Conquest of the Heart Read Online Free Page A

Gavin, Adrian,
and Juliet mingled. There were so many guests all at once, it was
amazing.
    As Gavin walked around speaking to his
colleagues, he glanced around, looking for Faith. She hadn’t
arrived yet. He hoped she was coming. As he searched, he saw
Chandler. He really didn’t want to deal with her this
afternoon.
    She slinked up to him, “Hey, baby.”
    “Oh, would you please stop talking to me like
that. For goodness sake, Chandler, there are people all around us.”
He was extremely irritated.
    “It’s no secret that we’ve been together.
Hell, it’s no secret that you’ve been with everyone. You could be
the poster child for ‘Pimp My Ride’,” she giggled.
    Gavin glared at her, and walked away. He had
had about enough of her, but couldn’t quite give up a good lay.
    Moments later, Faith pulled up the driveway
and parked. As she walked up to the house, Juliet was looking out
the window, and saw her coming. She practically ran to the
door.
    “Faith honey, it’s so good to see you,” she
said, giving her an even bigger hug than she gave Gavin.
    “Hi, Juliet,” she returned the hug. “It’s
good to see you, too.”
    “Let me take a look at you.” Juliet backed up
and looked at Faith up and down. “You look stunning.”
    “Aww, thank you,” Faith smiled.
    Juliet wrapped an arm around Faith’s and they
began walking through the house together.
    “Your house is gorgeous, Juliet. I can’t
believe how big it is.” Faith looked around in awe, viewing art and
sculptures.
    “That’s the problem. It’s too big. Why do you
think I like to have everyone over all of the time?” she giggled.
She was like a little girl having a huge birthday party. “How was
your first week at work? Did you get settled in your home okay?”
asked Juliet, as they kept walking.
    “I did. I’m glad to be here, because I was
really tired. I’m ready to have some fun and meet the rest of my
colleagues.”
    “Well this is the place to be. Why don’t you
go on back and mingle?” she said, secretly hoping she’d run into
Gavin first.
    “Okay,” said Faith. “I’ll talk to you later.”
She smiled and walked through the patio doors and out back,
greeting people she recognized as she went.
    Adrian and Juliet had been concerned about
Gavin for some time. His behavior had gotten worse with age. They
begged him to settle down and get married, but he wasn’t ready.
When Adrian went to Paris, and heard that Faith might be moving to
America, they saw this as an opportunity to do some scheming of
their own. If they knew Faith like they thought they knew her, she
would not be an easy target for Gavin. Maybe this would help him
see that not all women were alike, and maybe he could see her as
someone that he could possibly spend the rest of his life with.
They knew it was a long shot, but they had to try.
    Out back, Faith took a glass of sparkling
water with lime, and joined some people she recently met, and
Carter. They laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Carter was
glad to get talk to her without Gavin, but that didn’t last long.
Gavin spotted them and walked toward them. He again, was awestruck
by how beautifully put together Faith was. She was stunning to look
at.
    Carter turned as he approached. “Gavin! I was
wondering where you were.” They patted each other on the back.
    Gavin smiled, “I’ve been looking for you,
too.” He looked over at Faith and said, “Faith, we finally meet.
It’s a pleasure.” He reached for her hand, and kissed the back of
it. “I must say, you do look beautiful this evening,” Gavin said as
Carter rolled his eyes.
    Faith coyly smiled and pulled her hand away
from his. She was sitting comfortably in a padded lawn chair with a
group of people by the fire pit. “Thank you. You don’t have to
flatter me. It won’t work.”
    Gavin’s smile started to flatten. He looked
around and said, “What are you talking about? I don’t
understand.”
    “Adrian warned me about