Millionaire Husband by Leanne Banks

trying to save the world for fifteen minutes.”
    “Maybe you can get her to save you,” Dylan said with a wicked grin.
     
    Amy sat alone in the darkness of her den. The children were blessedly asleep and she was blessedly alone. Justin still hadn’t arrived home. She should be welcoming these precious moments of solitude with open arms.
    Instead her gaze wandered to the clock. She wondered where he was and with whom. It was none of her business, she told herself and rose to pace the area carpet. After all, it wasn’t as if they were married in the truest sense of the word. If his idea of going out with friends included seeing a woman who would meet his needs, then that should be fine with her. In sexual terms, she had no claim on him.
    So why did the very thought of Justin with another woman make her heart pound with fury? If Amy looked in a mirror right now, she feared a green monster would be staring back at her.
    The force of her emotion for him made it even worse. She should not care, she fumed. “This is why I didn’t want to get married,” she muttered. “Caring for a man too much just gets in the way,” she muttered to herself. “Feeling too much for a man muddles the mind and saps the energy.”
    She glanced at the clock again. Eleven-thirty. She missed their questions. Her day felt incomplete without them. She missed those few moments when she allowed herself to give in to her curiosity about him. And she was frustrated with herself for caring so much.
    Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she left the den and climbed the stairs. This was why she needed to rein in her feelings at all times. Tonight was a perfect reminder. Amy must depend on herself and no one else. Always.

Seven
    T he following afternoon, Amy found herself in a bind. The preschool children for the after-school program would be arriving any moment and her sitter had called with an emergency. She needed Amy to pick up Emily, Nicholas and Jeremy. Amy’s back-up sitter was out of town on vacation.
    Although she would almost rather chew nails, she tried to get in touch with Justin, first at his house. To her surprise, she found him at her home instead.
    “What’s up?” he asked.
    Just hearing the strength in his voice calmed her. “I have a problem. My sitter’s had an emergency, and I’m here doing the after-school program, so I need someone to pick up the kids from the sitter.”
    A long pause followed, and she held her breath. Regret seeped in. “Forget it,” she said. “You don’t—”
    “For Pete’s sake, give me a minute,” he said. “The market’s still open and I’ve got two possible trades left. I’ll place limit orders. Where does the sitter live?”
    Amy quickly gave him the address and directions all the while thinking how much she hated asking for his help at the same time she was heaving a sigh of relief. “I really appreciate this,” she said. “I owe you a—” She broke off before she said “a big one.” The big one had gotten her in big trouble last time.
    “We’ll see,” he said. “See ya.”
    No sexy tease on the big one from him either, she noticed with an odd sense of loss as she slowly hung up the phone. Perhaps he wasn’t so interested in the big one with her now. That was good, she insisted to herself over a huge sinking feeling in her stomach. That was wonderful.
    She kept telling herself the same thing during the after-school program and while she ordered burgers at the drive-thru. Ordering burgers, however, reminded her of her wedding ceremony. Brushing aside her sadness, she lugged the paper sacks of fast food to the front door and prayed her day wouldn’t be topped off by the arrival of Ms. Hatcher. Opening the door, she reminded herself to limit her gratitudeto Justin. She didn’t need any more of that kind of trouble.
    It only took a second for Amy to hear the tinkling of piano keys. For a half-moment, she wondered if it was a recording, but the sound wasn’t at all professional