Lucas came around the car and helped her out. He placed her arm in his and half pulled her up the large staircase. She’d come to the mansion for her job interview so at least she didn’t have to be quite as intimidated.
Even though she’d been there before her breath was still taken away by the beauty of it all. She was sure that kings would be impressed with the house. You couldn’t even call it a house. It was grander than a castle.
Lucas led her through the foyer and into the back. She heard laughter even before they opened up some massive doors somewhere in the middle of the place.
“You finally made it here. What did you do, take the scenic route? I’ve been here for a half hour already and I wasn’t the one driving the race car.” Alex came up and nudged his brother in the ribs.
“All is forgiven though since you brought my beautiful future bride. How you doing gorgeous?
We’ve been apart far too long already. Do you want to run away with me to Vegas and get married?” he joked with her. He threw his arm around her and dragged her over for a drink.
Lucas shook his head and rolled his eyes. He knew his brother was even more afraid of marriage than he was himself. He was still going to keep an eye on her though because if anyone could change his brother from committed playboy to a happily married man, it would be Amy.
He was going to make sure and stake his claim, so that both his brothers knew that Amy wasn’t on the market. He was amazed at the jealousy coursing through him. He’d never felt that way with any other woman he’d dated. If a woman he was dating wanted to run off with one of his brothers he would have gladly said goodbye.
Not that it would’ve been an issue, as neither of his brothers would ever trespass on the others’
woman. They had a code among them and would never break it. You just didn’t try and steal your brother’s girl. Now, on the other hand making one of said brothers jealous was a whole other issue and each of the guys loved to push buttons.
He started to walk over to take his woman, umm, employee back when Esther saved him from doing just that.
“Now Alex you leave this girl alone. You’re flirting shamelessly and embarrassing her. How are you doing hunny?” she asked kindly.
“I’m doing just great. I’m really getting that computer program down and I don’t think I will have to call you at all on Monday. Today is just another speed bump. Nothing to worry about,” Amy told Esther with a brave face.
Lucas could see she wasn’t used to having people worry about her, or love her for that matter.
She would have to get used to both. Employees of the Andersons were considered family. They took care of their own. Her days of bearing the weight of the world on her own shoulders had ended.
“I know you’re doing great at work. I meant how are you doing with your life? I heard about your place,” she said sympathetically. Before Amy knew what was happening she was engulfed in a hug.
“Now don’t you be afraid to ask for help once in a while. We’ll be getting to know each other well and this family takes care of the people they love,” she said. She visited a bit and then stepped away to talk with some other people in the room.
“Amy, I’m so glad you’re here. We have much to talk about but that will come later. I’m sure you’ve noticed all these people milling around.” Joseph’s enthusiasm made Amy jump a bit. He continued on before she had a chance to say one word.
“Today’s my amazing wife’s birthday and we all come together to celebrate this beautiful woman’s entrance into the world. Come, come, I want you to meet her, along with some others.
I’ve told her all about our newest employee,” he finished.
He placed her arm in his and she had to jog a little bit to keep up with him. He may have retired from being president, but he’d built the company and was still very much invested and she noticed he spoke with affection when bringing the business up. For the next twenty minutes Joseph dragged her all over the room, making so many introductions that she knew she would never remember all the people.
No one was dressed in tuxes or anything but she was still very uncomfortable standing in the beautiful room wearing only her old jeans and a sweatshirt. No one was looking at her in disgust, at least not that she’d noticed but she was still self-conscious about her appearance.
There was a stir in the room and suddenly she was standing in front of another Greek God.
Seriously, did they grow them on trees? She saw the resemblance and knew that this must be the last brother. Holy smokes, he was sexy as sin.
The man was wearing skin tight, worn out Wrangler jeans, a black cowboy hat that had seen better days and a grin stretched across his face.
“Hey boy, what took you so long? You know your mama’s been crying, wondering where her son was. She figured you forgot all about her,” Joseph said while leaning in to give his son a hug.
“Ah dad, Isabelle was birthing and I had to make sure she was going to be okay. Chad’s with her though so I hurried right over,” he said sheepishly to his father.
“Well just as long as you got here before we cut her cake,” Joseph said, forgiving his son’s late arrival.
“Now who’s this gorgeous woman you have on your arm? Did mom finally come to her senses and kick you to the curb?” He turned, giving Amy his undivided attention.
She felt a blush come to her cheeks. She immediately looked down, not wanting him to catch her gawking, but she didn’t see how any of the brothers had a moment of peace from all the women.
She could simply gaze at them and just soak up their stunning looks and megawatt smiles.
