telephone had been glued to his ear. When he had occasion to be off the phone, it was only to turn to the mounds of crises covering his father's sleek slate desk.

The boat ride with Kelly might as well have been months ago instead of a week. His begging her to come back to Paris with him-she'd never had a chance to say yes or no. He kept telling himself she'd been going to say yes.

That yes was still possible.

He was holding on to that hope like a lifeline in a stormy sea.

'Mr. Maguire…'

Will spun around and viewed Aaron's new comptroller with suspicious eyes. First off, John Henry persisted in calling him Mr. Maguire. Second off, the guy was so perfect he probably didn't have to spit after brushing his teeth. He didn't joke, didn't cough, didn't trip, never complained, was courteous first thing in the morning-in short, he never did one human thing.

Something was off. Will couldn't pin it down, but nobody could be this perfect every second. Stranger yet was his sense of style. John Henry-what kind of a name was that?-could have auditioned for an escort service.

'I didn't mean to interrupt you,' John said, 'but I have the reports you asked for, and you did ask me to bring them right away.'

'I did. And I needed them right away. Thanks, John. I'll get back to you later.'

South Bend was famous for Studebakers-a car that failed. The city was also famous for Notre Dame, of course. And then there were the Maguires, upstart Irish once upon a time, but Irish who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. It wasn't a romantic business his family had gotten into, just the formula for an indestructible alloy. So far the product had been used on everything from trains to computers, from race cars to military hardware.

'Will…' Ms. Randolph showed up at his door next. She'd been his father's right-hand assistant for as long as he could remember. Her age was around 110, her gray hair wirier than a terrier's, and lions couldn't compete with her loyalty.

As far as Will could tell, she was part of the evil conspiracy determined to keep him here. Unlike any sane employee-who would surely think the prodigal son wouldn't know shit about running the place and was just going to muck everything up-Ms. Randolph acted as if the sun rose and set with him. She adored him.

More nauseating yet, he adored her.

'Your father called from the hospital,' she reported. 'He'd appreciate your calling him before you leave tonight.'

'For a fresh set of questions and orders, and the daily tongue-lashing, I suspect.' Will said wryly.

'I think he wants to pull the great escape tonight, but he won't be able to manage it without you.'

'Oh my God, is he delusional? He actually believes I'd help spring him from the hospital so he could go home?'

'He does. But he knows you won't leave here for hours yet. And sometime over the next hour or so, Blake, in the finishing department, wants you to take a look at the Ariber proposal before we send it out.' She glanced at him. 'Blake thinks you don't know beans, so watch yourself.'

'Thanks.'

'Ariber can't be familiar to you. It's a relatively new customer, but one of your dad's pet projects. Not a big profit to be had on this specific project, but serious opportunities down the road. Your father felt it was an important contract to land.' After filling him on the rest, she tapped her notepad. 'Did you get lunch?'

'No, Mom. But I'm a big boy and can feed myself.'

'Humph. I've slapped your father upside the head, so don't think I can't do it to you. You'll either start scheduling a regular lunch or I'll start having it catered at noon.'

'Hey, I can fire you, remember?'

'In a pig's eye. You gave me a new job title and a salary increase the minute you got here.'

'That was only because my father's stingy.'

'Actually…he is. A little.' She looked uncomfortable. 'I don't mean to imply that your father doesn't treat me absolutely fairly in every way. And you know how I love Maguire's. I had everything I needed-'

'This wasn't about what you needed. It was about merit and power, cookie. And you deserved more power. You've earned it.'

'Well, heaven knows, that's true.' Ms. Randolph stalked toward the door like the martinet she was. 'But for the record, if you call me 'cookie' again, you might not live to see the next daylight.' She closed his door on her way out.

When she knew he had a mountain to tackle, she always closed his door, then guarded it with the tenaciousness of a street bully. And she was right. Somehow he had to pack in eight hours of work before he could leave today-and it was already three in the afternoon. And no, he hadn't had time for lunch. In fact, he was damn near light-headed from hunger.

Hunger for food.

Hunger to be anywhere on the planet but here.

Hunger to be with Kelly. Just anywhere with Kel. Alone.

Ms. Randolph paged him right when he was knee-deep in trouble, out in the pre-finishing production area, where the lighting was fierce and the temperature brain-baking. Maybe the heat contributed to old Willy Blake's attitude. The foreman had never liked hearing criticism, and liked listening to new ideas even less.

Ms. Randolph said crisply. 'You've got a Kelly Rochard on line three. She knows you're busy. Said she could call back, but I figured you could use the sound of a sweet voice. Particularly if you've been listening to Blake cuss for long.'

Will was too whipped to even tease back. 'Thanks.'

He punched in line three, one hand covering his right ear so he had a prayer of hearing Kelly clearly. Which he did. And simply the sound of her voice made him grin.

'Darn it, Will. I hate bothering you,' she said violently.

'You never bother me.'

'Yeah. I do. Of course I do. But I wanted to know how your dad was. and I couldn't call you at his place, because your mom could easily overhear anything you wanted to say. And if you were back at your sister's, I figured you'd be sacked out, so I didn't want to bother you there. So the only place left to call you was-'

Before she went on explaining forever, Will figured he'd just jump in and answer her question. 'Well, my dad's ornery. Crabby. Insufferable. But I'm supposed to spring him from the hospital after dinner. The family doesn't think he's ready to come home yet, worried that he's way more than my mom can handle. So he called me to come do the jailbreak.'

'My. How much fun you're having, huh?'

'I don't suppose you'd like to come with me?'

'To help take your dad home? I'd love to.' There. Just like that. A god-awful job turned into something livable.

AARON WAS IN THE MIDDLE of yelling at a nurse and two aides when they walked in. When his dad spotted Kelly, though, you'd think an angel had arrived. He calmed right down.

'We're going to make Will do all the annoying paperwork, and we'll get you out of here.' Kelly said immediately.

'Finally, someone who listens to me!'

'I don't blame you for being frustrated. Hospitals are terrible places, aren't they?'

That was all she had to say for Aaron to go into his monologue. 'You can't rest in here. They're always poking you or prodding you. Can't even go to the bathroom on your own without some pip-squeak yelling at you. The only food they serve that's edible is Jell-O. How is a grown man supposed to get stronger on Jell-O, I ask you.'

Will hit the offices, and got two exuberant kisses from nurses on the way back up to the room. He didn't figure the smooches were because of his sex appeal, just a measure of gratitude that he was taking Aaron Maguire off their hands.

Not that Will would admit it aloud, but unlike the hospital staff, he was damned glad to see his father yelling and acting feisty again. Aaron still looked beat-up, and he clearly couldn't put any weight on his right ankle. But by the time Will caught up with Kelly, she had his dad in a wheelchair and Aaron was chuckling at something she'd said.

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