Campaign For His Heart

The Perfect Candidate

Former foster kid Lauder Tolson is running for North Carolina state senate, but his bachelor status makes him look less than family oriented. He needs a lady love—just for the campaign. The ideal candidate is childhood nemesis Willow Dawson. But he once broke the beauty’s heart and barely has her vote! Still, to fulfill her own dream, she agrees. Suddenly, they’re a devoted couple in public. But neither expects how hot it gets in private.

JOY AVERY works as a customer service assistant. By night, the North Carolina native travels to imaginary worlds—creating characters whose romantic journeys invariably end happily ever after.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Garner, Joy knew she wanted to write. Stumbling onto romance novels, she discovered her passion for love stories; instantly, she knew these were the type of stories she wanted to pen.

Joy is married with one child. When not writing, she enjoys reading, cake decorating, pretending to expertly play the piano, driving her husband insane and playing with her two dogs.

Also by Joy Avery

In the Market for Love

Soaring on Love

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Campaign for His Heart

Joy Avery

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07804-7

CAMPAIGN FOR HIS HEART

© 2018 Joy Avery

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedicated to the dream.

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge everyone who continuously supports

me along this beautiful journey!

I love and appreciate you all!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

Lauder Tolson sat on the edge of his desk, tossing a stress ball into the air and listening to his best friend and campaign manager, Chuck Carlisle. The man went on and on about the fact that he needed to appear more family oriented if he wanted to win the senate seat, especially in the great state of North Carolina.

Six months until the election and Lauder still couldn’t believe he’d actually decided to run for congress. A bold move, Tolson. A bold move.

Chuck—or Chuckie, as Lauder liked to call him—snapped his fingers, drawing Lauder’s attention back to the conversation.

“You with me? You listening?” Chuck said. “This is serious, L.”

Lauder tossed the ball to Chuck. “Think fast.”

Chuck knocked the blue puff across the room. “I need you to focus.”

Lauder rubbed a hand over his close-shaven head. “Calm down.”

“These aren’t calm times.” Chuck paced. “I know that snake in the grass Edmondson has something up his dingy white sleeve. I can feel it.”

Jeff Edmondson had been a thorn in Chuck’s side since the man had decided to throw his hat into the race some months back. If being a family man was what would win the race, Lauder should drop out now, because Edmondson had him beat in that arena. The man had been married for countless years to his high-school sweetheart and had enough well-mannered children to start their own baseball team. But what the man lacked, in Lauder’s opinion, was passion. Edmondson wanted the win because Senator preceding his name would add to his prestige. Lauder wanted to win because he truly wanted to make a difference in his home state and in a foster care system that had failed so many, including him.

Chuck stopped so abruptly he nearly stumbled over his own feet. “We have to polish up your image, and fast. You need a significant other. Now.” Chuck massaged his clean-shaven jaw.

Lauder knew that cunning look on Chuck’s face. The man was up to something. Something Lauder was sure he wouldn’t like. Lauder’s brow furrowed and lips parted, but Chuck cut him off before he could speak by tossing a hand up.

“Before you get all I don’t do long term, it doesn’t have to be a real relationship. It just has to appear that it is. In the political game, it’s all about perceptions,” Chuck said.

Nope, he didn’t like it one bit. Lauder folded his arms across his chest. “Let me get this straight. You want the man running on a platform of truth and accountability to lie about having a lover. And on top of that, you expect me to convince someone to be my fake girlfriend.”

“Wife.”

Lauder pushed to a full stand. “Wife! Hell, no!”

Chuck massaged the back of his neck. “Okay. Girlfriend will work. Unless you are just totally against a fake wife. That would play so much—”

Lauder shot Chuck a death stare.

“Girlfriend will work.” Chuck started to pace again. And stopped again. “But none of the women in your little black book. Those women would do more harm than good.”

“I’ll have you know I only deal with the cream of the crop.”

Chuck released a condescending laugh. “Yeah. I’ll handle it. I know your type. I’ll make sure I choose the opposite.”

For kicks, because no way would he ever entertain such a ridiculous idea, Lauder said, “Shouldn’t I have a say in whether or not I want to parade around town with some stranger on my arm for the next several months?”

“Wayment. You’re telling me you’re okay with a stranger in your bed but not on your arm.”

