La Fleur de Love: The Series: Books 1 - 4

by Leger, Lori

  After checking his watch, Douglas stood up. “Well, thanks for the chat, Jules, but it’s time I headed home. Katarina and Derek should be returning home from the movies fairly soon.”

  Julia’s brow creased in concentration. “Wait a minute, did she say they were going with another couple?”

  “Yes, I believe she mentioned an Isabella and ah—let me see, what did she say that young man’s name was?”

  “Jacob. Isabella and Jacob,” Julia said.

  “Yes, that’s it.” He paused, meeting her gaze. “That’s not your Jacob?”

  She grinned. “And your Katarina. I didn’t realize they were acquainted with each other.”

  “I don’t think they were, until tonight. She’s known Derek for years—I’ve never liked that young chap. He’s cocky and far too randy for my Kat.”

  “Come on, Douglas. Like anyone would ever be good enough for Daddy’s little girl.”

  He sighed. “I guess you’re right. She told me I liked Derek perfectly well all these years until she started to date him.”

  “I know Derek, and he’s a good kid,” Julia volunteered. “Try not to worry.”

  Douglas cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips.

  She laughed, “I know, I know! Chad and I were constantly worried when Miranda was that age. It’s not as bad with Jacob.”

  “Because he’s a guy, and guys don’t get pregnant?”

  “Because we’ve been through it once already. If Kat wasn’t an only child you’d see what I mean. Besides, I know my son, and if Jacob got a girl pregnant, he’d take responsibility for that child also. He knows his life, as well as the mother’s, would change dramatically.”

  “Oh, God. The thought of my little Kat out there, and maybe experimenting with sex terrifies me, Jules. I look at her and I can still see how she looked with her two front teeth missing in nursery class.”

  Julia smiled and placed a comforting hand on his arm. “I know, but you have to remember that she’s a beautiful young woman now. We’ve all made mistakes as teenagers, Doug. They weren’t all life altering, but we did manage to learn something from each and every one of them. She’ll be fine.”

  She was surprised to feel a bit closer to him now that she was seeing his more personal side; the parental side that worried over his little girl.

  “Thank you, Julia. It’s all much easier to digest if one has someone to talk to. I’ve been walking around for days with this feeling, as though an elephant were sitting on my chest.”

  She acted on the urge to put a hand to his cheek. When she did, his eyes turned a shade darker, more intense.

  Hesitantly, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

  Jules wasn’t surprised by the fact that he kissed her, as much as the fact that she liked it so much. She reached up with her other hand on the opposite side of his face and caressed him. Then she pulled slowly away from him. “I’m sorry Douglas. That was lovely, but, I’m not available for this kind of thing just yet.”

  “Just yet? Does that mean you will be, eventually?” He sounded hopeful.

  She shook her head. “No, it only means that I don’t know how it’s all going to turn out. I’m still hoping my husband comes to his senses, even though the odds are pretty strong he won’t.”

  He gave her a smug grin. “You’re waiting for him to come and sweep you up on his white horse and take you away from all of this?”

  Julia’s light hearted laughter rang out in the apartment. “You can’t blame a girl for wanting the fairytale, Douglas. Everyone wants the happily ever after.” She shrugged. “But, even though my name is Julia, my last name is McAllister, not Roberts, and this is not a Hollywood movie. Some endings are neither happy nor typical.”

  He nodded and gave her a gentle brush on the lips. “Thanks, Jules. It’s helped to have you to talk to, even though I can finally see that you’re out of reach. It’s a shame though, I think we’d make a smashing couple, and I think Katarina would benefit greatly from having you in her life.”

  Jules reached up and brushed his tousled dark locks away from his hazel eyes then touched his face again. Slowly pulling the door open, she smiled as he chucked her chin affectionately. “Thanks for understanding, Douglas.”

  “How about you get your hands the hell off my wife!”

  Chad

  Chad stood there with his hand on the buzzer while his wife let a complete stranger touch her face intimately, the same way he’d touched her thousands of times. Hearing her call him by his name caused something inside him to snap. Good old, persistent Douglas. “She is still married, you know.”

  “Chad!” Julia chided, recovering quickly from the apparent shock of seeing him. “He’s a friend, and he’s just leaving. You’re completely out of line.”

  “Am I?” He sent her an accusing glare.

  “Yes, you bloody well are,” she snapped.

