Maid for the Billionaire(12)

Abby gasped, "You can't say that to Colby!"

Lil laughed, "She's five months old. She doesn't understand what I'm saying, but I hope you do." Lil moved to lean on the counter next to Abby. "Seriously, I'm not worried about the job. I know I can find another like it easily enough and before long I'll have my degree. You've done more than anyone could have asked you to, but it is time for you to start living a little. This guy sounds like your way to jumpstart the next phase of your life."

Running shaky hands under the water, Abby asked, "Which phase is that?"

Lil put an arm around her shoulder. "The one where you stop parenting me and simply become my sister again."#p#分页标题#e#

Abby's eyes filled with tears. "Was I so awful?"

Lil hugged her closer. "No, but it's nice to have you back."

Twenty minutes later Abby was flipping blindly through an educational newsletter when Lil entered the room with the cordless phone in her hand. Lost in her thoughts, Abby hadn't heard it ring.

"It's for you, Abby." Lil said with a wicked grin and held out the phone. "It's Mr. Corisi's personal assistant. Hmmmm, wonder what she wants."

"Tell her I'm busy," Abby said even as excitement swirled through her. He hadn't given up.

Never one to do as she was told, Lil handed her sister the phone. "Tell her yourself."

Abby glared at her sister in annoyance. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"Payback is so sweet." Lil chuckled as she sat down on the couch next to Abby, a rapt and unavoidable audience.

"Doesn't Colby need a bath or something?"

"Already had one before you came home. She's asleep now." Lil said shamelessly not taking the hint.

Whatever.

"Hello." Abby said with less warmth than her usual greetings.

"Hello. Thank you for taking my call, Miss Dartley. I'm Marie Duhamel, Mr. Corisi's personal assistant."

"Yes, I know." Abby sighed. "I don't mean to be rude, but if I wasn't going to say yes to him, why does he think that having his secretary call me is going to change my mind?"

"Personal Assistant," the woman correctly gently, but continued on in a sweet, woman next door tone. "I apologize for interrupting your evening, but after everything Dominic has been through this week, I had to try to help him."

"Everything he has been through?" That caught Abby's attention. She leaned forward, not caring that Lil practically pressed her own ear to the other side of the phone. In resignation, Abby turned her hand so Lil could hear better.

"He didn't tell you? I should have known he wouldn't. He's not very good at asking for help."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Abby said with growing interest.

There was a short pause. "Miss Dartley, Dominic's father passed away a few days ago. He came back to Boston for the reading of the will."

"Oh, my God," Abby and Lil said in union    . Abby shushed her sister with a wave of her hand. "So, tomorrow he wanted me…?" It was almost too embarrassing to ask. She'd assumed that he was sending a limo over to whisk her away for an afternoon of lovemaking in some secluded suite. However, it was looking more like her initial instincts about him were correct.

"He was hoping you would join him for the reading of his father's will," Mrs. Duhamel said, confirming Abby's sinking feeling. Had she completely misread the entire evening? She'd let her own attraction to him blind her to the reality that Dominic was a man who simply didn't want to be alone due to a recent loss.

That stung.

So much for being irresistible.

Her nurturing vibes must have drawn him in. People turned to her when in crisis. She should be used to it by now. "Doesn't he—I mean shouldn't he bring someone he knows better than me to something like that?"

"My dear," the older woman's voice was full of the kind of emotion a mother would have for a son, "Dominic is a busy man. He doesn't have time for friends. Business associates, yes. People who want to say they are part of his social circle, yes. But no one he felt he could take to something like this."

Abby and Lil exchanged a look. To have everything and still have nothing was so sad. No matter how awful their parents' death had been, at least they'd had each other. "I feel for him, Mrs. Duhamel, but I just met him for the first time tonight. I don't know what he told you, but we barely know each other."

"He said he needed you there. That was enough for me."

"He said that?" Abby's heart clenched in her chest. Lil practically clapped her hands in excitement and then made a form of a heart on her chest with her hands. Abby swatted at her.