The Mandy Project Read online

  What he didn’t understand was why.

  Glancing at the pillow where he’d expected to find her, he thought back on their fabulous night together. It had felt dreamlike. But it hadn’t been a dream—he remained sure, despite the vacant spot in bed.

  Much about Mandy had turned out to be different than what he’d been seeking in a woman, yet she’d been undeniably perfect. As he’d run his hands over her body, listened to her soft sighs, he’d been reminded of the docile yet refined female who’d shared dinner with him. And when she’d pushed him to his back and straddled him in the bed, he couldn’t help recalling Mandy’s unexpected wilder side. To his vast shock, he’d found he liked each side equally well. Maybe even loved each side equally well.

  Too quick, a cautionary voice echoed inside him. Far too quick to even be thinking about that word.

  But…what if it wasn’t too quick? What if it was, in fact, right on time? Any fear he harbored of the word could be chalked up to immature emotions left over from his youth. The truth was that he wanted to be in love. And Mindy had indeed found the ideal woman for him, just when he’d begun to think she might not exist.

  Only now she was gone. She’d left him without bothering to say goodbye. It was the last thing he’d expected when he’d fallen asleep with her in her arms.

  Trying to push the disappointment from his mind, he glanced to his bedside clock to see it was after nine—he hadn’t set the alarm. His office was likely in chaos by now, fearing he’d been hit by a bus or some such catastrophe. Shoving one hand through his hair, he reached for the phone and dialed.

  “Maxwell Group.”

  “It’s me, Claudia.”

  The older woman sighed with relief. “Glad to hear you’re all right. You are all right, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “You’re making a nasty habit of this.”

  Her tone was the slightly playful scold of a grandmother, but Benton had no intention of discussing his tardiness in any detail with his receptionist, no matter how sweet she was. “Evidently so. Can I have Miss Binks?” He cringed as soon as the words left him. “I mean, put me through to her, will you?”

  As Claudia made the connection, he imagined her likely amusement over his faux pas. No one had ever said so, but he suspected some of the staff might have noticed Miss Binks’ attraction to him—it would be hard not to.

  “Benton Maxwell’s office.”

  “Miss Binks.”

  “Mr. Maxwell! What a relief to hear your voice! I was worried!”

  The emotion pouring through the phone only added to his various frustrations. After last night with Mandy, after seeing how good things could be with a woman, he couldn’t believe he’d ever even thought about trying to form a relationship with his assistant. He kept his voice stern and businesslike. “No need for concern. All’s well. I’m just running late.”

  “When will you be in?”

  He thought ahead to his plans for rest of the morning. “I’ll be another hour or two, at least.”

  “Oh.” She sounded let down about the wait. “I wanted to go over the portfolio status report with you.”

  “Tell you what,” he said, taking a new tack. “Why don’t you work with Malcolm on it?” Benton was hardly in the mood for matchmaking right now, but the suggestion would serve another purpose, as well, putting some distance between himself and Miss Binks.

  Her hesitation was slight but evident. “Malcolm?”

  “He’s as in tune with those reports as I am, and you keep telling me I need to delegate, so I’m officially delegating this. From now on, you and Malcolm deal with the portfolio reports and just send me a memo outlining your discussion. All right?”

  “But I…”

  He said nothing as her voice trailed off, knowing Miss Binks was nothing if not professional—most of the time, anyway—and she’d likely get herself back on track here if he didn’t interfere.

  He was right. “Of course, Mr. Maxwell,” she finally said, even if she didn’t succeed in covering the severe note of defeat in her voice.

  “Very good.”

  After Benton hung up, he glanced again toward the empty spot in the bed beside him. He’d been feeling uncharacteristically hurt and betrayed a few minutes ago, probably because his ego had recently been bruised by the outcome of his first two Mates By Mindy dates even before waking to find his third date had vanished sometime before dawn. But his conversation with Miss Binks had restored his normal confidence.