  Chad snorted. “Bloody? Are you so much a British citizen now that you’ve forgotten how to cuss like an American, Jules?”

  Obviously deciding it was time to take his leave, Douglas finally spoke. “I’ll see you Monday at the office, Jules. Don’t be afraid to ring me if you need me.” He held up his cell phone, and sent a glare in Chad’s direction. “Or do you need me to stay?”

  She gave his arm an affectionate pat. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

  Chad exchanged glares with the guy as he brushed past and headed for the elevator. He turned back toward Julia, whose eyes sparkled with quiet anger.

  “Did you only come over to insult me, Chad, or is there another purpose for this visit?”

  “I came to ask your forgiveness,” he said. “I came to tell you that I’ve been a fool, but now I see that I may have been another kind of fool. Are you having an affair with good, old Douglas?”

  “You asshole!” she hissed. “How do you find the nerve to come here and accuse me of that?”

  Judging by her reaction, and knowing her as well as he did, Chad knew immediately just how bad he’d screwed up, yet again. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. “Jules—”

  She pushed him roughly back, and just before the door slammed in his face, he heard her string together a collection of curses that would make a Marine proud. And this time it was in good, old, S-O-B calling, F-bomb flying American style. Apparently, the only motivation his wife needed to remember her roots was … him.

  Chad knew better than to attempt re-entry that night. He walked slowly toward the elevator, where Douglas stood, holding the door open.

  “Care to share the lift, Mr. McAllister?”

  Chad nodded then stepped into the box. Neither men spoke until it opened into the lobby of the apartment complex.

  They stepped out and just as Douglas began to walk toward the exit, Chad stopped him with his comment. “I love my wife. I don’t want to lose her.”

  Douglas

  Douglas turned slowly to observe Julia’s husband. He saw weariness in the man’s face, along with a panic the man couldn’t quite hide. Chad McAllister was definitely still in love with his wife.

  Blast it all!

  In the second it took to recognize that, his resentment toward Julia’s husband turned to sympathy. Losing one’s wife to divorce would probably be just as painful as losing her to death, maybe even worse. Addie hadn’t chosen to leave him, but had been taken from this world unexpectedly. Douglas knew that if he’d lost Addie to something that had been his own fault, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

  “I can see you don’t want to lose her, McAllister. But I also see a very foolish man standing before me, and if you don’t find a way to rid yourself of that foolishness, you may lose her for good.”

  Chad’s shoulders drooped as he stared down at his shoes. “Every time I open my mouth around her lately, I screw something up. I love her more now than I ever have, but I can’t seem to stop this downhill slide we’re in. We were fine until this whole England thing came up. I don’t see why she had to take this position
. It’s changed everything.”

  Douglas studied the man before him and thought he was beginning to understand the problem. “Look, I must be insane for suggesting this, but how about if I buy you a cup of tea, or coffee as most of you Americans seem to prefer.”

  Chad shook his head. “I like my tea iced, and I’ve had enough caffeine today to make my skin crawl. How about if I buy you a beer, instead? It’s the least I could do for being such a jerk.”

  Douglas nodded. “I only have time for one, but I think I can shed some light on this situation for you. It may even save your marriage if you’re intelligent enough to take my advice.”

  The two men walked down the street to a nearby city Pub and sat at a table in a somewhat quieter corner where they could talk. They ordered to lagers. Chad gave their barmaid a ten pound note and told her to keep the change.

  Douglas took a swig and turned toward the other man. “Have you any idea how talented your wife is at design?”

  Chad nodded. “I’ve seen her sketches and floor plans. She seems to do well enough.”

  Douglas raised his brows, unable to cloak his shock at Chad’s answer. “Well enough? Her designs are fresh and innovative, she has a knack for handling last minute changes with exceptional grace, and somehow she’s managed to get every contractor out there eating out of her hand. She’s bloody phenomenal, is what she is.”

  Chad shrugged. “She’s always been phenomenal at whatever she did. Maybe I’m so used to her being wonderful at everything that it’s stopped being big news to me.”

  Douglas took a long swig from his bottle and checked his watch. “Come on, McAllister. You can’t fully appreciate Julia’s work by looking at a sketch. It’s time you realize what a genius she is.” He rose from the table and started for the door.

  Chad took one more drink of his lager and rose to follow. “Where are we going?”