It always tickled Lauder when uptown and proper Chuckie allowed his hoodness to slip out. But since they were having a serious conversation, he bit back his amusement. Plus, he had him there. He’d never favored attachments. He was a product of his past. And that past had taught him not to get used to anything or anyone.

“First off, I’m a thirty-six-year-old grown-ass man. Whom I allow in my bed is still my damn business. No one else’s.”

“Lauder...” Chuck paused as if to get his thoughts together. “You’re running for a state senate seat. Your business is everyone’s damn business. Welcome to politics.”

Lauder dropped into his chair and massaged his now throbbing temple. What in the hell had he been thinking running for congress? He was a businessman. He wasn’t a politician. Why in the hell hadn’t he kicked Chuck out of his office when he’d first approached him with the idea?

“You’ll make a hell of a senator,” he’d said. “You can change the world.”

Lauder scoffed, remembering his friend’s words. Change the world. All he wanted to do was change North Carolina. Tackle homelessness, poverty, foster care. Definitely foster care. A severely damaged system, in his opinion. That alone still made this journey so worthwhile.

“When did this crusade to polish my image become an agenda? My wifeless, kidless image hasn’t been a problem before,” Lauder said.

“Before Edmondson started parading his trophy wife and his perfect little renditions of himself all around town in their color-coordinated outfits, smiling and waving like they’re on a parade float.” Chuck grimaced, then started again, “This is the south, L. The perfect family allusion works on multiple levels. You do want to win, right?”

“Yeah, but you want me to lie to get what I want.”

“You say it like it’s a new concept. Politicians have been lying since the beginning of time.”

“But I’m—”

“Not a politician,” Chuck said, continuing Lauder’s thought.

“Exactly. And that’s not how I want to build my campaign. Not on lies.”

Chuck rested his hands on his hips, lowered his head and sighed. “What do you want to do, L? You want to drop out of the race? Concede to Edmondson before there’s even been an election? Bow down to the same cocky bastard who said you didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against him?”

Hearing Edmondson’s words hurled at him caused his jaw to clench now, just as it had when the self-entitled jerk had first spewed them to a room full of reporters.

Chuck leaned against Lauder’s desk and eyed him. “Tell me what you want to do, L? I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

Lauder stood with urgency. “I want to get a drink.” A second later, he ambled to the door.

“You don’t drink,” Chuck said.

“I’m about to start. That’s what politicians do, right?”

Several minutes later, Lauder stood in line inside the Drip Drop Coffee Shop, eyeing the board as if today would be the day he strayed from his usual order—iced cinnamon caramel macchiato. A creature of habit.

He slid his gaze from the board and skimmed his surroundings, snatching his eyes back to a table situated in a dimly lit section of the restaurant. Couldn’t be. His eyes narrowed on the brown-skinned woman beaming at something on her tablet screen.

A flash of light from the device highlighted her features and that scar. The one above her right eye. The one he’d given her so many years ago when he’d been attempting to hit a tree, but had dinged her instead. Every cell in his body fired all at once, sending a longing through him he hadn’t felt in years. Close to twenty to be exact, because that was how long it had been since he’d seen her. Willow Dawson. The only woman who’d ever claimed a piece of his heart.

* * *

Willow could feel the presence of evil before her eyes rose to face it. Without the man in front of her uttering a single word, she instantly recognized him. Lauder Tolson. Candidate for a North Carolina senate seat and her childhood nemesis.

Something fluttered in her stomach when she inhaled a whiff of his cologne. Ignoring the violation, she gave him a quick perusal, one that revealed a lot of change. This was not the gangly, pimple-faced boy she remembered. This was a full-grown man. Easily six-four and as solid as a brick wall—an extremely sturdy, wide-shouldered brick wall—with dark, daunting eyes that bore into her.

An unexplainable heat circled her neck, rose to her ears and settled in her cheeks.

“Weeping Willow.”

His smooth, deep timbre caused her skin to prickle. She prayed he hadn’t noticed. When his full lips curled into a lopsided smile, she almost forgot he’d broken her heart when they were younger.

Fighting the urge to show her teeth and growl, she said, “I hated that name then, and I hate it even more now.” Not only because it was mocking, especially coming from Lauder, but because it reminded her of a past she wanted to forget.

Lauder rested his hand on the back of the chair directly across from her. “May I?”

