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The Best of All
Vanessa Miller
Surry McDaniel loves designing beautiful clothes. In fact, it's the only thing she truly loves.Clothes can never fail her, the way people can. But when she's accused of stealing designs, Surry risks losing the life she's spent years building. The only person who can help is Ian Duncan, a political strategist who knows how to fix bad PR and who hasn't been able to stop thinking about Surry since they met. But Surry has kept him – and everyone else – at arms' length as long as they've known each other. Helping her would be a risk, but the more Ian gets to know Surry, the more he knows that while she needs him, he needs her even more.
The best is worth waiting for…
Surry McDaniel loves designing beautiful clothes. In fact, it’s the only thing she truly loves. Clothes can never fail her, the way people can. But when she’s accused of stealing designs, Surry risks losing the life she’s spent years building.
The only person who can help is Ian Duncan, a political strategist who knows how to fix bad PR and who hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Surry since they met. But Surry has kept him—and everyone else—at arm’s length as long as they’ve known each other. Helping her would be a risk, but the more Ian gets to know Surry, the more he knows that while she needs him, he needs her even more.
The man was swimming toward her corner of the pool. As Surry was trying to decide whether to get out of the water or to move over to avoid being in the way, he stopped swimming and stood up.
“Ian,” she said, surprised as she watched him wipe the water from his face.
“You were expecting someone else,” he said as he took a few steps in the pool and then bent his head down and allowed his lips to lightly touch hers.
Was this really happening? Was Ian kissing her? His lips felt so good that she couldn’t help but put her arms around him and pull him closer. She opened her mouth and hungrily kissed him until she imagined herself purring with pleasure. “Mmm,” she said with her eyes closed as the kiss ended.
Leaning into her, Ian kissed her eyelids, her forehead, her cheeks. He placed another soft kiss on her mouth and then said in a husky voice, “I wish I had known that all I had to do to shut you up was to kiss you.”
Surry’s eyes popped open. She pushed him away and jumped out of the pool. “I’m going to get dressed for dinner.”
“Don’t go. I was just beginning to enjoy myself,” Ian called after her.
With hands on her hips, she turned back to face him. “You were enjoying yourself a bit too much. And I’d appreciate it if you don’t let it happen again.” With that she swung around and left the pool area with as much dignity as she could muster.
VANESSA MILLER
is a bestselling author, playwright and motivational speaker. She started writing as a child, spending countless hours either reading or writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels. Vanessa’s creative endeavors took on new meaning in 1994 when she became a Christian. Since then, her writing has been centered on themes of redemption, often focusing on characters facing multidimensional struggles.
Vanessa’s novels have garnered rave reviews, with several appearing on Essence magazine’s bestseller list. Miller’s work has received numerous awards, including a Best Christian Fiction Mahogany Award and a Red Rose Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction. Miller graduated from Capital University with a degree in organizational communication. She is an ordained minister in her church, explaining, “God has called me to minister to readers and to help them rediscover their place with the Lord.”
The Best of All concludes Vanessa’s For Your Love trilogy for Harlequin Kimani Romance.
The Best of All
Vanessa Miller
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Dear Reader,
Writing about Surry McDaniel and Ian Duncan was more like visiting two old friends. They were so easygoing that it felt as if I had known them for a lifetime but only now decided to write their love story.
You’ve read about Danetta and Ryla in the first two books of the For Your Love trilogy. Now I’d like to open the door to Surry’s world in the final book of the series…and I guarantee you that it is definitely The Best of All!
Ian Duncan is not a man to be taken lightly. He’s successful but dreams of even bigger success with the woman he has fallen in love with. Surry, on the other hand, has no time for love. She is on the fast track to success and isn’t willing to stop for anyone…but Ian Duncan just might change her mind.
Thanks for taking the time to read The Best of All. I truly hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing about Surry and Ian.
Happy reading,
Vanessa Miller
To Diamond—the best is truly yet to come for you.
Believe it and receive all that God has for you…. All my love!
