Luc was incredulous. “What are you saying?”
“Exactly that.”
When it registered, he said, “You mean you’ve had no contact with him?”
“None. I’ve never met him and I don’t even know if he’ll let me talk to him. But once I’m armed with that loan, I’ll find a way.” Out of dark fringed lashes, the blue burned hot with determination.
The shock of those words blocked the air he couldn’t take in or out.
“I realize I should have told you all this before you offered to meet me here.”
Luc took a fortifying breath. Yes, she should have told him everything, but it was also true he’d offered. With her charismatic powers of persuasion, he’d been her willing victim. She’d had those invisible hooks into him before he’d known what was happening.
“But I was afraid if I did...” Anxiety was written all over her expression, bringing out a protective instinct at odds with his frustration. “I was afraid you’d turn me down flat. This is so important. Not only is the company’s life at stake, but Remy’s.”
The woman standing before him was a mystifying combination of warrior strength and feminine softness meant to disarm a man down to his stronghold. She’d done it to him as no other woman had done since the plane crash.
“After what I’ve told you about his life, can’t you see that when I approach Remy and ask him to take over the company, all the negotiations have to be wrapped up behind the scenes? With the remarkable gifts he’ll bring back to the company, he has to believe I believe in him and what he’s doing.”
The unspoken plea coming from her eyes would be Luc’s downfall if he remained trapped by them.
Her rounded chin lifted. He sensed she’d gone into battle mode. “Because of Papa’s decision, my words will ensure that the Ferrier board at least listens to me where Remy is concerned.
“But the greater weight will come from knowing it’s Remy I’ve chosen to run the company because he’s the rightful head who should have taken over the moment his father died. He’s the one who can fix the company. Deep down, every staff and family member knows this, even if they won’t want to admit it. I’m counting on enough of them doing the honorable thing and supporting me.”
She’d left Luc nonplussed.
“If you want to tell me to go to hell right now, I won’t blame you because you have every right. I certainly understand if you believe I have no conscience to get you here without your knowing all the facts. The truth is I do have a conscience, but this is a matter of righting a wrong, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Even not being totally honest with you until now.”
True, she hadn’t been straight with him up front. On the other hand, he’d never met a more wonderful, principled person. Without meeting Remy Ferrier, she was willing to go to these lengths for her grandfather because of the great injustice done his cousin. She wanted nothing in return for herself.
It was a heart-wrenching story, one that had a stranglehold on Luc. He’d been thinking about Remy and the tragedy that had prevented him from doing the work he’d obviously enjoyed. Even without meeting him, Luc had developed a soft spot for him, all due to Jasmine’s powers of persuasion. His emotions were overwhelming him.
While he was deep in thought, she started searching in her bag. Out came her checkbook. “Since I’ve already committed my sin of omission with you, I’ll pay you now for your time, the lunch and the mileage for your two trips to Grasse and bid you adieu with my heartfelt thanks.”
Adieu had several meanings, one of which was “goodbye forever.”
She’d just pressed the wrong button. Since the plane crash, Luc had been living cautiously in all the areas of his life. But this woman had gotten under his skin to the inner core. He didn’t like the impotent way it made him feel.
A rare burst of temper welled up inside him. Forcing himself to get it under control, he said, “Why don’t you put that away. The only sin you’ve committed is jumping to a conclusion about me.”
“No—” She gave what sounded like a mournful cry. “Not over you personally, Luc. Any banker with your responsibilities and reputation would be having serious reservations after the history I’ve laid out for you. To plead my case with your board when I’m not legally the head of the company yet would mean you’d be doing something dishonest.
“I can’t ask that of you. It’s too big to expect of anyone, but I had to try. The next banker I approach will be presented the whole truth first. Please forgive me.”
She tried to hand him the check she’d written, but he refused to take it. “Our clash on Yeronisos caused us to get off on the wrong foot. Before we write off this experience, let’s see what kind of success we have with Monsieur Boileau. Obviously your whole plan hinges on obtaining this property to convince Remy that your papa meant business.”
Without hesitation, he pressed the number to get the information operator on the line.
CHAPTER FIVE
JASMINE PUT THE check back in her purse, almost in shock that Luc was still willing to work with her after her dishonesty. Not many men would have handled the time-fused grenades she’d thrown at him with such calm; it filled her with wonder. She waited with a pounding heart while he made the vital phone call. His back was turned so she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
As he shifted his weight during the conversation, she couldn’t help but stare at the way his muscles moved beneath his shirt. When he suddenly turned around, she was caught studying him and there was no getting out of it with grace. Men did it to her all the time. The only thing to do was get past the moment.
“Did you reach Monsieur Boileau? What’s the verdict?”
His black eyes gleamed between narrowed lids. She stifled a moan because her legs were trembling. “I was about to ask you the same question.”