  He knew good and well that Mandy had experienced the same magic on their date—and after—as he had, and he wasn’t about to let her get away without an explanation. He didn’t know why she’d gone dashing out of his bed in the middle of the night, but he intended to find out.

  “You what?” Jane’s eyes grew as big as two donuts as she gaped at Mindy from behind the glazed one she’d been preparing to bite into.

  Mindy hadn’t exactly planned on telling Jane what she’d done, but trying to hide it seemed fruitless. So she’d spilled as soon as Jane had settled behind her desk, bakery bag in hand.

  “You heard me, I slept with him.”

  Jane cast a dry look. “Well, that’ll really teach him to go around stereotyping women.”

  Mindy cringed. “I didn’t mean to sleep with him. It just…happened.”

  “How? When were you someplace private enough for that? In the car? Did he just start kissing you in his car and you couldn’t stop?”

  Mindy pursed her lips, knowing her explanation was weak, considering the many opportunities she’d had to say no. “Actually, it was more like we were dancing and he invited me back to his place for sex and I said okay.”

  As if needing it for sustenance, Jane bit into her donut, then spoke with her mouth full. “And you couldn’t get hold of yourself at some point and realize you were letting him have sex with someone who doesn’t exist?”

  “Apparently not.” Mindy slumped in her chair.

  Yet Jane sat up a little straighter, mouth empty again. “All right. Two questions. How was it and what are you going to do about it now?”

  “The earth moved and I don’t know.”

  “And the wig,” Jane said. “What about the wig?”

  “It’s reliably snug—I’ll admit that concerned me, but it stayed in place the whole time.”

  “I knew this whole thing was a bad idea.” Jane scowled. “And sneaking out hardly solved anything. He knows where you live. He knows your phone number.” She used her donut to gesticulate.

  Mindy smirked back at her, wishing she had her own donut to wave about so dramatically. “Yes, I realize that, but at the time, sneaking out seemed like a perfectly valid thing to do.”

  “And he’s not going to let this drop if he’s as crazy about you as you say.”

  “Mandy,” Mindy pointed out. “He’s crazy about Mandy. Not me.”

  Jane gave her head a caustic tilt. “Is there a difference?”

  Mindy spread her arms wide. “There’s a huge difference. Mandy is some bizarre cross between June Cleaver and Madonna, the early years. And I’m just…me. Normal Mindy.”

  “Well”—Jane glanced toward the front of the shop—“don’t look now, normal Mindy, but Mr. Tall, Dark and Steamy has awakened alone and come to see you.”

  Mindy’s eyes darted toward the plate glass window and, sure enough, in between the pink and red hearts painted there, she spied Benton crossing the street, headed straight toward her door.

  “Me,” she pointed out softly, more to herself than Jane. “He’s coming to see me, not Mandy.” She’d never dreamed she’d have such a hard time keeping track of her identities. Her heart rose to her throat as he reached for the door handle.

  She focused desperately on her computer, wishing she could erase the grim expression she surely wore, but when the bell above the door jingled, she looked up anyway. “Benton,” she breathed at the sight of him. “Maxwell. The third,” she added awkwardly. Mindy had never called Benton by
his first name before and now seemed like a highly suspicious time to start. She coughed into her hand to cover the blunder. “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s about your sister.”

  He sounded so solemn that a ray of hope swept through her. Maybe he was angry over Mandy leaving. Maybe the light of day had reminded him he didn’t want a wild woman who revealed her undergarments in public. Maybe he was just here to complain or demand his money back or something like she’d come to expect of Benton before their date last night. Encouraged by the thoughts, Mindy put on her game face. It was much easier to argue with the man than feel mushy about him. “Let me guess. You don’t like her, either.”

  He gave his head a slight shake. “No, that’s not it. I’m crazy about her.”

  Mindy’s heart swelled—with joy or disappointment, she couldn’t discern which—but she tried to act cool. “Oh.”

