For a second something passed across her face, almost as if she’d been hurt by what he’d said but then she stood straighter. “I’ve told you, I’m not interested. I’ll pay the contract break fee and be done with it. And please don’t call me Ms. Hart, my name is Kirin.”
“You’ll renege on the contract and just wait for everything to go up in a smoke of debts? All the things you’ve worked so hard and so long for?”
The skewer clanged as she dropped it on the counter top. “People have been taking from me since my husband died, Mr. Matthews.” Her lip trembled before she cleared her throat. “In fact, since well before that and right up to the present day. I’m used to it, but I’m not going to let you do it, too.”
“You mean your husband’s affair? The fact he died when he was with his mistress? Or the sexual harassment accusation against you.”
Blood drained from her face and her eyes glistened. “You know about all of it?”
He crossed his arms. “The way I understand it, firstly your husband single handedly smashed your career, your livelihood and image, and then a low life decided to kick you while you were down. You want that false accusation to be the way you’re remembered? And for everything you worked for before your husband’s deception to be worth nothing?”
“It’s already happened,” she murmured and looked up at him. Her shoulders had slumped and the defeated look on her face stirred something deep inside. For the shortest second, her cultivated control was replaced with soft vulnerability, and the contrast was mesmerizing. She lifted her chin and whispered, “No. No, I don’t want to be remembered that way.”
“Then let me help you.”
She picked up a knife and sliced it through a piece of butter. “I’ve been relying on people for too long. It’s time I took charge.”
He swallowed, his heart throwing in an extra beat for her vulnerability. “I’m the best there is at turning around public images, Kirin. Come back on board and I’ll have journalists phoning you for interviews, invitations to talk shows and A-list parties. I can have your image back on track, brighter than you ever thought possible, in no time.”
She reached behind her for a small copper pot and put the butter in. “And what makes you so sure you can achieve this magic? Is a superhero outfit lurking under that smart suit?” Her first real smile flitted across her face and it dazzled. “A pair of underpants over the tights beneath? I don’t need rescuing by you or anyone else, Mr. Matthews.”
He didn’t usually have to spell out his experience. Most people he dealt with had been on a waiting list for his services for months and knew every last detail. “I’ve been in the image industry for fourteen years. I started work at sixteen as an international model and quickly learned that the way you portray yourself can make, or cost you, millions. The image the public currently has of you, if I may be so blunt, is a woman who is down trodden and beaten. I can already tell that’s not the real you at all.”
She was quiet for a moment then shook her head. “Thanks for your interest but I’m going to do this on my own. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a hundred cupcakes to frost.”
Blake reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and swiped to the picture he wanted before sliding it across the counter to her. “How’s this ‘doing it on your own’ working out for you?”
She looked down at the picture on the screen and a flush swept up her neck. “Not one of my finest moments.”
“You flipped the bird at twenty-five photographers and the image spread across nationwide news channels and is now viral on Tik Tok. If this is part of your strategy to go it alone, can I quietly suggest you’re making a dog’s breakfast of it? My research tells me you’ve been hounded by photographers for weeks, that you even had to have one removed from your front yard, all reasons to be upset, but the middle finger salute doesn’t quite fit with your current image.”
The tongue came out and swept across her lip again and in an unbidden flash, his pulse spiked. He suffocated the rogue reaction and focused.
“How much do you know about cooking, Mr. Matthews, and how much about my career?”
“It’s Blake,” he said. “I know that you and your husband started young and built a multi-million dollar business. People saw your shows, your cookbooks, your grocery products, the whole, ‘Cooking with Hart’ brand as defining integrity, reflecting traditional values and wholesome living. I also know that your husband cheated on you with a much younger woman and made a lie of the down home and dependable brand you’d both so carefully created.”
Kirin had switched off the stoves and fans and leaned against the counter. A connection was growing. “And the rest of it?”
“I know that some said your husband wandered because you were too ruthless and controlling, too hard and business like. Sexist and ignorant clearly, but perception is everything.”
Her eyes rounded and she stood motionless. “And do you believe that’s really what I’m like?”
He shrugged and pinned his gaze to hers. “What I believe is irrelevant. What the public currently sees is a woman who’s still trying to present an image of traditional values and buttoned down control. A woman who has become an enigma— someone they don’t really know anymore and it’s taken the focus right away from what you’re best at―your cooking business. Not only will all that go away if you agree to my plan, but we can harness that new image of you to build a whole new brand.”
