Treasure My Heart. AlTonya Washington

but there was still the question of how successful. She hadn’t seen a ring, but knew that meant nothing. Men often went without their bands.

      But she couldn’t allow musings of Oliver Bauer to disrupt her workday. Things were going to be hectic enough without her being preoccupied by the sensuality that lurked in the man’s exquisite eyes. She looked at the phone still in her hand, and with a tired smile, she tossed it back across her desk.

      “Hey, hey, what are you doing here so early?!”

      Minka saw Qasim and blurted a surprised laugh. “Where’d you come from?”

      “The...elevator?” Qasim looked ready to laugh, as well. “Didn’t you hear the bell?”

      Grimacing, Minka made a play at shuffling through the folders littering her desk. “It’s been a long morning.”

      “Long morning, huh?” Sim slowed his steps the closer he drew to the desk. “My offer for time off still stands, you know? You could’ve at least slept in today.”

      “No...I arranged a few early meetings to follow up from the Sharpe thing last night.”

      “Oh, yeah...” Sim began to pat his trouser pockets.

      Minka watched curiously as her boss fished out his key ring. He pulled off a long silver key and handed it to her. Accepting it, she frowned expectantly.

      “It’s from Vectra.” He smiled. “She has a place in Miami near the gallery. She wants you to stay and enjoy it while you’re there.”

      “That’s sweet. Very sweet, but I—I can’t let her do that—it’s too much.”

      “Ah, take it.” Qasim waved off her attempt to return the key. “Vectra doesn’t think it’s much at all. She thinks you’ve probably got some palace on the beach.”

      “What?” Minka frowned. “Why would she think that?”

      Qasim shrugged, returning the key ring to his pocket. “The heiresses to billion-dollar fortunes usually have such things, don’t they?”

      “Oh, no.” Minka closed her eyes as if pained. “You told her?”

      “I’m surprised she didn’t figure it out sooner. It surprises me that a lot of people haven’t figured it out already. Guess that’s about to change, huh?”

      “Sim...”

      “Don’t worry. I told her how you feel about folks knowing. She promised to keep it quiet. At least until you claim the big chair.”

      Minka folded her arms over her short-waist walnut brown blazer. “I haven’t accepted yet.”

      “But you will.” Straightening to his full height, Qasim waved a hand toward the corridor leading to his office. “Shall we talk now or later?”

      * * *

      Needing to work off a sudden case of nervous energy, Minka headed to Qasim’s bar the moment she entered his office.

      “She says she’s got things she wants to do before she kicks the bucket, so it’s time for me to do my duty, blah, blah, blah...”

      Qasim grinned while getting settled at his desk. “I always said Miss Zena is a woman who knows how to live. Wish the same could be said for her granddaughter.”

      “Sim.” Minka’s head fell forward as she shook it. “Don’t start. Gram wouldn’t let up about me doing that very thing. She wants me to take time off and think about the job first before I accept.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “I am about the business.” Minka set coffee to brew. “It’s about more than that, though. Gram doesn’t want me focusing so much on the business that I don’t give any time to what she considers the most important things in life, namely having a husband and family.”

      “Ah...” Qasim’s dark eyes narrowed as though he’d decided no further clarification was needed.

      Minka shrugged and began looking for mugs. “That’s why I want to go to Miami. Of course there’s business to handle, but it is Miami. Hopefully Gram’ll appreciate the effort I’m making to have fun.”

      “And also to keep her from worrying?” Sim guessed.

      “Bit of both.” Minka set silverware next to the mugs filled with steaming French roast. “I just don’t think the marriage game is for me.” She laughed at Qasim’s look of playful outrage.

      “This from the woman who gave me continuous grief over not going after Vectra in a way she approved.”

      “It’s not the same, Sim.”

      “Oh?”

      “I’m from a family of billionaires, Sim. A heiress. That’s a whole different set of assumptions, Sim. A whole different kind of drama than a man would have.”

      “You’re worried about not being able to find a man to love you for who you are.” Qasim added an understanding nod. “You’ve thought a lot about this.”

      She gave a wan smile. “Sometimes it’s hard not to. But, trips to Miami definitely make it easier.”

      “Good outlook.” Sim’s expression remained sober. “Talk to me if you need to, okay? And not just to give me your two weeks’ notice either, all right?”

      “I’d never leave you in a lurch!” Minka laughed.

      “Mmm...the way I’m leaving you. Holding the bag on this Miami thing to run off for love.”

      Minka threw her head back to laugh robustly. “Love is the best reason to leave someone holding the bag.”

      “Try asking the person left holding the bag.”

      Minka spread her hands over the desk as though she were presenting it in a showcase. “You just did.”

      “I only want you to understand how serious I am about you talking to me,” Qasim reiterated, following more laughter. “It’s one thing to work to make the boss look good and another thing entirely when you’re the boss. Just keep me in the loop, all right?”

      Minka moved from behind the bar, nodded and met Qasim in the middle of the room for a hug.

      * * *

      Oliver Bauer was a man who worked hard and played harder. This lifestyle suited Oliver just fine—he had no desire to follow in his sister’s footsteps anytime soon.

      However, that was before he met Minka Gerald. Oliver silently called himself an idiot. He carried a sopping-wet sponge to his navy Jeep Cherokee, one of two that he owned. Waiting on deck to be washed were also two Jeep Wranglers and a black Benz G-Class SUV. The vehicles were already gleaming, but Oliver didn’t see the harm in a little extra pampering. He was about to be out of town for the next few weeks, after all.

      Suds and water coated the wheel and rim, but Oliver wasn’t attacking the job with the same gusto he usually had for his vehicles.

      Minka Gerald. She’d been an almost constant presence in his mind for days. She was a beauty who would not escape his notice, or his bed, until he was able to put his persuasive powers to the test. Yet his distinct...infatuation...was about more than that. It had to be. After all, he knew tons of lovely women. But one who had practically hypnotized him? What the hell was that?

      Oliver grunted out a laugh and gave the sponge another dunking. Idiotic indeed. He grimaced. He’d barely spent two hours in the woman’s presence, and a fraction of that actually talking to her. There had certainly not been enough time for her to enchant him the way she had. Yet there he was, unable to get her out of his head.

      Returning to the Jeep, Oliver attacked the job, scrubbing as if the act would set his thoughts to rights. It was some time before he faintly realized his name was being called. He quickly angled his tall frame out from under the