Just like she thought, the place was a mess again. But today it was worse, as if Josh had purposely thrown everything everywhere for her to clean.

It was fine. She’d factored this into the plan. She’d brought in her portfolio today and planned to work on it until he got up.

Amy went into the sitting room and switched on the TV, then she went into the kitchen and made herself some chocolate from the sachets she’d brought along with her.

Today she wore her designer clothes, selecting a pink, slinky, alter neck from Ralph Lauren and tight Armani jeans. Her hair was down with loose curls at the ends she’d created with her curling wand. Amy looked more like the fashionable, tasteful woman she was back in New York.

Deciding to get real comfortable, she found Ren and Stimpy on MTV and had it playing in the background while she scanned over her portfolio, jotting down a few notes on what she was going to work on.

Her plan was to finish her dress by next month. Despite her tiredness and frustration last night, she’d managed to get quite a lot done on the detail she wanted on the center back of the dress. It was pleated with rhinestones running down the lines of each pleat. The sewing part was always easy. Attaching the stones was not. It took forever and she had to get it right. If she made a mistake there was a chance of ruining the fabric and that would take her back to square one. The stones had an adhesive on the back that allowed it to be fused onto the fabric when heated with a hot gun that looked a little like a welder.

When she heard movement upstairs she decided to get herself ready to unleash her plan. It was likely that Josh heard the TV. She’d turned it up loud on purpose. Things would change today, and from now on she was going to put the effort in to make sure everything worked out.

When she heard him coming down the stairs she put her feet up on the coffee table and got out her nail file to buff her nails.

His face when he saw her was classic. His eyes were red and his skin was blotchy. He looked worse than yesterday. She could tell that he must have spent the entire night drinking.

“What the hell is all this, Kansas? Do you think this is the damn spa?”

She tossed her locks over her shoulder and continued to buff her nails. He marched over to the TV and turned it off. That was fine by her. To infuriate him further she just reached into her bag and pulled out a copy of Vogue. She almost laughed when she saw how furious he looked when he turned and saw the magazine.

“Kansas,” he snarled, walking back over to her. That was when she could smell the alcohol heavy on his breath. He attempted to grab the magazine from her but failed as she moved it.

“Can’t have it,” she teased.

“What the hell is the matter with you? If you don’t do as I say I’ll have you fired.”

She smiled up at him. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why is the place a mess? You haven’t cleaned it.”

“Look, your royal highness, things are going to be a tad different around here.” She set the magazine down, along with the nail file. Amy then stood up and squared off with him. Even though she wore six-inch heels, the top of her head only just made it to his shoulders, but she stood with authority, making herself appear taller from the confidence she exuberated.

“My women will be here soon and I want this place cleaned now.”

“No. They aren’t coming. You’re going to ditch the skanks today, and a long time for the matter. Actually, I’ll be reasonable and allow you to see them on weekends. Right now, I’m going to get a maid and you’re going to help her clean up this pigsty. Then I’m going to do my PA stuff in my little office over there.” She pointed over to the office.

“Get out of my house,” he fumed. His eyes blazed with fury and he looked like he was going to explode from it.

“No.” She shook her head.

He looked surprised by her answer.

“I’m sorry, I won’t be leaving. I’m doing a job here, and the way I figure it is you need me.”

His eyes widened.

She thought about it all yesterday and realized she’d totally gone about this the wrong way. Amy was being offered some serious money for working with Josh. The reason for that was they needed her. He needed her.

As anal as he was, Josh was a talented athlete who was worth more to his team than the millions he got paid. They needed him back to play for the next season. And realistically, if he didn’t want to play she’d be long gone. He was just messing with her.

“Lady, I don’t need you for anything.” He looked slightly thrown.

“Yes, you do. You can resist all you want, but you know you want to play football again. And without me that’s not going to happen. So yes, you will tell the skanks to take a hike. I’m getting a maid to sort out the house. She’ll be here the same hours as me and you won’t trash the place in the evenings. You are also to be up by eight every morning in preparation for breakfast and your morning walk.”

“What am I? A dog?”

“If that is what you want to be, then by all means you be that. Just be up and ready for me.”

“Well look who grew a pair.” He glared at her.

“Yes. About damn time too.”

He sighed with frustration and stormed out.

Good, it worked.

This was the way to deal with him. A bubble of hope lifted within her, accompanied by relief. She really might just be able to pull this off.

