They were laughing and eating breakfast when Lucas walked in. Lucas was instantly on alert. She was getting pretty cozy with his father. What was she up to now, he wondered? “Good morning, Dad,” he said while sitting down. “Ms. Harper, I hope the accommodations were to your liking,” he added formally.
Amy looked at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. It took her about ten seconds. The man had already gotten what he wanted, and now he was letting her know it was back to business and nothing more. She already knew this was how he was, so why was she hurt so much by his attitude?
Well, she thought, two could play the game of ‘cold as ice’. “I slept perfectly, Mr. Anderson. The beginning of the night I had this bad nausea and a nasty headache, but then it went away, and the rest of the night was perfect,” she said in a voice even colder than his.
His eyes turned into slits and if eyes could kill, she figured she’d be a pile of ash. She decided she’d push her luck just a bit more and smirked at him, before turning away and ignoring him completely.
Joseph watched their little byplay, both of them thinking they were being so sly. He wondered what had went on last night. It looked to him like the kids may have gotten close and were both running scared. Well, he wasn’t going to let them avoid each other.
“Eat up, Lucas. You have a busy day. You need to take Amy to get her car and shop for the apartment. Better to get an early start, so it will be ready for her to move into tomorrow.” He then looked at Amy, “I think you’ll be happy there.”
“Mr. Anderson...” she began, when he stopped her.
“Now, Amy, you’re a guest in my home, don’t you think it’s time you started calling me Joseph. I’d appreciate that,” he added so she had no other choice.
“Um, okay, Mr. I mean, Joseph, I was thinking, Mr. Anderson,” she nodded toward Lucas, “is really busy and I don’t mind doing this stuff on my own. If it’s a matter of a signature, they could fax you the paperwork. I could just take a cab to the car lot. I really, really don’t mind,” she pled with him.
Lucas hadn’t wanted to spend the day with her, but her trying to get out of it just plain ticked him off. How dare she not want to be with him. They had some talking to do, and she was damn well going to spend the day with him.
“Of course I’m not too busy to take you out, Ms. Harper,” he said with venom in his voice. “Why don’t you go ahead and get ready so we can take off right away,” he said looking her up and down. He knew she was already dressed for the day.
He had some nerve looking down his nose at her? She was fighting to keep her emotions in check. She looked just fine and she wasn’t trying to impress him, anyway. She’d go with him, just to show him she could be in his company without being affected by it.
“I’m ready, Mr. Anderson,” she said in a voice of honey, dripping with vinegar. “You may want to clean that jam off your face, though,” she added with satisfaction. He glared at her, then got up from the table and walked into the house without another word. She quietly chuckled, enjoying the victory of winning that little battle. It felt kind of good to knock the all powerful Lucas down a notch.
“Well, you kids seem to be getting along rather well,” Joseph said with complete sincerity. She couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. He seemed to be. Maybe the two of them hadn’t been so obvious, after all. She figured you could’ve sliced the tension between them with a knife, but it was good Joseph hadn’t noticed.
“He’s a great boss,” was all she said before looking down and picking at her breakfast. She didn’t see the amused grin on Joseph’s face.
Lucas came back out and stood, impatiently waiting, as she deliberately took a few more bites of food, chewing as slowly as she possibly could. She noticed him glancing at his watch a few times.
“Now, Lucas, quit being so impatient. It’s never polite to rush a lady,” Joseph spoke up.
“We have a lot to do today, Dad. I just want to get going because I have plans with Vienna, tonight,” he added, lying about having a date. He noticed Amy tense in her seat. Good, he thought. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to believe. He was surprised with how good the thought made him feel. He didn’t take rejection well, even if he didn’t want the woman. He’d been completely wrong in thinking one time with her would be enough, because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He still wanted her, even more now than ever before.
She stood up and grabbed her purse off the back of the chair. “I wouldn’t want to make your date wait on you,” she said in a perfectly calm voice. “Thank you so much for breakfast, Joseph. It was delicious. Your company was the perfect way to start my day,” she said and then followed Lucas out the door.