Minding Amy

He turned his attention back to her. "I got your message." He looked concerned, and rightly so. She had uncovered his little subterfuge.

"You should have taken it seriously and stayed away," she retorted.

"Please, let me explain." His eyes were dark with concern. He was trying to show his seriousness while he looked deep into her eyes.

She tried to ignore the warm tick that had started in the pit of her belly, the seemingly inevitable response to his presence. He was dressed smartly, for his damned office meeting she supposed, but his shirtsleeves were rolled up and his tie was askew. His hair was messy too. It was a hot day and he looked as if he had hightailed it over, which she guessed he must have done to be so close on her heels. "How in hell's name did you know where to find me?"

"When I got the message I called your office and spoke to Janine. I explained why I needed to see you, urgently. She heard me out and kindly gave me your parent's address." He looked back at her dad. "I hope you didn't mind me calling by, Sir."

"Certainly not, hopefully we can clear this matter up and we'll all be able to get back to our regular schedule of events for the day."

Amy gawped. It felt as if the ground was slipping from under her feet. They were bonding. The three of them were practically ganging up against her.

"Do you take milk and sugar, Sebastian?" her mother interrupted. She was giving him the kind of smile that indicated she approved of him, big time.

"Just milk, thank you." He gave her a charming smile.

"Sweet enough already, huh?"

Amy cringed. Dear god, my mother is only flirting with Sebastian.

"Perhaps we can tempt you to stay and have lunch with us?"

"Mum, no." Amy shouted, horrified.

"Amy, I'm shocked!" She gave her a chastising look. "I know you're upset about this, whatever it is, work problem, but Mr. Armitage here doesn't want to witness you having a hissy fit."

Amy's cheeks flamed.

Sebastian looked at the floor. He'd shoved his hands in his pockets and he was biting his lip, obviously trying not to laugh.

Oh yeah, very funny I'm sure, Amy thought to herself, fuming.

"Let's take this into the sitting room," her father suggested, breaking the awkward moment. "We can sit down and discuss it like civilized people." He gave his wife a frown. "Cynthia," he said, with a warning note in his voice, and pointed at the coffee pot.

Amy glared at her Mother as well.

Parents, you couldn't trust them for a minute.

Chapter Twelve

Sebastian gave the sitting room a quick once over to get his bearings then sat down into the comfortable sofa that Richard Norton had indicated. He wondered why he felt as if he'd been caught necking with the man's daughter and was about to get a good telling off. He shook off the absurd notion and tried to concentrate on Amy.

She was upset. He could see how agitated she was. Despite the minty-colored dress—which looked fantastic, he noticed, and showed off her lovely curved figure and… concentrate, man. You're in a mess here.

He needed a goddamn cold shower whenever he saw her. He told himself he ought to be ashamed. If he could keep his mind off sex for a little while he could have handled it a lot better. Amy certainly didn't deserve to be put in this position, and he didn't want it coming between them. He hated seeing her upset and uncomfortable around him. That had to be gone and he wouldn't rest until it was.

"I was explaining to Amy that you were the only available man for the job." Richard Norton picked up a big black cat that Sebastian had assumed was a cushion and removed it from the winged armchair that was obviously his seat of choice. He set the cat down on the floor and took up the spot himself. The cat gave a languid stretch then sat blinking, looking over at Amy. As if it suddenly realized she was there visiting, it strolled over and started rubbing itself affectionately against her legs.

Sebastian watched the cat's dense black fur flattening against her bare shins, enviously, until he realized his mind was drifting again and he ordered himself to concentrate on what Richard Norton was saying to him.

"I told her you were kind enough to take up the job yourself. However, Amy seems to be under the impression that I hired you to give her some sort of assistance with the investigation aspect of the job, which wasn't the case at all, was it?" He looked at Sebastian expectantly.

Sebastian tried to find a reasonable answer. Whilst everything Richard Norton had said was the truth, Sebastian was now suffering from an immense attack of guilt over the fact he'd spent a good proportion of his time over the last two days secretly doing his own investigations, in the hope he could push some useful information her way. He cleared his throat and turned to Amy, who was sitting at the other end of the sofa from him.

She regarded him with caution.

"Exactly, that's all there was to it. I was hired to act as your bodyguard when you were out on the road undertaking the investigation for your feature, and that's exactly how I took the case on. The fact that I have investigation experience myself didn't come into the contracting of this job at all."