“Of course,” she said in a quiet voice. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me at all, Luc.”
Their eyes met. “I told you to let me know after you’d seen Remy. I’m looking forward to meeting him. Talk to you later.” He put some bills on the table and walked off. Though he thought he heard her call to him, he kept on going.
When Remy Ferrier arrived at his office at two that afternoon and sat down with him, Luc couldn’t have been more surprised over the man’s dynamic aura. He felt as if he were talking to a man in his fifties! Maxim Ferrier’s cousin was every bit as charming, sophisticated and intelligent, but in an entirely different way.
They talked at length about the new technology his son had developed. After discussing some of Remy’s marketing ideas for the future of flower farming, Luc realized this extraordinary man had vision and depth of character. Ferriers couldn’t possibly go wrong with him at the helm.
“If the board can’t see their way to voting me in, then so be it. For Jasmine to come to me on behalf of my cousin has meant everything. She has touched my life and I’ll always be grateful. Thank you for all you’ve done.”
“It’s been my pleasure.” Luc could hear Jasmine’s defense that Remy was wonderful. She was right. He was a wonderful person. He talked about his love for his cousin, who’d tried everything on earth to get him to come back and head the company after Paul died. But he couldn’t do it then.
Before Remy left the office, he said, “I know none of this would be possible if you hadn’t listened to Jasmine. She has a lot of her grandmother Megan in her. Yesterday when she came to the farm and begged me to take over the family business, it was like being with Megan again.” His voice sounded husky. “There’s a sweetness and earnestness in her. I found I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t love her more if she were my own granddaughter.”
Remy had revealed a world of information with that admission. Luc had known there was an underlying problem that had kept Remy away. That problem had been a woman, Maxim Ferrier’s wife. In the end, Remy hadn’t been able to say no to Jasmine either. Luc didn’t know the story. One day, he’d get Jasmine to tell him.
Once Remy left the bank, Luc phoned the woman who was continually in his thoughts. She answered on the second ring. Besides being anxious to hear about Remy, he hoped she’d been just as eager to hear Luc’s voice. She had his insides so twisted up, he didn’t know himself anymore.
“In a word, Remy is the man for the job in every way. I have no doubt of it. Why don’t you and I take a drive to the top of the gorge this evening? There’s a quaint inn that serves lamb wrapped in mint leaves and roasted over a wood fire.”
“I haven’t been there in years, but I remember it was delicious.”
“Good. It will give us all the privacy and time we need to talk strategy.”
She took her time before she said, “I probably won’t be through with work before six.”
“Fine. Let’s say seven at your house. I’d rather pick you up there than at your lab. That way we suffer less chance of being seen together before you drop another bomb in your family’s lap. I’m looking forward to our meeting tonight.” That was the understatement of all time.
He clicked off and went in his house to get ready. After a shower and shave, he put on an open-necked sport shirt and trousers. The talk with Nic earlier in the week had helped him get his feelings out in the open. As his friend had said, move past all the business first. That’s what Luc intended to do so they could get down to the personal. He needed to be with her tonight.
When he left the house, he decided to keep the top down. The scent of the flowers rising from the farms in the warm evening air affected him like an aphrodisiac.
Luc knew where to go. He’d been to the Ferrier home many years ago with his grandfather on business. He’d sat outside in the sedan while he’d waited for him. With the cypress and orange trees lining the gravel drive, the setting was the envy of everyone who visited the perfume fields of the Midi.
Little had he known that a certain young granddaughter had been a frequent visitor quietly following in Maxim Ferrier’s footsteps. Maybe she’d even been there at the same time as Luc. His heart thundered in his chest anticipating being with her tonight. He had no intention of ever letting her get away from him. To make sure of it, he’d pulled out every stop to ensure there could be no escape route.
As he drew up in front of the house, she appeared wearing a filmy, soft orange-colored dress. He’d come early and there she was. The skirt draped around her long, elegant legs with every step. She’d caught her hair back with a clip. Luc’s breath caught at the mold of her enticing figure.
Their eyes met as he got out of the car and walked around to help her in. “You’re wearing a different perfume this evening.”
“I didn’t put on any. It must be the shampoo.”
“You smell like fresh peaches.”
She darted him a glance after he’d started the engine. “I hope you like them. Papa developed the scent. For a non-nose, you have a keen olfactory sense. Maybe you’re in the wrong business.”
Luc chuckled. “Before we leave, shall I put the top up?”
“Please don’t. I love the breeze. You can smell everything growing.”
“That’s why I bought a convertible.”
She smiled. “I’m surprised everyone doesn’t drive one here. For years I’ve worked in a shadowy lab. It’s a treat to be in the open air and breathe all the scents. When I’m home, I live outside.”
Her comment threw him. His head jerked around. “You are home.”
