Roxann Delaney - A Whole New Man

“Hank,” Lizzie interrupted, placing her hand on his arm. The warmth that shot through her made her pause for a moment to catch her breath. Hoping he hadn’t noticed her reaction, she did her best to ignore it and continued. “Hank, believe me, Amanda takes care of herself. Sometimes they torment her a little, but they adore her.”

Instead of relieving his worry, his frown deepened. “They shouldn’t do that. Torment her, I mean. But it’s easy to see why they adore her.” His frown instantly turned to a smile when he looked at Amanda.

Lizzie felt her heart warm toward him, which was the last thing she wanted. Most men, when they met her daughter, talked to her from an adult level. But something about Hank and the way he related to Amanda was different. And a bit scary, considering how much she, herself, was attracted to him.

“You were an only child, right? She can hold her own,” Lizzie replied, knowing she could use a few pointers on how to protect herself from Hank’s charm.

“Can her mother?” he asked.

His gaze met hers and she nearly melted into a puddle. There was no way she could answer, and when she started to pull her hand away, he covered it with his, trapping her. It felt so comforting, she couldn’t do anything more than sit staring into his eyes.

“I need a nakkin,” Amanda announced.

It took a supreme effort for Lizzie to drag her gaze and her hand from Hank’s. “I’ll get some, sweetie,” she said in a shaky voice and rose from her chair.

“Mind if I have another piece of that pizza?” she heard Hank ask her daughter.

Lizzie missed Amanda’s answer as she retrieved several napkins from an empty booth. She was glad for the interruption. She’d expected her daughter to be a solid distraction from Hank’s charisma, but instead, Amanda seemed to draw out more of his charm. Lizzie chided herself for being glad he had joined them. She shouldn’t be. It wasn’t right, no matter how much his hand on hers had made it feel like it was. She had been through this once before and had vowed, while dealing with Amanda’s tears, never to repeat the mistake.

Hank is a client, she reminded herself. Probably not a man with much staying power, if his past was any indication. And it always was. If she’d learned one thing in her business, it was that she might be able to change a few things about people, but their general disposition and character remained static.

But maybe…No. Learning to pick the right clothes and knowing the correct thing to say in a given situation was one thing. But turning someone from a person who never settled in one place for long to a homebody wasn’t possible. She needed to remember that whenever Hank’s dimples scrambled her senses.

Feeling only a little better, Lizzie approached the table and heard Hank telling Amanda about the pony he had once owned when he was a boy.

Amanda’s elbows were propped on the table, her face cupped in her sticky hands, as she stared at him in awe. “Did he pwance like the ponies in the circus? I wuv them! They have pwetty feathers on their heads.”

“No, but he could run like the wind,” he answered.

The wistful look on his face nearly undid Lizzie, and she had to stop herself from reaching out to give him a comforting hug. What was she thinking? She needed to keep her distance, both physically and emotionally, from this man.

Instead of giving in to her urge, she approached her daughter. “Let’s get you cleaned up a little, then we’d better head home.”

“Alweady?” Amanda asked, clearly disappointed that her mother would bring an end to her enchanted evening.

Lizzie wiped her daughter’s hands and face as best she could, and Amanda didn’t protest. It was one thing Lizzie had always been proud of in her daughter. Amanda knew better than to argue when told it was time for the fun to be over. Denny and Roger weren’t always so easy.

As she worked to gather the mess, Hank left the table, headed in the direction of the cash register. “Where do you think you’re going?” Lizzie called out to him.

“Just taking care of the tab,” he answered over his shoulder without stopping.

She dropped the wad of napkins and hurried after him. “We agreed this would be Dutch treat.”

“I changed my mind,” he said with a shrug and kept walking.

Grabbing his arm in hopes of bringing him to a halt, a vision of him pumping iron at the gym popped into her mind, and she had to force herself to breathe. “You can’t.”

He slowed, but he didn’t stop. “No big deal.”

“It is to me.” When he came to a halt and turned to look at her, she let go of him and did her best to hold her ground. “I can’t let you go on paying for things, Hank. You haven’t even started your new job yet.”

“I invited myself along. I know that’s a little on the rude side, but I’m glad I did. You saved me from spending a boring night in my hotel room. Why not let me make it up to you by paying for the pizza? It isn’t like twenty bucks is going to bankrupt me.”

The reminder of where she would be if she lost Hank as a client struck home. Besides, she needed to watch her pennies, in spite of the hefty chunk he had already paid to Images, Inc. But to let him pay for their evening out was another thing.

Hank leaned close and whispered, “Next time it’s your treat, I promise.”

The sound of his deep voice skipped over every nerve in her body, even though she knew she shouldn’t let it happen. How many times in her life had men made her feel this wonderful? Only two that she could recall, and neither had affected her with the potency Hank did now. But one had led to trouble…and Amanda. The other had caused heartbreak for a two-year-old. She wouldn’t let it happen again. She couldn’t.

She took a step back, out of his range. “I’ll hold you to that.”

He tossed her another one of his winning smiles. While he was busy paying their bill, Lizzie went back to the table and finished cleaning the mess, both on the table and on her daughter.

“Is Hank coming home wif us, Mommy?”

Lizzie jerked her head up, rendered speechless by her daughter’s question, and stared at her. Amanda didn’t take to men. Not since Ken had broken her heart. And here she was, asking if Hank was coming home with them. Lizzie was in trouble.

“Hank is going back to his hotel room.”

“Is that where his family is?”

Lizzie swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. “N-no. Hank doesn’t have any family, sweetie.”

“He doesn’t?” She tugged on her mother’s sleeve. “Can we take him home wif us then?”

Sighing, Lizzie shook her head. “Amanda, you can’t bring home stray people like you do stray kitties,” she tried to explain. “But it’s very nice of you to think of him. He’ll be fine at the hotel tonight, and then I’ll take him to his new apartment tomorrow. Does that help?”

Amanda’s lower lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears. “I guess so,” she said in a sad whisper.

Lizzie gave her daughter a hug, her heart filled with pride at Amanda’s caring generosity, but she knew she needed to be cautious. “All ready?” she asked, when Hank returned.

“You bet.” He helped Amanda down from her seat and held her hand as they walked to the exit. With her other, she grabbed Lizzie’s hand. Just like a family. Lizzie shook the thought from her mind to focus on her daughter’s chatter about her cousins’ new rabbit, the neighbor’s new kittens, and how she would have a zoo when she was bigger. Hank’s attention was riveted on the child, and Lizzie wasn’t sure what to do about this new situation. When Amanda made someone a friend, it was forever. Hank would only be a client for a few weeks, and after that there would be no reason for Lizzie to see him again. She could accept that. But could Amanda say goodbye to him when the time came? And did Lizzie really want her to?