A Touch of Romance

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  As Belle stared at him, Mitch’s words rang in her head. He’d basically said the same thing. “No, you won’t. I’ve discovered there are men in the world who don’t need to manipulate and belittle the woman they’re with in order to feel better about themselves.”

  “I didn’t manipulate or belittle you. I strove to help you become a better person. To help you realize your potential.”

  “No. That’s not what you did.” Belle knew this was not the time or the place to be having this discussion—one they had held many times before. “But it doesn’t matter, because that’s in the past, and as of today, you have officially been evicted from my life and my head. Any flowers you bring are going to be given away, and if you keep harassing me, I’ll ask Rory for legal options to keep you away from me.”

  Andre scoffed. “Like any court would see me bringing flowers as harassing you. Give it a try, but as usual, on your own, you’re going to fail.”

  “It’s been five years, Andre, and I—and my business—are doing better than ever. Failure is nowhere in sight. For me, anyway. I think the fact that you’re so desperate to get me back speaks louder to the state of your own business than mine.” Belle crossed her arms to show him that she was not cowed by his attempt to belittle her.

  “You keep telling yourself that, darling.” The smile Andre gave her was condescending, and far too familiar. “Well, I must get back to work. My business doesn’t run itself.”

  “Like you haven’t found someone else to run it for you while you take all the credit,” Belle murmured as he walked out the door.

  “That guy is seriously creepy,” the receptionist said. “I can see now why you don’t want to have anything to do with him.”

  Belle was glad she’d seen through Andre’s words, but she didn’t want to continue the discussion about the man. “When Jasmine gets back, she’ll know what to do with the flowers.”

  After giving the woman a smile to take the edge off the fact that she wasn’t going to talk to her about Andre, Belle escaped to her office. Once she was behind her desk, Belle let out a long breath. Had she truly told Andre she was evicting him from her mind? And if so, how exactly was she going to do that?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Mark gestured to the wall along the back corner of the building and said, “It was like that when I arrived this morning.”

  Mitch stared at the words scrawled in neon green across the wall. There had been graffiti several times since they’d come back from the weekend at Hecla, but this was the first time it had been actual words. And they were words that sent a chill down his spine. They cemented a lingering thought he’d had in his mind for the past week.

  “Get pictures of it then get it cleaned up,” Mitch said. “I’m assuming the security cameras didn’t pick up anything clearly once again.”

  “Nope. Faces covered. Came in on foot, made their mess and left.”

  “I don’t want to have to hire someone to guard the site, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. And added to that, it seems to be escalating.”

  “Maybe the cops will drive by more frequently after this.”

  Maybe. Mitch hoped that would be the case, but if this graffiti was being generated by the person he thought it was, he doubted it would be as easy as he hoped to catch them. Before he went back inside, he took one picture on his phone. Though Mitch had mentioned the first incident to Belle, he hadn’t mentioned any of the others. However, this latest one changed things in his mind.

  “I’ve got to go,” Mitch said. “I’ll be in touch a bit later today.”

  Mark raised a hand to acknowledge him then headed inside the building. They’d brought supplies in to clean up after the first episode of graffiti, and at this rate, they were going to have to buy more.

  Mitch knew that he was probably the last person Belle wanted to see, but this was business, not personal. Well, it was kind of personal, but since it concerned the building site, it was also business.

  “Hi Jasmine,” Mitch said as he walked into the bridal boutique a short time later.

  “Hey, Mitch.” She smiled at him as he approached the desk, but he could see the question in her expression. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing good. You?”

  “Also good, thanks,” she said. “So, what brings you by? Pretty sure you’re not here on bridal business.”

  “Well, no, not bridal business, but bridal boutique business. Is Belle around?”

  “To clients, no, but since you’re not here as a client, I’m sure she’ll see you.” Jasmine picked up her phone and pressed a couple of buttons.

  Mitch wasn’t so sure about that, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t be rude and turn him away.

  “Hey sis,” Jasmine said into the receiver. “Mitch is here and says he needs to talk to you.”

  She glanced over at him but didn’t say anything in response to whatever Belle was saying to her. “Okay. Yep. Will do.”

  When she hung up, her expression was a little more reserved, and Mitch braced himself for the message she was going to pass on from Belle.

  “You can head on up,” Jasmine said then hesitated. “Uh…just a tiny warning…she’s in a bit of a mood. There were a couple of issues she had to deal with first thing this morning, and they’ve aggravated her.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m probably going to aggravate her further. Sorry about that.”

  Jasmine sighed. “Oh well. Such is life.”

  Mitch gave her an apologetic look before heading to the back of the shop. He hated that he was probably going to make her bad day even worse.

  When he got to her office door, it was closed, so Mitch knocked lightly. He heard her muffled response to come in, so he turned the nob and stepped inside. Belle glanced up at him, her brow furrowed.

  “Sorry to bother you like this,” Mitch said as he approached her desk.

  “It wasn’t something that could be dealt with via email?” Belle asked as she gestured to the chair across the desk from her.

  Mitch told himself not to take her tone or words personally since Jasmine had already warned him she wasn’t in a good mood, but it was still hard not to.

