“We wouldn’t have thought to do it any other way,” Lucien countered, shrugging off her compliment.
Emerald watched the girl eye one brother and then the other before Arielle sat forward in her chair.
“I could never express how much I appreciate everything the two of you have done for me throughout
the years,” Arielle spoke up, finally breaking her silence. “But I’m a grown woman now, Luke, and I’m
perfectly capable of taking care of myself and making my own decisions.” She turned her full attention
on Emerald. “Luke and Jake might not be interested in what you’re offering, Mrs. Larson, but I certainly
am.”
“No, you’re not.” The twin brothers glared daggers at their younger sister.
“Oh, yes, I am.”
Arielle’s determination was almost palpable and it did Emerald’s heart good to see that her
granddaughter didn’t seem the least bit affected by her older brothers’ intimidating scowls. The child
reminded Emerald of herself some fifty years ago.
“You two can do what you please, but I’m going to accept the trust fund and whatever company Mrs.
Larson deems suitable for me to take over.”
Their lack of agreement on the issue was the very opening Emerald had been looking for to seal the deal.
“If you’ll excuse me for a few moments, I have something that requires my immediate attention,” she
interjected, rising from her desk chair. “While I’m gone, I think it would be wise for the three of you to
discuss my proposal.” Walking to the door, she turned back. “But keep in mind, this is all or nothing.
You all agree to accept everything or forfeit the opportunity completely.”
Stepping into the outer office, she pulled the door shut behind her and walked over to her assistant’s
desk. “Get the acceptance papers ready for my grandchildren to sign, Luther.”
“Have they accepted your gift, madam?” Luther Freemont asked in his usually stiff manner as he
reached for a file on his desk.
Emerald glanced at her closed office door, smiling contentedly. “Not yet. But rest assured, they will.”
She hadn’t intended to put stipulations on her gift to the Garnier siblings, but her twin grandsons’
determination to decline her generosity left her little choice. Being one of a few women over the past
fifty years to carve out her place in the “good old boy” network of the corporate world, she’d learned
when and how to manipulate a situation to her benefit. And she certainly wasn’t above pulling out all the
stops to get what she wanted—even if that meant playing hardball with her own grandchildren.
Confident that everything was going her way, Emerald glanced at the clock on Luther’s desk. The
Garnier siblings should have had ample time to reach an agreement.
“I’ll page you when we’re ready to sign the documents, Luther,” she instructed, walking back to the
door.
When she re-entered her private office, she smiled at her grandchildren still seated in front of her desk. It
was time to incorporate the Garnier siblings into the Emerald, Inc. empire.
One
“H aley, I want my calendar cleared for the day and you to be in my office in five minutes. There’s
something I need you to do.”
Haley Rollins stared open mouthed as Lucien, or as he preferred to be called, Luke Garnier passed her
desk on the way into his private office. For the past five years, every weekday morning at promptly
eight-thirty, he’d arrived at the corporate offices of Garnier Construction, ordered her to get him coffee
and expected her to be in his office to review his day’s itinerary. But today he was more than half an
hour early and failed even to mention the requisite cup of coffee.
What on earth could have happened that would cause a man so set in his ways to deviate from his
routine?
Something was definitely in the works and if the look on his handsome face was any indication, he
considered it to be of the utmost importance. Her usual Monday morning slump vanished.
Reaching for her phone, Haley made quick work of rescheduling his appointments, then after a quick
trip to the break room for the coffee she knew he wanted, entered Luke’s office a few minutes later. But
as she walked across the room, her eyes widened and she had to remind herself to breathe. She never got
tired of looking at the sexiest man she’d ever seen.
the downtown Nashville traffic on the busy street below. With his hands stuffed into the front pockets of
his trousers, the gray fabric had pulled taut over his tightly muscled derriere, drawing her attention to the
narrowness of his hips, while at the same time his crisply pressed, tailored white shirt emphasized the
width of his broad shoulders. The contrast was amazing and a testament to his excellent physical
condition. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide her reaction to him.
“You’re three minutes late,” he said without turning around.
Bringing her wayward thoughts in check, she calmly set his coffee mug on the desk. “I had several calls
to make in order to free up your day.”
She wasn’t surprised that he knew the moment she walked into the room, even though the plush carpet
made the sound of her late entrance inaudible. Luke Garnier missed very little. And he never hesitated to
comment on his observations. Ever.
“Sit down, Haley. There’s something I want to talk over with you.” His tone of voice denoted the serious
nature of their discussion and for the briefest of moments, a tiny shiver of trepidation coursed through
her.