Hadn’t she thought there was something of a bad boy about him the minute she’d seen him on Yeronisos? For the second time since she’d met him, visible heat swept over her. You fool, Jasmine.
“I was trying to figure out how I would have saved your unconscious body if you’d been dashed against the cliff of Yeronisos trying to outswim a great white.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a devastating smile. “That’s an intriguing thought. Any ideas?”
Breathe. “Not yet.”
“While your scientific mind comes up with an answer, we have a date in his office at one-thirty. That ought to give us enough time to stop for lunch. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” he said in a husky voice.
She let the comment about his hunger pass. In the last few seconds, she’d realized Luc could be a terrible tease. He swallowed her with those black eyes. “Monsieur Boileau saw you on television the other night. The man couldn’t accommodate our request fast enough.”
“That was nice of him.”
Luc threw his head back and laughed. The rich male kind you felt invade your insides. “Do you want to follow me?”
“Since you’re the hungry one, I think that’s probably the wisest idea. When Dad gets hungry, he finds the shortest distance between two points. Wherever he is and food. I’ll try to keep up with you.”
More laughter ensued as they got in their cars and headed down the hillside to town. Jasmine felt so alive, she hurt with a strange kind of pain pleasure. On one of the little side streets, they found parking spaces and walked two blocks to the Gros Moine. She learned he’d eaten lunch there many times too.
A waiter seated them outside, where they enjoyed grilled swordfish and salad. “Wine?” Luc asked her.
“No, thank you. Not while I’m working.” Not while I’m with you.
His lips twitched. “You call this work?”
She stabbed her fork into the fish. “Anything I have to do that forces me to keep my wits rules out alcohol.”
He flashed her a devilish smile. “I’ll remember that.”
While she was attempting to recover from his remark that suggested there would be other times, the owner, who was in his fifties, came outside and headed for their table. “La belle Jasmine—it’s always an honor to serve you.”
“Merci, Jules. The fish is excellent as usual.”
His brown eyes darted to Luc. “Is he the secret you wouldn’t reveal the other night?”
“I am,” sounded the deep voice she’d heard in the background of her disturbing dreams.
Luc— Her gaze flicked to him in astonishment.
Jules put a hand over his heart. “Ah...l’amour, l’amour. Your secret is safe with me.” He looked from her to Luc. “The waiter will bring you a complimentary dessert. Our signature gâteau aux framboises. Enjoy!”
The minute he walked off, she said, “You were even more audacious than Michel Didier during the interview.”
He scrutinized her over the rim of his wineglass. “I couldn’t resist. Jules has a crush on you as bad as the TV anchorman’s. So does my assistant, Thomas. Monsieur Boileau is already salivating in anticipation of your arrival.”
She smiled as she shook her head. “I have to admit, you’re good at talking the talk, Lucien Charriere.” With the exception of that time on the island when she’d thought he was trying to pick her up, it was better than any talk she’d ever heard from another Frenchman. It was because when he spoke, it didn’t sound like a line.
One black brow lifted dangerously. “Then I’ve passed your test?”
“Which one is that?”
All the amusement left his eyes. “The only one that counts.”
If she spent much more time with him, she would need to visit a cardiologist. “If I were to meet your mother, I suspect she’d tell me you were a handful the moment you could stand up in your crib.”
“Much more than that,” he quipped. “My parents are away on a trip at the moment. When they return, you can ask her. I’ll make a point of it.”
The waiter didn’t deliver their raspberry tart a moment too soon. She took several bites. In France you didn’t bring a woman home to meet your mother unless you’d been brought to your knees. She could hardly breathe.
“What size family do you have?”
“An older sister and brother, both married with children. My extended family is large. We have aunts, uncles and cousins everywhere in the vicinity. I’ll answer your next question now. My father heads a multinational financial services corporation specializing in retail brokerage.”
“Why aren’t you working with him?”
“The stock market involves too much risk. I prefer not to head into old age with ulcers. My grandfather enjoyed a less frenetic existence in the banking world and lived to a ripe old age.”
More guilt attacked her for asking so much of him. She rested her fork on the plate. “I’ve put you between a rock and a hard place, haven’t I?”
He finished off his tart. “I always enjoyed The Man in the Iron Mask. For once in my life, it might be challenging to help the side of a nobler cause and put the rightful king on the throne. The idea of it appeals to a part of my deeply buried instinct for adventure.”
Jasmine was intrigued by the admission. Something of significance lay behind it. “Why deeply buried?”
“One of these days, I might tell you.” That sounded cryptic. “If you’ve finished, shall we go?” He put some bills on the table. “The Realtor’s office is on the other side of Grasse. I’m eager to watch you work the magic that went out over the airwaves on Friday evening to mesmerize your fascinated audience.”
He helped her up from the table and they left for their cars. She got in behind the wheel and looked at him through the open window. “Working with my papa was magical. But the whole time I was talking, I feared Remy and his family might be watching. Then again, he probably made sure he didn’t see any of it to block out the horrendously painful memories.”
