Winning the Heiress' Heart

by Susanne Bellamy

  “Never heard of the man until Luc told me about Seb’s kidnapping.”

  So, there was yet one more thing she’d gotten wrong.

  Jack touched her arm, preventing her getaway. “Anyway, I hear congratulations are in order.” He presented her with a glass of punch then picked up a cup for himself and toasted her with it. “Well done.”

  “I beg your pardon? For what?” Getting her nephew kidnapped and nearly killed?

  “The contract. You and Luc jointly won the Tourism contract.”

  “Oh, my.” A contract and no property. Could the universe dump any more irony on her head?

  “Surely you’ve been told by now? What did Luc say about that? Or doesn’t it matter, now you two are—”

  “Are what? There’s nothing going on between Luc and me.”

  “Oh, come on, Eva. Everyone could see you two were going to make a match of it at the Planters’ Ball. Hey, you wouldn’t even let me kiss you goodnight when I drove you home and let me tell you, that doesn’t happen to me—ever!”

  His optimistic outlook on life would have brought a smile to her face if her heart weren’t broken. Over Jack’s shoulder, she caught sight of Luc. “Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong. End of story.”

  “Fine, keep me out in the cold. But I know Luc. He won’t give up on the woman he loves.” Jack grinned wryly. “I never really had a chance, did I?”

  Did everyone expect Luc and her to be getting married? Did they all think he was in love with her? If only he were. She pasted on a social smile. “Excuse me, Jack. I’ve got to…”

  Got to get out of here. Forget Luc, find a place to sit, breathe, think. Luc didn’t love her and no amount of wishing would make it so. Jack didn’t know what he was talking about.

  She headed for the verandah on the far side of the house and splendid isolation. Laughter and the shouts of young men in party mode followed her into the shadows as she climbed the side steps. She leaned on the railing, her head resting against her palm, and stared into the garden.

  She blinked and examined the ground below.

  A garden? Since when had there been a garden here?

  Gardenias, roses, and small plants that looked suspiciously like foxgloves nestled in well-mulched soil. With careful attention, they would be a splendid display in a few months. Not a rival to the gardens at Bellerose, but a gorgeous reminder of another place and time. Except she wouldn’t be here to enjoy it.

  “Do you like it, Eva?” Luc’s approach had been lost in her floral reverie. He stood close, but made no move to touch her.

  Bereft, she curled her fingers around the railing and stared into the dark garden. “It will be beautiful and the perfumes of these flowers will be glorious. But why create a garden here rather than at your place? What if your new tenants don’t look after it?”

  “There won’t be any tenants. The owner will be living here and, I have it on good authority, loves English gardens.”

  “I don’t understand. You’re the owner, aren’t you?” A horrible thought occurred to her. When Luc had originally offered for the Benson property, it had been for the land only. “Have you sold the house separately? Oh, dear. I meant to ask you if Seb and I could stay on, as paying tenants of course, until he’s recuperated.”

  “It’s not available for rent.”

  A chill settled in her bones as the bottom fell out of her world. They didn’t have anywhere to live, Seb would have to move away from his good friends, and she’d probably have to sell off what remained of their past at Bellerose. How could she have made such a mess of their lives? She wrapped her arms around her stomach and struggled to breathe through the constriction around her chest. She forced air into her lungs and pushed out the question she should have already settled with Luc. “How long do we have before the new owner wants to move in?”

  “The owner is here now.”

  “What? Then why the welcome home party if we have no home? Do we have to leave immediately?” Heart hammering, she fought the dizzy sensation that threatened to spill the little she’d managed to eat at lunch.

  Luc took out a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to her. She accepted it gingerly, as though it would bite.

  “Maybe this will explain it.” He leaned against the railing and crossed his arms.

  She unfolded the paper. In the dim light falling through the window behind she scanned the first page. “It’s a title deed.”

  “To this property.”

  “In the name of—Evangeline Catherine Abbott, the property known as…Bellerose Plantation?” A sense of unreality descended, fueled by the night and stress and yearning for the impossible. Could it really be her home now and forever more?

