Free Daddy Warlock by Jacqueline Diamond Page B

computer programs and to learn how he worked with his clients. Some of them were famous and most were rich, but he treated the modest investors with the same care.
    That afternoon, she rode to the office with him and began getting acquainted with his staff. To her relief, the others expressed delight in having someone to share the workload.
    â€œChance is a perfectionist” explained his executive secretary. “He works twice as hard as anyone else, and we feel like we’re letting him down when we don’t stay late. Having you here takes a burden off us.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it.” Tara gazed around the expansive office with its fresh-cut flowers on the desks. “It’s worked out well for me, too.”
    She and Chance stayed after the other staff left Rajeev and Vareena had arranged to pick up Harry and take him to their dance class, then out for fast food. Her son had been looking forward to the outing, including Rajeev’s offer to tell him a bedtime story from Indian folklore.
    â€œIt’s almost too good to be true,” Denise said with a sigh when Tara called her during a coffee break. In the whirl of moving into a new home, she hadn’t phoned her friend all week.
    â€œDon’t say that. It might be bad luck.”
    â€œI thought you didn’t believe in luck”, her friend teased.
    â€œI don’t. But I don’t want to tempt fate in case I’m wrong.”
    After hearing the latest gossip from the salon and promising to call again soon, Tara went back to finish familiarizing herself with the computer files. Chance sent out for submarine sandwiches, and they ate dinner at their desks.
    Being part of such a high-speed business made the adrenaline sing through her bloodstream. In a way, Chance was part of the excitement, she admitted silently.
    He certainly affected her. Whenever she came near,she felt as if she’d been magnetized and he were a rod of iron. Tara could almost feel the hairs on her arms standing on end.
    She supposed it would have been safer to work for an unattractive man, or one who was married. Yet the current of electricity between them added a note of danger that kept her both alert and intrigued.
    It was late by the time they knocked off, but Tara didn’t feel tired. How could she when her body was buzzing and sparks kept lighting up her brain?
    They rode down in the elevator and emerged into a balmy spring night. A gardener must have spent the afternoon working on the planters, because the leggy begonias had been replaced by pansies and snapdragons. The bright colors stood out even in the light of a street lamp.
    Chance reached over and plucked a.dozen of the tall blooms. Pulling out a handkerchief, he soaked it in water from a nearby sprinkler and wrapped it around the lower stems.
    The man had flowers on every desk in the office. What on earth was he doing picking blooms out of the planters?
    Distracted, Chance didn’t notice her reaction at first, and then he glanced with amusement at the bouquet in his hand. “I suppose that must have looked odd.”
    â€œI don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe you do it all the time.”
    â€œNo, I—” For the first time since she’d known him, he appeared at a loss for words. “It was just, as we were coming down the elevator, I got the feeling—I mean—”
    â€œYou don’t have to apologize.” As they entered the parking structure, Tara waited for the car to unlock itself.
    â€œI haven’t seen my great-aunt Cynda in a long time.” Both front doors popped open. “She only lives a milefrom here and it occurred to me that we ought to stop and see her. That’s why I picked the flowers. I hope you don’t mind a side trip.”
    Mentally, Tara checked off the time and the fact that her son would be in bed by now and probably asleep. “There’s no hurry.”
    â€œYou’ll get a kick out of