Authors: Julie Ortolon
“Oh, God.” Chloe’s restraint broke. Giving in, she wrapped her arms around her aunt in a very rare hug. Tears filled her eyes when Allison’s arms went eagerly around her. “I don’t know what to do! I don’t want to go, but…”
“But…” Allison’s sigh sounded resigned as her arms tightened. “She’s your mother. It’s only natural for you to love her.”
And that, Chloe realized, was as much behind her pain as the thought of losing what she’d found on Pearl Island if she lost her trust fund. Deep down, she ached to have a good relationship with her mother.
“Does that make me weak?” Pulling back, she bit her lip.
“No! It makes you human.” Allison brushed a tear from her cheek. “Are you going to go?”
“I haven’t decided.” Did she have a choice, though?
“Well,” Allison said, “you know I’ll support you no matter which decision you make.”
“I know. Thank you.” Chloe let her aunt pull her in for another hug. Physical affection still didn’t come naturally to her, which made her savor it even more.
“Am I interrupting?” a male voice asked from the doorway.
Chloe stiffened. Embarrassed to be caught crying, she wiped frantically at her cheeks before turning with a forced smile. “Luc. Hi.”
“Am I early?” He glanced at his watch, and scowled. “Probably late. Sorry, I stayed up most of the night working and I kinda overslept.”
“You’re fine,” she assured, praying her nose and eyes weren’t too red. “I was just…” Her words trailed off as she took him in. He looked model perfect in a navy polo and khaki slacks. He hadn’t overdone it this time with any half-tucking or collar flipping. He had, however, pushed those expensive designer sunglasses to the top of his head, which held back his gorgeous hair in an uber-hunky way.
Today, though, it didn’t bother her. Now she realized his attention to fashion didn’t come from vanity. He was compensating for the past. The thought made her smile. “I’m afraid I’m still working.”
“Oh.” His expression turned worried. “If I’m too early, I can come back.”
“No! I’m almost done.” Actually, they hadn’t even started taking individual photos of the dolls. “What I mean is, I can make this fast.” She turned to her aunt, hoping that wouldn’t inconvenience Allison. “Is that okay? If we hurry this up?”
“Chloe,” Allison laughed. “Don’t be silly. We can finish this later.”
“I can finish it now.” She felt a spurt of panic. With her grandfather’s threat looming, she needed to be more indispensable than ever to the inn. Maybe then she could figure out a solution to staying even if she lost the trust fund. “I know how important it is for you to have fresh content for the website.”
Before Allison could answer, Luc’s phone rang, filling the gift shop with hard-edged music.
“Hang on,” he said, pulling the phone from his pocket. He looked as if he were bracing himself as he pressed it to his ear. “Good news or bad news?” he asked without even saying hello.
She watched in curiosity as he listened.
“Are you serious?” His eyes widened with excitement. “You checked everything?” More listening, and then he thrust a fist into the air. “Yes! That’s freaking awesome. Have you unlocked the folder? I have to see for myself.… Great, I’ll call you back.” Ending the call, he looked at Chloe. “Do you have WiFi?”
“Of course.”
“Then, oh man, would you mind if I grabbed my laptop from the car? If you have things you need to do anyway, I can get some stuff done online while you finish up.”
“Certainly. You can use the music room, if you want. We have a desk in there for guests.”
“Killer. Thanks!”
She watched as he dashed for the front door. The minute he vanished, she turned to Allison. “Well, what do you think? Is he hot or what?”
“Very,” Allison agreed, smiling in approval. “Do you have any idea what that call was about?”
“I would imagine something to do with his software company.”
“He owns a software company?” Allison raised her brows. “Impressive.”
“Well, I think so.” Chloe laughed. “How about we finish shooting these dolls?”
Her aunt’s brows snapped back down in amused disapproval at her choice of words.
“Figuratively speaking,” she added, eager to be done so she could spend time with Luc.
Chapter 7
Luc raced to his car, grabbed his computer bag, and jogged back to the inn. He came to a halt, however, when he stepped back inside and realized he didn’t know where to find the desk Chloe had mentioned. Glancing into the gift shop, he saw her standing behind a camera mounted on a tripod.
Her aunt stood nearby, ready to assist, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Chloe.
As if sensing his gaze, Chloe glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The tears had vanished, thank goodness, since crying women unnerved the heck out of him. Her smile, however, was just as unnerving. He still couldn’t believe they’d kissed last night. And whoa, what a kiss!
When he’d woken up barely an hour ago, after pulling an all-night coding marathon, he’d been even more convinced that he’d dreamed the whole thing. Yet, there she stood, an utter knockout in a tropical-colored outfit that made her tanned skin glow and her hazel eyes gleam. Even with the apron obscuring her curves, he knew what lay beneath. He’d never forget the way that body felt pressed up against his.
“Yes?” she said with just enough amusement for him to realize he was gawking.
“Um.” He pulled himself together. “You said the desk was where?”
“The music room. Here, I’ll show you.” Turning to her aunt, she added, “I’ll only be a second. Swear.”
“Chloe,” the aunt laughed, “take your time.”
As Chloe walked toward him, his body came alive.
“It’s this way,” she said, joining him in the central hall.
Leading the way toward the grand stairs, she gave him a sideways glance that held the promise of more kissing in his not-so-distant future. Heated images made his pulse quicken.
“You certainly seem excited about something.”
Startled, he wondered if she’d read his mind, then remembered the phone call. “Oh, yeah, that was Zeke, the head programmer on my team. I think we finally busted through a bug on the newest version of Vortal last night. He swears we nailed it, but I need to get online to confirm.”
“Well then, let’s get you online.”
Was there a sexual suggestion in that statement?
he wondered. Man, he couldn’t think straight around her. The moment they entered the music room, the fanciful décor provided a much needed distraction.