“No. You could say Grasse has been my second home because of my grandparents. But my home is in Driggs, Idaho, where I help on the ranch. There’s nothing I love more than riding my horse through the sage. When it has just rained, the scent is so heavy, it’s almost as overpowering as the jasmine in flower. I miss it. As soon as Remy takes over, I’ll be leaving.”
“You mean on a well-earned vacation.”
“No. I mean for good. I’m afraid I’m like Papa. I don’t want to be the head of anything. That’s why I’m so grateful you’ve helped me get everything into place this fast.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel with so much force, he had to slow down before they had an accident. Suddenly his world was blowing up in his face. “I don’t understand. Your papa designated you to be the nose for the company. All the years you’ve put in...”
“Luc, I had to get my degree in something and will never regret any of the time I spent with him. But now that I’ve secretly created a violet perfume from the violets Remy has been growing, I have other interests and have worked it out with him.”
“Worked out what exactly?” he demanded. His adrenaline had kicked in.
“When he wants to put another new product on the market, he’ll use the other chemists in the lab. If they run into a problem, he’ll call me and I’ll fly over to help.”
His mind was reeling. In his gut, he sensed there was only one reason Jasmine planned to go back to the States.
A man.
But she was keeping it a secret until she’d carried out her agenda here to install Remy. That’s why she’d avoided the question the anchorman had asked about someone special in her life.
Was he a rancher like her father? Had she already committed to him? She wore no ring, but that didn’t mean anything if she was in love with him.
If that was the case, why hadn’t he been with her in Cyprus?
Luc was riddled with questions, particularly since he’d felt the sensual tension growing between them from the moment they’d met. He couldn’t have been wrong about that. It was so real he didn’t recognize the man he’d become since their meeting on Yeronisos.
Before tonight was over, he intended to find out the truth. Hearing about her plan to fly away forever gave him a feeli
ng that wasn’t any different from being in the plane after it lost power. When he’d seen the earth coming up to meet him, his world had flashed before his eyes then too. But he wasn’t about to relive that aftermath a second time.
CHAPTER SIX
NIP IT IN the bud. That’s what you did when you didn’t want the plant to grow bigger.
Judging by the quiet coming from Luc, she’d accomplished her objective. But that didn’t help her state of mind. Far from it.
Remy had told Jasmine about his son’s new scientific discovery, called a bio-timer mechanism. It helped synchronize growth and control the rate. This would allow the farmer to save on man power and shipping because maturing crops wouldn’t all flower at the same time. It could save Ferriers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We’ll maximize our yield and reduce the cost of harvesting because you can do it all at once and reduce waste.”
The phenomenal discovery was another weapon in Remy’s arsenal, but she’d just applied it to the situation with Luc Charriere.
Jasmine was already in deeper than she wanted to be with him. Once she’d picked his brains tonight, she didn’t plan on seeing him again. Being up-front with him right now about where her life was going was its own control mechanism.
By making it clear that her meetings with him had been for business only, she would stop the growth of something that couldn’t be. It was time to make the break. Her future was in Idaho. She’d promised this to herself and her parents, whose hearts she’d broken. Then maybe her guilt would go away.
Jasmine had been living with all kinds of remorse since her parents’ last visit. The pain and disappointment in their eyes had tortured her until she couldn’t live with it any longer.
When Luc reached the inn, they were shown around the side and seated in a garden. So far they were the only diners in this section, but it wouldn’t be long before more arrived. A mist watering the flowers cooled the hot air around them. The delightful setting provided the perfect ambience for her business meeting with him. But with her heart in her throat, she’d never felt less businesslike in her life.
When she eyed him with a covert glance, his newly shaven jaw still retained its shadow and had taken on a chiseled, almost primitive cast. It reminded her once more of his Ligurian ancestry, those warriors who’d fought with ferocity against the Romans. The thought unnerved her no end.
A waiter took their order for the lamb. Jasmine asked for coffee. “Make that two,” Luc spoke up. Then he lounged back in the chair and came straight to the point.
“To answer the question you asked me at breakfast, my grandfather knew it would be an uphill battle to get me appointed. He couldn’t see that a meeting with each board member would change their prejudice. Their perception, naturally, was that I didn’t have the gravitas. In the end, he called them together in one body and let me speak. Either I could make my own case with a vision of where the bank should be going, or not.”
“Your grandfather knew you could pull it off,” Jasmine said, studying him intently. “That’s why it worked. Thank you for giving me the answer I needed. After being with Remy, I know in my bones he’ll wield that same power.”
Luc sat forward. “He has the necessary gravitas?”
“Yes. As for you, you were born with a unique power to get things done. I saw it in front of Monsieur Boileau. No one could have taught it to you, Luc. Remy has that same kind of power. Though he’s a son of the soil, he’s also a man of the world with refined sensitivity who understands people. The board is ignorant of his value, but they won’t be for long.
“Instead of my trying to convince them, I’m going to take a leaf out of your grandfather’s book and let him speak for himself. Once they hear him present his ideas and understand his great grasp of the company he put on the map, he’ll hold them in the palm of his hand.”