“And what would your strategy be? To tell me to change the way I dress, the way I speak, like Angela did?”
“There would be some of that,” he admitted. “And a few lessons in what not to say.”
She reached across to a pile of linen and pulled out a fresh apron and hat. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Matthews. I appreciate your interest and concern, but part of what’s wrong in my life is that I’ve put too much of my trust in people―especially pushy men―who’ve only wanted to use me for their own gains. You’re not going to be another of those people, so I thank you for your time. Please close the door behind you.” And with that, she turned her back and walked away.
Find out when Bad Reputations releases here.
Apply to Join Barbara’s Review team!
If you really enjoyed A Family for Good and fancy reading a lot more about the crazy, lovable people of Brentwood Bay, apply to join Barbara’s review team!
Barbara is now taking applications to join her Advanced Review team. If you’re selected, you’ll get all of Barbara’s releases free, up to a month before release!
Fill out an application here
About Barbara
Multi award winning author, Barbara DeLeo’s first book, co-written with her best friend, was a story about beauty queens in space. She was eleven, and the sole, handwritten copy was lost years ago much to everyone’s relief. It’s some small miracle that she kept the faith and now lives her dream of writing sparkling contemporary romance with unforgettable characters.
Degrees in English and Psychology, and a career as an English teacher, fueled Barbara’s passion for people and stories, and a number of years living in Europe —primarily in Athens, Greece—gave her a love for romantic settings.
Discovering she was having her second set of twins in two years, Barbara knew she must be paying penance for being disorganized in a previous life and now uses every spare second to create her stories.With every word she writes, Barbara is sharing her belief in the transformational power of loving relationships.
Married to her winemaker hero for twenty two years, Barbara’s happiest when she’s getting to know her latest cast of characters. She still loves telling stories about finding love in all the wrong places, but now without a beauty queen or spaceship in sight.
A Family for Good
A Tall, Dark and Driven book
Markus’s story
by Barbara DeLeo
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitio
usly. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 Barbara DeLeo.
www.barbaradeleo.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the author.
Cover Design - Natasha Snow Designs www.natashasnow.com
Also by Barbara DeLeo
The Tall, Dark and Driven series
All books can be read as stand alone
Waiting on Forever—prequel novella ~ Alex’s story ~ available FREE here or email [email protected]
Ask for Barbara DeLeo’s books at your local bookstore, library, or on the Amazon links below.
Making the Love List —Book 1~Yasmin’s story ~ available on Amazon here .
Winning the Wedding War—Book 2~Nick’s story ~ available on Amazon here.
Reining in the Rebel —Book 3 ~Ari’s story~ available on Amazon here.
A Home for Summer—Book 4 ~ Costa’s story ~ available on Amazon here.
A Marriage for Show—Book 5 ~ Christo’s story ~ available on Amazon here.
Acknowledgements
Not only was I lucky enough to have been born into a wonderfully supportive family where dreams are championed and crazy little quirks celebrated, I’ve been welcomed into a second family too. Since I met my Greek boyfriend, now husband, thirty years ago, I’ve been immersed in a culture, a language, and a way of celebrating life that I love. I’d like to thank both families for giving me love, laughter, and inspiration for the story of the Katsalos family in my Tall, Dark and Driven series.
My heartfelt thanks also goes to:
My agent, Nalini Akolekar, who always has my back and wonderful advice to share.
My incredible crit partners: Hayson Manning and Rachel Bailey, who are amazing writers and save my patootie time and time again.
Iona, Sue, Kate, Courtney, Deborah, Nadine and Naomi who are the BEST group of motivators, cheerleaders and wine drinking pals a girl could have.
My cover designer: Natasha Snow, who nails it every time.
My copy editor: Elizabeth King from Type A Editing Her attention to detail is legendary.
My proofreader: Amy Hart who makes everything shine.
My cheer squad: Lyn, Lee, Barb, Ann, Asra, Quinn, Jolene, Manisha, Elsie, MacKenzie, Marni, Mae, Jody and Amber
And to George and my four amazing children, thank you for helping me to keep on living this dream. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
Barb X
A Family for Good : A sweet, small town, second chance romance (Tall Dark and Driven Book 6) Page 20