Contents
Chapter 1 (#ue3c2a852-cd33-5d0b-a54f-9b1b9e2a4b42)
Chapter 2 (#uc0855779-8f4e-5c8a-b10d-0f438736a6f7)
Chapter 3 (#u1047b8b8-7671-590a-bf57-479f25bd9ecb)
Chapter 4 (#u904a3555-2de9-5b27-b2da-9619a9325897)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1
“I love what you’ve done with this boutique. It is simply divine.”
“Thanks, Ryla,” Surry McDaniel told her friend, sweeping her gaze around the newly renovated boutique. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into the creation of Designs from the Motherland, so I’m glad that you think I made the right decision.”
“Made the right decision? Are you kidding?” Ryla Carter took a silky white nightgown off the rack and held it up against her body. “If you had opened this store just three months ago, I would have worn this lovely number on my wedding night. I guarantee that Noel wouldn’t have been able to resist me in this gown.”
Surry joined their friend Danetta Windham in a chuckle. The three of them knew all too well that Ryla had tricked Noel into marrying her, and because of that the first night of the honeymoon was a complete disaster. It was good that they could finally laugh about it now.
“All’s well that ends well,” Danetta said.
“Yeah, but that hot mess didn’t look like it was going to end so well,” Surry reminded the group.
“Oh, but it did.” Ryla strutted over to the checkout counter and laid the gorgeous nightgown on it. “And that is why I can still afford to purchase this expensive gown. Because my husband—” she lingered on the word husband for a long moment as she pulled out her black AmEx card “—can afford to keep me in the finest silks money can buy.”
“Glad to hear it, because I use only high-quality material. My boutique is called Designs from the Motherland because everything comes from Africa. The fabric is light and airy, meant for weather like ours here in Houston Hotter-Than-Hades, Texas.”
“Well, I’m going to purchase this fabulous swing skirt,” Danetta announced as she held up a print skirt with vibrant blues and tans.
“I love that skirt,” Surry said. “Everyone went wild for it last week.”
“Oh, that’s right. You had your first fashion show in Ghana. Tell us about it,” Ryla said.
The three women poured themselves a cup of coffee and then retreated to the lounge area Surry had set up at the back of the boutique, which offered customers the luxury of relaxing and enjoying refreshments while being waited on by the staff. Designs from the Motherland wasn’t an ordinary boutique. It was an experience.
Years ago she traveled across Africa, writing books about the culture and atmosphere in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Ghana and even Egypt, which tends to be commonly associated with the Middle East. She’d had the time of her life exploring and surrounding herself with people she could deeply identify with. Oh, she loved America and wouldn’t trade her country for anything, but a piece of her heart was in the motherland.
However, her publishers didn’t have the same love for the motherland as she did. And when the profits from her work failed to meet expectations, her line of coffee-table books was dropped. Since she was a child, her father was convinced that she would follow in his footsteps and be forced to live a meager existence, but Surry had other plans for her life.
Her mother had been a seamstress, working for little to no money, before arthritis set in and forced her to give it up. At the onset of the crippling disease, Surry stepped in and helped her mother finish orders that had been paid for previously. That was how Surry discovered that she had her mother’s gift and began designing her own brand of African garb. The name Designs from the Motherland was twofold: acknowledging Africa and Surry’s own mother. Surry had been determined to make a go of this business venture, and after seven years of struggling, she’d finally made it.
Her designs were now in hundreds of boutiques across the South and the East Coast thanks to her new distributor. In addition to the store she owned and operated in Houston, two chain retail stores were interested in carrying her line. Things were going so well for her that Surry should have expected something unexpected would turn her world around. But she never even saw her whirlwind coming.
“So tell us all about the fashion week in Ghana,” Ryla said as the three women settled around the table.
“Girl, it was a blast. So many designers were there. I got my networking on, did my thing when it was time for my models to go on and then I kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the shows.” She hesitated and then added, “That is, until the last day.”
Danetta put her coffee mug down. “What happened?”
“Remember John Michael?”
“How could I forget him? The man had two first names and he smelled,” Ryla said.
“That’s not nice, Ryla. The man had a great love for garlic,” Danetta said with a hint of humor in her tone.
