Her Boss's Surprise

Chapter One

Gal Friday wanted. Two-month position. Good pay. Flexible hours. Immediate hire.

That's how Candice Diamond remembered Jensen Enterprises' online ad reading. But did the women's daytime-apparel-catalog-employment piece really mean anything to her?

Absolutely! And not just because her mother, Vanessa, had e-mailed it to her last week--as a twenty-fifth birthday present!

Oh, no. It had to do with something much more than that and his name was Derek Jensen! He was the dreamy publishing tycoon for whom Candice was now interviewing.

So what if you have an elaborate, sleek-designed, palatial office? she thought, glancing around. Means nothing to me.

Yeah, right!

Still, the office wasn't the reason why Candice had lost her memory regarding the employment ad. Derek was causing her to forget it.

She cleared her throat and nonchalantly sat back in her chair. You've seen one office like this in a magazine, you've seen 'em all, she thought, flippantly. She didn't want the office's mega-sized, red-mahogany desk to seem, at all, as though it were influencing her employment decision.

But what about the original Picassos hanging on the walls? Or, the morning sunlight filtering in through the immense, tinted-glass windows that overlook the city?

She turned her focus back onto Derek and felt her heart skip.

Sure, Candice had seen the news reports that said his empire was crumbling. She'd read about his business troubles online and in the tabloids. She'd heard that he was washed up as the publishing king of Manhattan. So, how could he be so cool now?

She gulped, then tissue-patted perspiration from her forehead.

Damn you're gorgeous! she thought, of the city's most eligible, billionaire bachelor, then glanced at her mother sitting beside her.

Vanessa grinned, sardonically.

Candice shot her look back at Derek. Her heart fluttered again as her stare locked onto his light-blue eyes. Then her palms began to sweat as she studied the inherent strength in his face and the commanding set to his shoulders-- atop what she gathered was no less than a six-foot frame.

How could such a beefcake's business be in a crisis?

Candice put the tissue back into her purse, mentally kicking herself for having brought her mother along. If Candice had been alone with Derek, she'd, no doubt, jump into his lap. His magnetism was that potent.

But Candice had to bring Vanessa. That had been their unwritten pact for years. Just as Vanessa had brought young Candice on job interviews and jobs with her, so, too, had Candice promised to bring her mother along on her own interviews.

As Candice thought about their mother-daughter pact now, Vanessa's e-mail of last week--with the attached job listing for Jensen Enterprises--danced through her brain again...along with the message from her mother:

No real money to be made in local work, Candice. Your employment's in Manhattan. I've set an appointment. Open the attachment, then let's go get your job!

At this moment, Candice couldn't agree more with her mother's e-mailed words. But, as she thought further about her present situation, she marveled that she even allowed Vanessa to sit in with her on this meeting.

A pact is a pact.

Candice knew that her mother had given up everything for her--especially after Candice's father had died. Vanessa could have married again, Candice knew, but she hadn't. Lovingly, she glanced at her mother.