“Wow,” he said, gaping at the high ceiling covered in frescoes of cherubs playing among peach-tinted clouds. Gold draperies flanked the tall windows, while a white, baby grand piano, embellished with gilt and more whimsical paintings, dominated one corner.
“A fitting room for an opera singer, wouldn’t you say?” Chloe asked, clearly amused by his reaction.
“No kidding.” He walked farther into the room and turned in a circle to take it all in.
“Always makes me think of Marguerite as a songbird trapped in a gilded cage,” she said with a wistful sigh.
“A what?” He pulled his gaze away from the room to look at her.
“I don’t suppose you read the Legend of Pearl Island on our website.” She ran fingertips over the curved edge of the baby grand.
“I’m afraid I only skimmed it,” he confessed, wishing now he’d paid more attention.
“Marguerite, one of our resident ghosts, agreed to marry the shipping baron who was courting her because he promised he’d buy this island and build her a grand house as a wedding gift. She wrote in her diary that it wasn’t the extravagance of the gift that seduced her into agreeing. It was the thought of having a home where she’d be safe from all the people who tried to use her.” Chloe looked at the frescoes overhead, admiration clear on her face, but the pleasure faded quickly. “The sad truth is, he built this house on a private island to keep her prisoner, locked away from anyone who might help her leave him.”
“A tad possessive, eh?”
“Not of her, but of the luck she brought him with his business dealings.” When he gave her a puzzled look, she explained. “Marguerite was a good luck charm. That’s why so many men wanted to possess her.”
“That sounds like quite a story.”
“Oh, it is,” she assured him. “I’ll happily regale you with it later. Right now, though, I need to get back to work.”
“Of course.” He looked about, noting the comfortable sofa and chairs and an antique armoire that had been converted into an entertainment center. In the far corner, he spotted a dainty writing desk.
“The password to get online is pearlisland,” she told him. “All one word, lowercase.”
“Got it.” He nodded, holding his computer bag a bit tighter against him. He didn’t even want to open his laptop until she’d left the room since he used the Vortal logo as his desktop image. “Thanks.”
“Can I get you anything?” she asked. “We probably have some pastries left over from breakfast. And there’s always a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge.”
“No, I’m good.”
“Okay, then. I’ll leave you to it.” Turning, she left the room.
He waited until she’d disappeared completely, which helped his brain switch back into work mode. Eager to see if Zeke’s claim was true, he crossed the room in large strides. His hands fumbled with excitement as he pulled out his laptop, hand set, and head gear.
The whole team had been pushing themselves for months, trying to finish their newest, most ambitious version yet. Zeke, his head coder, kept saying he was close, but each test ended in frustration that had sent more than one keyboard crashing against a wall.
Luc had offered to help, but Zeke threw a fit every time, like a temperamental artist. Backing off had nearly killed Luc, but he’d managed. To a point. He’d only glanced over Zeke’s work when he was sure he wouldn’t get caught, finding it ridiculous that he had to tiptoe so lightly. Vortal was his, for Pete’s sake. He had every right to trample through the entire program, putting his own personal stamp on any piece of code he wanted.
Out of respect for his team, he’d forced himself to refrain.
Last night, however, the frustrated programmer had grudgingly asked Luc to take a peek. Seizing the opening, Luc had stayed up all night, meticulously picking through miles of code, experimenting and tweaking. Nothing worked. Or maybe his brain had just been too distracted with thoughts of Chloe.
By the time the faint light of dawn crept around the edges of the blackout curtains in his hotel room, he’d been nodding off at his keyboard. He’d tried one last tweak, but exhaustion had kept him from testing the result. The process took too long. He’d decided to grab a nap and check it when he could focus.
The nap had turned into several hours of coma-like sleep. When his phone roused him, Zeke’s shout blasted him awake. “Dude! You nailed it. I think you frickin’ nailed it!”
“What? Seriously?” Luc had stumbled to his computer to see for himself, only to discover Zeke had changed the password to the online shared folder. “Hey, you locked me out. Let me back in.”
“No way!” Zeke had argued. “I’m not done testing. You’ll get your turn when I’m ready.”
“Have you forgotten who owns this company?” Luc had said in a calm but ominous tone.
“Have you forgotten who’s the God of Coding that came up with this idea?” Zeke had countered.
Luc hadn’t pointed out that he, in fact, was the one who had started the brainstorming session that led the team rushing down this ambitious path. Mentioning that would only challenge Zeke’s claim to grandeur.
“Fine,” Luc had grumbled. “But you call me the second I can get back in.”
“Only if the blue holes are really gone,” Zeke had insisted. “I haven’t worked through the whole world yet.”
“No way am I waiting that long. Call me the second you’re reasonably sure.”
Which was what Zeke had just done.
With his computer set up and online, Luc slipped on the headset, adjusted the mic, and opened the folder. As the file loaded, the opening soundtrack began to play. It started softly, like otherworldly bells heard through the colorful mist on the screen. The sound built to a crescendo just as the portal burst through the fog.
He cast a quick glance over his shoulder. Reassured he was alone, he turned back to the image of the very item that had brought him to Galveston. The dazzling graphic gave him a tug of need to hold the real object in his hands again, to feel the hum of its magic before handing it to Mémère.
On the screen, light glinted off the gold frame of twisting vines surrounding a vortex that seemed as vast as the universe, spinning slowly, hypnotically. Nestled amid the gold vines, colorful gemstones gleamed as the portal waited for him to make his decision: a blue sapphire for Pirates of the High Seas, an emerald for Wizards and Warriors, a ruby for Vampires in New Orleans, and citrine for Operation Middle East. The colored stones were one of the few departures from the real pendant, which had only diamonds.