Heiress for Hire (30 page)

Piper nodded, tossing the last bite of her cone in her mouth. "Just remember to feed it, and you'll be okay."

Amanda held Piper's hand as they crossed the parking lot to Danny's truck.

She was still embarrassed over the way she had sniped at Danny for hugging Shelby. His ex-wife was having a baby, and he had been congratulating her. Danny was an affectionate guy.

Yet she had thrown down his money like a child. Like a bratty heiress.

God, she couldn't think about it without wincing.

This was why she couldn't stay in Cuttersville. She obviously wasn't finished growing up, and no matter if she had realized she was in love with Danny or not. He and Piper deserved better than her.

The minute school started, she needed to get the hell out. Less than two weeks. Then she would leave, having honored her commitment to Piper and hopefully not damaging either one of them in the process.

She wasn't sure she was going to be able to walk away without some serious pain, but it was the right thing to do. Piper and Danny deserved a woman in their lives who already knew who she was. Who belonged.

Which meant she wasn't going to be able to have sex with

Danny again. If she did, she wasn't sure she'd have the strength to leave him.

"I think that man is trying to get your attention," Piper said, pointing to her left.

Amanda jerked herself out of her thoughts of surviving twenty-four-hour horniness without allowing herself to touch Danny and glanced over. And sighed. "That's my father."

She gave Brett Delmar a wave to let him know she saw him and moved Piper back to the sidewalk in front of the ice-cream store. Her father was driving a rental car, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, but he still looked angry. She could see it in the tilt of his head, the tension in his shoulders.

This wasn't how she wanted to spend her afternoon, but she knew this was a good thing. She needed to resolve a few issues between the two of them, and she needed to do it in a calm, mature manner. No sarcasm, no biting remarks, no threats. At least on her part. She couldn't prevent him from behaving that way.

That was the crux of it. She couldn't change her father or his opinions. She had to be responsible for herself, first and foremost, and stop tossing the blame ball in his lap when she was intimidated or afraid or hurt.

Danny was still talking to Shelby and Boston, and Brady was making his way toward them with small swings of his crutches, his shorts in danger of dropping right off his hips.

Piper glanced back at him. "Maybe I should help Brady."

"With what?" He wasn't carrying anything. Amanda knew the signs of a crush when she saw them. Piper had the eight-year-old hots for Brady Stritmeyer. "You like Brady, huh?"

Piper nodded. "He's nice to me and he doesn't make fun of my hair. And he's sexy."

"Sexy?" Amanda burst out with a laugh. The kid was a riot today.

"That's what my mom always called boys she liked."

Keeping an eye on her father, Amanda swung Piper's hand back and forth. "Well, I can see that. But I don't think you should call Brady sexy in front of your dad. It might freak him out, you know what I mean?"

Piper nodded and her free hand came out, palm flat, fingers slightly spread. "I know what you mean. There's one way to talk to girls, and another way to talk to boys."

Amanda was spared a discussion of male-female dynamics by her father striding toward her. "Amanda."

"Hi, Dad. This is a surprise."

Her father was wearing his golf uniform—khakis and a navy three-button shirt. She wondered if he'd been yanked right off the course mid-hole and brought to the Cuttersville plant.

"Are you on your way to Samson?"

"I'm going to stop over there tomorrow, but I've really carved a chunk out of my schedule to see you."

That was kind of sweet. She smiled at him. "Well, I'm not exactly free at the moment, but we could have dinner together. I'll ask Danny if I can leave a little early."

Her father frowned. Amanda cleared her throat and put her hand on Piper's back. "This is Piper Schwartz, the little girl I babysit for. Her father is…" My lover. Amanda felt herself flushing as she turned to look for Danny.

"There he is. The guy in the jeans. That's Danny, Piper's father." Oh, God, she was starting to babble. Amanda pulled her teeth off her lip and ordered herself to be mature. Or at least pretend to be.

"Which guy? They're all wearing jeans." Her father lifted his sunglasses. "Is that Boston? Climbing all over that woman?"

"His wife. Yes. That's Boston. He just got some good news and they're celebrating." Amanda's tried to relax her locked-down jaw, but her teeth were clenched too tightly. "Piper, this is my father, Brett Delmar."

"Hi," Piper said, leaning against Amanda's hip. "Nice to meet you."

Piper had better manners than her father. Brett just glanced down at her and nodded. "Sweetie, go run along to your father. I need to speak with Amanda."

Annoyed at his presumptuousness, Amanda opened her mouth to tell Piper to stay, but she was already running toward Danny, clearly intimidated. "Dad, you can't do that. I'm getting paid to watch her."

"Then maybe you can tell her to wash her face. She was filthy."

