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“I’m not sure I quite understand,” Jem said, as she hurried after her father.

“What’s there to understand?” he grumbled. “The woman plans parties, you like parties, a little too much in my opinion, therefore this should be the one area of the business that you’re more than qualified to participate in.”

Choosing to ignore the fact that apparently her father thought she was an idiot, Jem plowed onward. “I just don’t quite…”

Her father turned around. “Do you want to talk yourself out of this job?”

Well, if he was offering. Her head was still fuzzy and she really could use the sleep. She bit her lip.

“Were you expecting to sit at a trading desk?”

“No,” Jem said quickly. “But, well, I am your daughter.”

“So?”

“So, Jasper got his own office and assistant.”

“Jasper has a degree in finance and business,” her father snapped. “Fully qualifying him for his position. He also comes into work every morning. Unlike some people.”

Ouch. But fair, she supposed. Jem sighed. “Fine, fine.”

“But if you’d prefer to do some filing or data entry, I’m sure that could be arranged?”

“No, no, you’re probably right, this is probably the perfect role for me to fulfill,” Jem said, altering her smile to make it a tad wider.

“Good,” her father said, turning back and striding down the corridor.

Planning parties didn’t sound so bad, Jem thought as they walked. Mind you, she’d have far preferred to be working for one of the big companies, rather than whoever this little upstart was that her father had brought on.

She’d actually never considered event planning as a career. Well, she’d never really considered anything as a career. She hadn’t had to. Her life was full enough, what with manicures and waxing and lunches and shows and everything else, she wasn’t exactly bored.

And she definitely wasn’t looking for anything full time.

“Two months,” her father said. “That’s the arrangement.”

“Yes, daddy.”

Two months was an awfully long time. Still, she was fairly sure that this was going to turn out like the time her boarding school had decided that all students should do their own laundry. A week later, many, many, many shrunken and stained clothes later, not to mention a lot of parental complaints, and the rule had been reversed.

All she needed to do was screw up badly enough that the party woman refused to work with her and her father would give her a good scolding and send her on her way. That sounded like a solidenough plan.

“Here we are then,” said her father, stopping outside of a glass door. “This is Ellie Baker, she’s got some incredible ideas, all you need to do is liaison between her and me and help her realize her potential. It should be easy enough, even for you.”

He swung the door open, a smile on his face now. “Ms. Baker, so nice to see you again. Allow me to introduce your liaison, my daughter Jemima.”

Jem stepped in front of him and then stopped. They’d spoken for no more than a few seconds, but the face was hauntingly familiar, those dark eyes, that curly hair. Jem wondered if she was going to pass out.

She was very used to being the only person in the room that knew her secret, the only person in most buildings that knew her secret. And it was only while her body was busy celebrating the fact that she’d finally found the woman from the club that her head realized that she was now in a very dangerous situation indeed.

Because now there were two people in the building that knew her secret. And at any moment that two could become three. She didn’t dare open her mouth, begging with her eyes for Ellie to say nothing to her father.

But Ellie smiled big and then opened her mouth to speak.

Chapter Ten

Her insides felt like jelly and for a second Ellie wondered if this was some kind of joke. Or maybe the woman was a stalker. A pretty dedicated one, to be sure, but the coincidence of it all just seemed a little too much.