Amy grabbed her phone and dialed Hilda’s number straightaway, hoping she was still looking for a job.

* * *

“Is he usually this grumpy?” Hilda asked as she came into the office. She giggled and her ponytail bounced as she hopped on the edge of the desk.

“Grumpy for him is a good day,” Amy replied. It was time to take a little break. She’d been going through emails all morning and her eyes were starting to hurt. They’d have lunch soon and she planned to walk along the beach to relax.

“I don’t know how you manage to keep such a straight face, the man is gorgeous. Like super gorgeous, and his eyes are like wow.”

“To be honest, he could look like a badger’s ass for all I care.”

Hilda started to laugh.

“What? It’s true.” Amy laughed too. She supposed it did sound funny. “When you get to know him you’ll see what I mean.” Gorgeous though he may be, Joshua Mancini was the vilest man Amy had ever met in her life.

“Thank you so much for getting me this job.” She nodded her appreciation.

“You’re welcome.” Amy smiled.

“Things were starting to get a little rough at home. As in I almost didn’t have one.”

That was sad to hear. Amy knew the worry of that all too well.

“I’m happy I was able to help.” Amy smiled. “I hope you asked for whatever salary you wanted.” She’d put her in touch with Zelda, who was ecstatic to hear that Amy wanted her to be Josh’s maid.

“I did, and then she gave me ten percent more than what I asked for. She said I’d have to put up with a lot and gave me this whole list of expectations.” Her eyes widened with a glint of wonder.

That was nice of Zelda. “It hasn’t been easy working here.” And she knew it was going to get harder still. How was she going to wake him up early and have him ready for this show? This week had just flown by. It was Friday tomorrow and she hadn’t exactly moved off square one.

“Is he really that bad?” Hilda lowered her voice.

“Yes.” She nodded.

“It’s sad about his family, though, huh chica?”

Amy looked at her and instantly felt bad. When she’d first gotten here, Amy thought of being sensitive and understanding because of what had happened to Josh’s family. After meeting him that all went out the window. She supposed the craziness was the effects of how it all affected him. The drinking and the attitude. She couldn’t comment on the women, but maybe that too. She wouldn’t kid herself into thinking that he was a nice guy, because he wasn’t. But, perhaps she needed to be more mindful.

Didn’t mean she was going to go soft. She had a mission to fulfill and she needed that tough-love approach.

“It’s sad, but you just have to be careful around him.”

“Okay. Should we do lunch? I did a quick scan of the place and it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Have you seen upstairs?”

Amy shook her head. Upstairs scared her, and the thought of going up to where he slept and did whatever the hell he did with those women turned her stomach.

“What’s it like?” Amy gritted her teeth, scared to hear the answer.

Hilda’s perfectly arched brows furrowed. “Like a dump and a brewery mixed together.”

He drank too much. Far too much, and she wasn’t sure if a PA could help with that. The frequency and amount he drank required a therapist, or possibly rehab. But she would see how waking early went first. After that she could maybe speak to Zelda about getting him additional help.

“Let’s go grab something to eat and get back to sorting this place out. Make sure he helps you when we get back.”

Hilda giggled. “Yes, and I can check him out while I work.”

Amy laughed too. It was good things were under some control. She needed that. Here’s hoping it would work out the way she wanted.

* * *

Josh focused on the TV as he listened to her talk. He was actually listening, but he was pretending he was focusing on the TV and drinking his beer.

He was only doing this whole following her lead because the little Disney princess was right. Last night he thought about what Corey said and it freaked him out to consider the possibility of being cut from the team. If that happened he would most likely flounder in the world until he met his end. He was by no means okay, and Miss I’m-not-from-Kansas-and-my-name-is-Amy was definitely irritating the hell out of him, but he was listening.

He needed help to get himself in order for that damn show. It was bad enough that he had to take on the daunting task of waking up early, but he felt like he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to be the Joshua Mancini the world knew. The strong, confident athlete who could handle himself in any situation. It was unnerving to think that he’d have to go on ESPN, of all the networks, where everyone was guaranteed to watch.

Josh wasn’t ready and it felt like he was being forced to grieve quickly so the team could use him again.

“We’ve got a host of people inviting you to various events after the show. How do you feel about one appearance a day until training starts?” She stood next to him with her stupid fabric-covered notebook with glitter on it. He looked at her without commenting, then focused his attention back to the TV. He was watching Jerry Springer and the main guest just found out that his wife of six years was sleeping with his father.