Determination to be mature was collapsing, but she just squeezed her fists together and tried to stay calm. "We just ate ice cream. Now if you'd like to meet me for dinner, that would be wonderful, but right now I am working." She wanted to add you should understand that but restrained herself.

This was a time to mend their relationship, not bring up old resentments. He was who he was, and she either had to accept that or spend her life resentful.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on the balls of his feet impatiently. "Oh, come on, Amanda. Can we just give up this charade? Your mother is worried about you. Just come home, and we'll find you a real job."

If he patted her on the head, she was going to scream. "What happened to tough love? You're the one who started this whole thing."

"I just wanted to get you home and humble you a little. I never expected you would resort to looking after some hick's dirty kid."

Amanda swallowed hard and chose her words very, very carefully. "Dad, please don't insult Danny or Piper. They're wonderful people, and it's been a privilege spending time with them. I know you mean well. I know you want me to come home and you probably didn't intend to cut me off for good. But truthfully, while it's hard and uncomfortable and inconvenient, I'm doing okay without your money, and it's been a positive, growing experience for me. I want to learn to take care of myself."

Brett stared at her. "You're serious. You'd rather stay here in Podunk than come home?"

"Yes."

He shook his head. "I don't understand you."

"And I don't understand you. But we can learn to work around it." She tried to give him a smile, but she couldn't quite manage it.

"No matter what I give you, you don't want it. You sneer and spit at it." His voice was bitter, his gray eyes hard and opaque.

That caught her so far off guard, she reached for his hand, vision blurring. "All I ever wanted was for you to love me."

His jaw worked. "Don't be childish. You always had that."

Amanda felt her head shaking back and forth before she was even aware she was doing it. He was standing there, and he believed everything he said was the truth—and she supposed it was from his perspective.

They could never see eye to eye on this. And neither one of them could change who they were or the past.

Amanda couldn't forget that he had wanted a son, that he had been harsh and judgmental. But she could forgive. She could move on, with her own life.

"Daddy, go home. I'm not coming back to Chicago. Not to punish you or to throw a temper tantrum, but because I need to see if I know how to be a real person instead of Barbie with a college degree."

"What are you talking about?" He rubbed his chest like he had heartburn.

Amanda reached out and kissed his cheek. "Trust me. I'll be fine. If you text message me Mom's phone number at the spa, I'll call her and let her know she doesn't have to worry."

"What are you going to do here?" He waved his hand around wildly.

"Exactly what I've been doing. Taking care of Piper and learning to live on a budget." When it was time to leave in September, she would make her way to New York and stay with Stuart for a while. She would find herself a job—hopefully in the art industry—and get herself on her feet.

"I can give you an allowance."

Her dad was starting to look panicked now. But Amanda didn't want the money between them for a change. She wanted to try and have a relationship with him that didn't rely on cold hard cash. "I'm fine for right now. But I'll let you know if I need some."

Danny and Piper were hovering by the truck, obviously waiting for her, and Amanda waved them over.

She introduced Danny, and her father had the sense to stick out his hand and shake, though he looked too bewildered to make conversation.

"You have a wonderful daughter, sir," Danny said, tossing her a smile. "She's been taking care of my daughter like she's her own, and I'm very grateful to her."

While Amanda contemplated kissing him for being so damn sweet, her father just nodded. "Good, good."

"Amanda, you can have the rest of the day off if you want to spend time with your dad. Piper and I can find something to do on our own."

"Actually, my father is leaving, aren't you, Daddy?" Amanda squeezed his hand. "I'll call you soon." Impulsively, she gave him a hug. "I… I love you."

He didn't say anything, but his arms came up in what could be called a loose embrace. Amanda figured that was progress.

She turned and started toward the truck. "Let's go. Brady's probably fallen asleep waiting for us."

Danny put his hand on the small of her back as they walked. He said in a low voice, "You okay?"

Nodding, she stopped and waited for him to unclick the door locks. She didn't trust herself her to talk, feeling a little raw and a lot like crying.

"Piper, come on, baby girl."

Amanda turned and watched Piper scramble to catch up with them. She shoved something at Danny.

"Amanda's dad told me to give this to her. He said it's all he had right now."

Danny took the wad of money from Piper. "What the… ?" He started shifting through it. "Jesus Christ, this is over four thousand dollars. I'm holding a freaking fortune in my hand in the middle of the street." He blanched. "Where the hell is your purse?"

"I didn't bring it."

Danny shoved the money in his pocket, patting it and smashing to make sure it was all in there. "Let's get home before a strong wind comes along."

Amanda looked across the street to where her father was pulling away in his Lexus rental car. "Bye, Daddy." She waved to him.

He didn't look back, but she suspected he was looking in his rearview mirror.

Money couldn't buy love, but maybe her father didn't know that.

Maybe she hadn't given hers any more freely than he had.

Danny was going to ask Amanda to stay.