Luc pressed his forehead against the top of the door, bringing their faces closer together. “I’d like to be the proverbial fly on the wall when you present your case to him. Your concern for him broke my heart, Jasmine. If he’s the man you say he is, then your words will transform him.”
Her throat almost closed. “I pray they do,” she whispered.
She had the impression he wanted to kiss her. Or maybe it was because she wanted him to. While she waited for it with an ache that wouldn’t go away, he turned and strode swiftly toward his car, devastating her. Appalled and frightened by these new emotions pouring out of her, she rummaged shakily for her keys and started the engine.
When she’d started out from the house this morning, she’d hoped Luc would give her a chance once he’d seen the property. Now that he was doing his part on blind faith, to want anything more from him embarrassed her. She’d actually sat there waiting to feel his mouth close over hers!
“I’ll be right behind you,” she called to him. Her heart raced as she tried to keep up with him. He drove fast before finding the building in question, where they each found a parking spot. The prosperous agency listed a dozen agents with Monsieur Boileau’s name being at the top.
Luc entered the reception area with Jasmine. The receptionist soon led them down the hall to his office. The sixtyish, balding Realtor was all smiles as he got up from his chair and hurried toward them. Luc introduced her.
“It’s a real honor to meet the new chief at Ferriers, Ms. Martin.”
“Thank you for meeting with us so quickly.”
“Monsieur Charriere indicated your business borders on an emergency.”
She owed Luc everything and darted him a quiet smile. “He’s right. There’s a time element involved.”
“Then let’s all sit down and you tell me what I can do for you.”
Luc sat back in his chair and handed the file to her. It was clear he was leaving this up to her. In that regard, he reminded her of her papa, who had seen her as an equal and never talked over her head. She appreciated that more than he could know.
“I’m aware it hasn’t been advertised, but I understand the old abbey property is for sale again. I would like to buy it for the company.” Jasmine spent the next few minutes explaining what she wanted it for and how it would be developed. She handed him some papers from the file. “The owner couldn’t object to the projected use of the land. With this sale, everyone would be handsomely compensated and preserve the tradition of the fields.”
His bushy eyebrows knit together. “I’m sorry to say that someone else has already put in a bid for it.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“Do you have an earnest money agreement?” Luc questioned.
A ruddy color entered the older man’s cheeks. He cleared his throat. “I’m not at liberty to tell you that.”
“A verbal bid isn’t solid, which means you don’t have one yet,” Luc came back with startling authority. The Realtor didn’t really have a buyer and Luc had known it at the outset. It was all a bluff to see how much money the agency could wangle out of Ferriers, but Luc wouldn’t let him get away with it. “What’s your asking price?”
Monsieur Boileau named an eight-digit figure that was higher than she’d anticipated, causing her spirits to plummet.
“No wonder you don’t have a sale yet. If your other client exists, which I doubt, then I presume they’re in the process of finding the backing needed. But knowing the market as I do, you’re not going to get that price from anyone,” Luc rapped out.
His remarks had uns
ettled the older man.
“Lower it by two million euros and Ms. Martin might be interested. You have it in writing that Ferriers will treat the land the way it was meant to be used. That will satisfy the seller. Otherwise it will sit there for another twenty years, and you know it.”
The other man sat there touching his fingertips together while he considered the offer. Jasmine was afraid to make a move. Luc had taken over with a fearsome mastery that proved why he’d been made director of the bank at such a young age. In action, he was awesome. His shrewd business skills had read the situation accurately.
Another minute and the man sat forward. “You’re ready to sign now?” She could see the dollar signs in his eyes. That meant Luc had gotten to him.
“If you’d give me and my client a minute to confer, we’d appreciate it.”
“Of course.”
He got up from his desk and left the room. After he’d shut the door Jasmine turned to Luc in panic. “You haven’t presented anything to your banking board yet. I thought you told me it would be too risky as long as I wasn’t the official CEO yet.”
“I have more information to work with than I had when you first approached me. Here’s what needs to happen, Jasmine. I’ll be happy to authorize your signing an earnest money agreement today with the Realtor, provided you approach Remy Ferrier right away. He needs to be in agreement with your plan, and then he needs to meet with me. If all goes well, then I’ll grant the loan and you can come back here to buy the property.”
“But I don’t want you to jeopardize your position at the bank! Naturally I’m overjoyed at what is happening, but not at the cost of you doing something you could regret.”
“Don’t let that be your concern right now. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Remy Ferrier you need to worry about. You can show him the signed earnest money agreement offer. It should be the proof he needs to know you’re behind him a thousand percent. I’ll take care of the rest.”
She shot out of the chair. “But not if it isn’t aboveboard. I won’t let you do something that harms you!”
Taming the French Tycoon Page 8