Luc admitted and grinned, stupidly happy that she’d called him. “I’m so glad to see you.”
She looked over her shoulder and then frowned. “Luc, I called because I needed to talk to you. I said it was important.” She took a long breath. “I didn’t say it was about us.”
Us...
God, he wished there was an us. But she fought him at every turn. Deep down, he knew her excuses were all too valid. She worked for his parents. It wouldn’t be right. She might lose her job. Luc had heard all her reasons. Only a fool would keep pining for her. But something kept dragging him back to her. Something he couldn’t quite define. He only knew he had to wait. Vanessa was worth waiting for.
“Then why am I here?”
“We need to talk.”
“So you said,” he shot back. “Just not about us. I don’t get it, Vanessa...what is this about?”
She looked around again and then motioned for him to follow her down the hall. She entered the front living room, ushered him inside and then quietly closed the door.
“We shouldn’t be disturbed in here.”
“Why all the secrecy?” he asked.
“I need to tell you something,” she replied.
Dread licked up his spine. “Are you leaving? Is that what this is about? Because if you are, I think that’s a damned great idea.” He snapped his fingers. “Leave and come and live with me.”
Her dark brows shot up instantly. “Won’t your fiancée have something to say about that?”
“I’m not engaged,” he stressed, moving a little closer. “And I would ditch Rachel in a heartbeat if you would agree to be with me.”
She shook her beautiful head. “You’re such an asshole, Luc.”
He laughed softly. “Maybe...but I’m an asshole who is crazy about you.”
She stepped back. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough,” he quipped. “I know you’re beautiful and too smart to be wearing that damned ugly uniform and doing my family’s bidding. I hate seeing you clean and be treated like a freaking servant.”
Her mouth twisted. “I like my job, and if you weren’t such an arrogant, ungrateful and spoiled snob, you’d know you shouldn’t insult people about their work. I’m proud of what I do. It’s honest work, and I won’t have you make me feel inferior because I—”
“Inferior?” he echoed, realizing he’d made a mess of things...again. “I didn’t mean that. I meant the opposite. I meant that you deserve more—you deserve better. You deserve to be showered in jewelry and clothes and made to feel like a princess.”
“In an ivory tower?” She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m not the princess type. Now, can we forget we’ve had this conversation? I didn’t ask you here to rehash the same old issue about you and me. There is no you and me...you got that?”
“If I promise to stop being such an arrogant asshole, will you change your mind?”
She shook her head. “No. And don’t ask me why. Just accept that it’s better this way.”
“I can’t,” he said and moved a few steps closer. “Is there someone else?”
For a moment he longed for her to say that there was. At least he would have an answer. A real reason. She shook her head. “Please, Luc. It’s never going to happen.”
“Because you’re scared,” he said and saw her tremble and then ached inside because all he wanted to do was hold her close. “I know you’re scared. So am I. I know I’m meant to marry a politician’s daughter and have a bunch of kids. But it’s not what I want, Vanessa. I want you. Only you.”
“No,” she said and took a deep breath.
“I don’t care what people think, or what’s expected of me,” he said, sensing she was hurting and knowing there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. “I had to fight my father’s wishes to become a doctor because it was expected that I’d join the family business. I nearly broke my neck playing polo a dozen times in high school because it’s what my family wanted. I learned to sail even though I hate the damned water because it’s what my family wanted, and I’m with someone who isn’t the love of my life but she’s the kind of woman who will fit in with my family’s expectations. And unless I’m saved from myself, I’ll marry her and only dream of what could have been.” He stepped closer and grabbed her hands, holding them firm within his own. “So, save me, Vanessa. Save me from myself. Please.”
She trembled and faltered on her feet, and for a microsecond Luc thought he would finally have her in his arms, that he would finally be allowed to kiss her beautiful mouth and feel her lovely curves pressed against him. But she didn’t. She swayed a little more, took a short, sharp breath and then wrenched her hands free, stepping back, putting space between them.
He watched as she walked toward the long window, her hair pulled back in a bun low on her nape, her arms wrapped around her waist. Was something seriously wrong? Was she having troubles working at Casa Cat? Was she being mistreated? Not by his mother, surely? And the rest of the staff all seemed respectable and hardworking. Even Eli, the groundskeeper, who could be a little temperamental, had always appeared to show Vanessa respect. But if something had changed—if she was in trouble—he wanted to know. He’d demand to know!
“Vanessa...what is it? What can I do to help?”
When she turned back, there was an odd coldness in her expression. And then she whispered words he had never imagined he would hear.
“I think your mother is having an affair with Joe Reynolds.”
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