Nine Months

Chapter One

After hurriedly leaving Grand Springs four months ago, L. J. Montgomery was finally returning for an indefinite stay. Paige had overheard Greg Addison telling Kay that he thought it was past time for Jared to return, that he couldn’t understand why the boss man had stayed away so long. It wasn’t like Jared not to keep his finger directly on the pulse of a new branch office.

Paige couldn’t help but wonder if Jared had stayed away because of her. Surely not. He’d made it perfectly clear that their sexual encounter had been a mistake, something he preferred to forget. Easy enough for him. But not for her. Not now.

She supposed if she’d been more experienced and less romantic in nature, she could have gotten over the silly notion that she’d fallen in love with Jared. And as long as she lived, she’d never forget her first morning at Montgomery Real Estate and Land Development.

* * *

On the previous Friday afternoon, Greg Addison had hired Paige as L.J.’s private administrative assistant and told her she’d meet her boss on the following Monday morning.

She’d arrived at work that Monday prepared to prove herself indispensable to her new boss.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Kay told her. “Greg tells me that Mr. Montgomery is a demanding boss, but a fair one. Besides, he’s only going to be here a week this first time, then he’ll fly back and forth once we get things set up and running.”

Paige smoothed her hands down the sides of her lavender coatdress and wished she could check her appearance in a mirror just one more time. She wanted to make a good impression on her first day. Since the moment she’d entered the Wellman Building that morning, she’d heard nothing but talk about L. J. Montgomery. How rich he was. How powerful he was. What an eligible bachelor he was. How handsome he was rumored to be.

Obviously the women in the Wellman Building saw L. J. Montgomery as the answer to their prayers. But why would a rich, powerful, successful, handsome man be interested in a working girl when he could have his pick of wealthy, cultured ladies?

Besides, Paige wasn’t interested in L. J. Montgomery, other than as her employer. The only man who interested her was a tall, green-eyed cowboy with the most devastating smile she’d ever seen. She had tried all weekend to put him out of her mind, to pretend that what had happened hadn’t happened. But she kept remembering. His smile. His touch. The feel of him making hot, wild love to her. Just remembering brought a blush to her cheeks.

He’d told her that what had happened had been a mistake, and he’d let her walk out of his life. Obviously their lovemaking hadn’t meant anything to him, nothing more than a diversion to pass the time while they were trapped in the elevator. Perhaps if she was a little older, a little more experienced, that was all it would have meant to her. But their lovemaking had been unique, unlike anything she’d ever known. She’d been in love with Kevin, her college sweetheart, but he’d never made her feel the way Jared had.

“Hey, earth to Paige,” Kay said. “Where are you, girl? I’ve been talking a blue streak to you for five minutes now and you’re just staring off into space. Thinking about a guy, huh?”

“What?”

“I said, you must be thinking about a guy.”

“Well, to be honest, I was.”

“Not weaving fantasies about your new boss, are you? I understand from Greg that L.J. has a cardinal rule about not dating his employees.”

“Oh, no, I can assure you that I haven’t set my sights on Mr. Montgomery,” Paige said. “I was thinking about a cowboy I met Friday night. When the power went out.”

“Oh. We’ll have to go to lunch together.” Kay grabbed Paige’s arm. “You can tell me all the delicious details.”

The inner office door swung open and two men emerged from L. J. Montgomery’s office. Paige looked up to see Greg Addison.

“Well, here they are,” Greg said. “Ms. Thompson, my assistant, and Ms. Summers, your administrative assistant.”

“Ms. Thompson.” The man smiled at Kay.

Paige’s stomach tightened into painful knots. She recognized that voice. She looked at the man standing beside Greg Addison, and for one heart-stopping moment, she thought she was going to faint.

“And this must be—” Jared glared at her, his mouth agape.

“Mr. Montgomery?” Paige spoke his name in a strained squeak.

Grabbing Paige’s arm, Jared jerked her toward him. “Come with me, please, Ms. Summers.”

She allowed him to drag her into his office, leaving behind Greg and Kay. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw the startled looks on their faces. Jared slammed the door.

“You’re my assistant?” Jared settled his hands on his hips and glared at her. “You?”

Paige looked at the harsh, stern man and wondered if she had lost her mind. This couldn’t be happening. He was the same man she’d made love with in the elevator—and yet he wasn’t. Jared, her Friday night lover, had been a cowboy in a Stetson, boots and jeans. L. J. Montgomery wore an expensive suit, silk tie and linen shirt.

“Why were you dressed like a cowboy Friday evening?” she asked.

“I’d just flown in from my ranch in Texas,” he said. “Besides, I don’t wear suits all the time. What about you? Why didn’t you tell me you’d just been hired as my administrative assistant?”

“I didn’t know who you were! I had no idea you were L. J. Montgomery.”

“Sit down.” He pulled up a chair and placed it in front of his desk. “We’re caught in a rather awkward situation here, aren’t we?”

That was the understatement of the year, she thought as she continued standing there staring at him. He was going to fire her, here and now. She was just about to lose the best job she’d ever had before she even started work. “I’ll save you the trouble of asking me to leave. I’ll get my purse off my desk and—”

“I’m not going to fire you,” he said, then pointed to the chair. “Please, Ms. Summers…Paige, sit down.”

Reluctantly, she sat, her back ramrod straight.

“I know that we both assumed we’d never meet again,” he said. “But…we have.”

“Yes, we have.” Paige was torn between her delight at seeing Jared again and her misery over the fact that he had turned out to be L. J. Montgomery. Her boss! One of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen in the Southwest.

“Look, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason you can’t keep this job.” Jared eased his rear down on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “What happened between us Friday night was a one-time-only thing. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have happened. And it’ll never happen again.”

“I’m not sure I could work for you after what happened,” she said. Not now that I think I might already be halfway in love with you.

“Look, Paige, you obviously need this job or you wouldn’t have applied for it.” Jared uncrossed his arms and stuck his hands in 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.