  She met Luc’s gaze. “Really?”

  “The estate is yours.”

  “I don’t understand. Dr. Andrews said my solicitor had arranged payment of the hospital bills from the sale to you.”

  He grimaced. “A little white lie and, I promise, the last one I’ll ever tell you. The sale as such never went through. Jack’s missed out on a commission but I doubt he’ll mind this time.”

  “You paid Seb’s bills? And you’ve given up…Bellerose…to me? But why?”

  He unfolded his arms and took a step toward her but pulled himself up short. He dropped his arms stiffly by his side and looked intently into her eyes. “How else can I show you, make you believe, it’s you I want to marry. I don’t want this place. Just you. I made the garden to show you—to tell you. I love you, Eva. And if you’re of a mind to form a partnership with me, we can do great things for tourism with these two plantations. After all, we jointly won the Tourism Board contract.”

  Full of wonder at her blindness, she looked into Luc’s dark eyes and saw her love reflected in his. “I didn’t think you loved me. How could I not have seen? This garden is made with love. Your love. Oh, Luc, I love you, too.”

  She flung herself into his arms and sought his mouth. Locked in his embrace, she hardly heard the music and party and night falling.

  Spots of gaily swinging colour glowed into life in the trees. A moment later, the lights on the verandah turned on, glowing like a wonderland.

  Luc kissed a path from her lips to her ear and nuzzled her ear lobe. “Is that a yes then?”

  “Yes, please. I want to marry you, Luc. As soon as possible.”

  “Will next week be soon enough? I think Annie needs a little time to prepare our wedding cake or she’ll never forgive me.”

  Eva blinked back happy tears. “I don’t know yet if I’m pregnant or not but I want to have your children. I want to make a real family together.”

  Luc grinned and pulled her closer. “That we can start on tonight.”

  Epilogue

  1961

  Caroline Martineau gurgled and waved her little fists against her father’s mouth. He dropped kisses on each hand then lay back on the bed and blew a raspberry against her stomach. She gave him a gummy smile and grabbed his nose.

  Eva entered the bedroom carrying a frothy confection of christening gown trimmed with pink ribbons in her hands. “Time to get dressed, sweetheart. If Daddy will hold you still so I can just slip this over your head—” She kneeled on the bed beside him and positioned the opening of the gown above their five-month-old daughter’s head.

  He sat Caroline on his chest and watched as his wife slid the garment over their little girl’s body. As she fastened the gown, her head was level with Caroline’s. Twin pairs of green eyes met his. Caroline bounced on his chest, grabbed a handful of gown, and shoved it in her mouth.

  Carefully balancing the baby in one arm, he snaked the other around Eva’s waist and pulled her against his body. Her breasts, full and heavy since birthing their daughter, pressed into his chest. The smell of milk combined with Eva’s scent aroused him. Hell, everything about her aroused him. Predictably, his body came to attention as it always did when Eva was near. He nuzzled her ear. “Happy first anniversary, darling.”

  “Ha
ppy anniversary.” Snuggled against his shoulder, she tipped her head up and kissed him lingeringly.

  “Do you think anyone would notice if we were late to Caroline’s christening?” His question was muffled by Eva’s mouth.

  “What did you have in mind?” She nibbled on his lower lip and ran her stockinged foot up his calf. Her knee pressed against his erection in a slow, erotic slide that rated high on the pain-pleasure borderline.

  He groaned and slid his hand down to caress her thigh through her skirt. “Eva, you’re killing me here. Let me put Caro in her cot so I can wish you a proper happy anniversary.”

  “Unless you can set a new speed record, we’ll have to wait. Henri and Jayne were coming up the driveway as I came in.”

  “Give them Caroline to play with. She’ll entertain them.” His hand stroked along the curve from her bottom and pulled her blouse out of her skirt. He touched bare skin before she sighed and sat up.

  “They’ve got Seb with them and Jack is already on the front verandah nursing a celebratory whiskey. He blames me for his lack of a drinking partner. Go and say hello while I tidy my hair.”

