The Daddy Factor
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Bonnie K. Winn
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15,7K
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ELEMENTARY MATH Amanda - Ryan = Disaster Amanda + Ryan = Success Amanda + Ryan + Daddy Factor = Both? Amanda Thorne was minus one husband — one she needed, since all her pals thought she already had one. Ryan West was plus one wife — one he didn't need but had — at least on his bank records. That nonexistent wife's signature was essential for Ryan to put through a big deal. So Amanda plus Ryan — a weekend in exchange for a signature — could only equal success for them both, right? Well, yes, but that was without the Daddy Factor.
Prologue
Stanton, California
Amanda Thorne regarded her circle of friends with affection…and a bit of exasperation. They had been inseparable all through high school. Even though their lives had led them in different directions, when they got together, they instantly felt a timeless bond. This reunion, their fifth, had been one .of their best so far. Until the subject of husbands had come up.
“So, is it a pact?” Madcap Suzy Burns was relentless. Tossing her blond curls, she turned on her friends with a vengeance, her signature laughter spilling into the hotel corridor. “No matter what Gloria Steinem says?”
Amanda laughed, thinking they were all still joking about Suzy’s dare. It had begun as a jest as they all clowned around about the importance of husbands in their single, independent life-styles.
Linda Danvers pirouetted on the plush mauve carpet, the movement more the result of champagne than talent. “I’m game. If I can’t find a husband before our fifteen-year reunion, I’ll hang up my license.”
Candy Johnson arched one perfectly formed brow. Always the acknowledged beauty of the group, she also possessed an acerbic wit. “I didn’t know you had to have a license to hunt for a husband.”
“It’s big game, dahlin” Linda chirped, her smile more than a tad on the sloshy side.
Amanda rolled her expressive green eyes, a smile tipping her lips upward, unknowingly transforming her seemingly plain features into something striking, remarkable. “I think this would qualify as the hunt of the century.”
“So we’re in agreement,” Suzy insisted again.
Amanda glanced at her in surprise. “You’re not serious?”
“Deadly, my dear. We have ten years to snag world-class husbands. Frankly, if the bet goes on any longer than that we’ll be waving goodbye to our early thirties and the prospects will be…shall we say…dim?”
World-class husbands. The notion sent an unexpected ripple of apprehension through Amanda, but she shook it away. After all, Suzy was talking ten years from now. That was practically an eternity. Look how much had changed in the previous five years since they had graduated together from Stanton High. College, entry into the business world, the transformation from girls to women, her own move to the big city.
Amanda swallowed any objection since the others were all in smiling agreement. She glanced up at the Welcome Graduates banner that graced the arched doorway of the hotel ballroom. In ten years another banner would be welcoming them. And by then they would all be married women. Amanda glanced at the dear, familiar faces of her friends. And wondered suddenly about the men they all would choose, thankfully remembering that the time to find her own husband stretched out endlessly.
