Spying On The Boss. Janet Lee Nye

insurance cheats around. Back to focusing on Julietta’s recovery. Back to sleeping alone every night. He cranked the engine. He didn’t miss Victoria, not really. His love for her had been squelched in a single moment.

      She had gone with him to Asheville after Maddie’s death. He’d found Jules stunned and scared in the care of Maddie’s best friend, Kate. She’d put her little arms around his neck and told him her mommy was dead. He remembered sinking to the floor, Jules in his lap as they cried together. After her tears tapered away, she had whispered a question to him. Who’s going to take care of me now? He’d told her he was. A movement in the doorway caught his eye and he saw Victoria standing there. The words Victoria and I will died on his lips at the expression on her face. Horrified. Furious.

      That night, they’d argued. She told him to let Kate keep Jules. That she had no intentions of starting their marriage with a half-grown kid. And he had no business even trying to take on a young girl. He’d listened to her with a dizzying sense of stunned relief. It was as if a mask had slipped and he was seeing into her soul. And it was ugly. When she said if he was going to take custody she might as well leave him, he told her to go home and pack her things. To be out of the house before he and Jules came back.

      In the time between burying her mother, settling her affairs and coming home to Charleston, Jules asked if Aunt Victoria was going to live with them. He told her no. He told her he and Victoria had decided they didn’t love each other enough to get married. And he prayed Jules would never hear or figure out the truth. Because she’d been disappointed with his answer. Another woman gone from her life. Maybe when they got through this first year, he’d look into that Big Sisters program. Something to get a stable female presence in her life.

      He dropped the truck into gear and backed out of the parking space. This is exactly why you shouldn’t be thinking about Sadie Martin. There is no way to make this work. He shook his head. Damn, he was attracted to her. And he suspected he wasn’t the only one feeling the sparks. Guilt squirmed in his gut. He was lying to her. Spying on her. It’s your job. It’s what you do. Somehow, he didn’t think she would see it that way. And even if he quit, he could never do anything about this attraction and not tell her. And she’d never forgive him. Do the job. Secure your relationship with Henry. Get out. Nothing else to do.