“He also has a great love for lying.”
Ryla, who’d been spreading vegetable cream cheese on a wheat bagel, put the knife down and focused on Surry. “What has the stinky little man done?”
Sighing deeply, Surry shook her head in disbelief as she told her friends, “I think he must have fallen and bumped his head. Because he’s running around telling anyone who will listen that I stole his designs. He even had the audacity to get in my face about it at the fashion show.”
“You’re kidding!” Danetta’s mouth hung open.
“I wish I was. Last night a reporter called to ask me about his claims, so I guess I’ll be seeing his lies in the newspaper pretty soon.”
Danetta put her hand on Surry’s shoulder. “That sounds awful.”
“You haven’t heard the worst of it yet.” Surry covered her face with her hands and then dragged them down to her neck. “Things were going so well. Now I’m not sure how anything is going to turn out.”
Her friends were silent, their attention centered on Surry.
“Remember the contracts I was supposed to be signing with Roukes?”
“Of course,” Ryla said. “They’re going to carry your designs in two of their chain department stores and make you a very rich woman.”
Surry propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “That was the plan.”
“What do you mean ‘that was the plan’?” Danetta asked.
“One of the head buyers was in Ghana for fashion week. John Michael told her and everyone else his lies. My contract is on hold until I can straighten this mess out. And I’ve already spent all of my money increasing my production.”
The group meditated on Surry’s words for a moment, and then Danetta snapped her fingers and said, “You need one of those image consultants.”
“No way.” Surry shook her head. “People hire image consultants to fix problems they created for themselves, like Tiger Woods’s girlfriends and that woman involved with that David Petraeus sex scandal. I haven’t done anything wrong, and I don’t want to make it seem like I need to fix a problem that I shouldn’t even have.”
“You didn’t sleep with this guy, did you?” Ryla joked.
“Shut up, Ryla. You are so not funny.” Surry was at her wits’ end. She was about to lose everything she had worked so hard to build, and she had no idea how to make this train wreck go away. “Besides, I wouldn’t even have the money to pay an image consultant if I had slept with him.”
Ryla’s eyes lit up. “I have the perfect person to help you, Surry.”
“Did you just hear me say that I have no money? If I can’t get that contract to go through, I don’t know how I’m going to recoup the money I’ve spent on production.”
“Girl, please.” Ryla waved a hand in the air. “Ian Duncan would probably help you for free. You know he likes you.”
“Ian Duncan is a campaign manager. How in the world could he help me with my problem? I’m not running for public office. I just want to sell my clothes.”
“Ian is all about building the proper image. He helped Noel win his seat in Congress even after the reporters started hounding us about Noel being the father of a seven-year-old girl he knew nothing about.”
She twisted her lip and ran her hands through her freshly straightened long black hair. Surry didn’t believe in relaxers. They were accursed as far as she was concerned, manufactured only to strip the beauty and vitality from a woman’s natural hair. But now the hot comb, that was a necessity. She knew that many felt the hot comb damaged the hair, as well. But as long as it was used sparingly, she didn’t see a problem with it. “He asked me out, and I have yet to give him an answer.”
“Well, now is as good a time as any to give the man an answer,” Ryla said with a finger snap.
“I can’t do that, Ryla. The man will think I’m awful...to only call on him when I’m in trouble and in need of his help.”
“But you do need help, Surry. Maybe you need to drop your pride and call this guy,” Danetta admonished.
“Look at it this way,” Ryla tried. “Even if you’re not interested in dating Ian, he may still be able to help you. I’m not suggesting that you lead him on or anything like that. I just don’t think you should pass up an opportunity to receive the help you need, simply because you’re not interested in him.”
Who said she wasn’t interested in dating Ian Duncan? If the thought could even be imagined, the man was a much sexier version of the singer Eric Benet. Who wouldn’t want to go out with him? It certainly wasn’t that Surry didn’t want to spend time with him. The problem was that she had neither the time nor inclination to get into a relationship. Her business, her success, came first, second and third. Her life had no room for a man, especially one like Ian Duncan.
