Lucien(53)
Luc squeezed her close. “I shouldn’t have left you alone in here. Look at all those toys.”
Elise turned crimson and swatted at him. “Oh, stop. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look Bingley Senior in the eye again.”
Luc chuckled. “You won’t have to if those receipts account for the missing fifty thousand.”
Ben flipped through the receipts. “I won’t be sure until later, but… I’d bet this will cover all of the money.” He smiled. “This beats the hell out of what I originally thought.”
Luc grimaced. “I wasn’t looking forward to hunting down an embezzler.”
“I’ll just go make a copy of these and we’ll get the hell out of here.” Ben left the room, whistling.
Luc turned her in his arms and caught her chin, lifting her face for a kiss. “You just saved us a lot of work, darlin’. Again.”
Elise sighed and blushed with pleasure. “You are most welcome.” She snuggled closer and rested her cheek over his heart. “Again.”
“If all goes well, Ben will sign the contract in a couple of days.” Luc paused as if unsure how to proceed. “If he does… how do you feel about moving down here?”
“For how long?”
“For a while. Until we can get this place organized and on track to be productive. Probably about a year.”
“But what about your other clients? And the house your grandfather gave us?”
Luc rested his chin on the crown of her head. “I didn’t know how long this job would take, so I didn’t commit to anything afterwards. And the house… it’ll still be there.”
Elise eased back and looked up at him. “If it’s what you want to do, then I’m all for it.”
“And you’ll stay with me?”
“If that’s what you want,” she asked softly.
“That’s what I want.” His arms tightened around her.
“Then I’ll stay.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A case of condoms. Right down the hall.
Elise pursed her lips and stared at the computer screen. The letters blurred together as her mind wandered down a well-worn path. She should have thought about it sooner, but she hadn’t. She should have been prepared for the eventuality. Her hands drifted from the keyboard to rest on her stomach.
“I might be,” she whispered. A warm and fuzzy feeling spread through her body and she sighed. Why hadn’t she thought about it sooner? Because, Elise commented to herself, you were more concerned with other things, like making your husband fall in love with you and making a fairy tale romance come true.
Elise shook her head at herself. “Well, it takes two. Why didn’t my husband consider the ramifications?”
Luc had never once asked her or mentioned birth control. Why hadn’t he? Had he assumed she was on the pill? Puhleeze. Who ever heard of a virgin on the pill?
The reality of the possibility sank in and Elise gasped. “Ohmigoodness. I really could be.”
A brief knock heralded Luc’s entrance into the office. “Just the lady I was…,” he trailed off frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong,” Elise choked out. “Is something wrong?” She sat up straighter and absently smoothed down her skirt. She wasn’t ready to discuss her thoughts with Luc. Especially when she wasn’t even sure of what her thoughts on the subject were.
Luc came around the desk and leaned against it. He gazed at her with such open tenderness that she nearly voiced her concerns. “Nothing’s wrong that I know of, but,” he gently touched her cheek, “you look pale. Are you feeling all right?”
Think, Elise, think. “I… guess I’m just a little tired.” Oh, that was brilliant.
“A little tired,” he asked, unbelieving.
Elise caught his hand. “Really. That’s all. It took me longer than usual to fall asleep last night.”
Luc entwined their fingers together. “I suppose you didn’t sleep very well because of me.”
Elise relaxed and smirked. “For some strange reason, I can’t seem to fall asleep when you’re tossing and turning.” She tugged playfully on his hand. “Did you find the missing fifty thousand?”
Luc nodded. “It’s all been accounted for.” He paused and held out his other hand to her. “Take the rest of the day off.”
She took his hand and let him pull her up. “But I haven’t finished this—”
He cut her weak protest off with a quick kiss. “Go home and take a nap.”