Her Heart's Desire (Sunflower Series Book 1) (29 page)

Through the magazine interview, he hoped to
land new banking clients—being on the receiving end of female
attention was an added perk—and the wife of one of St. Louis’s
wealthiest citizens was singling him out, waving his picture at him
and asking for an autograph. What a lucky day!

He’d been schmoozing Mr. Haywood for nearly a
year. Rumor was, Mrs. Haywood had the money, and Mr. Haywood had
married up. Way up. Maybe the way into Haywood’s financial
decision-making process rested with the Missus rather than the
Mister.

“Shall I personalize this?” he asked, taking
the pen from the woman and flashing a smile, his most charming, he
hoped.

“Just your signature, please. I plan to
auction you off.”

“Auction?” What? He managed to maintain a
smile while scrawling his signature boldly on the magazine cover,
but little pricks of wariness raced to his neck. His jaw
tightened.

“The autographed magazine, at a ladies tea,
will go to the highest bidder. I was wondering…have you ever
considered a photo shoot…without a shirt. I could sell a lot of
postcards of you.”

“Me?” Could he be more lame in his responses?
The woman would think him a total dud rather than a sophisticated
dude. He stifled a laugh. A mental image of a room full of
designer-dressed society women trading postcards of half-naked men
flashed in his mind. “Ah…I’d never considered that.” He handed back
the pen and magazine not knowing how else to respond. She asked a
question, but he sensed it wasn’t a request. Beefcake photos could
make him the laughing stock of the financial world.

“Charming. You’re brilliant with money and
still have some humility.”

Her word game and scrutiny set his nerves
firing caution signals again. The woman might help him, but she
could surely ruin him. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Haywood.” He
held out his hand searching for a polite exit. “I’m not really that
photogenic.”

Her gaze dropped to his hand, then lifted and
locked on his eyes, holding his full attention. “This is Beatrice
and Saraphina.” She pointed to the women accompanying her. He
nodded in reply and silently prayed he hadn’t offended Mrs.
Haywood.

“Bye, now,” the women said in unison, before
turning, waving, and leaving him alone with Mrs. Haywood. Had she
planned this meeting? The hair on the back of his neck began to
rise. If so, why?

“Mr. Britton. I’m having a party on Friday. I
want to introduce you to my niece. I think, after reading this
article about you”—her gaze traveled up and down him—“the two of
you have a lot in common.”

Something about her voice, her words, made
him want to cover his balls. Maybe Harris Haywood wore the pants,
but his wife told him which pair to put on. “Oh?” He didn’t move in
the same social circles as the Haywoods, but surely a niece of a
wealthy family didn’t need help finding a date…or a mate. But come
to think of it, in all his research about the family, he couldn’t
picture a niece.

“I’m sure you’d find her…very compatible.
Pick her up in a limo and bring her to the party next week. I’ll
send you her address.”

Was the woman really pimping out her niece to
him?

Trying not to appear dumbfounded or plain
asinine, Craig flashed what he hoped was an easy-going smile.
“Thank you for the invitation. I’m sure I’ll enjoy meeting her,
Mrs. Haywood. What time shall I pick her up?” His brain screamed,
“No! Don’t do it. It’s a trap of the feminine kind.” But after a
year’s worth of work to create a hint of an inroad to the Haywood
organization, he couldn’t stand by and allow it to blow up in his
face like an egg cooked in a microwave. “This is business,” he
repeated silently to quash the uneasiness thumping in his
chest.

“Eight p.m. But don’t arrive before nine
thirty.” She placed her hand on his arm and gave his bicep a
squeeze. “If I were twenty years younger Mr. Britton…I think my
husband will be calling you about some business. Today.” The woman
stepped beside him, patted his ass, then turned and left without a
backward glance.

Craig swallowed hard. With Mrs. Haywood, he
was out of his league. His rising career could burn and fizzle out
of sight in less than a nanosecond.

What if her niece didn’t like him?

About
Linda
—Award-winning author Linda Joyce writes about assertive
females and the men who can’t resist them. Linda’s a big fan of
jazz and blues. She attributes her love of those musical genres to
her southern roots, which run deep in Louisiana. If you
walk-through several New Orleans cemeteries you’ll find many of her
ancestors buried there. She penned her first manuscript while
living in Japan, the country where her mother was born and raised.
Linda, her husband, and their four-legged boys enjoyed a dozen
years in Kansas, the inspiration for the Sunflower series. Now she
and her family live in Atlanta, Georgia.

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