“Mark quit embarrassing our guest. This is Amy Harper. She’s the newest executive secretary for your worthless brother over there, who by the way is giving you the evil eye,” Joseph goaded him.
Mark turned around and saw the look on his brother’s face that clearly told him Amy wasn’t just his assistant. His brother was making it clear to all men in the room that the woman was his.
Mark sent him a huge grin, which grew even wider when he saw Lucas’s eyes narrow a bit more.
Mark decided to goad his big brother a bit. “Well Ms. Amy, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you. I have a real job opening for you if you get sick of working for that stuffed shirt of a brother of mine,” he said while giving her a flirtatious wink.
Then Amy was bent backwards over his arm and getting a kiss in front of a room full of strangers. He then whipped her straight up and threw his arm around her shoulder. “Do you want to run away with me? You’re simply stunning and one hell of a kisser,” he said with a wink.
Amy feared her face would remain scarlet the entire time she was around the Anderson family.
They all had no problem with physical contact and were far too gorgeous for their own good.
Amy realized she’d been kissed by all the brothers now. She was dismayed to find that only Lucas caused a burning flash inside of her.
She knew that both of Lucas’s brothers were joking with her but usually when a woman was kissed by a man as suave and downright gorgeous as both Mark and Alex were, she couldn’t control the body’s natural responses.
Even though both of the brothers were spectacular, it had felt like kissing a cousin. She must be going out of her mind. She was pondering that when Lucas walked up to them. She hadn’t even noticed that Mark’s arm was still around her.
“Okay Mark, you can quit manhandling Amy. I’m going to take her to get some food. She’s not available,” he finished.
With that she was switched from one brother to the next. She was beginning to feel like a shiny new toy. She would definitely remember to correct him on telling people who she was available for. She didn’t want to date anyone at the moment but it wasn’t his place to make that announcement.
Amy was surprised to find she was enjoying the evening, even with the earlier drama still in the back of her mind. No one in the home made her feel inadequate that she was wearing far less than dress clothes. Everyone there was friendly and inviting. She was shocked by how many employees and former employees of the company were at the party.
Amy observed how everyone was treated like a part of the family. The things she’d read about the Anderson family in the papers were all make believe, it appeared. They’d been portrayed in every sort of scandal you could imagine but the papers didn’t do justice to any of them. They were truly amazing people.
Amy let go of her problems and even forgot she was technically homeless at the moment. She was simply having too much of a pleasant time. She ate great food and visited with so many interesting people. She had no idea how late it was getting until she was sitting comfortably in the swinging chair on the back deck and noticed the party was starting to thin out.
Her problems came crashing back to the forefront of her mind. She didn’t have much money saved up so far. She had her first few paychecks, which were impressive but that money was supposed to be for the down payment on her new apartment. If she dipped into those funds to stay at a motel it would take longer to get into her place.
Oh well, she thought; she had no choice but to do that. It just delayed her plans by a month or two. It was no problem. She was so close to her goals that nothing was going to stop her. In the large scheme of things it was a minor setback.
“There you are Amy. I sit in this swing quite a bit myself,” Joseph stated, startling her out of her reverie. “The party has finally wound down so let’s step into my office and take care of some business,” he continued on.
“Yes sir,” she replied. Her first instinct was to panic. Was she going to get fired now that Lucas had seen how she was living? Please, please don’t get fired she repeated in her head over and over again. Then she let logic step back in. He wouldn’t invite her to the party only to fire her, would he?
She would just remain calm, no matter what happened and remember that she’d been through far worse things than losing a job. No matter what happened she was going to hold her head up high.
Amy followed Joseph through a maze of hallways wondering how he didn’t get lost in the huge palace of a home. There was so much artwork along the walls. She stopped in her tracks when she came across one painting. It was a piece by her favorite artist, Thomas Kinkaid. It looked like an original.
It was one of her favorites, with a beautiful cottage sitting right next to a stream. The painting was so stunning. It looked as if the water was actually moving and the lights in the cottage were on and beckoning you to come inside. Whenever she saw that particular painting she would close her eyes and imagine she was sitting on the front porch and watching her worries drift away down the stream. She smiled at the appealing thought, glad for seeing the beautiful painting at a moment in her life when it was needed.
She missed Joseph’s smile at her look of rapture from seeing at the painting. The more he was around Amy, the more he knew he’d made the right decision. She wasn’t awed by the million dollar statues, or fancy cars, she was impressed with the real works of beauty. She really would make a great addition to his family.
Amy snapped out of her reverie, mumbled sorry and continued to follow Joseph into his home office. She’d been in there once for her interview but had been far too nervous to really look around.
