be rendered tongue tied by a guy, wasn’t she?

“What brings you here today?”

He shifted a bit in the chair and stretched his legs, then glanced at the door. Was Jake Dalton nervous? That had to be a first.

“You ran out the other day before we could talk.”

“Yes, I know. Sorry.” What was she supposed to say? That she’d been too scared he’d tell her he didn’t want to see her again? Sheesh. It really was time to grow up.

“I wanted to ask you a question.”

Gulp. “Okay.”

“There’s a thing coming up next weekend.”

“A thing?”

“Yeah. Kind of an event.”

A thing which was an event. Now that was vague. “Could you be more specific?” He was nervous. He lifted and lowered his shoulders and sighed. “Uh, every year the contractors host a barbecue, picnic kind of thing. All the company owners attend.”

“Okay.” She was an expert at pulling information out of witnesses, surely she could do the same with Jake. “And?”

“This year it’s at my house.”

She crossed her arms and tried to hold back a smile. “Which means?”

“I’ve never hosted it before, since I was never a company owner.”

“You must be very excited.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hardly.”

She wasn’t a rocket scientist but she was getting the gist of where the conversation was going. “Would you like me to help you?”

With a dramatic sigh, he nodded. “Would you? God, I hate to ask, and if there were anyone else I wouldn’t.”

“Oh, gee, thanks a lot.”

“Ah, hell. That’s not what I meant at all.” He jammed his hand through his hair.

“I’m not handling this well, am I?”

“You’re doing fine, Jake.” She found the entire conversation endearing, and more than a little eye opening. He needed her help.

“Okay, anyway. I have no idea what to do. I mean, I can barbecue, but the whole entertaining thing is way out of my league. There’s going to be husbands and wives and kids and we can’t stand around staring at each other all day. I’m not good at planning entertainment. I don’t want it to be fussy, but I don’t want everyone to be bored, either.”

“Relax.” She leaned over and laid her hand on top of his, feeling the sun-warmed heat of his body. “I’ve been handling social affairs for my father for years now. I’ll be happy to help you.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

She stood and grabbed her pad and pen from the desk. “Okay, first things first—the menu.”

Chapter Seven

The party turned out perfectly, even if she said so herself. Lucy stood outside under the tent they’d erected this morning, watching the crowds mingle at the food table. She mentally checked off her list, trying to figure out if she’d missed anything.

Not a thing. There were ribs, burgers, and hot dogs for the main food choices.

Then they had potato salad, fruit salad, corn on the cob, jello salad and coleslaw. Buns, slices of bread, and all the condiments. And drinks, from soft drinks to beer and wine.

She’d passed on the wine. Iced tea for her today. This wasn’t a day for a repeat of her previous performance.

Jake had told her to keep it simple. He’d warned her this group of people wouldn’t find caviar and pate to their liking. She’d sneered at his laughing face, telling him she knew how to plan a party to fit the guests.

Although she had to admit to having experienced a bout of nervousness before everyone arrived this afternoon. Worried about every little detail, wanting this party to be successful for Jake, had her pacing the yard like a caged tiger.

Jake finally had to tell her to stop obsessing, that everything looked perfect, she’d done a wonderful job, and she could relax and enjoy the party.

Little did he know. The hostess never really enjoyed the party, they were too busy making sure everyone else had a good time.

They’d gone with picnic tables and benches so they could seat more people.

Thankfully, Jake had a huge backyard, easily accommodating the thirty or so guests along with their children, with plenty of room to set up a game area for the kids.

She had an inflatable bouncy house brought in for the little kids to romp around in, and a trampoline for the older kids, which they loved. Even a few of the more daring adults had ventured onto it once or twice today.

The best part of the day had to be the children. They were all adorable. They ranged in age from six months old to twelve. She’d told Jake there was nothing more boring than to drag a child to a stuffy party where nothing was set up for them to enjoy. So she’d made sure there were plenty of activities for them, no matter their age.

The last thing she wanted was to have the children endure what she’d had to.

Endless social engagements more fitting for adults than children. No other kids to play with. Her father hadn’t had the first clue what to do with a child. She’d been his companion and hostess at parties from the time she was old enough to talk.

He told her the best way to teach her about the family business was to expose her to it. So while other girls her age were playing with Barbies, she’d been taught to play the “who’s sitting on the Supreme Court” game.

Not today, though. Today was a day for fun and games, both for the adults and the children.

So far, so good. The kids were having fun, the adults were milling and enjoying, and she hadn’t had a moment to even speak to Jake in about two hours. Which pretty much left her surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

Not that it mattered. This was the friendliest group of people she’d ever had the pleasure to meet. The women didn’t raise their eyebrows at her presence there with Jake, instead welcomed her as if they’d known her for years. She just hoped she didn’t get anyone’s name wrong.

“You’ve done a wonderful job today, Lucy.”

