Carly Phillips - Hot Property

“I need to read the rest.” She folded the newspaper in half and cleared her throat. “‘Amy Stone, niece of sports agent Spencer Atkins, and newly minted publicist at the Hot Zone, has her hands full with relatives who were detained for possible terrorist activity on board an aircraft…’”

“Give me that,” he muttered, grabbing the paper and tossing it into the recycling bin in disgust.

But not before she caught a glimpse of the photograph beneath the article. “There’s no mistaking us,” Amy said. She shook her head and groaned.

“I actually think it’s a good picture,” Roper said. He settled back into his chair as if nothing had occurred.

As if two elderly women with a penchant for trouble weren’t in his guest room getting ready to hit the streets of New York City right this minute. There were probably even people with cameras waiting outside the apartment. Ones that had probably watched her come inside. Not that she’d seen anyone, but obviously, that didn’t mean a thing.

“I never saw anyone with a camera at the airport.” Amy said. Yet there was the picture, taken as they exited the terminal building yesterday.

Her hands grew damp at the thought of dealing with more pictures, innuendos and rumors.

“They could have had a zoom lens or a cell-phone camera. At least we know who called it in. Half the time I’m left guessing about how they found me.” He eyed her with obvious concern.

She didn’t respond. She was too busy worrying about avoiding more photo ops in the future.

“Everyone’s looking for a way to make a buck these days,” Roper finally said.

“Off of my newfound celebrity status.” Since New Year’s Eve, she’d somehow become a person of interest, thanks to her connection to John Roper.

She couldn’t blame him for her mother’s innate ability to attract trouble. Amy had been this route before. But she couldn’t risk the potent combination of Roper and her mother placing her squarely in the limelight again. True, her uncle Spencer had as deep a connection to her mother and aunt as Amy herself, so she wouldn’t be fired. But the idea of being the object of public ridicule after spending so many years avoiding it gave Amy more than a headache. It made her want to throw up.

She realized that Roper was staring at her, trying to figure out what was going on in her mind. “It’s just insane the way the media focuses on me as your girlfriend,” she said, needing to explain her reaction to him in some way he could understand.

“That’s not what bothers you,” Roper said.

She leaned forward in her seat. “And what does?” she asked, since he obviously thought he knew her so well.

“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” he said.

“Maybe it’s that you insist on giving everyone the idea that we’re a couple when you know we aren’t.”

He grinned, that sexy, in-control smile that drove her to distraction. “I know no such thing.”

And because of his stubbornness, her mother, her aunt and even the media refused to believe that she and John were just friends. Perhaps because he made it so hard for Amy to believe it herself.

He was doing his best to charm her into his life and keep her there. Last night he’d taken them to dinner at his friend’s restaurant in Little Italy. The one where he’d brought Amy on their first date. She had a hunch he’d chosen the place on purpose, as much for the memories as the good food. He called it their place, which caused a stir with her relatives. Afterward they walked around and he treated them to gelato and cannoli.

Then he insisted on dropping Amy off at her apartment first, so her mother and aunt could see where she lived. Amy had allowed him to take charge because he’d had ideas to keep her mother and aunt busy for the night, tiring them out. As much as she wanted to argue with his commandeering attitude, he took the pressure off of her and she appreciated it.

He was a gentleman. A kind, sexy gentleman. And to use her mother’s old-fashioned word, he was wooing Amy with thoughtfulness, not money. She couldn’t let herself succumb, but it wasn’t easy.

Last night he’d slipped his hand into hers as they walked, so she couldn’t pull back without making a scene. He’d casually placed his palm on her back when they entered the restaurant and once again she’d been powerless to separate them. After a while, the gestures felt too good and she didn’t want him to stop. She lay in bed last night, aroused from his touch, yearning for him to ease the ache in her heart and the one that throbbed insistently inside her body. She missed him.

Just as he obviously intended.

But that was before she’d seen the morning paper. Before the past and present collided. John Roper and her eccentric, publicity-magnet mother were a combination Amy could not handle.

“So what are we doing today?” Roper asked.

She rose from her chair. “We aren’t doing anything. I took the day off to entertain the troops. You are going to the gym or the physical therapist or whatever else is on your schedule.” If he wasn’t with them, he couldn’t get them on tomorrow’s front page.

She could keep her mother and aunt under control for a day or two, make them happy and then send them back to Florida without argument.

“I haven’t skipped a day of therapy in weeks and you know it. I have a four-o’clock appointment today and I’ll be there. Meanwhile, if you have nothing specific on the agenda, I thought maybe we could all do the Statue of Liberty. Then you can take them back here to rest up for dinner while I keep my appointment.”

The telephone rang before she could argue, and Roper picked it up on the first ring. “Hello?” he said, then listened.

“Hi, Mom. I can’t talk right now. I have company,” he said.

Amy watched with interest. He’d taken phone calls from his mother and sister last night, as well, and there was a distinct difference in how he dealt with them now, compared to the panicked acquiescence he’d used when they’d first met.

“Yes, Amy’s family is still here. If you’d like you can join us for dinner tonight.”

Amy winced. “No!” She waved her hands in front of her face. Between her family and the famous Cassandra Lee, there’d be more than enough drama to create ten scenes. Amy couldn’t deal with it and her anxiety built higher at the mere thought.

