Let's Pretend (Romantic Comedy, Contemporary, Second Chance, Sensual) (12 page)

When she managed to slide one foot to the floor without disturbing the covers that rode low on Luc’s naked back, Belle gave herself permission to breathe. Luc was still asleep on his stomach, head under the pillows cushioned on his hands, the soft early morning light giving the room a golden-pink blush. She itched to run her hands over the defined muscles on his back—just as she’d done last night.

Focus
.

Luc could wake any second, and then she’d have to deal with the embarrassing morning after before she had a chance to think. Putting all her concentration into easing out of bed, Belle was almost free of the covers when a strong male arm imprisoned her around her waist.

“Regrets, darling?” Luc’s deep Irish voice, low and husky next to her ear, danced across her naked skin.

Drat! If only she hadn’t stopped to admire his body, she could’ve made her getaway.

He pulled her back onto the bed until her body pressed against his warmth. “You aren’t trying to renege on our deal, are you?”

In all honesty, Belle wasn’t ready to get into the morbid details of why she divorced him. Nor was she ready to face Luc just yet. Not when she had no excuse for the way she’d behaved last night. She couldn’t even fall back on the I-was-too-drunk-to-know-what-I-was-doing excuse because Luc had backed off from making love to her, until he’d made her practically beg.

Now he wanted to have the talk she’d agreed to, and she couldn’t think of a way to put him off any longer. She eased away, turned to face him as she angled the top sheet between their bodies, careful not to let her hand brush any part of Luc. There was still the matter of why Gran had called them all together this weekend.

“Luc, I’d like to get through this visit first.” Her hand quivered as she flattened one palm against his naked chest to keep him at bay. “I promise we’ll talk as soon as Gran tells us why she called us here.”

Luc smiled his dangerous, sexy smile a half-second before Belle realised she was in trouble. She was too late to avoid him pinning her to the bed, and the sheet between them offered no barrier to Luc’s hard body imprisoning hers. He laced his fingers through hers, his palms scorching her skin where they touched.

His golden-green eyes grew dark. “You know, suddenly, I can think of more enjoyable things to do than talk.” He dipped his head and kissed her.

She should have resisted him, but the urge never materialised. Her lips parted, inviting Luc’s primal rhythm as his tongue caressed hers, incinerating any indication of resistance.

When he released her hands to caress her body through the sheet, Belle slid hers up to his shoulders, then down his arms to cup his biceps. She loved the way they flexed hard beneath her palms.

His breathing turned as rugged as hers as his hand pulled the sheet from between them to explore her body in a lazy
I’ve-got-all-day
sort of way that drew a mewl from her. When his palm fanned her ribcage, Belle held her breath as she waited for the thumb he rubbed across her ribs, tantalisingly close to the underside of her right breast, to move to where she wanted him to touch her.

His familiar male scent surrounded her, cocooning her in a sense of belonging as she fought the urge to slide his hand up a few inches. But nothing prevented her from mentally
willing
his stubborn hand to move of its own accord.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to enjoy this interlude with Luc just one last time before she had to tell him she stood by her decision on the divorce. It broke her heart just to think about never sharing this—or any part of life—with him again.

Given this knowledge, how could she resist making love with Luc just one last time?

When he trailed fire down her neck with teasing kisses, she melted, fully intent on delighting in every second.

“Why did you divorce me, Belle?” Luc asked between drugging nips of his teeth on the sinew running down the side of her neck, his stubble adding an extra thrill as he grazed her skin.

It took a couple of seconds, but once Luc’s growled words penetrated her foggy brain, they had the effect of a cold shower. They cleared the haze and snapped her awake faster than a middle-of-the-night earthquake. Was this his way of forcing the issue when he knew she wasn’t ready to talk?

Belle pushed against his hard chest, ignoring the tickle of hair sprinkled beneath her palms. Of all the underhanded, low level, down and dirty
tricks.

