Ben held up his hands defensively. “My lips are sealed. You couldn’t pay me enough to drop this particular T-bomb. But I doubt the same is true about your grandfather.”
Luc nodded. “I thought of that, but Gramps won’t say anything if he doesn’t have to. And since we’re leaving for Texas tomorrow, Elise and I won’t be around long enough for him to suspect the marriage is anything but real.”
“Anything but…? Oh, no.
Please
tell me you’re not gonna do what I think you’re
not
gonna do
?”
“I am.” Luc had every intention of going through with the wedding, but everything that came after that…? That would be Elise’s choice and—if Luc had any say in it whatsoever—have nothing at all to do with his grandfather demanding that Elise become the next broodmare in the Masters’ stable.
Even if it meant he had to sleep on the couch and take more than his fair share of cold showers to endure the torture of living in name only with the woman of his dreams.
Luc sucked in a sharp breath. “Dammit. It’s everywhere.” He shoved a hand through his hair and cursed again. “I can’t take this.” The soft fragrance of Elise’s perfume drifted up from his jacket. “Everywhere but my bed,” he growled.
They’d been in Texas for nearly a month and Luc had kept his hands off her. He was stark raving mad. Living in the same house as Elise was torture. Bitter sweet torture. His wife in name only had left her mark on everything in the house. Everything but her husband.
“This is going to end.” Luc stood and threw the suit jacket into his chair. “Now.” He opened the conference room door and, ignoring the confused stares of Intrinsic Incorporated’s employees, stalked down the hallway towards the temporary office his wife had claimed for them. It was time they started sharing more than an office.
He rounded the corner and halted in his tracks. A congregation of workers, all male he noticed somewhat morosely, gathered around the open door of his office. Luc cleared his throat.
The congregation scattered.
His frown deepened and his jaw ached with tension. It was a wonder he had any teeth left at all. Grinding his molars into a fine powder was turning into a habit with Elise around.
“A little higher,” he heard Elise say breathlessly.
A muscle in his jaw popped. Luc covered the distance to the door and froze. His wife was on her hands and knees with her perfectly rounded bottom sticking up in the air for one and all to gawk at. Luc tore his gaze away from his wife’s assets as a man groaned.
A sexually depraved computer geek was holding the desk, lifting it in the air for his wife, and staring down at her bottom with a hunger which Luc would kill him for. No one was allowed to gawk at his wife. No one but him. Dammit.
Jealousy raged through his body until he shook with it.
Elise’s bottom wriggled. “Almost… there.”
“Take your time, ma’am. It’s not… heavy at all.”
Liar. Luc knew the desk weighed a ton. He’d helped one of the maintenance crew carry it into the office. They’d dropped it in the middle of the room and left it. Damned if they’d wanted to pick up the cumbersome thing again.
“Got it,” Elise exclaimed triumphantly. She wiggled out from underneath the desk. “You can set it down now, Calhoun.”
“Yes, Calhoun, by all means set the desk down,” Luc bit out.
Then get the hell away from my wife
.
Calhoun dropped the desk with a muffled curse.
Elise beamed up at him. “There you are, Lucien. Just the man I was looking for.” She started to rise and Luc managed to unlock his body, moving to her side. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and lifted her to her feet, but didn’t let go.
“What the hell were you doing on the floor,” he demanded.
Elise waved hand, indicating her admirer. “The desk was wobbling and Calhoun graciously offered to hold it while I adjusted the feet.” She turned and pressed a slender hand to Luc’s chest, fiddling with a button on his shirt. “Do you think you feel up to moving the desk closer to the wall? I know it’s heavy and—”
Luc caught her hand and stilled it. “Where do you want it,” he growled. He couldn’t let geek boy, Calhoun out shine him.
Elise smiled tremulously and pointed to the far wall, near the window. “Over there will be fine.”
Luc released her. “Come on, Calhoun. Let’s get this moved so you can get back to work.”
And away from my wife.
He didn’t like the admiring note in her voice at saying the geek’s name.
“Yes, sir.”
Five minutes later, the desk was positioned in what Elise declared the perfect spot. Calhoun looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion as he meandered towards the door.
“Thank you so much, Calhoun. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Elise beamed up at the overgrown computer geek.
Calhoun smiled with something Luc suspected might charm the ladies and Luc’s fist itched to pound it off his face. “My pleasure, ma’am.” He nodded politely to Luc, then hightailed it out of the office, closing the door behind him.
“Elise,” he began slowly, reigning in his jealousy. “The next time you feel the urge to—”
She halted his words by going up on tiptoes and giving him a chaste kiss. “Thank you, Lucien. The desk will do so much better over there. You’ll see.”
He caught her before she slipped away from him and hauled her into his arms, then kissed her with the pent up frustration he was about to explode with.
Luc pulled back, panting for his next breath, and mindful of the need throbbing in his body. “Darlin’, next time you want to crawl around on the floor, call me. I’ll be more than happy to oblige you.”
