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under her paper tent
and back to her ear. “I surrender. Match me up with a millionaire. I just want
to lie around on a yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean and drink
ChocoVine.”
    â€œNo, you don’t,” Cecily said firmly. “You’re not wired that way
and you’d be bored out of your mind in a week.”
    â€œI’m not wired for this, ” Samantha
whimpered.
    â€œIt’s going to be okay.”
    Elena was back now, slipping an open box of truffles under the
newspaper.
    â€œThank you,” Samantha said. She shoved a handful in her
mouth.
    Elena lifted a corner of the paper and peered under it. “What
else do you need?”
    â€œA new life.” Samantha pulled the newspaper off her head and
forced herself to sit up and push her hair out of her eyes. “I’m fine,” she told
both Elena and herself. “Just a temporary meltdown.”
    Her secretary hovered, looking doubtful.
    â€œReally. It’s okay.” What a big, fat liar she was.
    Elena still looked dubious, but she got the hint and left,
shutting the door behind her.
    Samantha picked up her phone. “Okay. I’m okay now.” No, she
wasn’t. Who was she kidding? Where were they going to get that kind of
money?
    â€œMaybe you could go over to the bank and charm the new guy in
charge into giving you a little more time,” Cecily suggested.
    They’d given her a little more time. Very little. “This is
business. Charm doesn’t enter into it.” Damn.
    â€œCharm enters into business more than you realize,” Cecily
said.
    Samantha sighed. “You’re right. I’ll have to go over there and
talk to the new manager. Sweet Dreams is a vital part of the town’s economy.
It’s in everyone’s interest for the bank to work with us and help us get through
this rough patch.” That was exactly what she’d say to him. Rules could be bent
if everyone benefited in the long run.
    She took a deep cleansing breath and told herself she felt
better already. Big, fat liar.
    â€œThere you go,” Cecily said encouragingly.
    â€œAnd I’ll take him some of our wares,” Samantha decided. “Who
doesn’t like chocolate?”
    â€œCharm and bribery, a businesswoman’s best friends.”
    Samantha sure hoped so. She thanked her sister for the shrink
session, then buzzed Elena on the office phone.
    â€œYou okay now?” Elena asked.
    â€œYes,” Samantha lied. “Call down to Luke and tell him to put
together the mother of all gift baskets.”
    * * *
    At 10:00 a.m. Samantha walked into the bank bearing a
cellophane-wrapped basket filled to the brim with goodies from Sweet Dreams
Chocolates. If this didn’t melt Blake Preston’s heart—well, then, he had no
heart to melt.
    Speaking of, there he sat at the manager’s desk in the far
corner, a sandy-haired tackling dummy in a suit. Blake Preston looked more
suited to a WWE Friday night smack down than to sitting behind a bank manager’s
desk, deciding the fate of local businesses.
    Lauren sent Samantha a welcoming smile from her teller’s
counter, but the one she got from Blake Preston when he saw her approach his
desk wasn’t quite so friendly. Wary would’ve been a
better word for it. Even wary, it qualified for a toothpaste commercial. Whoa,
that was some wattage, and she felt the electricity clear across the room. She
couldn’t help checking his left hand for signs of a ring as he stood to greet
her. None.
    Never mind his ring finger or any other
part of him. You’re here to do business.
    She could almost hear her sister whispering in her ear, “Charm
enters into business more than you realize.”
    She donned her most charming smile and said, “Hi,” injecting
her voice with goodwill. You like me. You want to give me a
longer extension on my loan. “I’m Samantha Sterling from Sweet Dreams
Chocolates. We went