“Get off me. You—you—” Unable to find words to describe him, she pushed harder.

Luc didn’t budge. The determined look in his smouldering eyes told her he was about to press the issue, irrespective of the hot and heavy lovemaking he’d initiated.

Belle opened her mouth just as Luc raised a halting hand to stop the tirade he must have sensed was coming. “Before you say another word, let me make something clear. I have no intention of—”

A loud pounding shook the bedroom door.

“Wake up, you two.” Tommy’s voice drifted through the pine door with malicious intent. “Your secret is out!”

Belle gasped. Her eyes collided with Luc’s as he muttered a colourful sentence and rolled off her.

Her heart skidded, then picked up double-time as Tommy’s words sent her cold. Suddenly, talking to Luc about their divorce didn’t seem as dreadful a task as it had a moment ago...

~*~

IRRITATION PROPELLED Luc off the bed. He snatched up his clothes from the floor, only pausing long enough to pull on underwear and his trousers. Tommy deserved a clout for his atrocious timing. That he’d found out about them hadn’t surprised Luc—Belle’s cousin had always been an unpleasant piece of work.

Luc wanted to punch Tommy’s lights out for interrupting the first real opportunity to discuss Belle’s desire to break all ties with him. Because there was no way he would have left that bed—despite having a late-afternoon flight back to England—until she’d convinced him she no longer loved him and truly wanted out of their commitment.
 

Glancing over his shoulder, Luc checked to see if Belle was ready to face her cousin. She sat on the bed where he’d left her, tan-coloured top sheet pulled to her chest and held with one hand while the other ran through her tangled hair. Her shell-shocked gaze flew around the room as if she were seeking escape.

Luc pointed to the
en suite
. Belle didn’t need to witness him breaking Tommy’s nose again.

She leapt from the bed with the sheet clutched to her chest as she did a little wriggle dance to free it from the entwined bedding.

“Give me a minute.” She waved frantically, almost tripping on the trailing sheet as she hurried to the chest of drawers to pull out a random selection of clothes, then dashed to the bathroom.

She was the sexiest earlymorning vision he’d seen in months. The thought brought a brief smile in spite of the anger roiling his insides. Yanking open the bedroom door, he glared down at Tommy.

“You’d better be ready to spend some time in hospital.”

Tommy’s bloodshot eyes snapped wide. He backed up a step as Luc grabbed his shirtfront and slammed him against the wall, pulling him up until they were nose-to-nose, the tips of Tommy’s toes barely touching the floor.

 
“Hey, man. Get your hands off me!” He pried at Luc’s fists.

The scent of stale booze assaulted Luc’s nostrils, but he ignored the offence, too angry to let go of Tommy when he would’ve like nothing more than to beat the other man to mush.

“I’ve put up with your hatred for years. You’ve had something against me almost from the first moment we met. I think we should duke it out like men.” Luc gritted his teeth, the impulse to slam Tommy against the wall a few more times growing strong. “What do you think, Tom? Should we take this outside?”

“Do what you like. Beating me up isn’t going to change the fact that you and Belle are lying to everyone. A little birdie told me she’s finally divorced your sorry a—”

“Watch it, buddy. Or you might find your head up yours in about two seconds.”

“Luc, let go of Tommy.” Belle’s voice sounded calm from behind him. “There’s no point in getting angry. The charade is over.”

Luc looked over his shoulder to find her dressed in jeans and a white top, her hair gathered into a careless ponytail as she gave him a resigned little shrug.

Pain, as fresh as the day she’d first told him she wanted a divorce, sliced through Luc. He was losing Belle all over again. And all because Tommy couldn’t keep his big crooked nose out of their business. The thought had Luc releasing his right fist from Tommy’s shirt in order to draw it back, ready to hit him with all the built-up aggravation balled in his stomach.

“Luc,
no
.” Belle grabbed his arm, her warm hands closing around his bicep. “He isn’t worth your effort.”

“Just let me rough him up a little.”

