Hot Property by Carly Phillips Page B

one at that hour. I’ll make sure a car is waiting.” She placed her hand on the phone, obviously ready to do just that.
    “It seems like an extravagance to take a car for lunch,” Amy said.
    “We bill it to the client. It’s fine, really. SOP,” Kelly said.
    “SOP?”
    “Standard operating procedure.”
    Amy smiled. “Got it. It looks as if you have everything covered except for one thing.”
    “What’s that?” Kelly glanced up at her, surprised.
    “Who am I meeting for lunch?”
    Kelly tapped her head with her hands. “I didn’t mention that?
    Roper. It’s all in the note he left. Since he couldn’t have his business meeting with you due to a family emergency, he said he wanted to take you for lunch and do it there.”

    “Aah.” Family emergency. Amy glanced at her watch. At 11:00 a.m.
    in the morning. Apparently Roper needed her even more than she realized.
    “Take a paper and pen to lunch,” Kelly said. “Make notes so you don’t forget anything. Not that I’m suggesting you’re forgetful, but if it were me having a business lunch with that perfect specimen, I’m sure I wouldn’t remember anything he said. And I’m pretty on-the-ball,” Kelly said, laughing.
    Amy grinned. “That you are, and something tells me I’m going to need your expertise during this transition period.”
    “Did anyone tell you that Rachel, the other publicist I work for, is out on maternity leave? I’m all yours for the next three months.”
    And Kelly seemed eager to help, for which Amy was grateful. “That’s even more good news.”
    “Do you need me to join you at lunch?” Kelly asked hopefully. “I could hold Roper’s hand. I mean, I could hold your hand.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief and Amy chuckled.
    “I think I can handle it,” Amy said.
    Those words were becoming her mantra.
    “You’re definitely lucky. The man is one hot property,” Kelly said, returning her focus to her ringing phone.
    Amy remembered his lips on hers and merely nodded in agreement.
    Hot property. Yep, Roper was definitely that and more. Keeping her mind on business during lunch was going to be very difficult.

    ROPER ARRIVED AT SPARKS a few minutes early and the maître d’ led him to his favorite table, a private one in the corner where he and Amy wouldn’t be disturbed by prying eyes. It was bad enough his sister had called crying, begging him to meet her at her apartment. She’d been beyond upset. He couldn’t understand the reason for her hysteria, but he’d scrawled an apology note for Amy all the same and headed to the SoHo loft she shared with her fiancé, Kevin. There he discovered the breakdown had been caused by a distraught message from their mother, threatening to come to New York and take over the wedding plans if Sabrina didn’t start returning her calls.
    Roper could understand his sister not wanting their mother in control of her life. Even more, he could relate to Sabrina’s fear of having Her Highness show up on their doorstep. Roper adored his mother, but he loved the fact that she lived in L.A. even more. She still managed to do her share of driving him crazy, but at least it was from a distance. Still, as much as he understood Sabrina’s feelings, he wished she’d called Kevin home from work for sympathy instead of him.
    She’d pulled him away from Amy. Roper hadn’t known Amy was working at the Hot Zone. In fact, the more he thought about his night with her, the more he realized he’d been the one to reveal things about his family and his life while she’d listened, not giving away much about herself at all.
    He was glad. For one thing, she remained a mystery he could unravel at his leisure. For another, if he’d known she would end up in his life in such a big way, he’d probably have had second thoughts about getting involved. This way, he was already hooked and he wanted her too much to back out now.
    He owed his best friend for assigning Amy as his handler, although he hadn’t