Jarrodâs gaze dipped, trailed over her shoulders and lower, and came back to her face. âYou looked stunning.â
Molly should remind him that she didnât fit in, or play down his praise, but instead she couldnât concentrate on anything but his nearness, and how much she wanted his kiss as his hazel eyes darkened and intent came into his features. Instead she said, âIâmâ¦glad you liked the dress.â
âI liked it a lot.â His fingers crushed the soft fabric against her skin as he cupped her shoulders. His knee touched hers as he turned more fully towards her. And then his hands were on skin aloneâshoulders, backâin the lightest touch that still managed to hold her.
âWhy did I never see you?â He whispered the words, as though if he spoke them aloud the spell would be broken. âWhy canât I stop seeing you now?â
Molly wanted to be seen. Oh, she did. And she wanted his kiss. And at last his lips came down to cover hers.
Australian author Jennie Adams grew up in a rambling farmhouse surrounded by books, and by people who loved reading them. She decided at a young age to be a writer, but it took many years and a lot of scenic detours before she sat down to pen her first romance novel. Jennie is married, with two adult children, and has worked in a number of careers and voluntary positions, including transcription typist and pre-school assistant. Jennie makes her home in a small inland city in New South Wales. In her leisure time she loves long, rambling walks, starting knitting projects that she rarely finishes, chatting with friends, trips to the movies, and new dining experiences.
Jennie loves to hear from her readers, and can be contacted via her website at www.jennieadams.net
Dear Reader
Sometimes it takes a transformation for us to see whatâs been in front of us right from the start. Thatâs how it is for Jarrod Banning when he draws Molly Taylor deep into his world to help him sort out a problemâand ends up creating some problems of a whole other kind for himself.
Molly is a special heroine, with a unique kind of family. Theyâre all about fairytale dreams as a harmless means of escape from their very ordinary lives. Molly wants only to keep her feet on the ground for everyone, and sheâs done a good jobâdespite working for a âdream bossâ for the past three years. Sheâs rather concerned when the rules suddenly change!
I hope you enjoy visiting sunny Queensland with meâthe real bits and the fictitious bitsâas Molly and Jarrodâs story unfolds.
Love and hugs from Australia
Jennie
For Laura Hamby,
with thanks for the sanity-saving IM chats, the daily doses of âAnd Todayâs Whinge Isâ, the title brainstorming, Cupid, the e-card, the secret spook and the many M&Msâespecially the peanut butter ones. Consider yourself publicly outed for niceness above and beyond the call of duty!
CHAPTER ONE
âTHATâS a very generous invitation, Mr Allonby.â An invitation that took geek-girl Molly Taylor completely by surprise. She wanted to assure the man there was nothing wrong with her bossâs business whatsoever. There couldnât be! And yet the man sounded so sure.
Mollyâs gaze moved past him, to the view outside the fourteenth-floor windows of the Brisbane office that housed Banning Financial Services. The Australian sky was as bright a blue as ever, the buildings in the cityscape as tall, the river area below as wide and calm.
Yet a few words from this stranger and Mollyâs cheerful, all-but-perfect worldâif you ignored the few niggling things that werenât so perfect about itâdidnât feel quite so bright and secure after all.
What if Allonby was correct, and Jarrodâs business was in deep trouble? Allonby was offering her a job, but nothing could compensate for having to walk away from her boss.
âYouâve taken me by surprise.â She turned back to face the man, smoothed a few strands of dark-brown hair back into the ponytail that had a tendency to slip its moorings when she least expected it. One long, slim finger pushed her funky black-framed glasses farther up her nose as she stared at the middle-aged man.
âIâm sure what youâve heard must be some sort of mistake.â It had to be. Mollyâs boss loved the challenge of investing enormous amounts of money in complicated portfolios for a diversity of wealthy clients, and he was really, really good at it.
âI can only assure you what Iâve been told came from reliable sources.â Though they were alone in the middle of what was both Mollyâs office and the reception area for the business, her boss was only a closed door away from them.
A fact Peter Allonby must have considered, because he leaned forward and lowered his voice. âEven billionaires can get into difficulty. They simply have more at stake if that happens.â
âAh, well, Iâd guessed millions, actually.â And this was not a topic for open discussion either way. âIâm afraid I know very little about my bossâs finances,â Molly said primly.