Josh didn’t understand how people could be so scandalous, and going on a TV show to reveal something like that was beyond him. Now the poor guy was so devastated he was in tears.

Although Josh couldn’t have had better examples than his parents, he didn’t believe in love and marriage. He thought the whole thing was a farce and a money-making scheme.

Look at this guy on the show. How much had he gotten just for the appearance? And damn, Jerry Springer for the matter. The man must have made millions from exposing people’s secret lives and whatever crap had ruined their marriages and relationships.

“Josh, are you listening to me?”

“No,” he retorted with cold sarcasm.

Shit, now she moved to stand in front of the TV, and was definitely better looking than Jerry Springer, and so much better to look at in those tight jeans, but annoyingly irritating.

“I really need you to listen.” She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze straight on.

“Nope, it’s five past five, go home.”

“I’m on overtime.” The damn princess tossed her golden locks over her delicate shoulders in a gesture of defiance.

“Didn’t realize you loved working here that much.” He grimaced.

“So, how do you feel about doing these appearances? People want to see you out there again.”

“What people?”

Hope filled her eyes when he said that. “There’s a few schools and charities, an appearance on the Today Show, a couple of photo shoots for mags like Men’s Health and GQ.”

What the hell? Why did GQ want him again? He wasn’t some damn model. In his younger days that would have all sounded so exciting.

“Tell them to go and fu—”

“Language,” she cut in before he could finish. “I don’t like swearing, so please don’t swear at me, or ask me to swear at people, especially these people.”

This was some sort of joke. “Okay princess. I won’t swear, but you get my drift. I’m not some poster-boy cover man, or whatever the hell you’d like to call it. Those days are done. I’m thirty-six; I don’t need to do that shit anymore.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and he nearly laughed; it was because he just swore at the princess.

“Why is it so hard for you to call me by name? Princess and Kansas have more letters than Amy. It would be so much easier to say Amy. You asked me to call you Josh, and I did with no problem.”

“That’s because you’re an automaton who works for me.”

Her delicate mouth dropped and she shook her head. “It’s just appearances and photo shoots, what’s so bad about that? And it’s GQ, for heaven’s sake, not some local paper.”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Please just go home.”

The house phone started to ring and he scowled at it, wondering who the hell that could be calling so early. Josh snuggled against the sofa and listened to it ring out. Amy looked at him with disgust, probably thinking he meant for her to answer it. She moved over to the table and bent over to pick up the receiver, giving him a really great view of her perfectly rounded behind. But she stopped in mid-action when the answer machine clicked on.

“Son, it’s me.”

Josh froze. His father didn’t usually call at this time. It was normally much later in the evening. Occasionally he called in the morning, but Josh made it his duty to avoid either time. Then he’d delete all messages, regardless of who they were from. The people he wanted to contact him had his cell number. He’d changed it months ago and hadn’t given the new number to his father. That was how it was going to stay.

“Just changing up my tactics a little to see how you are,” his father continued. “If you want to talk you know where I am. Or better yet, let me come and see you.”

Amy reached down to grab the phone but he was quicker than her. He grabbed her hand before she could.

“Don’t,” he told her, shaking his head. She gazed up at him with those vibrant green eyes of hers, surprised by his actions.

“It’s your father.” She stared at him, baffled.

“Don’t answer the phone in here. There’s a different line in the office. Stick to that.”

She still gave him that look. The machine clicked off, signaling that his father had hung up. He looked down at where he held onto her arm and became fascinated with how soft her skin felt and that sweet vanilla scent that came from her. It reminded him of flowers and soft summer days. That halter neck she wore looked good on her, inviting him to stare at the distinct peaks of her breasts and linger at the creaminess of her skin. By the time he reached her face, her cheeks flushed a soft rose color and he almost reached out to touch her.

He released her and stepped back, then turned and walked away. Time to get another drink.

She left a few minutes after that with Hilda. He was happy to have the house to himself again where he could breathe without these women around. Josh only loved having women around for one reason and neither of them were here for that. Such a shame.

Like usual he drank himself to sleep and couldn’t have been more infuriated at the sight of Amy standing over him the next morning at eight a.m. Just like she’d promised.

“Rise and shine.” She smiled down at him, green eyes sparkling. “Our time starts here and now.”