social scene. Considering his reputation as a hard-nosed, focused businessman and what she’d seen during this meeting, she had a feeling he only did that much to maintain his business contacts.
His presence was commanding, his look suave and professional. So suave she wanted to mess with his perfectly placed blond hair just for the heck of it. Jasmine was professional, too, but she often had the feeling she was herding cats—especially since the arrival of Rosie...and often feared that it showed.
“Look,” she tried to explain, searching for words that Royce would understand. “I realize charity events are good ways of getting positive press and word of mouth, but my events are known for having heart.”
“Good. Then you can give a heart to mine.”
She was still unsure how to make him understand that this wasn’t a good fit for her. To her relief, his phone rang.
“Yes, Matthew?” he asked over the speaker.
“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but your lawyer just had the agreement you requested delivered.”
“I need to take a quick look at this,” Royce explained to Jasmine. “Excuse me a moment.”
“No problem.” A few minutes to herself might give her time to regroup.
Glancing around his office, Jasmine noticed right off that there were no personal touches. No novels or magazines. No photographs of his family...or even of him with friends. A framed photo of a large building graced a prominent spot on the wall.
Jasmine couldn’t imagine being this impersonal. She knew a lot of people, cared about a lot of people, but her family was her core support. Few others got to see behind her public persona. After losing her parents when she was a teenager, she couldn’t imagine the devastation she would feel if she lost any other members of her family.
She’d known Royce wanted an event planned—after all, that’s what she did. But his complete lack of personal interest or passion was daunting. And though there were some charities that didn’t require 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.
“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,