  “No. I thought it was best to come talk to you about this in person.” Mitch pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “When we got to the site this morning, there was more graffiti.”

  “Isn’t this the second time?”

  Mitch hesitated before shaking his head. “No, it’s more like the fifth time.”

  Belle stared at him for what seemed like forever. “The fifth time? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It seemed random, so I didn’t think we needed to stress you out about it.”

  “Has this site been known for graffiti in the past?” Belle asked.

  “No. I contacted the previous owner to ask about that after the third incident, and he said no.”

  “So what are you saying? This isn’t random?”

  Mitch sighed as he brought up the photo he’d taken earlier at the site. “I had begun to think perhaps it wasn’t after talking to the previous owner, but this morning, I have to say no. I don’t believe it was random.”

  “Why?”

  Instead of answering, Mitch leaned forward, holding out his phone. She hesitated before taking it, then, even after she held it, she didn’t look at it right away. Her gaze held his for a long moment before she finally glanced down at the screen.

  “She’s mine?” Belle read the words aloud. “What does that even mean?”

  “Is there any chance Andre could be behind something like this?”

  He saw it then, the subtle changes in her expression. It went from confused to worried to angry in quick succession.

  “Yes, I suppose it’s possible. Very possible.” She hesitated before adding, “I might have said a few things to him when I saw him on Friday. Things that might have provoked him.”

  “Belle,” Mitch said with a sigh. “Why would you do that?”

  She frowned at him. “Beca
use maybe I realized that you were right about him still being in my head, so when I saw him, and he kept goading me, I might have said something.”

  “Like what kind of things?” Mitch asked, torn between pride and fear. He was glad Belle had finally felt strong enough to stand up to her past, but if Andre had been on edge already, something she said could have pushed him over the edge.

  “I just let him know that I’d met some men who didn’t feel the need to manipulate and belittle women in order to feel better about themselves.”

  “Could he go beyond the graffiti?” Mitch asked. When he’d first met the man, he’d asked Belle if Andre might be dangerous. Now he needed to ask again.

  Belle shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought he’d go this far, so who knows.”

  “That’s not good enough, Belle. Who knows?” Mitch’s voice rose in anger, frustrated by how cavalier she was being about the possibility of Andre being dangerous. “We all will know on the day he goes too far and hurts you.”

  He could see the temper in her eyes as she stared at him. Though he suspected she dealt with anxiety like Makayla did, it appeared that she had a bit of a temper too. He waited to see what she would do with it. A part of him wanted her to lose her temper simply because it would mean she was comfortable enough with him to do so, but another part of him needed her to understand the potential seriousness of the situation.

  “You don’t need to worry about it,” she finally said, her eyes still flashing with temper. “It’s not your problem. I’m not your concern.”

  Mitch leaned forward, his anger spiking at her words, fueled by hurt and worry. She might not like his reaction, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that. He was in too far now to be able to walk away when there was a chance she could get hurt.

  “It is my problem, given that this stuff is happening on a site I’m responsible for. Beyond that, you may say you’re not my concern, but I care about you. More than you care about yourself, apparently, which means that I will take the possibility of a threat to you seriously.” He paused. “Whether you like it or not.”

  “I didn’t ask for you to care, Mitch. In fact, I made it pretty clear that you shouldn’t.” Belle’s words held frustration and anger. “What part of that did you not understand?”

  “Just because you don’t feel anything for me, Belle, doesn’t negate the feelings of those around you. Your sisters would be concerned if they knew. Maya would be concerned.” Mitch got to his feet and leaned over to grab his phone from where it lay on her desk. The pain in his heart was difficult to ignore, but if nothing else, when he left there that day, Belle would know how he felt. It felt imperative that she know, even if she never accepted it, she would know. “I’m concerned. You mean a lot to me, and the idea of something happening to you… I couldn’t live with myself. So maybe you need to accept that you are surrounded by people who care about you and embrace that. Emotions aren’t things you need to fear.”

  Mitch stared at Belle for a moment, watching as a series of emotions flickered across her face before her expression evened out. Knowing there was nothing more he could say to her, Mitch turned and left her office, making sure to close the door behind him because somehow, he knew she would want that. To be hidden away from the rest of the world while she processed everything he’d told her.

  He was headed for the front door of the boutique, but then paused and turned to where Jasmine sat at the reception desk. He approached her, fishing a card from his wallet. Holding it out to Jasmine, he said, “Could you have Rory call me when she has a minute?”

  Jasmine looked down at the card then back up at Mitch, her brows drawn together. “Is everything okay?”

  Mitch didn’t want to lie to her, but he sensed she’d be extremely worried if he shared about the latest graffiti episode, and he wasn’t quite ready to lay that on her doorstep. “I just need to run a couple of things past her. Legal-type things.”

  “Oh. Okay. I’ll let her know,” Jasmine said, her smile easing the worry from her face.

  “Thanks so much.” Mitch returned her smile. “It was good seeing you again.”

  “You, too. And please pass on our thanks to your parents once again for including us in your weekend at the cabin. We had a lot of fun.”