She’d been extremely careful, but had he finally realized that his efficient, reliable, emotionless
executive assistant had done the unthinkable? Had he discovered that she’d developed a huge crush on
him practically from the moment he interviewed her for the job five years ago? That she might even be
in love with him?
Seating herself in the leather armchair in front of his desk, she gave herself a mental shake. Her feelings
for him had been the only thing that he’d failed to detect and she had no reason to believe that had
changed. She’d never given him the slightest indication that she viewed him as anything more than her
workaholic boss. A boss who made no secret of the fact that he had no interest in anything that took his
attention away from Garnier Construction. His business was a very demanding mistress and that was just
the way he preferred it.
“How was your trip to Wichita this weekend?” she asked when he continued to stare out the window. He
hadn’t shared the reason for his last-minute trip or whom he’d been meeting with, but Haley had no
doubt it was the cause of his early arrival at the office this morning. “Did everything go well?”
His shoulders slowly rose and fell, indicating he took a deep breath before he finally turned to face her.
“It actually depends on how you look at the outcome.”
His noncommittal answer confused her. She’d never known Luke Garnier to be indecisive about
anything. He was the type of man who viewed things as either black or white, up or down, right or
wrong. Gray areas in his business or his personal life were quite simply nonexistent.
Frowning, Haley shook her head. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.” His intense blue gaze
pinned her to the chair for several long moments as he
decided exactly how much he wanted her to know about the meeting, then raking his hand through his
thick black hair, he took another deep breath. “I’ve just become the new owner of Laurel Enterprises.”
She couldn’t have stopped her surprised gasp if she’d tried. “This is huge, Luke. Laurel Enterprises is
the largest, most successful builder of vacation rentals and log homes in eastern Tennessee. Maybe in
the entire state.”
He nodded. “Laurel and all of its holdings are mine now.”
“Congratulations! How on earth did you get Emerald, Inc. to relinquish it?” she asked, somewhat in awe
of the achievement. She had seen him accomplish several seemingly impossible goals in the past, but
obtaining Laurel Enterprises from the infamous Emerald Larson had to be an all-time best, both
professionally and personally.
“Let’s just say I had the inside track on gaining control of Laurel and leave it at that for now,” he
replied, giving her a one-shouldered shrug.
His answer only served to confuse her even further. As his executive assistant, Haley knew almost as
much about Luke’s vision and goals for Garnier Construction as he did. And she couldn’t, for the life of
her, figure out why he wasn’t more triumphant about the acquisition. For someone whose already quite
lucrative construction company had just doubled in size, he was being extremely reserved about it.
But she knew better than to ask why he wasn’t more enthused. If he wanted her to know how he’d pulled
off the deal, he would tell her.
“Well, whatever magic you used to convince them to sell to you worked beautifully. You’ve been
wanting to expand into that area of the business for some time.” She smiled. “Shall I set up an
appointment with your attorney to examine the purchase agreement?”
“No, all paperwork was taken care of over the weekend.”
“Should I contact your banker to have the funds transferred?”
“No need. Laurel has already been signed over to me. Free and clear.”
Surely she’d misunderstood. “Excuse me? Did you say free?”
When his vivid blue eyes met hers, he gave her a half smile. “Yes.”
Unable to believe what she was hearing, Haley sat forward. “Emerald Larson, the most successful
woman in the corporate world, the first woman to crack the top five of the Fortune 500 list, just gave
you the company?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I want to discuss with you,” he said, his tone indicating that the subject was
closed. He lowered himself into the high-backed executive chair behind his desk. “I’ve come to the
realization that now that I own the largest construction company in the South, I need someone to ensure
the continuance of Garnier Construction long after I’m gone. I need an heir.”
She wasn’t sure what shocked her more, his admission that Emerald Larson had handed him Laurel
Enterprises on a silver platter or that he suddenly thought he needed someone to inherit his assets. “What
brought this on?” she blurted before she could stop herself.
To her surprise, he didn’t seem at all upset that she was questioning his decision. “My brother and sister
aren’t the least bit interested in the construction business,” he explained. “Jake is perfectly content being
the most expensive divorce lawyer in Tinseltown and Arielle adores teaching preschool kids whatever
children that age need to learn. That’s why I’ve decided to hire a surrogate and produce an heir of my
own.”
Haley knew her expression conveyed her disbelief, but she was beyond caring. “Don’t you think that’s a
little drastic? Having a child is a huge step.”
Luke shook his head. “It makes perfect sense. To make sure that the Garnier name will be a force to
reckon with in the construction business for decades to come.”