  He took on a painfully earnest look. “In fact, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Whoa. Mindy’s imaginary twin was the best thing that had ever happened to him? She barely knew whether to kiss him or throw up. Dizziness struck as visions of their night together raced through her mind. “Really? I mean, that fast?”

  He nodded. “Sounds quick, I know. But the truth is, I owe you an apology. I had you pegged all wrong. You do know what you’re doing. After all, you brought Mandy into my life.”

  Nearly breathless, she spoke quickly, suddenly anxious to get him out of her shop so she could cry or bang her head against a wall or something. “So all’s well that ends well. That’s great. Congratulations and good luck.”

  “But there’s a problem.”

  She blinked. Twice. Thrice. Oh no, it was becoming a tic. “A problem?”

  He glanced at Jane, who lowered her donut to her desk, spun her chair toward a filing cabinet, and pretended to dig madly through, despite having glazed fingers. Then he drew a little closer to Mindy, lowering his voice. “Mandy snuck out of my house in the middle of the night.”

  Mindy met his gaze. Blinked again.

  He leaned slightly forward, appearing confused. “Are you okay?”

  “Just…” she pointed to her eye, “…a speck of dust or something. I’ll be fine.”

  “Well, about your sister. She and I went back to my place and—”

  “Yes, actually, she called me this morning,” Mindy blurted out. There was no way she was going to let him relay all the sordid details about what he’d done with Mandy, even if she was Mandy.

  He perked up. “Really? What did she say?”

  She said she changed her mind about you. She felt it was a mistake. She doesn’t want to see you again. Mindy thought all those statements fell firmly into the category of “obvious things to say right now”—and she truly tried, but somehow she just couldn’t spit them out. His eyes shone so sweet and hopeful. And her heart beat so hard. She simply couldn’t do it this way, couldn’t crush his desires. It had to be his decision—he had to see that Mandy wasn’t the girl for him. He had to want Mandy out of his life.

  “She said she…got scared,” Mindy finally replied. “She was…embarrassed.”

  “Embarrassed?”

  A thin veil of heat climbed Mindy’s cheeks as she peeked at him from beneath bashfully lowered eyelashes. “She doesn’t usually…you know…that quick.”

  Benton’s handsome face colored slightly, as well. “She shouldn’t be embarrassed. Everything was…extremely mutual, if you know what I mean.”

  Oh boy, do I.

  Before she could summon a reply, though—after all, what could she say?—he tilted his head and gave her a sincere smile. “Thanks, Mindy.” Then he turned to go—rather abruptly, she thought.

  “Thanks? For what?”

  He stopped, looking back. “For filling me in on Mandy’s feelings. It explains everything.”

  “So…what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to call her tonight and work this out. We’ll be back on track in no time.”

  Mindy blinked again. Twice. “Then you plan on seeing her again?”

  His grin widened. “Oh yes. I want to see a lot more of Mandy.”

  Well, there’s not a lot more for you to see now, is there? Mindy suffered the urge to say, but instead she simply blinked a few more times and attempted a smile. “Great. Swell.”

  He reached for the door, yet turned back one last time. “I hope your eye feels better.”

  “Okay. Thanks. See ya.”

  Mindy sat very still as the door tinkled shut behind the man she’d made love to less than twelve hours ago. The only good news was that she’d quit blinking.

  As Jane rotated her chair away from the filing cabinet, Mindy felt her glare. Jane spoke very calmly. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Yes?” Mindy answered uncertainly. She released a huge sigh and let her head droop over her desk. “Jane, I just couldn’t wound him that way. Did you see the look in those gorgeous eyes?”

  “Oh yeah, I saw it. He’s got it bad for Mandy, all right. You are in so much trouble.”

  “I know,” Mindy lamented.

  Pausing to pick up her donut, Jane wheeled her chair a little closer to Mindy’s desk. “Of course, you could always tell him the truth.”

  Mindy bolted upright. “The truth!” It was unthinkable. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Maybe he’d understand. Then you could live happily ever after and all that.”