Elise smoothed a lock back from his forehead. “You were busy. Besides it didn’t take but a minute.”
His eyes drilled into hers. “It took more than a minute, Elise. Half of the building was gawking at you on the floor. Including your precious Calhoun.”
She blushed and leaned back in his arms. “Why, Lucien, are you jealous?”
He opened his mouth to deny her accusation, but was interrupted by the door opening after a brief knock.
“All right. None of that,” Ben said brusquely. “Some of us don’t have wives to play with in the office.”
Elise smiled at Luc’s oldest and most trustworthy friend. “Good afternoon, Ben. How are you on this fine day?”
Ben lounged against the door frame. “Hungry.” He smiled in return and Luc took back what he thought about Ben being trustworthy. He looked like a hungry wolf, eyeing Elise like she was lunch. “May I say that you are looking quite lovely today, Mrs. Masters?”
“You may and I thank you,” Elise replied airily. “You are looking quite the thing yourself, Benajah. I simply adore that tie.”
Ben smoothed a hand down his navy blue, white polka dotted tie. “You are too kind, madam. This tie is a part of my disguise.”
“Oh? And what disguise would that be?”
Luc tightened his hold on her. “Wolf in sheep’s clothing.” He pinned his friend with a hard, warning glare. “He only gets dressed up when he’s found an unsuspecting lamb to lead to slaughter.”
Ben’s smiled deepened. “You know me so well, Luc.”
Elise braced her palms against Luc’s chest, gently urging him to release her. “Who is the lamb?”
Luc reluctantly released her and stepped back.
“Not who your husband thinks.” Ben pushed off from the wall. “If you would do me the honor of joining me for lunch, I shall be only too happy to explain.”
“Aren’t you having lunch with Bingley,” Luc asked, frowning.
“We are.” Ben’s golden eyes gleamed with excitement. “I finished my perusal of the schematics. You and I have something to discuss. We can do it on the way to the restaurant.”
Luc arched an eyebrow. “Are you bringing your checkbook?”
Ben pulled a blank check out of his breast pocket. “I’m not filling it out until you and I talk.”
Luc hadn’t seen Ben act this cocksure since he had found and bought his first company. “I’ll go get my jacket.”
“We’ll meet you out front.” Ben held out his arm to Elise who had her things and waited patiently beside Luc. “Shall we? You can tell me what your thoughts are on organizing this place.”
Elise latched onto Ben’s arm after sending a dazzling smile to her locked jaw husband. “Hurry along, Lucien. We missed breakfast this morning and you know how grumpy you get when you’re hungry.”
Ben chuckled and escorted Elise out of the room. “I am so glad you decided to join Luc down here. He told me how you helped with the Andersen mess. I was wondering if you could…,” his voice trailed off as they walked down the hall. Ben’s smooth talking self was trying to steal Elise away from her husband. He would have a word or two with his friend. Right after lunch. Or before lunch.
Luc swore and went to find his jacket, then walked out the front doors. It was raining, hard. Great and him without an umbrella. At least the short walk to the curb had an awning.
Elise turned around as he came out. “Ben went to get the car.” She went to him as he shrugged into his jacket and smoothed down the lapels. “Are you thinking about going in with him and buying Intrinsic Incorporated?”
“It depends on what he says to convince me. Why? Do you think it would be a bad idea?”
“No,” she said carefully. “But this place requires a lot of work.” Elise looked up at him with bottomless blue eyes. Her perfume, mixed with the cool rain, surrounded him and he was lost. “The files are in chaos. The computers are outdated. And… I couldn’t help but notice that it took the Vice President’s assistant thirty minutes to type up a two paragraph memo.”
“Bingley Junior didn’t hire her for her typing skills, darlin’,” he said softly, remembering the platinum blonde filing her nails outside Dan Bingley, Jr.’s office. She’s been snapping her gum and humming, off-key, to a country music station playing in the background.
Elise pursed her lips in disgust. “Well, his father’s secretary isn’t much better. When I asked her where I could find the copier, she pointed to the fax machine.”
Luc chuckled and tucked a strand behind her ear. “You are adorable when you’re annoyed.”
Her luscious mouth quirked up into a semblance of a smile. “I could say the same about you,” she replied quietly. “Storming into the office like that. Really, Lucien. From the look on your face, someone would have thought that I’d been caught chewing on your lucky pen.”
Tires whooshed through the puddles and Ben pulled up to the curb.
Luc sighed. Admitting his feelings about the scene in his office was more than he was ready to do. “Let’s go hear Ben’s vision of Intrinsic Incorporated.” He caught her chin in his hand and tilted her face up for a quick, chaste kiss. “I want your opinion on everything he mentions.”
“Everything?”
“Everything. We’re in this together.” He guided her toward the car. “Organizing this company is gonna be hell and I can’t do it without you.”
“It’s so nice to be needed.”
“And wanted?” he asked before he could stop himself.
She blushed deeply. “Wanted?”
Hell, he’d said it. He couldn’t withdraw the question now. “Yeah, wanted by all the males in the damn building.”