Page 5 of Richard

And ever since her latest marriage had disintegrated, she was on another bend. Getting him married and giving her a grandchild. When she called and demanded she needed to see him, he resigned himself for another lecture.

“Darling, you look so tired,” she remarked as soon as the maître d’ seated her, and placed her order for an aperitif. “You work too hard.”

“Is that why you ask to see me? To critique my appearance?” he asked her mildly. He could not be upset with her, not for long. She was endearing and strangely naïve considering that she had been married so many times.

He was her only child, something she had always regretted. “The labor was long and laborious, and I almost lost my life. After that, the doctors advised against having another child. “I was born to be a mother, dear, and I would have been happy with even one more child.”

“I came because you have been avoiding me," she said reproachfully as she stared at him.

“You know why.” He picked up his drink and took a sip.

“Darling, I am almost seventy–”She stopped when his heavy coffee-brown brows quirked in amusement.

“You are as old as you feel or as you claim,” she muttered.

“Where did you read that? In Oprah’s magazine?”

“You know how I adore the dear woman," she clucked hertongue. “And the best birthday present you could have ever given me was a meeting with her. She is so sweet.” She accepted her drink with a smile before turning to her son.

“Darling, I read that you are no longer seeing that actress.” Her lips pursed. “I never really liked her, but–”

“We were not in a relationship,” he said firmly. “It was just physical between us.”

Her expression turned woeful, and he knew what was coming next. But before he could stop her, she launched into one of her apology speeches. “I failed you," she whispered huskily; her eyes bright with tears. “It’s my fault that you are like this, unmarried and childless.

I wish I could change things, darling.” Reaching across the table, she touched his hand. “I loved your father. He was not a very good husband, and father to you, but he had his moments and after he died, I tried to find that kind of love again. I want you to do the same.”

“And you also want grandchildren.” His smile was indulgent.

“Is that too hard to accomplish?”

“I am afraid it is.”

Chapter 2

“I want you to handle the account.” Babs Myrie sailed into her office with her usual dramatic flair and went right over to the refreshment table to pour a large cup of coffee. Bringing it with her, she sat down on a chair in front of the lacquered desk and stared at the younger woman with light blue eyes made bright by excitement.

“What account?” Collette was more than a little distracted. It was almost a week since her sister had reached out to her and she had called several times afterward.

“Good God, girl!” Babs made an impatient movement with one hand. “Where have you been for the past few days? We are pitching for Richard McBride’s enormous accounts. He just fired his advertising agency, and we are in the running for the job.

I don’t need to tell you what a coup that would be. The man is huge! His singers are in the number one slot in most of the genres. He has more money than most people, and he is hot.”

Collette looked over at her friend and boss with an arching of her tapered brows. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Honey, you might be the ice queen, but I am not. The man has a body that looks as if it had been molded by some benevolent god and I hear his sex life is legendary.”

Collette’s lips curled in distaste. “Can we get back to the topic at hand? And as much as I would love to handle that much business, I am currently swamped.”

“Get un-swamped.” Babs had that determined look on her plain face which warned that this was not a request. “You are the best we have, and that man needs to be handled with kid gloves.

He fired the other firm because of incompetence and lack of vision as I was told, so we have to come up with something creative. He wants the creative part of his holdings to be the focus.

His singers are shooting up the charts and taking away most ofthe awards. We need something to keep the public focused on what is happening with the man and his works. Everything he touches turns to pure gold. He has turned the music industry on its head.

He is still in the business of rooting out the unknown and mostly invisible and giving them a name.” Babs took a healthy swig of the brew and swallowed before resuming. “He is a legend who has made a name for himself.”

“It sounds like he doesn’t need additional boosting.” Collette pointed out, earning a glare from the other woman.

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