  She shook her head vehemently. “No way. First of all, as I explained to you before, he wants Mandy, the doormat with a dark side, not me. Second, I’ve committed the worst of all matchmaker crimes imaginable. In fact, scratch that, because what I’ve done is actually unimaginable. If I tell him the truth, I, I—I could be disbarred!”

  Jane flashed her dryest look. “Matchmakers don’t take the bar exam.”

  “Well, if the world knew how evil we could be, how we can ruin people’s lives,” Mindy said, giving her chin a defiant tilt, “they’d realize there should be some standards, tests to take, qualifications to prove.” Then her fervor wilted. “Oh Jane, I never meant to be such a sham.”

  “Then tell the truth.”

  Mindy narrowed her brow. Since when was Jane so forthright and honest? It was as irritating as that little Mindy angel on her shoulder last night. And since when was Mindy not forthright and honest?

  Still, as horrible as she felt, she was sure she could get out of this unscathed. Well, sort of unscathed. There’d always be the memories of his bed. And the knowledge that she could have been the woman of his dreams—if she weren’t such a crazy, masquerading liar. But all of that was secondary to her need for self-preservation, which meant her need to solve this without admitting to Benton that she’d done something horribly wrong. And she really didn’t want to hurt him. She wanted him to decide to toss Mandy back.

  So she held up her hands in a stopping motion. “Wait, listen. I’ve got a plan.”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “This should be good.”

  “I’ve just got to be the anti-anti-Mandy.”

  Jane thought through it slowly as she nibbled her breakfast. “Anti-anti? Theoretically, wouldn’t that be…regular you? You know, the way a double negative goes back to being a positive?”

  Mindy shook her head, annoyed. “What I mean is, I have to be even worse than the wild dancing woman he met last night, worse than the seductress who told him she wanted to go to bed with him.”

  Jane’s eyebrows shot up. “You said that? You actually asked him to—”

  “Don’t change the subject, I’m on a roll. I have to do things that are even more embarrassing, maybe even dangerous somehow. I have to leave him totally mortified. That way he’ll want nothing more to do with me—I mean Mandy—and life will get back to normal.”

  “So, any idea what these embarrassing, dangerous things are?”

  Mindy’s mind whirled with possibilities, ways to horrify her beloved Benton. “Well, I don’t have them all pinned do
wn just yet, but trust me, they’ll be really terrible!”

  Chapter Five

  Benton glanced from the financial report in his hands to the small clock on the corner of his desk with his name engraved across the top, a too-expensive gift from Miss Binks last Christmas. 6:10, well past time for the gift-giver herself to have headed home. He knew she was still here, however, because she always said goodnight without fail, and always checked to make sure he didn’t need her for anything before leaving.

  Things were escalating between them, disturbingly so, ever since the day he’d shown up late after first visiting Mates By Mindy, the day she’d first touched his sleeve. She’d made the same move several times since, and the adoring look in her eyes had grown ever more intent. So the fact that she remained in the office with him long after everyone else had departed made him feel a little like…prey.

  Or maybe, he reasoned, he was just imagining it. Maybe he was noticing her attentions more than usual lately because he’d become more attuned to the feelings of all the women in his life. After all, it would have been impossible not to see how Chelsea and Heather, his first two Mates By Mindy dates, had regarded him. With total detestation. Conversely, Mandy had been as wildly enamored of him as he’d been of her last night, and his conversation with Mindy this morning had only shored that up. The matchmaker herself, on the other hand, fell somewhere in between. Sometimes he thought she hated him, other times he thought she liked him, still other times—like today—she acted nervous around him, a behavior completely contrary to his earlier impressions of her. Odd. Not that she was really on his mind. She wasn’t. There would be no reason for his thoughts to dwell on the little redhead with the sometimes fiery attitude and a serious blinking problem.

  No, his thoughts ran firmly toward her delectable sister. And, well, to Miss Binks—although that was due to forced proximity, not choice.