“I’d prefer you—” she stopped when Lauder eased down, blatantly ignoring her impending objection “—didn’t.” She sighed, pushed her tablet aside and leveled an emotionless, hard stare at him.

Her first mistake.

Despite whatever lingering distaste she held for the man, she couldn’t deny how good-looking he was. Even more attractive in person than on television, attempting to convince everyone that he was the right candidate to represent them. He’d definitely grown into a fine...very fine man. She wasn’t sure which was smoother, the molten chocolate latte she sipped on or Lauder’s deep chocolate skin. Neither was good for her, she reminded herself.

No, this was not the man—boy—she remembered.

“It’s been a long time,” he said, taking a sip from his cup.

Willow ignored how his full lips wrapped around the plastic lid. Unscrambling her lust-laden brain, she said, “Some would say not long enough.”

Lauder chuckled and smoothed a hand over his stubble. She noticed the absence of a wedding ring. But she already knew he was a bachelor, never married and no kids from the interviews she read online. The Lauder she’d once known had been an asshole. Lauder the politician held her attention. Especially when he talked about the big plans he had for the foster care system in North Carolina.

“Come on, Willow. It’s been close to twenty years. Are you still holding a grudge?”

Was he serious? After what he’d done to her? Did he think that even after all of this time she could forgive him? Tamping down the fury rising inside her, she flashed a broad smile. “A grudge? Of course not. How could I possibly resent the man who made my life a living hell?”

Which wasn’t all true. At one time, he’d made her happier than she’d ever been in her life. He’d made her feel wanted, which had meant so much to her since she’d grown up in foster care feeling unwanted all of her life. Then he’d shattered her heart.

Lauder’s expression turned sad. “People change. I’ve changed.”

“Really? Well, I wouldn’t know because you—” She stopped abruptly before revealing too much. What did it matter after all this time anyway? The past was the past, and she preferred to leave it right where it was.

“You should get to know me, Willow. I promise you’ll like this new and improved, much more mature version.”

Get to know... Ha! Was he serious? He couldn’t actually be suggesting they spend time together, could he? Beyond the five minutes she’d already endured? She studied the no-nonsense expression on his face. Yep, he was dead serious. “I’ll take your word for it.” She collected her things and made a motion to stand.

“You haven’t always hated me, Willow. And truth be told, you don’t have a reason to hate me now.”

In a bold move, he reached over and slid the pad of his thumb across the scar above her right eye. Her forever reminder of him. She snatched away, his touch infuriating her even more than his words had. She did have a reason to hate him. “I allowed my guard down once and trusted you with...” She stopped and cleared her throat when her voice cracked. Refusing to relive the angst of their past, she stood. “I have to go. I would say it was nice running into you, but it wasn’t.”

With that, she walked away from the man who’d long ago walked away from her and had never looked back. Neither would she.

Chapter 2

For the past week, Lauder hadn’t been able to think about anything but Willow. Even now, in the back of the sedan on his way to an interview, he studied the picture of Willow on the About Us page of her company website.

He liked her brown hair cut in that sassy, short style. It gave an unobstructed view of her neck. Man, his lips yearned to explore that neck. She was far more beautiful in person than on a screen. Though he knew it was real, recalling seeing her in the Drip Drop felt like a dream. A dream come true.

“I guess there’s no changing your mind about her, huh?” Chuck asked, seated in the back of the chauffeured vehicle with Lauder.

Without looking away from the screen, Lauder said, “Nope. She’s definitely the one.”

Lauder had agreed to Chuck’s charade, but with one condition: Willow played the part of his would-be lover. Chuck had rattled off his objections, but in the end, Lauder had made it clear that it was either his way or no way.

Now, all he had to do was convince Willow. And judging by the icy reception he’d received from her, that wouldn’t be easy. But he liked a good challenge.

“The one?”

Lauder could hear the surprise in Chuck’s tone. This brought Lauder’s gaze to him. “You know what I mean. She’s the perfect one to play this part. We have history. That’ll make this thing appear much more authentic.”

“Uh-huh.” Chuck rummaged through his briefcase, removed a stack of binder-clipped papers and flipped through them. “History you probably should have thought to mention to me. The fact that you two resided in the same group home for a while does play well.”

“It didn’t—Wait. How do you know that?” Lauder scrutinized the papers Chuck held. “What are you reading?”

