A Family For The Billionaire. Dani Wade

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СКАЧАТЬ the benefactor to be very involved, it wasn’t the way she wanted to work.

      But how could she convince him that a more hands-on approach was needed?

      “So what do you say?” The smooth smile on Royce’s face as he returned to the room was so attractive it made her chest ache. She saw a lot of powerful, pretty men in her job, but Royce had to be the pinnacle. Frankly, she wasn’t sure what to do with that, either.

      “Should we start talking contracts?”

      Jasmine nodded, willing her expression to remain neutral. “Yes, but I have a few requirements of my own.”

      * * *

      Royce Brazier eyed the woman before him with concern itching at his brain, though he was too smart to let it show.

      Jasmine didn’t seem like the bargaining type. She appeared to be nothing like the cutthroat business people he dealt with on a daily basis. So why did he detect a hint of steel in those cornflower-blue eyes?

      “A bit unusual for the event planner to start making demands, isn’t it?”

      She arched her brow in a challenging expression, but judging from the way she was tightly clasping her hands in her lap, he had a feeling it was false bravado.

      “It’s definitely not my normal MO,” she said. “But a girl’s got to have standards.”

      No apology—he liked that. “Name your price.”

      “Oh, it’s not about price.” She paused for a moment as she studied him. “It’s about participation.”

      Royce was so caught up in her beauty that he wasn’t getting all the cues. “I’m not following...”

      “I’ll happily take on your event—I already have some great ideas. And don’t get me wrong. Being given a lot of freedom is an event planner’s dream. But as I said, I have certain standards. This isn’t about what’s easiest for me...or you. A contract will require you to participate in each step of the process—”

      “I guess we could touch base via phone.” Though seeing her wouldn’t be a hardship. Those blue eyes and her delicate bone structure were the first things to distract Royce from his business in a long, long time.

      “You will participate by attending all the meetings that I deem necessary with vendors and representatives of the charity we support.”

      What? Hold on a minute. “Nice try, sweetheart. I have a business to run. And more than enough to do. That’s why I’m hiring someone else to do this.”

      “I also have a business to run. And a reputation to protect. You need to be involved for this to work. So it’s my way or no way.”

      Royce scrambled to figure out just what was going on here. “There’s plenty of other event planners in this city.”

      Jasmine nodded graciously, but he again got the feeling there was steel behind the genteel smile. “And you’re welcome to contact any of them, but they won’t have the experience I have with your target audience.” All too soon she was up and across the room, but she paused by the door. How could just the way she glanced back at him be so sexy? Especially as she proceeded to drop a bombshell. “I would like to remind you that I do know the Jeffersons personally, and I am a frequent guest at their parties.”

      Shock rocketed through him. How had she known?

      “You were referring to the Jeffersons, weren’t you? I do my homework, too.”

      As she strode out the door with a tempting flash of leg, Royce was impressed even though he knew he shouldn’t be. Sexy and smart. It gave her too much of an advantage.

       Two

      “He knew exactly what he wanted,” Jasmine told her sisters, “and he wasn’t backing down.”

      “He’s never come up against you before,” Willow said with a grin. Jasmine’s middle sister was a tenacious Southern woman, with the temper to match her copper-colored hair. Jasmine possessed a core of the same stuff but it only made a quiet appearance when necessary. She wouldn’t scream and cry, but she didn’t give up until every hope had been squashed flat by a steel-toed boot.

      She might look like a lady, but she had more strength than most men. The tragedies in her life had demanded it. “Well, I believe I left him with some food for thought.”

      “So, you were wearing your blue dress?”

      Jasmine frowned. Her sister’s guess hit a little too close to home. “I didn’t wear the dress to entice him. It’s perfectly presentable.”

      Her sisters shared a grin. Jasmine tried to let it go. After all, she knew more than most that a little cleavage helped smooth the path she traveled. She’d be a fool not to take advantage of her God-given assets—especially when they’d helped her put both of her little sisters through college—in a completely respectable manner.

      “Well, maybe the dress helped a little...” she admitted in a low voice as Auntie stepped into the kitchen with Rosie. The sight of her adopted daughter, and being surrounded by the people who meant the most to her in the world, filled Jasmine’s heart and pushed aside thoughts of today’s tedious meeting.

      She reached out for six-month-old Rosie. She was in her snuggly jammies, her skin lavender-scented from her bath. As she settled into Jasmine’s lap, Jasmine breathed deep. “I love you, baby girl,” she whispered against Rosie’s curly black hair.

      Then she smiled up at the older woman. “Thank you, Auntie.”

      “You’re most welcome,” Auntie said, bending to hug Jasmine and the baby together.

      Jasmine would never have made it through the first six months of Rosie’s life without Auntie. Technically, she wasn’t their aunt. She’d been their mother’s nanny when she’d been small. She’d returned to Savannah when their mother hadn’t needed her anymore.

      But when the girls’ parents had died, leaving them with no family at a very young age, Auntie had brought them home to Savannah. Jasmine had been a young teen, but her sisters were even younger. Auntie had finished raising them in this house and never once complained. She was as close to a mother as she could get without being a blood relation.

      Each of the girls loved her just the same.

      Jasmine’s baby sister, Ivy, joined them at the table with a plate of oatmeal cookies Auntie had made while they were all at work that day. “I’ve seen Royce Brazier at some of the meetings of the transportation planning commission, since he owns one of the biggest shipping companies on the East Coast,” she said, her bright blue eyes wide. “He’s pretty hunky.”

      Jasmine could practically see every set of ears around the table perk up.

      Ivy continued, “But I’ve heard he’s all business, 24/7.”

      Jasmine agreed. “He made that very clear.”

      Willow pouted. “What’s the fun in СКАЧАТЬ