  He grabbed her wrist and sat up beside her while Caroline exchanged chewing her pink ribbons for one of his shirt buttons. “Ahem, give me a few minutes; I’m not in a fit state to greet our guests at the moment.”

  “And I am? Smudged lipstick and bedroom hair aren’t exactly de rigueur for a christening. Or greeting one’s in-laws.” She tucked in her top and smoothed her hands down her skirt, twitching it back into place. Reflected in the mirror, her smile blazed out at him as she unwound her hair and grabbed her hairbrush. “Give me one minute and I’ll take Caro out to say hello to her family.”

  “Are you going to wear your hair up? I like it when you do. I can nibble on your neck.”

  “You like it up so you can play as you lose all my hairpins.” She shoved another pin in and turned her head to either side, checking her hastily re-pinned hairstyle.

  God, he loved her hair. Up or down, it was all the same to him. What mattered most was that Eva had gained the confidence to choose because she was secure and happy in his love. He kissed his daughter’s soft auburn curls then shifted her to his other arm. Jiggling her gently, he patted her back as he watched Eva touch up her lipstick. What had he done to get so lucky?

  “Are you going to give Seb the diary tonight?”

  She stopped in the middle of painting her lips and met his gaze. “I think he’ll be happy to continue the quest for the emerald necklace. He’s still got dreams of finding it one day.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go to New Orleans to continue the search? We could combine it with a holiday if you wanted to.” He eased a ribbon out of the baby’s mouth and smoothed her gown into place.

  Eva met his gaze and tipped her head to the side as she studied him. “Do you want to look for it?”

  “I’ve got my treasure right here. You and Caro are all I’ve ever wanted. I just didn’t know it for a while. But if you want to look for Josephine’s necklace—”

  She came to him then and kneeled between his legs. His arousal, which had begun to ease, gained a resurgence of interest and urgency.

  “Luc, the possible existence of Josephine’s necklace was enough to almost lose my nephew. I’m not superstitious but I don’t want it and I don’t want Caroline to have to worry about it. Seb can look after the diary. If he decides to pursue the necklace, that’s his decision. Besides”—she kissed one corner of his mouth—“where would I wear a fabulously rich and gorgeous piece of jewelry like that?” She kissed the other side of his mouth and sat her delectable bottom in his lap.

  He raised an eyebrow and grinned. “You could always wear it to bed. According to Marilyn Monroe, one should always have something on.”

  Eva chuckled. “She was talking about the radio.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want Caro to go and entertain the family?”

  “It would look a little obvious. But I tell you what, hold that thought for now and tonight, I’ll wear my emerald pendant to bed, just for you.”

  “Nothing but the necklace?”

  She peeked sideways at him and a seductive smile hovered around her lips. “Well, I might put the radio on as well.”

  “Have I told you how much I love you?”

  She nodded and went into his arms making a close threesome with their daughter. “Every day since we married.”

  “And I’m going to tell you every day of our lives. I love you, Eva Martineau, and tonight, I’m going to show you just how much.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  About the Author

  I love travel—new places, new faces, different cultures and endless possibilities. I’ve cruised from Australia to Britain and back through the Suez Canal when I was a child, trekked in Nepal and Vietnam, lived briefly in Noumea, visited western Europe and west coast America among other places. Let me repeat—I love travel! And history.

  People’s stories fascinate me. Past and present lives and relationships and the mysterious ways Fate works. Even how I met my husband—Fate. Wonderful and mysterious.

  And so my stories explore people engaging with the mate that Fate created for them. And the wonderful and mysterious ways in which they meet. I should probably thank the flat-mate who locked me out of my new house years ago which led directly to meeting my husband. But that’s another story!

  I am a member of the Romance Writers of Australia and love to hear from fellow romance authors and readers alike.

  Read more at

  http://www.susannebellamy.com/

  The Emerald Quest series:

  Book 1 –Capturing the Pirate’s Heart

  Book 2 – Saving the Soldier’s Heart

  Book 4 – Capturing the Bodyguard’s Heart

  To be released 15 February 2015

  Other Books

  Susanne’s Amazon Author Page

  A Season to Remember