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and, of course, the office. The office where Josh Owens was keeping her father’s watch. The office that was located right next to Josh’s bedroom. In fact, it had been an adjoining bedroom that he’d had converted when he bought the house, according to the plans on file with the county clerk.
     
    They hadn’t visited the office yesterday during the walk-through, but the entire time she’d been in Josh’s house, all she could think about was Todd’s stupid plan. While she tried to picture where and how they’d set up the elaborate ball that she was supposed to be planning, her mind kept piping up with ridiculous observations, like how the various rooms full of games would make for an atmosphere of gaiety, but also for controlled chaos. Todd was right. Josh was unlikely to notice one woman slipping quietly into his office.
     
    And now, looking at these plans, her mind pointed out that Josh’s office was on the same floor as the ballroom. It was, in fact, between the ballroom and the billiard room, which would make for a perfect excuse should she be caught wandering in there.
     
    Not that she would get caught, because she was not going through with this plan! She was just humoring Todd while she thought up with some other method. Something that didn’t involve James Bond tactics. There would be no disguise, no sneaking and no stealing, no matter what her younger self might have done in her place.
     
    Sure, there’d been a time when she had loved dressing in costumes and pretending to be someone else. Todd made friends easily but didn’t keep them, and she’d never had any close buddies, so it had just been the two of them. Playacting had made that not so bleak. Plus, Todd thought it was the height of cleverness.
     
    He still did, apparently. Her head thumped down on the blueprint and she gave a sigh. Now she wasn’t just arguing with Todd, she was arguing with herself, too! This was ridiculous.
     
    It’s not , a mischievous little voice whispered. You could pull this off. Owens barely looks at you, and when he does. . . .
     
    Emma knew what the voice was getting at. When Josh looked at her, he pitied her. She’d seen it in his eyes. He was a millionaire many times over, and she had to bow and scrape to the likes of him and Clarice Davenport for an hourly wage. He was always expecting Clarice: at the walkthrough, when he’d called late at night. He thought Emma was a pathetic little peon. A pathetic little unattractive peon, she corrected. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Josh Owens flirted with any female within range of his mega-watt smile. Except her.
     
    She didn’t know why that irked her. She shouldn’t care. She didn’t want Josh Owens to find her attractive. She didn’t find him attractive.
     
    Except that was a big fat lie. She found him arrogant, flashy, high-handed, condescending and smarmy. But attractive. In fact, more than just attractive. The man was gorgeous. His thick, wavy hair was golden blonde, and his eyes were a lovely light blue-green. He had a square chin, full lips and broad shoulders. He looked a bit like a young Brad Pitt in that movie Cool World . Only more handsome. And he thought she was a troll, the only woman in Napa Valley he didn’t deem worth flirting with. Heck, he’d even flirted with Clarice!
     
    Emma pulled herself upright and squared her shoulders. What Josh thought of her didn’t matter. How convenient the location of his office was didn’t matter. She had to stop wasting her time and energy on pointless thoughts and try and come up with a reasonable plan.
     
    As if he could hear her thoughts, her phone buzzed with Todd’s ringtone. She pressed it to her ear, sighing.
     
    “I don’t want to talk to you, little brother.”
     
    “C’mon Ems, don’t be like that,” he said, cheerfully.
     
    Emma considered lifting her head from the desk, but thought it probably wasn’t worth it. “What do you want?”
     
    “Have I ever told you that your