“You didn’t think you could send me an email stating you’d found the perfect candidate to play the part of your fake girlfriend and not expect me to vet her, right? And for future reference, it’s best we talk about this face-to-face.”

Lauder laughed to himself. Chuck sounded as if he was running for the presidency. No one cared what was in his emails. Still, he nodded his agreement, then said, “Vet her? You had Willow investigated?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I have a dossier of people attached to this campaign. Politics can be ruthless. I want to make sure we’re not blindsided.”

Lauder was unsure how he felt about Chuck invading Willow’s privacy or the privacy of the others in his camp. “This feels an awful lot like crossing the line, Chuck.”

“Calm down. Most of the information is public knowledge.”

“Most? And how was the rest gathered?”

Chuck sent a gaze in Lauder’s direction, the look on his face suggesting Lauder didn’t want to know. Lauder shook his head and slid his attention out the window. This was the murky part he hated about politics. How far was too far?

Chuck continued to peruse the papers. “Her credit score is better than mine. Highly respected in the law enforcement community. Her company does a lot of work with Raleigh PD. Obviously, she’s good with her hands because she’s won a ton of awards for her clay work.” Chuck flipped several more pages. “Uh-oh.”

Lauder whipped his head toward Chuck. “What was that for?” When Chuck didn’t readily respond, Lauder leaned in to see for himself.

Chuck moved the pages out of view and laughed. “Chill, man. You’re invading my personal space.”

“What the hell is uh-oh?” Lauder couldn’t explain his dire need to know what had happened in Willow’s life that would warrant an uh-oh. An urge to wrestle the man for the papers came over Lauder, but he resisted.

“Seems Ms. Willow Dawson has been bitten by the baby bug. She has a pending adoption application. Looks like she tried to adopt once before. A kid she’d been fostering.”

“What happened?”

“The application was denied.”

Lauder’s brow furrowed. “Denied? Why?”

“‘We feel the applicant lacks a stable enough home structure and financial outlook to support adoption at this time,’” Chuck read. “It looks like she was just starting her forensic facial reconstruction company and had quite a bit of her finances tied up in it. The social worker made a note about not believing Willow would have enough time to dedicate to a start-up and raising a child. Especially as a single parent. That’s cold.”

“That’s bullshit,” Lauder said, sending a hard stare out the tinted glass. How many kids had been denied a loving home because of BS like this? The system has to change.

“Whoa.”

This drew Lauder’s attention back to Chuck. What had he uncovered now? And could it be any more devastating than the adoption news? “What?”

Chuck waved him off. “Nothing. I just didn’t realize she used clay and skeletal remains—namely, a skull—to recreate what a person looked like. A deceased person,” he said, as if the skull hadn’t been a giveaway. “It’s kind of eerie.”

Lauder shook his head at his friend, then turned his attention back out the window. He couldn’t explain why, but his urge, his need to get close to Willow was greater than ever.

* * *

Willow preferred clay over people. Clay didn’t disappoint. It simply remained there in one big clump allowing you to manipulate it in any manner you wanted, not the other way around. Clay didn’t work you like men.

A vision of Lauder’s handsome face burned into her thoughts, and she gritted her teeth. Her best friend, Hannah, stood next to her and laughed, pulling her from the offending image.

“Um, sweetie, everything okay?” Hannah asked.

“Perfect. Why do you ask?” Willow said without looking at her friend.

“Because instead of John Doe, you’ve sculpted a Nubian god. One that looks very familiar.”

“Huh?” Willow eyed her work and gasped. “Oh, God.” How had she... She groaned. It had been two weeks since she’d seen Lauder. Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?

“Who is it?” Hannah asked, scrutinizing the form.

Willow sighed heavily, debating whether or not to go into details. Deciding it might help her rid the thoughts of Lauder, she said, “Remember the guy I told you about? The one from Drip Drop?”

“Dude from your past?”

Willow nodded, then fanned her hand toward the chunk of clay she’d unconsciously molded into Lauder’s likeness. “Meet Lauder Tolson.”

Hannah’s cinnamon-colored eyes widened, awareness apparently setting in. “Senatorial candidate Lauder Tolson?”

Willow wiped her hands down the front of her brown apron. “Yep, that’s the one.”

“Oh, my good Lord. Lauder Tolson is your ex? The Lauder Tolson?”

“He’s not my ex. He—”