His E-Mail Order Wife. KRISTI GOLD

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      She looked away again. “I’m not supposed to tell you ’cause then it won’t be a surprise.”

      “Ah, come on, Mandy,” he cajoled. “Just a little hint. I won’t tell Nana you told me.”

      Amanda tipped up her chin with pride, beamed like a billboard and proudly announced, “We got you a wife.”

      “Get off the phone, Ms. Randles. Now.”

      Kicked back in a chair in the kitchen, Debbie stared up at Drew, the cordless phone tucked between her jaw and shoulder while she filed her nails. “I’ll call you back, Henry.”

      She dropped the nail file and phone onto the table and her feet from the chair across from her then came to attention. “Uh, Mr. Connelly, I didn’t know you were home.”

      “No kidding.”

      “Is there something wrong?”

      Drew released a humorless bark of a laugh. “You could say that. Amanda tells me she’s been getting quite an education on your singles’ site. Seems she helped you pick out a man.” And in turn helped his grandmother select him a wife.

      “I was only checking out some profiles and getting her opinion.”

      “And you think this is proper for my daughter?”

      “I don’t think she’s been damaged by the experience.”

      Drew lost any semblance of calm. “She’s six years old, dammit.”

      The nanny had the nerve to look innocent. “It’s never too early to learn good skills in the singles world.”

      “You’re fired.”

      Her eyes went saucer wide. “What?”

      “You heard me. Get your things and get out of here. I’ll send your final check to the agency.”

      “It’s after midnight.”

      Drew realized that was true, and he couldn’t very well put her out in the streets this time of night. “Then I want you out first thing in the morning. I’ll have my company driver pick you up and take you wherever you want to go.”

      “Please, Mr. Connelly,” she pleaded. “I can’t go live with my mother again. She’ll drive me crazy.”

      Drew was already halfway there so she might as well join him. “I’m sorry, Ms. Randles, but that’s your problem. You should have thought about that when you turned my daughter loose on the Internet.” And subsequently his grandmother.

      He spun around and headed back up the stairs, leaving the nanny alone with her mouth gaping. In the hallway, he headed toward Amanda’s room to make sure she was still in bed where he’d left her a few moments before.

      While he’d tucked her in bed, he’d told his daughter that no matter what transpired between him and the mysterious Kristina the following morning, the circumstances behind their meeting—the e-mails and his grandmother’s scheming—shouldn’t be revealed because he didn’t want to hurt the lady’s feelings. And Drew sincerely didn’t want to do that regardless of the fact he knew nothing about her. As far as he was concerned, Kristina Simmons had been an innocent victim in this whole bizarre mess.

      Mandy had assured Drew they would keep it “their own little secret” and promised she wouldn’t say anything to “hurt her Kristina’s feelings.” Drew felt somewhat satisfied, yet he couldn’t trust that Mandy wouldn’t innocently spill the beans. All the more reason to find some way to gently tell Kristina the truth, then send her on her way.

      Through the partially open door of Mandy’s room, Drew found her asleep, her angelic face turned toward him, her eyes closed against the hall light. She looked like a pint-size princess—like her mother. He certainly didn’t need to think about her now.

      In his room, Drew collapsed onto the bed and grabbed the phone, hitting the speed dial. One task down, one to go.

      “H’lo.”

      “Grandfather, it’s Drew. Is Grandmother there?”

      “Good grief, son, do you know what time it is?”

      “I know, but this can’t wait.”

      “Is something wrong?”

      Oh, yeah, thanks to thoroughly meddling Lilly. “I just need to talk to her. Is she asleep?”

      “No. She’s in the other room watching late-night talk shows. The ones that turn into a free-for-all.”

      Not surprising to Drew. Lilly was into high drama. “Can you get her for me?”

      “Certainly, son. Lilly, it’s Drew!”

      Drew held the phone away, fearing his grandfather’s booming voice might burst an eardrum. That would be all he needed tonight.

      “Hello, Drew,” Lilly said in her sweet-as-sugar voice that indicated she was up to no good. “Did you have a nice trip?”

      “Did you have fun playing on my computer?”

      “Oh, yes, dear. That Amanda is quite a little whiz—”

      “Cut the crap, Grandmother.”

      “I beg your pardon?”

      “I know what you’ve done.”

      “Now, simmer down, young man. I’ve done you a favor.”

      “A favor?” Drew’s ears began to burn and ring simultaneously. “Did you really think I’d want you setting me up with some woman I don’t even know? I’m not interested in going on a blind date!”

      “It’s not a date, dear.”

      “Call it what you will, but I don’t enjoy the thought of some stranger showing up at my doorstep expecting to meet me in the morning after I’ve been up most of the night.”

      “She won’t be there to meet you.”

      “Stop talking in riddles, Lilly.”

      “She’ll be there to move in with you.”

      His arrival from Europe into the Twilight Zone was now complete. “You’re kidding, right?”

      “No. For your information, you’ve been e-mailing her for the month you were away. So has Amanda. Her name is Kristina Simmons—a nice name, don’t you think?”

      Nothing about this was nice. “Dammit, Lilly, this is insane!”

      “Don’t curse me, young man.”

      He cursed the fact that he’d come home to find this mess. “Just what do you really know about her?”

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