“I’ll talk to you later, Mom,” Roper said. There was no hint of frustration in his voice.

If anything, things with his mother seemed almost…normal. Such a stark contrast to the episodes Amy had witnessed in the past. It was enough to distract her from canceling tonight’s dinner or arguing about today’s plans. At least for now.

Roper hung up and met Amy’s gaze.

“You haven’t dropped everything and run to your mother, not last night and not this morning,” she said, realizing exactly why things seemed so off balance to her now. “And Sabrina? Her phone call was calm. She wasn’t in hysterics complaining about your mother. And Ben-”

“Isn’t speaking to me at the moment, which makes things easier,” Roper admitted. “But yes, something is different. I came to your office to talk to you about it. But then you got the phone call to rush to the airport and, well, I forgot.”

Amy nodded. Subtly and not so subtly, Roper was now his own person. Not an athlete and a son pulled in a million different directions. If his family called, he spoke to them and quickly got off the phone. He met all his obligations and appointments, including those promises he’d made to Amy’s mother and aunt, without running off on one emergency after another.

He was focused.

He was present in the moment.

And his career obligations-working out and meeting with the physical therapist-came first.

Wow.

“How? What happened with your family?” she asked.

“In a nutshell, I laid it on the line for them. I told them-”

Suddenly her mother’s and aunt’s voices sounded from the other room, growing louder as they made their way to the kitchen.

Roper shot Amy an amused glance, but she wanted to hear the rest of his story. Unfortunately her family descended on them, two small women who sounded and acted like a herd.

“We decided what we wanted to do today,” Darla said. “We want to go to the Central Park Zoo.”

“And then I have something special planned for tonight,” Amy’s mother said, her eyes sparkling.

“We’re having dinner with my mother tonight,” Roper said.

“Great! I can’t wait to meet Cassandra Lee! And afterward she can join us. I read in the paper that the Chippendales show is in town. Can you use your pull to get us tickets?” Rose asked Roper, snuggling up to his side and batting her eyelashes.

“No, no and no!” It was time for them to go home, Amy thought.

Much as she loved them, they were already driving her crazy. And though she’d loved her job in Florida, she had to admit she’d found a peace in her short time in New York she hadn’t realized existed. Her family had shattered it the moment they arrived.

And on the pragmatic side, she wasn’t getting any work done. Though her uncle had given her time off, she was too new to have earned it. She needed and wanted to get back to the office. But how could she send her relatives packing after not even twenty-four hours? They’d be devastated. And hurt.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Roper said, chuckling. “But it’s last-minute. I’m pretty sure it’s too late for me to get tickets. I’m sorry.”

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously he knew better than to let her mother and aunt Darla loose at a strip show in Manhattan. Short of putting them in handcuffs and chains, Amy barely knew how to contain them herself.

Whether they stayed three days or three weeks, they’d have more than enough time to wreak havoc without a trip to Chippendales on their agenda.

DAVE PUT THE FINISHING touches on his project. He’d been working on it for a while, in between shifts at the gym. It looked professional, if he did say so himself. Enough to cause trouble for John Roper. Trouble the likes of which he’d never seen before.

Ben had bailed out on him and he wouldn’t be getting the money for his gym. Someone had to pay. It might as well be the high-and-mighty John Roper, Dave thought.

Laughing, he clicked Upload on his computer.

Let the fun begin.

AT DINNER, ROPER BRACED himself for a clash of two women who could not be more different, but his mother and Amy’s hit it off. Darla and Rose gushed over Cassandra and she ate up the attention. If his mother found Amy’s family odd or eccentric, she didn’t show it, for which Roper was grateful. And Harrison, ever the gentleman and ever present at Cassandra’s side, kept her grounded.

The same couldn’t be said for Amy’s female relatives. Aunt Darla was obviously smitten with their waiter, a young man, new to his job, who didn’t know what to make of the attention.

He’d taken their orders, with Rose and Darla interrupting him periodically to ask questions. Unfortunately they weren’t about the daily specials.

“I have a question,” Darla said for the third time. The first two times she’d interrupted the man with personal questions.

“Yes?” he asked, forcing a smile.

“It had better be about the meat,” Amy said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, it is,” her aunt assured her. She glanced up at the waiter. “What’s your address, Hot Boy?” she asked.

Roper chuckled despite himself.

“Aunt Darla!” Amy scolded her aunt.

“I’m going to turn in the order,” he said, flustered and walking away.

“Ooh, check out that rear end.”

Amy slapped her hand over her forehead. “Would you cut it out?” she scolded under her breath.

“Don’t be a spoilsport,” her mother said. “It isn’t anything personal. This is the one thing we don’t miss back home-you killing our fun.”

Beside him, Amy gritted her teeth. “I’d think you also miss me bailing you two out at midnight. Aunt Darla told me that my replacement makes you wait until morning.”

“This is better than any movie,” Cassandra said, laughing.

The waiter returned with their drinks, serving the ladies first, which was his first mistake.

Darla reached out, and before Roper realized what she intended-and definitely before Amy did-Darla pinched the waiter’s behind.

The man jumped back, dropping his tray of drinks. “Sorry,” he said. Red-faced, he headed back to the kitchen to get something to clean up the mess.

“That’s it,” Amy said, yelling at her aunt. “You need to apologize to the man.”