Millionaire Husband by Leanne Banks Page A

sounding. She quickly marched through the foyer to the formal living room to find Emily, and her brothers standing on either side like bookends, playing a spinet piano.
    Amy nearly dropped the burgers.
    “Emily?” she asked. “Where did the piano come from?”
    The boys looked up. “Justin!” they chorused.
    Emily whipped around on the small bench with a huge smile on her face. “Justin got it for us!”
    Justin poked his head around the corner with the phone attached to his ear. He looked at Amy and didn’t speak or wave. He just looked at her from head to toe and back again, making her nerve endings dance on end.
    Amy took a deep breath and looked at the piano. Beautifully polished and golden brown with white ivory keys, the instrument fit perfectly in the room without taking up too much space. She couldn’t have made a better selection. How exactly was she supposed to limit her gratitude on this?
    Nicholas sniffed loudly and rubbed his belly. “I smell burgers.”
    “You can’t have any cuz you puked in Justin’s car,” Jeremy said.
    Amy winced. Oops. Men could be particular about their cars. She was surprised Justin was still in the house. She searched Nicholas for outward signs of illness. “Are you sick, sweetie?”
    He shook his head.
    “He got into the sitter’s cookie jar and ate too many cookies,” Emily said.
    Nick stuck out his bottom lip. “Justin won’t let me have anything to eat cuz he said he doesn’t want me to get sick again.”
    Surprised at Justin’s wisdom, Amy felt the force of all three gazes on her as if they were waiting for her verdict. “Justin is right. We need to let your tummy settle down before anything else goes in it.”
    Nick eyed the sack of fast food. “But what about my burger?”
    “We’ll see. I’ll call the three of you in a few minutes,” she said and headed for the kitchen. She rounded the corner and plowed into Justin. Still talking on the phone, he wrapped his arm around her to stabilize her.
    Amy caught a mouthwatering whiff of his aftershave, and remnants of the emotions she’d felt when he’d kissed her rushed through her. Tough to hold a grudge after the way he’d come through for her today.
    “Okay. I’ll check my system tomorrow morningfor the correction,” he said, then turned off the phone. “My online trading system listed a wrong trade on my account and I just caught it.”
    His green gaze searched hers, and Amy struggled with a deep vulnerability that swept through places she kept hidden inside her. “What made you get the piano?”
    His lips twitched ever so slightly. “Who said I got it?”
    She smiled and shook her head. “Well, it’s not Christmas, so I know Santa didn’t bring it down the chimney. I thought you told me you were a tightwad.”
    “I am,” he said. “This is different.”
    “How is it different?”
    He shrugged with discomfort and took the food sacks from her arms to the kitchen counter. “Emily wanted to take piano lessons, so she needed a piano.”
    “Needed?”
    “In the scheme of things, this wasn’t a big deal, so don’t make it one,” he said, narrowing his eyes restlessly.
    “It was a big deal for her and for me,” she added, taking a breath and lowering her guard a millimeter. “Thank you.”
    Nicholas and Jeremy burst into the room, popping the bubble of intimacy forming between her and Justin. “We want burgers! We want burgers!” they chanted.
    “The natives are restless,” he said. “Better feed ’em.”
    Throughout the evening, Amy would almost swear there was an air of anticipation between her and Justin. It grew thicker with each passing minute. At unexpected moments, his gaze would catch and hold hers. Her heart was also doing unexpected things like softening toward him. Amy’s emotions swung from attraction and fascination to fear. By the time she put the children to bed, she felt like she was stuck on a carnival ride.
    She went downstairs to the den, waiting and wondering which