Heart's Secret. Adrianne Byrd

Kitty asked, shifting in her seat. “I have to go to the little girl’s room.” She set her empty flute down in a holder and then reached for her clutch to retouch her lipstick.

      Jaxon performed a cursory glance outside the car window. “We should be there in a few minutes.” To be honest, he was a little relieved himself. He never cared for long car rides. They always made him feel as if he was wasting time. Not that he needed to dedicate every minute of the day to making big investment moves, but he needed to be doing some thing. Hell, he wouldn’t even mind rustling around in the backseat with Kitty for a few minutes if he could’ve been sure that Kwan would keep his eyes on the road and not run them into a ditch or up a tree.

      Plus, sex always had a way of taking the edge off whenever he was feeling tense or anxious. He cut a look over at Kitty and knew that she would be down for whatever he was in the mood for, but just then Kwan turned onto Jaxon’s grandparents’ long, sprawling estate. It was time to suck it up, paste on a smile and ram horns with his grandfather.

      There was a short wait, while cars and limos deposited the guests on, of all things, a blue carpet in front of the estate. At first glance, it appeared his grandparents had invited the whole state of New York to what the invitations described as a small get-together. Of course, the Landons never did anything small.

      Kwan rolled the car to a stop and the valet quickly snatched open the door and offered a hand to assist Kitty. A person would have to have been deaf not to hear the collective shocked gasps when the outdoor lighting hit Kitty’s knockout number.

      Jaxon stepped out of the car behind Kitty and made a dramatic show of possessively wrapping an arm around the exotic dancer’s slim waist. Both he and Kitty thrust up their chins while their eyes and attitude practically dared anyone to say anything about their odd pairing.

      “Are you ready for this?” Jaxon queried under his breath.

      Kitty leaned closer. “I am if you are.”

      “Then let’s knock them dead.” Jaxon slid his free hand into his pants pocket and escorted Kitty up the royal blue carpet.

      “Oops.” Kitty sprang out of his grip and stepped back.

      Jaxon glanced in time to see a silver tube of lipstick roll down the carpet.

      “I forgot to close my clutch.”

      “I’ll get it.” Jaxon sprang into action though he felt a little foolish for having to give chase to a tube of lipstick.

      Another car pulled up to the curb. The valet immediately opened the door.

      Jaxon had stooped to retrieve the shiny lipstick tube when a woman’s gorgeous foot encased in a pair of silver stilettos was planted in front of him. Two things seemed to happen. Time stood still and Jaxon had unexpectedly fallen in love…with a foot.