could feel their envy as she approached him. “Do you have the prescriptions?”
His concerned eyes intently took in her features with an intimacy that made her heart race. “Yes. Shall we go?” He opened the door for her and escorted her outside to his car.
Without saying anything, he helped her in the passenger seat, then walked around to the driver’s side and took off for the pharmacy in the center of the village.
“Stay where you are,” he ordered. “I’ll be right back.”
Long before he’d gone into the military, Andrea was in no doubt Lance Malbois had been a man meant to be in charge. His service there had only refined those instincts, protective and otherwise. Right now she wasn’t complaining.
He’d come across her in the forest and—in his unorthodox way—had seen to her needs faster than she’d been able to breathe. If she had to choose one person in this world to help her survive a difficult situation, she’d choose Lance, no questions asked.
This Frenchman more than lived up to his legendary name, which had to be unique among men. In fact Andrea had a feeling the military couldn’t have been happy to learn he was retiring. Not so for the woman planning to marry him.
Andrea could understand a stepdaughter who was no blood relation being infatuated by Geoff’s son. As Andrea was coming to find out, there was no man to compare to him.
In a few minutes he’d rejoined her. “Here.” He undid the cap and handed her a pill. “You’re to take this now with water.” He produced a bottle of mineral water. “The vitamins you can start tonight so they won’t upset your stomach.”
“Yes, Doctor,” she teased before swallowing the medicine. “That water tastes good. Thank you.” She put the pill vials in her purse.
His darkly lashed eyes met her gaze. Their faces were only inches apart. “Let’s hope your appetite improves by tomorrow. Before we drive home, is there anything you need to buy?”
Andrea averted her eyes. “I can’t think of anything.”
“I can. A new camera. Tonnerre’s hoof smashed yours. After I get you settled, I’ll take a trip into town and purchase a new one. I’m afraid the film was ruined.”
“Don’t worry about it, Lance. I put in a new cartridge this morning, so no pictures are lost. As for the camera, I don’t need another one right now. I’ll wait till I get home and arrange to buy one through my old boss. He’ll get me something wholesale.”
Lance started the car and they took off for the château. Since the downpour earlier, the greenery bordering the road looked wet and fresh. He drove with an economy of movement.
“Where did you work?”
“At a photography studio.”
“Did you like it?”
“As jobs go, it was fine. I started working there part-time during my high school days. After graduation I increased my hours to full-time to save money for college.”
“Did you attend Yale like your husband?”
It appeared Geoff and Lance had been talking.
“Oh, no,” she scoffed. “I was a mediocre student and couldn’t have afforded it. I took a few night classes at a local college before meeting Richard. After that I sort of became his unofficial assistant.”
“And wife,” Lance interjected.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“No more school?”
“No. One day I’ll go for a degree in something, but now that a baby is on the way, that will have to wait until my child is in school full-time.”
“In other words, you don’t plan to let someone else raise it.”
“There are jobs I can do at home. I’ll try anything in order to be there for my son or daughter,” she vowed.
“That sounds final.”
“It’s the way I feel.”
She heard him take a deep breath. “Then your child will be lucky. Until the day she died my mother was always there for me.”
“Geoff told me she passed away while you were at the university.”
He slowed down to negotiate the turn into the Du Lac estate. “That’s right. Looking back I had an idyllic upbringing.” His head suddenly turned toward her. “How early did you lose your parents?”
“At four years of age. Pictures are the only things I have to remember them. Knowing I’m going to be a mother makes that my first priority, no matter what it takes.”
“At the moment it requires bed rest.” He brought the car to a halt and levered his long legs from the front seat to help her.
She could have managed on her own, but he cupped her elbow to assist her inside. The minute they reached the foyer, she found herself in his arms once more. Her ponytail swung back and forth.
“You don’t have to do this,” she protested, but he ignored her cry and carried her up the two flights of stairs as if she were light as air.
LANCE opened the door of her suite, not releasing her until he’d laid her on the bed. To her relief she didn’t think any of the staff had seen them.
His eyes bored into hers. “Don’t you dare lift a finger. I’ll be back in a little while and bring you a dinner tray. You can take your vitamins then.” He acted more worried than a mother hen with her chick. After their stormy beginning, she would never have guessed Lance had this side to him.
“I don’t need waiting on.”
“I beg to differ.” His mouth was so close she could feel his breath on her lips before he stood up. “Defy me at your own peril.”
Lance was a force she had no desire to contend with at the moment. She spread her hands apart. “All right. But please don’t say anything to Geoff. He shouldn’t have any worries.”
“Agreed,” Lance murmured before disappearing from the room.
The moment the door closed she got up and hurried into the bathroom. After getting caught in the rain, and then being examined at the clinic, she needed to shower and wash her hair.
Once that was accomplished, she toweled herself and left her hair loose so it would dry faster. She put on a clean yellow nightgown and matching fleece robe. When she climbed back into bed, it felt good.
She’d barely nestled under the covers when the door opened and she saw Lance walk in carrying a tray in one hand, and a bunch of magazines in the other.
Through narrowed lids she noticed he’d showered, too. He wore