  Mitch wasn’t sure that was true for all of them, but he nodded his head, accepting her thanks. “I’ll let you know the next time we head up. Maybe you could join us again.”

  With that, he left the building and walked down the sidewalk to where he’d parked his truck. He’d barely gotten behind the wheel when his phone rang. It wasn’t a number he recognized, but since it might be Rory, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

  “Hey, Mitch. Jasmine asked me to give you a call,” Rory said when he answered. “You get arrested or something?”

  “Nope. There have been some things that have occurred at the site that I think you need to be aware of.” Knowing that Belle was likely to be angry with him for going to her sister, Mitch hesitated, but then the thought of something happening to her propelled him forward.

  “I’ve always hated that guy,” Rory said, anger lacing her tone. “He took Belle away from us, and the woman who eventually returned to our family was so different from the one who had left. He’d sucked the life out of her. She’d been so sweet and bubbly even though she was super focused on what she wanted. He came along and offered her the things she longed for. Love—or what he tried to pass off as love—and he tempted her with the opportunity to control a business. A place where she wouldn’t have to stand in our mom’s shadow.”

  “What is Andre’s business?” Mitch asked. “The place where Belle worked?”

  Rory laughed. “He’s also in the wedding planning business. Mom’s competition. He took her most valuable asset.”

  “Seriously?” Mitch felt even more uneasy knowing that for Andre, this was more than just losing a girlfriend. This was about business. Perhaps Andre saw the new building as just one more sign that Belles & Beaus was surpassing his own business. When he voiced his concern to Rory, she agreed.

  “I’m going to call a cop that I know and run this past him to see what he suggests. Given we can’t pin anything on Andre just yet, I want to know what our options are.”

  “Thanks, Rory. I…care about your sister, though I’m pretty sure after she finds out I contacted you, she’s going to hate my guts.”

  Rory sighed. “She’ll get over it. Just give her a little time.”

  “Time isn’t the issue,” Mitch said. “She knew how I felt before all this transpired and still wasn’t interested.”

  “Andre did a number on her, that’s for sure,” Rory said. “Thank you for caring for her. And I’m sorry that she isn’t letting herself return those feelings. It’s definitely her loss.”

  Though Mitch appreciated the sentiment, it didn’t change the fact that with the way things currently stood, Belle would never be his.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Heat and cold warred within her body making Belle shake. She may have brushed aside Mitch’s concern about Andre, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried. She was, in fact, very worried. Why had she antagonized Andre the way she had? No doubt that was what had propelled him to deface the new building. He would have known about it since Belles & Beaus had started advertising their move to the new building.

  She’s mine.

  As she sat alone in her office, Belle realized that if it were Mitch saying those words, claiming her as his own, she wouldn’t have felt anything other than security and contentment. But the thought that Andre was feeling that way, claiming her as his own, filled her with fear. She’d honestly thought he’d moved on and found another girlfriend to dominate.

  She gripped the edge of the desk, uncertain whether to stay put or to run. But run to where? Andre knew where she lived. He knew where to find her if he wanted to.

  Belle spent the rest of the day trying to focus on anything but her meeting with Mitch. It was apparent that hadn’t
worked when her door swung open later that afternoon, causing Belle to jump, her heart thundering in alarm. It only mildly settled when she saw Rory walking toward her. The expression on her sister’s face told her that Mitch had filled her in on the latest developments. Belle wanted to be angry with him, but right then, she was more concerned with finding out if there was a way to protect herself from Andre.

  She tried to take a steadying breath without being too obvious about it. “Hey, Rore. What are you doing here?”

  Rory gave an impatient shake of her head as she dropped down into the seat vacated not that long ago by Mitch. “Don’t even try. I know all your faces and all your acts. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t know why I’m here. Or that you’re not concerned by what Mitch came to tell you.”

  Belle shrugged. “What are we supposed to do about it? It’s not like we even know for sure that it’s Andre. For all we know, it’s some emo teen sending a message to his competition.”

  “Or maybe it’s some teen that Andre paid to write the message. I think we can all agree that Andre didn’t write the graffiti himself.”

  Knowing her sister wasn’t going to give up, Belle said, “Okay. Let’s play it your way. So if it is Andre behind this, what do we do about it? I doubt a bit of graffiti is enough for the cops to lay a charge.”

  “You’re right. It’s not, but I have a friend who is willing to pay Andre a visit…off the books. Plus, Mitch said that they’re going to have someone at the site 24/7 for added protection. If someone shows up to graffiti again, C&M are hoping they can catch them. I’m pretty sure that whoever Andre might be using won’t feel any real sense of loyalty to him when faced with the prospect of an arrest.”

  “So what do they get? A slap on the wrist for property damage?”

  “Possibly. Depends if they have priors. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Andre said that no cop would view his weekly flower delivery as harassment. Is he right?”

  “It would probably be considered a gray area. If all he’s doing is bringing you flowers and there are no messages or subtle threats, then yeah, he’s probably right. But if there has been any sort of veiled threat with the flowers, we might have something to go on.”