The Heart Wants What It Wants

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Blurb:

An older man, younger woman, billionaire, interracial romance book. Diana Davis is a paralegal with big ambitions… She dreams of a big family and excelling in her career. But after a fling with the much older billionaire George Hemsworth at a convention, she’s aware a lasting relationship with him seems unlikely.

He doesn’t strike her as the settling-down type. After his first marriage, George vowed to never marry again. But he finds himself unexpectedly captivated by Diana. As things get more serious between them, he struggles with the idea of marriage and family, which have never been part of his plan. But perhaps Diana can change his mind!

Can George shed his trauma and commit to a future with Diana, giving her the family she’s always wanted? And is Diana willing to compromise her ideals for a love that’s unexpectedly right? Find out in this older man / younger woman romance story by Ellie Etienne.

Chapter 1

“Come on, lunch then! Just lunch!”

Diana David grinned. The infectious enthusiasm was a part of Alex Wright.

“I can’t. I wish I could.”

“Of course you can. There’s that really nice Italian place just around the corner from your offices. You’ll be back in no time.”

Diana chuckled this time.

“As if that has ever happened like that in the history of all the lunches I’ve ever had with you! Sunday, Alex. We’ll catch up on Sunday.”

“That’s three whole days away.”

“Just three days. In the grand scheme of things, our lifetimes are but an instant, forget three days.”

“That just makes three days matter even more. If it’s all just an instant, we should make the most of every bit of it.”

“You should be the one becoming a lawyer,” said Diana admiringly.

“I should, shouldn’t I? Then we can open our very own law firm, and we will kick ass.”

“We’ll figure it all out on Sunday,” promised Diana, and she sighed a little when she heard Alex’s long, drawn out and very audible sigh. Good thing they were having the conversation on the phone. There was no way she would ever have managed to say no and stuck to it if Alex had been right there in front of her.

“Fine, if you won’t budge.”

“I can’t help it, Alex. I’ve got a ton of work left today. I’m having lunch at my desk, if I can have lunch at all. I’m talking to you when I’m trying to work kinks out of my neck. I’ve been hip deep in research, trying to find an obscure precedent that they might have heard of somewhere, sometime. I’ve got barely anything to go on but I have to find it by end of day and have an argument ready, so…”

“Fine, fine. Say it like it is. You have no time for your friend anymore.”

“Oh, come on, Alex…”

“I’m only pulling your leg. You’re so easy to tease, Di. Fine, Sunday, then, and make sure you have something to tell me about from this conference you’re going to.”

Diana tried to bite back the curse, but some of it slipped out.

“Wow, Di.”

Diana sighed.

“I know, if my mama heard me, she’d have me washing my mouth out with soap. I can’t believe I have to go for this stupid thing. It’s got nothing to do with anything I know anything about. I don’t understand why my stupid law firm wants to have a stupid booth at a stupid IT conference. And I really don’t understand why I have to be the stupid one to go to the stupid conference. I know nothing about anything tech.”

“You should learn. Who do you think violates more patent and copyright laws than tech companies? Besides, they will want law firms on retainer now. They’re all rich enough to get sued.”

“That’s what they told me, but a booth…”

“Maybe you’ll meet a hot guy.”

Diana laughed.

“Right, I’ll find a hot guy from a bunch of geeks who speak in languages I don’t understand, it might as well be talking in code, for all I know.”

“It won’t be that bad,” cajoled Alex.

“Or maybe I’ll find the one gamer bro who thinks a slightly chubby black woman is exactly who he needs in his life.”

“You are not chubby. You’ve got curves. As long as the curves include that waist of yours and those legs you have, you cannot be chubby. Do you want me to come down there and drag you out to cheer you up?”

“No, no!” said Diana hurriedly. It wasn’t an empty threat coming from Alex. She would really do it.

“Fine, then. Sunday, and make sure you have at least one sexy story to tell me. You’re going to an out of town conference; it’s the least I can expect from you.”

“I am writing it down. Now, I’ve really got to go, Alex.”

“All right, Sunday. Have fun, Di. You’re allowed to.”

Diana was still smiling when she hung up and walked back into the library where she’d been working. Talking to Alex did that. It could put a smile on anybody’s face.

But she hadn’t been kidding. She had tons of work to do, and she would have to go home and pack because she had to get to the conference in San Diego. Then she had an early morning flight, after which she’d have to keep the booth ticking.

She had no idea how she was supposed to do that. How were you supposed to get a tech crowd’s attention and hold it if you had no tech knowledge at all?

At least she didn’t have any real goals or numbers to hit. She was just supposed to go and make sure that the brand was visible. Even law firms were talking about brand visibility. Sometimes, it felt like Diana had just been born in the wrong age.

Though she was no longer sure if there had ever been a right age for a black woman who wanted to have a family and be moderately successful as a lawyer who specialized in civil rights cases.

“Diana! Do you have it yet?”

“Not yet, Mr. Simons. I’ve got the years narrowed down to just six, which is better than the sixty I started out with.”

“Progress, excellent. I’m popping out for a client lunch. Keep at it!”

“Yes, of course,” said Diana, and she kept the smile in place until Peter Simons, the lawyer who had the most claim on her time and her services as paralegal and general errand girl around work, left for yet another one of his lunches.

The miracles of billable hours, thought Diana, a little wryly. It was definitely not the kind of life she wanted for herself, but when she had a soggy sandwich to look forward to, it did look tempting.

“One day, maybe I will have billable hours, too,” muttered Diana as she got back to her books, wondering if she should just forgo the sandwich and have an antacid. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

But Diana forgot about her complaints as she settled down to work, going through books and white papers, reading case files and judgments. The truth was that she did love her job. She loved what she did. Sure, the hours were demanding and her boss thought she was a miracle worker of some sort, but he thought so because she did produce a lot of miracles.

There had never been a precedent that she couldn’t find. She knew bylaws that lawyers forgot existed. She had a memory that never failed for years and judgments, and she loved all those details. She loved the big picture of what the law was, what the law was supposed to stand for, what it was supposed to do. But she loved the details, the challenge of it. She loved getting all the steps right and making something right.

“Got you!” she muttered, and she was lost to the world, her sandwich forgotten, as she got to work getting the details she needed.

It was about an hour before she surfaced, her curly shoulder-length hair coming unraveled from its bun a little bit because she’d shoved a pen in it and taken it out too many times.

“Ah, looks like I’m back right in time!

“Mr. Simons! Good, you’re back. I got it. I got the precedent. I have it here.”

“Good work, Diana! Good work. Always dependable. Good work!”

He wandered off from the library and to his office. She’d have to pack up the books he needed and her notes, and take it all to him. Really, it was amazing that somebody who wrapped his vagueness around him like a security blanket could be as sharp as she knew the lawyer was. It served him and his clients well.