Table Of ContentQUEEN OF HIS HEART
NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR
ADRIANNE BYRD
QUEEN OF HIS HEART
To Eliot
My Rock
Acknowledgments
To my family and friends, thanks for all the support and love that you’ve given
me. To my editor, Evette Porter, thanks for loving my stories. To my wonderful
fans and readers, thank you for allowing me to do what I do. It’s always a
pleasure to entertain you.
I wish you all the best of love, Adrianne
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Chapter 1
“A
ll a single girl needs to be happy is a strong vibrator and a lifetime supply of
Energizer batteries.”
Keenan lurched forward and nearly spit out his drink as the voices of a group
of women at another table floated over a wall of fake foliage at Las Brisas
restaurant in downtown Los Angeles.
“Girl, you ain’t never lied.” Another woman chimed in. “The last time I had
a man do right by me, I was wearing a training bra.”
A chorus of giggles followed while Keenan dabbed water from the front of
his shirt. Normally he didn’t make a habit of eavesdropping, but as it was he’d
been anxiously waiting for his afternoon appointment for more than forty-five
minutes, and the women’s conversation had him cracking up.
“I don’t know, girls,” the one with the sexiest voice spoke up. “I’m not ready
to give up on men just yet. Despite all the drama they’ve put me through I still
want that pie in the sky. The ring, the house, the children—”
“The heartbreak, the drama, the divorce, the custody battle,” another woman
cut in. “Jalila, your problem is that you don’t recognize the world has changed.
There’s no more Mr. Rights out there. There’s only Mr. Right-Now.”
“And your problem, Martina, is that you keep choosing to listen to your
body and not your heart.”
“You damn right. I’m all about the pleasure and satisfaction. Wham-bam,
thank you, sir. And if he’s real good, I’ll leave him a tip on the nightstand.”
“You’re incorrigible,” the voice he recognized as Jalila’s chided.
“Whatever. Deep down you girls know I’m right,” Martina continued.
“Especially you, Jalila. All that pining away you do on the Internet. You just
need to face facts. Men ain’t no good. Particularly in this town. You either use or
get used.”
“Jalila, don’t pay this chick any attention. She ain’t right. I’m happily
married and I want the same for you, girl.”
“Thank you, Fantasia,” Jalila said. “I need all the positive vibes I can get.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Fantasia continued. “You have a date tonight.”
“With who?” Martina demanded.
“With Richard,” Jalila claimed. “Remember, I told you about him Monday?”
“Rich—You mean that guy that picked you up at the gas station? Ha!”
Keenan smiled as Martina’s laugh echoed off the walls like a starter pistol.
“Girl, that’s your problem. You just can’t say no. You let all these geeks and
freaks pick you up whenever wherever. It don’t make no sense.”
“There’s nothing wrong with meeting a man at a gas station. Besides he was
really sweet,” Jalila reasoned. “At least I know he has a car—unlike Keith. I had
to drive over fifty miles one way to pick him up for our dates, and then he’d
always either lost or forgotten his wallet. Then, to top it all off, he insisted on
calling me Kulula.”
“Humph. That tells me he’s used to dating strippers with liquor names like
Alize, Dom, Moët and Cristal,” Martina sassed. “You should have just installed a
stripper pole and made you a few dollars on the side.”
Keenan noticed that Jalila’s laugh was different from the other women’s. It
was light, lyrical and contagious. So much so that Keenan turned and tried to
take a peek at her through the fake plants.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Martina said when Jalila’s laughter continued.
“Well, Keith…uhm…did have a stripper pole in the middle of his living
room.”
The table erupted with loud shrieks and laughter. Other diners looked around
but the women were too deep into their conversation to notice.
“Did you give the pole the old college try?” Fantasia inquired.
There was a long pause and then, “Just once.”
More shrieks and laughter.
“And I almost broke my damn neck,” Jalila added.
Keenan spotted a sizable hole with a view through to the other side, and his
gaze immediately landed on a face that was so poetically beautiful that for a few
seconds he found it hard to believe that he wasn’t dreaming. Big doe-brown
eyes, flawless skin and a smile so breathtakingly beautiful that he instantly
reached for his business card. Surely, being in this town, the beauty was either a
model or an actress.
“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting,” a low steely baritone said.
Keenan jerked around as if he’d just been caught with his hand inside the
cookie jar. When he recognized his afternoon appointment, he relaxed and
forced a smile. “Steven.” He stood up and hovered above the other man’s six-
foot-one frame. “I’m glad that you could meet me this afternoon.”
“Not a problem. It was great being able to get away from the studio for a
little while. I hope that I didn’t keep you waiting long.”
“Not at all.” They shook hands just as the table behind them erupted with
laughter again. Keenan glanced over his shoulder, longing for another look at the
beauty.
“Sounds like they’re having a great time,” Steven commented, taking his
seat.
“Looks that way.” Keenan sat back down and signaled for his waiter. “So
what’s the verdict from the focus group? Is The Royals going to make the fall
lineup?”
Before Steven could answer, the giggling women rounded the corner,
