“Do I?”
“You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago.Someone I met in France.”He watched her closely.His tone was accusing as if he didn’t much like the person he’d known in France.
“I’ve never been to France.”
He studied her for such a long time she became uneasy.“Not you then, eh?”
She attempted a laugh to soothe the tension coming off him, but feared she failed miserably.“I wish.I’d love to visit France.”
His intense stare made her hands shake.She hated her reaction to him.Hated him for causing this strange reaction.And hated Giselle for forcing her to return here when everything inside her said to run like hell.“I, uh, came for those papers.”
He blinked and his eyes cleared.“Ah, yes.The papers.”
Lainie held her hand out in a gesture of peace.“I’m just the messenger.Don’t shoot me.”
A smile touched the corner of his mouth and went a long way in easing the harshness of his expression.She wished he would smile fully.It would be a sight to behold.“I would never harm you, Madelaine.”
Her brain stumbled over what she was about to say and her thoughts flew away at his words.“I know,” she whispered.And she did know.No matter how much he scared her, no matter how much he irritated her, he would never hurt her physically.Emotionally?She had a feeling if she let herself get close to Christien Chevalier she would never be the same again.
She cleared her throat, forcing herself to remember the reason she was here.“The papers.My boss needs them by tomorrow.”
“Well, then, I must give them to you.”He turned to go inside and glanced over his shoulder when she didn’t follow.“They’re in my office.”
She waved him on.“I’ll wait here.”
“Are you afraid to come inside with me?”
She hesitated, reluctant to admit her fear of stepping inside those doors.Strange things happened to her in there.But before she could answer, Christien linked his fingers with hers and lightly tugged.
“Come,” he said softly.
She swallowed, liking too much the warmth of his hand in hers.His touch set off tiny electric shocks that traveled up her arm and settled deep in her belly, turning her insides to liquid.Instinctively she folded her fingers in his.His hold tightened, as if he were telling her he’d never let go.And she didn’t want him to.For letting go would mean losing him and losing him would be the destruction of her.
But that didn’t make sense.They only met last night, yet something told her Christien Chevalier was important.Vital and imperative.She’d heard stories of people who fell in love at first sight, but that wasn’t happening here.It was something deeper.
She shook her head and followed him into the darkness of the club, the strange feeling dogging her footsteps and frightening her more than anything else had ever frightened her.More than when her father stopped recognizing her and she realized she was entirely alone in the world.
She wanted to pull her hand away, to run out of the club and never look back.Almost as if he sensed her thoughts, Chevalier glanced at her and his fingers tightened around hers, keeping her at his side.Lainie edged closer to him.
The club looked different in the middle of the day.The lights were off, the disco ball dark.Their steps echoed across the cavernous dance floor, sending a shiver up her spine.
Christien opened the door to his office.Lainie hung back, reluctant to enter.He threw her a bemused glance.“I told you I would never hurt you.You don’t need to fear me, but if it makes you feel better to stand outside, I won’t stop you.”
She peered into the office.It was an ordinary office with a desk and chair and bookcases.All very expensive, but an office just the same.No ghosts lurking in the shadows.“What is wrong?”Christien asked.
She shook her head and laughed.“Nothing but my imagination.”
“And what is your imagination telling you?”
She hesitated, feeling stupid.
Christien tugged on the end of her hair in a surprisingly playful gesture.“Imagination can be a delightful thing,” he murmured.
Lainie’s gaze flew to his, to the fire inside his eyes.All she had to do was raise her head a little bit and their lips would touch.His gaze dropped to her mouth.His breath hitched.Lainie lifted up on her toes and looked into his eyes.His kiss would be gentle and worshipful.She didn’t know how she knew that.She just did and she wanted it.She wanted his lips pressed against hers.Would die if she didn’t get it.
Suddenly he was gone and she dropped back on her heels, disoriented, embarrassed.She looked down at her shoes, afraid to see the expression on his face.What a fool she’d been.Christien had far more beautiful women to kiss than her.She was merely the messenger on an errand for her boss and would never be the type of woman to run in his circles.
The manila envelope appeared in her sight and she grabbed on to it, her face heating in mortification.
