Maid for the Billionaire(13)

He needs me? Was all of his tough talk just that—talk. He'd lost his father and didn't want to face a painful situation alone. She understood, too well, how the loss of a parent could shake ones very foundation.

Mrs. Duhamel said, "Yes, and you should know that I have never, in all the years I've worked for him, made a personal call for him."

So, he wanted her there enough to involve his assistant in this endeavor. What did that mean?

"Did he ask you to explain about his father?" Abby asked.

Mrs. Duhamel dismissed the idea with a short laugh. "Oh, no. I think I was supposed to call and threaten you or wave some magical wand and convince you to go with him. All he said was that he knew if anyone could get you to come it would be me. I'm flattered by his confidence, but I think your decision will have more to do with your level of compassion than my ability to persuade."

"Don't be too sure about that," Lil muttered.

Abby shushed her.

Lil shrugged and stage whispered while pointing to the phone, "Come on, she's good!"

Too true. The older woman's soothing voice had made fulfilling Dominic's outrageous request sound like an act of kindness, rather than recklessness.

Mrs. Duhamel added, "I realize that Dominic said the limo would come for you at 11, but if possible I'd like to pick you up at 7 for a morning at a local spa and then some shopping."

Oh, first I'm fat, now I need a makeover? "Tell your boss that if I'm not good enough as I am…"

Mrs. Duhamel hastily interrupted, "Oh, no! Dominic didn't suggest this. I just thought that if I were going to attend a multi-million dollar will reading, I'd want to primp first."

Wow. Put that way, Abby was in full agreement. "Mrs. Duhamel, I think I love you."

The woman laughed sweetly. "I'm just doing my job. And call me Marie."

Abby suspected it was a bit more than that. This woman obviously cared about Dominic. "Then please call me Abby. Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't seem like you'd be Dominic's assistant. You're so … nice."

The maternal tone returned. "Don't let your first impression of Dominic taint your opinion of him. He's much more than he lets people see. My husband worked for him when he first started his company, but left before it took off. Stan was a good husband, but not much of a businessman. He died about seven years ago and left me deeply in debt. There I was, in my late fifties, broke, with no skills to get a job. I called Dominic on some desperate whim that he might remember my husband. He did. He said Stan had been a good man and he hired me as his assistant that day. I've worked for him ever since."

Abby shared a look with her sister. Dominic couldn't be all that bad if he'd taken an old employee's wife under his wing. What was holding her back? She wanted to go just as much as he wanted her there. Could her sister be right? Was it time for her to shrug off the responsible role she'd donned out of necessity and allow herself this one crazy adventure?

"Ok," Abby said in a shaky voice. "I'll do it."

"That's fantastic," Mrs. Duhamel said. "Now get some rest, dear. I'll pick you up at seven."

Before hanging up, Abby asked, "Are you sure about all this? There must be someone else he…"

The older woman rushed to reassure her. "Don't second guess yourself. Take it one step at a time. For now, just focus on the fact that you're going to be pampered tomorrow like you've never imagined."

"That does sound nice."

"You have no idea, Abby. I'll see you at 7."

Lil leaned back into the couch while a bemused Abby placed the handset back on its charger on the wall. "If it helps, Abby, I think you made the right choice."

Abby softened her response with a smile. "That's actually the part that scares me."

Lil threw a small cushion that Abby deftly avoided with a chuckle. No matter how tomorrow turned out, things were already much better than they had been in a very long time.





Chapter Six





Late morning, Abby stood before a full-length mirror in the changing room of an expensive clothing boutique which had instantly closed its doors to further customers at her arrival. She barely recognized herself. Her dark brown curls had been tamed into soft waves around her now flawless face. Her eyes had never looked so large or her nose so petite. She'd always considered herself to be average in appearance, but Marie had been correct that all the waxing and primping had given her a new level of confidence. She felt beautiful.



If she were honest, there was also a spark of anticipation in those eyes that stared back in the mirror. She might have told herself that she was getting dressed for the lawyer's office, but she knew she was hoping that whatever hunger she'd felt from Dominic yesterday had not been in her imagination. Her body came alive as she remembered how he'd made her blood pound with just the heat of sexual interest in his eyes. Would his touch contain the same promise of barely restrained, primal lust?#p#分页标题#e#