She turned and smiled at Bob’s wife, Shelly. “Thank you, Shelly. I hope everyone’s having a good time.”

Shelly beamed, her rosy cheeks plumping up with her grin. “You can bet on it. The rest of us will have a hard time making our turns as spectacular as this one.” Lucy frowned. “Too much, you think?”

“No, not at all.” Shelly laid a hand on her arm. “It’s perfect. Just what this stodgy old group needed. And we’re thrilled there’s something for the kids to do.”

“Speaking of kids, I need to go make a call. Can someone hold Bayley?” One of the contractor’s wives, Lucy thought her name was Maria, handed off the infant into Lucy’s arms.

She couldn’t recall ever holding a baby before. Not having any brothers or sisters or relatives with children meant her exposure to babies and small children was, well, nil.

But she cradled Bayley in her arms. The infant looked up at her, smiled a toothless grin, and promptly drooled all over Lucy’s chest.

“She likes you,” Shelly said.

“She’s adorable,” Lucy countered, feeling a maternal urge to protect this child unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Was that a natural feeling? Did all women feel this way?

“You look good with a baby. Thinking of having your own any time soon?” Jake had warned her Shelly would be the worst at matchmaking. He’d told her that as soon as Shelly and the rest of the women found out they were dating, they’d have a wedding date set before Lucy could utter a word.

He was nearly right.

“Um, yes, I’ve thought about having children, of course.” Lucy kept her eye on Bayley, who found her silver necklace fascinating, flicking the dangling beads on the chain with her chubby, wet finger. “I’ll need to focus on finding a husband first.” Shelly laughed. “Honey, with your looks and that body, I can’t imagine you’d have much trouble.”

Lucy felt her cheeks warming. “Thank you. You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find a good man.”

“You might have already found one. Jake is a prize that many women have tried to claim for themselves.”

“Really?” Lucy looked around, trying to find Jake. She didn’t see him.

“Really.”

Shifting Bayley in her arms, she and Shelly took a seat on the glider. The baby sat forward in her lap, and found Rascal to be quite entertaining. Every time he licked her hand she’d pull it back and giggle.

Trying not to think too hard about what happened the last time she’d been in the glider, she turned to Shelly. “Does Jake date a lot of women?” She immediately felt guilty for asking the question, knowing she was prying into Jake’s personal life, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Not really. Like I said, he’s had plenty of offers, and he goes out now and then.

But he spends way too much time on business if you ask me. Not like he’s getting any younger, and I need grandchildren.”

Lucy laughed at Shelly’s comment. “Kind of see yourself as his pseudo-mother, do you?”

She nodded. “Poor boy had it rough the first part of his life. I’m just glad he ended up with Bob and me. We’d always wanted children, but it never happened for us.”

“I’m sorry.” Lucy looked at Shelly now, still a beautiful woman though she had to be well past sixty. She wore her hair in a stylish chin-length cut, and it was a thick, gorgeous silver. Lucy’d give her right arm for straight, sleek hair like that.

“It’s okay. We long ago accepted it. And I think God had a plan for us. We were needed to take care of Jake. He’s more my son than any other child I could have ever given birth to.”

The woman’s obvious love for Jake warmed Lucy. “Jake’s a very lucky man.” Shelly’s brown eyes glittered with happiness. “Thank you. But now, like a concerned mother, I want to see him as happy as Bob and I have been all these years.”

“I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the right girl comes along.” Why, as soon as she uttered the words, did she feel a stab of jealousy? It wasn’t like she was going to be the girl of Jake’s dreams. And yet, the thought of him sitting on this glider with another woman brought about a fierce emotion. Anger? As if he were cheating on her. As if he were hers and no way was she going to let another woman get her claws in him.

“Maybe he’s already found the right girl.”

Lucy stared at Shelly’s knowing smile, and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe you’re not as smart as I thought you were, then,” Shelly said with a pat on Lucy’s shoulder.

A couple of the other kids stopped at the glider to talk to Lucy and play with Bayley, effectively cutting off further conversation with Shelly. Good thing, too, since she didn’t have an appropriate comeback for Shelly’s last statement.

Jake found Lucy sitting on the glider with Shelly, holding Maria’s baby in her lap and surrounded by kids like a shepherd with her flock. Seeing her like that struck him immobile, his heart skipping a beat.

Her face was flushed, her head thrown back, exposing that neck that begged for his teeth, and she was laughing at something one of the children said to her.

One thing he’d discovered over the years was that kids could spot a phony or someone who didn’t naturally love children. Kids avoided adults who didn’t like them.

They’d been hanging on Lucy all day long, and not once had she frowned at them, told them she was too busy, or otherwise given them the brush off. Each time one of the kids pulled the hem of her shorts she’d stopped whatever she was doing, bent down to their eye level, and gave them her full attention.

His heart felt mushy, and that had never happened to him before.