“Obi-Wan,” Ben repeated. “I kind of like that.”
Luc nodded and folded up the note, then placed it on her pillow. “Until tomorrow, my lady,” he whispered, laying the rose with the anklet snaked around its stem on top of the note. He turned and headed for the balcony, but paused by the vanity.
He couldn’t help himself and he picked up her perfume bottle, then inhaled the sweet fragrance. He memorized the perfume’s name, then set it on the table and headed for the balcony. It wasn’t until he met up with Raven and Ben at the base of the oak tree that he remembered he hadn’t closed the balcony doors.
Then he heard Elise’s soft laughter drift through the cool night air.
Ben and Raven looked up and said at the same time, “Run.”
Elise helped tuck a slightly intoxicated Eleanor into bed, then slipped into her own room. A cool breeze hit her skin and drew her attention to the open balcony doors. She was almost positive they’d been closed when she left earlier. She glanced around the room before going to close the doors and that’s when she saw it.
A single red rose rested diagonally across the pillow. A bubble of laughter floated from her lips and she raced to the bed. A short gold chain was wrapped around the long stem. “Oh, how beautiful,” she whispered. “Oh… and a note.”
A leg shackle never looked so good.
A tree branch snapped outside and Elise rushed to the balcony. A lone figure stood at the base of the old oak tree underneath a bright, waxing moon.
Luc was frozen. He couldn’t have moved if he wanted to. She stood at the railing with the shadows of her room silhouetted against her back and a silky, white gown flowing around her figure. Her innocent beauty stole his breath and the alcoholic haze of his mind cleared for one minute.
He might have asked her to marry him because of his grandfather’s ultimatum, but he was marrying her because he wanted to. Because Elise Hamilton was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. His strategy for plying her with romantic gestures in order to win his way into her bed faded into distance with the cool night’s breeze.
Luc smiled as she touched the rose to her throat and her shoulders moved with a great, romantic sigh. So maybe the romantic gestures hadn’t been for naught?
He saluted her and turned, then walked back to where the cab waited for them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Ben, you’re drunk.”
“Yep. And if I’d met her first, Elise would be mine.”
Luc finished off his drink. “You can’t have her, Ben. She’s mine.” Or she would be by this time tomorrow, he added silently.
Raven laughed and motioned for the waitress to bring them another round.
Ben leaned back in his chair and his gold eyes stared at Luc over the rim of his bourbon and Coke. “You could share her.”
“Forget it, Obi-Wan,” Raven said. “Only a man in love would drag us from a good pool game to leave a present on his woman’s bed.”
“You’ve got that right, Brother Raven.” Luc cocked his head to the side and met Ben’s gaze head on. “And even if that weren’t the case… if Elise were yours, would you share her?”
“Hell, no.” Ben smirked. “But she’s not mine. She’s yours. Which means that you should share her. With me.”
Luc shook his head. “Ben, you’re drunk. Find your own woman.”
“Rave, do you have any more sisters?”
Raven shook his head. “Nope and if you’re looking for a chick like my sister…? Then forget it. She’s one of a dying breed.”
Ben frowned. “What breed?”
The waitress set the next round on the table along with the nachos Raven had ordered. He waited for the waitress to leave then said, “My sister is a gentile lady.”
“A beautiful gentile lady,” Ben amended.
“True that,” Raven said, dipping a nacho in salsa. “She’s got morals. And virtue.” He munched on the nacho, then wiped his hand on a napkin. “She’s the opposite of Moonbeam in some respect.”
“Your mother is a very beautiful lady, too,” Ben commented.
Raven smirked. “Yeah. She wants you.”
Ben choked on a nacho. “What?”
Luc snickered and reached for a nacho. “I thought you knew. Especially after the engagement party.”
“Knew what,” Ben demanded.
“True. I thought she was gonna jump him in the buffet line.” Raven shook his head. “Mmm, these are pretty good. Ben, you gotta understand something about my mother. She collects men.”