Belle kept his arm imprisoned as she appeared to mull over the possibility; meanwhile, Tommy squirmed.

Luc waited.

One word to the affirmative from Belle, and
Tommy’d
be toast.

She exhaled. “Let him go.”

Not exactly what he wanted to hear, but Luc released Tommy nonetheless. He lost little time in edging away from Luc, smoothing his hands over the wrinkles on his shirtfront. Luc only wished he’d had a chance to do more than crease his shirt—the lowlife.

A door opened down the hall, and Julianne stumbled half-asleep out of one of the three guest rooms, rubbing her eyes in the way he imagined she might have as a young child. “What’s going on?”

Tommy rushed toward her. “Belle divorced Lucas,” he said, making sure to put Julianne between Luc and himself.

“
What
?” Her mouth fell open; then she clamped it shut, put one hand on her hip and turned a disapproving scowl on her brother. “Thomas, have you been drinking?”

“This isn’t about me. It’s about them coming here and pretending everything’s fine and dandy when their marriage lasted only slightly longer than the five minutes I gave it.” Tommy bared his teeth like a snarling dog. “I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it in his pants. It was only a matter of time before Belle found out and kicked his a—”

“Keep it up,
smokee
.” Using firefighter slang, Luc stepped toward him. “I’ll take any excuse.” He was marginally appeased when Tom shrunk further behind his elder sister.

Belle stepped in front of Luc, placing a halting hand on his bare chest, her fingers cool and slightly unsteady against his skin. “Lucas, please. You’re making matters worse.”

To his way of thinking, “matters” couldn’t get any worse. Theirs had been a dicey game from the start, and he’d been too caught up in his focus on winning Belle back to think of a strategy should they be rumbled.

 
“Is this true, Belle?” Julianne turned her shocked gaze on them and, from the pinched set to her mouth, Luc got the impression that if Belle confirmed he’d been cheating, he could say goodbye to his favourite organ.

“No, Jules, Luc has never cheated. I have no idea where Tom would get such a crazy idea.”

“Is he wrong about the divorce, too?”

When Belle met Luc’s gaze, his chest tightened to see the defeat reflected in the blue depths. She shook her head, holding his gaze. He clasped her shoulders, hating that she flinched.

“Belle, please don’t confirm this until we’ve had an opportunity to talk.” Call him crazy, but Luc knew he could change Belle’s mind if she gave him a chance.

Tears filled her eyes. She shook her head again as she cleared her throat, stepping back from him.

“Tommy’s right. Luc and I have divorced. I only have to apply for the decree absolute to make it final.”

Like the effect of a hundred and fifty pound punch to the solar plexus, Luc’s breath whooshed from his lungs. He staggered backward against the wall. This wasn’t happening! Belle couldn’t be serious about cutting the last tie between them.

“What’s going on?” Alana came out of the same room Julianne had, scratching her head and blinking against the morning light coming in from the big window at the top of the stairs.

“Belle and Luc got divorced,” Julianne filled in.

Alana stopped midstride. “What?”

Julianne gestured with the hand that wasn’t planted on her hip. “That’s what
I
said.”

Each time someone mentioned the word “divorce,” it inflicted a fresh wound on Luc’s heart. “Will you lot just shut up, and give Belle and myself a minute alone?”

“Why are you lot making so much racket?” Mia’s voice signalled an addition to the crowd slowly building on the gallery landing. To Luc’s annoyance, she wasn’t alone. Her mum was right on Mia’s heels, and Gran’s door cracked open.

Everyone started talking at once, and Luc was sure he’d heard the word “divorce” more than a thousand times in just a few minutes, which equated to over a thousand slash wounds to his heart.

Suddenly, Tommy’s voice rang out above the female chatter.
 
“—and my sources also informed me that he’s been seeing Mia behind your back.” When everyone stopped talking to gape at him, he smirked.

Mia’s cheeks filled with guilty colour.

Luc’s blood ran cold.