“And you think that having a child will make that happen?”
“I believe it tips the odds in my favor, yes.”
“But it will take years before a child would be ready to learn all that you have to teach.”
“That’s why the sooner I get started, the better.”
Luke could tell from the look in her turquoise eyes that Haley thought he’d lost his mind. And truth to
tell, he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t done that very thing.
But after seeing Emerald Larson’s desperation to find family members to take over her vast holdings,
he’d realized that building a corporate empire meant nothing without someone to carry on the legacy.
That’s why he had thought about who would take over his company and what they would do with it
when the time came for him to retire.
It had taken a couple of sleepless nights, but to be certain Garnier Construction continued to grow and
prosper long after he was gone, he concluded he would have to spend years grooming his own
replacement. And who would have more of a vested interest in learning all that he knew than his own
son?
That’s when he’d decided to have a child. Luke could start by taking him to the job sites as a toddler,
then by the time the boy understood how to avoid the pitfalls of the business and how to encourage
Garnier’s growth, he’d already be familiar with the way the operation worked.
“Are you really serious about hiring someone to have your baby?” she asked, finally finding her voice.
“Yes.”
He wasn’t at all surprised by Haley’s astonishment. He’d had much the same disbelieving reaction
himself when the idea first took shape. But the more he’d thought about it, the more it made sense to
hire a surrogate from a reputable agency in order to produce his heir. The last thing he wanted or needed
was the hassle of finding someone, then the trouble of convincing the woman to have his child without
the slightest possibility of a future together. It would be much easier to choose a woman who had
already decided to serve as a surrogate.
“If you think about it, it’s actually the smart thing to do.”
She raised one light brown eyebrow. “Maybe it makes sense to you. But I seem to be missing your
rationale on this.”
Why he felt compelled to explain himself to her was something of a mystery. He never explained his
reasoning or actions to anyone, for anything. But he suddenly felt it was very important that Haley
understand.
“I need an heir. I don’t have a wife, nor do I want one. That’s why surrogacy is the obvious answer. I get
what I want without any further obligation to the boy’s mother. Once the heir is born, she goes her way
and I take the child and go mine.”
“And you’re definitely going through with this?” she asked, looking more doubtful with each passing
second.
“Yes.” He leaned back in his desk chair. “I want you to research the state laws and compile a list of
reputable agencies specializing in surrogacy. I’ll expect it on my desk by noon.”
“Is there anything else you need?” she inquired, rising to leave.
“No. That will be all for now.”
As he watched her close the door to his office, Luke could tell that she strongly disapproved of his
decision. But he knew her well enough that she wouldn’t voice her objections. And that was one of the
many reasons Haley Rollins made the perfect executive assistant. She was amazingly efficient, had
business instincts that rivaled his ow
n and knew when to voice her opinions and when to keep them to
herself.
An hour later, Haley breathed a tiny sigh of relief as she closed the Internet browser on her computer. It
appeared that Luke would have to forego his plan of producing an heir through a surrogate. From
everything she found on the subject, the state of Tennessee had taken a clear stand and only allowed
married couples to enter into surrogacy agreements.
Nibbling on her lower lip, she glanced at his closed office door. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Luke
should have a child of his own. She did. But only for the right reasons. And she certainly didn’t consider
having a baby simply because he needed someone to run Garnier Construction eventually to be one of
them.
Unfortunately, her boss wasn’t the type to give up that easily. He’d made up his mind, set his course of
action and that was that. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would somehow find a way to get
what he wanted. He always did.
Her chest tightened at the thought. She’d been giving babies a lot of thought herself after receiving a
birth announcement from a friend and would give almost anything to have a baby. Considering her
feelings for Luke, she’d like nothing more than for him to be her baby’s daddy. But aside from the fact
that he’d never looked at her as anything more than his extremely competent executive assistant, she
wanted all the things he wanted to avoid. She wanted love, marriage and the close family life she’d
never had.
She slowly pushed away from her desk and walked over to tap on his office door. There was no sense in
thinking about any of that now. His plan had run into a huge obstacle and was effectively stalled, at least
for the time being.
“Luke?” He was on the phone and motioned for her to enter, so she seated herself in front of his desk as
she waited for him to end the conversation.
“I’ll be there on Saturday. Set up a special meeting for me with the office staff, then I want to visit the
job sites to meet the construction crews. In the meantime, reassure them that I have no plans to make any
major changes. Their jobs are just as secure now as they were when Emerald, Inc. owned Laurel