“I agree, Jasmine. He impressed me in surprising ways. I know he’ll have that same effect on your board members.”
“I’m so glad you feel that way!” she cried. “After he speaks to them, I’ll remind them that the only reason there’s a company today and the only reason they have a job is because of Remy. Hundreds of families who work for the company in the region still feel a deep loyalty to him and will cheer his election.
“Though Paul had a nose, it wasn’t that great and he couldn’t have succeeded without Papa. And before you can make up a perfume recipe and sell it, you have to have the knowledge and the infrastructure behind you. That was Remy.”
She waited for Luc to say something.
“When is the meeting?” he asked at last, but she saw no warmth in those black eyes. What wasn’t he telling her? Something troubling was going on inside of him.
“A week from Monday, but I’m going to move it up to a week from today.”
“That’s very soon.”
“Exactly. The element of surprise will work in Remy’s favor.”
Once the waiter served them, Luc asked, “Won’t it still work if you wait until the Monday already chosen? Why the great rush?”
She ate some tender morsels of lamb. “You don’t know the family board members. They’re festering now. The less time they have to speculate and make the situation more difficult, the better.”
“And the sooner you can go home,” he muttered before eating his food.
“Yes. I can’t wait to get back to my family.”
Jasmine averted her eyes, conflicted by her own decision to leave France and get on with a new life. All sense of family had disappeared here in France once her grandparents were buried. Since then, her guilt over spending so much time away from her parents had caught up to her. She needed to go home and make up for all the lost time.
But the striking male seated across from her could have no idea how his existence was causing her emotional upheaval that she couldn’t have imagined before meeting him on the island.
He still didn’t say anything and it made her nervous. “The house is Remy’s. I’ve already started packing up my things. I told him to start moving in. Papa never allowed anyone to disturb Remy’s or his mother’s suite of rooms. All his treasures are still there waiting for him. His son and wife and the grandchildren will be overjoyed. They’re cramped in the Fleury farmhouse.”
Filled with anxiety at this point, she blurted, “But I haven’t forgotten my promise to you—if the family won’t vote for Remy, at least he’ll have his home and land back. I’ll find a buyer for the old abbey property. Fortunately I have a few sources I can contact to make certain you’re paid back with interest.”
“Let’s not worry about that right now.”
He remained quiet throughout the rest of their dinner. Feeling more and more uncomfortable, she said no to another cup of coffee. There’d be no sleep for her tonight as it was.
Finally she couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “It’s growing late and I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’m ready to leave when you are.”
One black brow lifted. “Are you meeting with Remy tonight?”
“No.”
“Then why the hurry?”
Heat swarmed into her face. “Because I got you up early this morning and feel guilty about it. You have a half-hour drive ahead of you tonight and a full banking day tomorrow.”
“I’m a big boy now in case you didn’t notice. I get up and go to bed when I please.”
“Of course. I’m just so grateful for everything you’ve done, I’m embarrassed at how much time of yours I’ve taken when—when—” Rarely had she ever been at a loss for words.
“When I could be with another woman? Is that what you were going to say?”
“No,” she lied.
“In other words you’re not interested in my private life.”
“It’s none of my business.” The charged atmosphere had
her trembling.
“Go ahead and ask me if there’s a woman in my life.”
She lifted her head in torment. “Luc—”
“There’ve been many women over the years, but I never wanted to live with one of them, let alone get married.”
Beneath the cynical sounding revelation, Jasmine thought she detected a thread of pain. “Why?”
He shook his dark head. “It’s your turn. Who’s the man of special interest in your life in Idaho you can’t get back to soon enough? A cowboy who’s waiting impatiently for your return?” he drawled.
She couldn’t believe he’d just said that and grabbed on to his assumption like a lifeline. “And if there is?”
When you didn’t want to answer a question, then answer it with another one. That fictional man had to be out there somewhere! Jasmine was counting on it because she’d promised to live with her family from now on. She wanted a husband and family of her own where they could all be together.
Jasmine didn’t think Luc’s eyes could go any blacker, but they did. “Is he a friend of your family?” he kept it up. “A fellow rancher perhaps?”
“I’d rather we got off the subject if you don’t mind.”
“Why?” he persisted. “Is it too painful to talk about?”
Taking a deep breath she said, “Maybe I’ll answer your question when you answer mine.”
The hard line of his mouth relaxed. “So you are interested.”
He had her there. “Only if you feel like sharing.”
She could hear his mind ticking. “I fell for a girl in high school. We were planning to get married in the fall after graduation. Je l’aimais à la folie.” To hear him say he’d been madly in love sent a pain to her heart. “When you’re young, you feel everything intensely and imagine yourself immortal. One weekend, our group of six, including my best friend, decided to go skydiving.”
What Jasmine heard next tore her up inside. It was a miracle he’d survived the crash.
Taming the French Tycoon Page 10