He looked up as she flew into the room and straight into his lap. “Elise, what’s wrong?” His arms came around her.
Elise snuggled closer and gasped for her next breath. “Oh, Luc, it was—” She broke off as Pepe Le Peu sauntered into the room waving a folder in the air.
Junior grinned and dropped the file onto the table, then strolled out the way he came, whistling.
Luc tensed and his arms tightened. “Did he—”
“There you are, Elise. I was wondering where you were off to in such a hurry,” Ben said from the doorway. He held up her shoes. “I found these around the corner. Wise move.”
Luc scowled down at her stocking feet. “Why were you running, Elise?”
“Because Junior was behind me.”
Luc started to stand up. “It’s time Junior and I had a little talk.”
Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. “That can wait,” she said quickly. “I found the file you wanted with last year’s expenditures.”
“Elise, you will not stop me this time.”
Ben closed the door and dropped her shoes next to Luc’s chair. “Where did you find it?”
“It was stuck in the filing cabinet drawer. It took me forever to pry it out.” She snuggled closer to Luc and held on for dear life. “Please don’t go, Luc. You can pound him to smithereens some other time. I looked at the numbers on those sheets and they didn’t look the same as the ones you and Ben had yesterday.” Besides, she thought to herself, I’m much too comfortable to let you go after Hands and Eyes Bingley.
Ben muttered an expletive. “Luc, take a look at this.” He reached for his calculator while Luc leaned over to peruse the sheet. “Thanks, Elise. You just saved me from having to download Accounting’s hard drive.”
“You’re welcome,” she chimed, resting her cheek on Luc’s shoulder. He was so solid and strong. She felt as if nothing could harm her. She was safe in his arms. Safe from everything but the warm, fuzzy feeling which had taken over the rest of her body.
Luc pulled her more securely onto his lap, then rolled his chair over to his briefcase. He grabbed a stack of spreadsheets and, keeping his arms around her, flipped through them. “What’s the last entry on that sheet, Ben?”
“Supplies.”
“I should have seen it before,” Luc whispered.
“What,” Ben asked.
“This.” Luc held up the page and pointed to a line.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Ben breathed. He looked from the sheet in Luc’s hand to the one in his grip. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Probably, but we won’t know for sure until we go through the purchase requisitions.” Luc handed off the sheets in his hand to Ben, then pulled Elise closer. “Darlin’, do you happen to know where they are?”
Elise smiled and inhaled deeply. Gracious but he smelled delicious. “The purchase orders are on the second floor. They’re kept in the cabinets outside the CEO’s office. That’s where I found the file you’re looking at now.”
Ben drummed his fingers on the table. “And the CEO left how long ago?”
Elise shivered as Luc’s hand moved across her hip, down her thigh to the hem of her skirt. “Someone in accounting said he left a little over a year ago and the Bingleys haven’t even tried to replace him.”
Luc tugged her skirt lower. “Shameless wench. I should have known you’d be a garter belt kind of woman,” he whispered.
Elise giggled. “I can’t stand panty hose,” she explained. “I’m not coordinated enough to wear them. The bunching and twisting and yanking and—”
“I realize this is your honeymoon, but can you hold off on the foreplay until later? I, unlike you, Lucien, have nothing better to do tonight than spend hours working. Although I would glady swap places with you,” Ben added with a charming smile directed at Elise.
“Find your own, Benajah. This one’s taken.” Luc loosened his hold on her. “Come on, darlin’. I’ll escort you upstairs.”
Elise slid off his lap and slipped her feet into her shoes. “It might be easier if you just carry the whole cabinet down here. I haven’t organized the orders yet and whoever filed them just stuffed the papers in the drawers.”
“Better yet,” Ben said. “Grab your things and let’s move up there. The office is empty.”
Luc glanced at his watch. “Elise, I doubt we’ll make it home before dinner.”