A Whole New Man

“Then we’ll go Dutch,” he pushed on.

“Well…”

“Good, it’s settled.” He turned and rapped on the tinted glass separating them from Bailey. When the glass came down, he gave the driver instructions. “Drop me off at my hotel, then take Miss Edwards to her home and wait. When she and her daughter are ready to leave, pick them up, and then come by the hotel for me.”

“Yessir.”

Before Hank could remind him that he wasn’t a “sir,” Bailey had raised the window again. Pleased that Lizzie hadn’t interrupted with excuses, Hank leaned back in his seat and studied her. He had to admit she didn’t look all that happy about being railroaded, but she didn’t look like she’d go off like a cannon, either. In fact, she looked more astounded than anything. Fine with him. Whatever it took. Even if it meant spending an evening with a four-year-old.

Chapter Three

“Are you my mommy’s cwient?” Amanda asked, her mouth surrounded by tomato sauce. Lizzie knew it wouldn’t do any good to try to clean her daughter’s face until the pizza was gone or her child had had enough to eat. In thirty seconds, the angelic mouth would bear another red ring.

Hank swallowed the bite he’d just taken and smiled at Amanda. “I sure am. Her friend, too, I hope.” Directing his gaze at Lizzie, his dimples deepened.

Lizzie tried to shield herself from reacting to his smile, but she hadn’t found a way yet. He had more charm than any man should. Unfortunately his charm tended to turn her knees to the consistency of pudding.

“Are you my fwiend, too?” Amanda asked.

And didn’t it figure that he was winning her daughter over with the same charm? If he could bottle it, he’d make a fortune.

“Only if that’s okay with you,” Hank answered with a note of sincerity Lizzie couldn’t help but believe.

She watched as he stuck out his hand and wondered if her daughter would remember what the gesture required. If she did, Hank was a brave man, considering the smear of grease, tomato sauce and cheese covering Amanda’s miniature hand.

Amanda hesitated for a moment, studying Hank’s offer, then placed her hand in his. “Sure. We can be fwiends.”

Hank didn’t even flinch at the gooey mess he encountered. Instead he gave Amanda one good shake, but didn’t let go. “You know, Amanda, you’re even prettier than your mommy. Smart, too, I’ll bet.”

“I know my affabet,” she said, her face serious.

“Really? Then you are smart. So what do you do for fun?”

Lizzie smothered the groan that threatened. Fun seemed to be Hank’s favorite pastime.

Her face scrunched in puzzlement, Amanda turned to Lizzie, then back to Hank. “Well…I visit my gwamma and sometimes I get to play wif Denny and Woger, but they’re boys, so they get mean.”

“Denny and Roger are my sister’s boys. Amanda stays with her when I have to work in the evening,” Lizzie explained. “They’re a little older and sometimes get carried away.”

Hank’s eyebrows knitted in what was obviously concern when he looked at Amanda. “Do they hurt you?”

She shook her head, sending her carroty curls dancing. “No, but they make me mad and I cwy sometimes.”

“Maybe I should teach you a few—”

“Hank,” Lizzie interrupted, placing her hand on his arm. The warmth that shot through her made her pause for a moment to catch her breath. Hoping he hadn’t noticed her reaction, she did her best to ignore it and continued. “Hank, believe me, Amanda takes care of herself. Sometimes they torment her a little, but they adore her.”

Instead of relieving his worry, his frown deepened. “They shouldn’t do that. Torment her, I mean. But it’s easy to see why they adore her.” His frown instantly turned to a smile when he looked at Amanda.

Lizzie felt her heart warm toward him, which was the last thing she wanted. Most men, when they met her daughter, talked to her from an adult level. But something about Hank and the way he related to Amanda was different. And a bit scary, considering how much she, herself, was attracted to him.

“You were an only child, right? She can hold her own,” Lizzie replied, knowing she could use a few pointers on how to protect herself from Hank’s charm.

“Can her mother?” he asked.

His gaze met hers and she nearly melted into a puddle. There was no way she could answer, and when she started to pull her hand away, he covered it with his, trapping her. It felt so comforting, she couldn’t do anything more than sit staring into his eyes.

“I need a nakkin,” Amanda announced.

It took a supreme effort for Lizzie to drag her gaze and her hand from Hank’s. “I’ll get some, sweetie,” she said in a shaky voice and rose from her chair.

“Mind if I have another piece of that pizza?” she heard Hank ask her daughter.

Lizzie missed Amanda’s answer as she retrieved several napkins from an empty booth. She was glad for the interruption. She’d expected her daughter to be a solid distraction from Hank’s charisma, but instead, Amanda seemed to draw out more of his charm. Lizzie chided herself for being glad he had joined them. She shouldn’t be. It wasn’t right, no matter how much his hand on hers had made it feel like it was. She had been through this once before and had vowed, while dealing with Amanda’s tears, never to repeat the mistake.

Hank is a client, she reminded herself. Probably not a man with much staying power, if his past was any indication. And it always was. If she’d learned one thing in her business, it was that she might be able to change a few things about people, but their general disposition and character remained static.

But maybe…No. Learning to pick the right clothes and knowing the correct thing to say in a given situation was one thing. But turning someone from a person who never settled in one place for long to a homebody wasn’t possible. She needed to remember that whenever Hank’s dimples scrambled her senses.

Feeling only a little better, Lizzie approached the table and heard Hank telling Amanda about the pony he had once owned when he was a boy.

Amanda’s elbows were propped on the table, her face cupped in her sticky hands, as she stared at him in awe. “Did he pwance like the ponies in the circus? I wuv them! They have pwetty feathers on their heads.”

“No, but he could run like the wind,” he answered.

The wistful look on his face nearly undid Lizzie, and she had to stop herself from reaching out to give him a comforting hug. What was she thinking? She needed to keep her distance, both physically and emotionally, from this man.

Instead of giving in to her urge, she approached her daughter. “Let’s get you cleaned up a little, then we’d better head home.”

“Alweady?” Amanda asked, clearly disappointed that her mother would bring an end to her enchanted evening.

Lizzie wiped her daughter’s hands and face as best she could, and Amanda didn’t protest. It was one thing Lizzie had always been proud of in her daughter. Amanda knew better than to argue when told it was time for the fun to be over. Denny and Roger weren’t always so easy.

As she worked to gather the mess, Hank left the table, headed in the direction of the cash register. “Where do you think you’re going?” Lizzie called out to him.

“Just taking care of the tab,” he answered over his shoulder without stopping.

She dropped the wad of napkins and hurried after him. “We agreed this would be Dutch treat.”

“I changed my mind,” he said with a shrug and kept walking.

Grabbing his arm in hopes of bringing him to a halt, a vision of him pumping iron at the gym popped into her mind, and she had to force herself to breathe. “You can’t.”

He slowed, but he didn’t stop. “No big deal.”

“It is to me.” When he came to a halt and turned to look at her, she let go of him and did her best to hold her ground. “I can’t let you go on paying for things, Hank. You haven’t even started your new job yet.”

“I invited myself along. I know that’s a little on the rude side, but I’m glad I did. You saved me from spending a boring night in my hotel room. Why not let me make it up to you by paying for the pizza? It isn’t like twenty bucks is going to bankrupt me.”