  “I’m going to show you what your wife’s been working on during her time here. You won’t be able to see much in the dark, so I advise you to go back there tomorrow in the daylight. I can give you a tour if you’d like.”

  Chad

  An hour later, Chad was still awed by the magnitude of Julia’s design. He shook his head as he made his way carefully around the construction site. “I had no idea. You say she has to work daily with the engineers and contractors to make sure they’re following the plans?”

  “Absolutely. The business partners chose hers over hundreds of other entries and want to ensure no one deviates from the design. She has to approve any change that could affect the final outcome.”

  Chad stood with arms outspread. “You have no idea how amazed I am at all of this.”

  Douglas shook his head. “You have no idea how amazed I am that it took you this long to be amazed at your own wife’s remarkable talents.”

  Chad looked at his own feet, shamed to the core that it took a complete stranger to point out his ignorance toward Julia’s abilities. “Point taken. I’ll come back tomorrow morning to see the rest, but I see now why she has to be here.” He looked over at Douglas. “She mentioned functions that she’d like me to attend with her. How many have I missed?”

  “We’ve attended dozens since the beginning of this thing. It’s all part of the PR for the mall. Her presence is required. Not only that, but the owners are family oriented people. They like to have the spouses attend all functions with their employees. So far, Jules has attended every one of them alone. I can tell it’s made her feel very uncomfortable.”

  Chad ran a hand through his hair. “I told her I’d try to be in for as many as I can, but it would be impossible to attend all of them with my flight schedule the way it is.” He looked out at the huge structure before him, encompassing a vast amount of acreage. “I sure miss my wife.”

  Douglas nodded. “I know how you feel.” He continued when Chad turned a curious look in his direction. “My wife died four years ago in a car crash. It’s been hard on us.”

  Chad took a mental step back at the confession. “Us? Do you have children?”

  “I have one seventeen year old daughter, Katarina. She looks more like her mother every day. It’s been rough on my poor Kat. Teenage girls need a mother, you know? I do what I can, but I’m afraid I don’t measure up, on occasion.”

  Chad narrowed his gaze on the Englishman. “Are you hoping to provide her with a new one by stealing my wife away from me?”

  “Look here, McAllister, in your case, it wouldn’t be stealing. You’ve been doing a fine job of pushing her away all by yourself.”

  Chad sent the man a reluctant nod. “I guess I have at that. I just never thought of her as having this kind of talent.”

  Douglas turned toward Chad. “Excuse me for saying this, but I think what you’ve done all these years was take her for granted. Once you fall into that mind-set, it’s difficult to pull yourself out of it.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?”

  “The only thing I took for granted with Addie was that she would be here with me for the rest of my life. All it took was one drunk driver and a phone call to change everything.”

  Chad studied his solemn face before answering. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Not as sorry as I am, but thanks anyway. She was a beautiful person, inside and out.” He added in a low murmur. “She was the absolute love of my life.”

  “Yet you’re ready to move on, and possibly with the absolute love of my life?”

  “Is she?” Douglas sent him a stern gaze.

  “Of course she is.”

  “Then why the blast don’t you act like it? If you loved her, you’d be here with her. She’s nearly ready to weed you out of the garden if you don’t wise up, you know. She’s tired of being alone, anyone can see that. She’s told me in no uncertain terms that she’s not interested as of now, but if you keep up this foolishness, she might change her mind. If she does, I’ll be right here, waiting to sweep her off her feet.”

  No way could he misinterpret the Englishman’s threat. “You’d do that, knowing how I feel about her?”

  Douglas gave him a throaty laugh as he nodded. “Absolutely. I’m not the fool here, old boy. You are.”

  Nash folded the Lake Coburn American Press into neat quarters and set it on the end table. His stomach reminded him with a low growl that it was time for lunch, but he checked his watch anyway. 11:45. He stood to stretch his legs, waited for Annie to finish with her last patient before the noon break. He pulled his buzzing phone from his pocket, knowing it would be Drake checking up.

  Anything?

  Like clockwork. The man checked in at least once an hour. That’s not accounting for however many times the son-of-a-gun messaged Annie directly. One thing for sure, the poor bastard had it bad for her. He figured the feeling was mutual, but the little spitfire was too stubborn to admit it. Drake had warned him he’d likely butt heads with his client, and he’d been right on the money. Annie hadn’t taken kindly to having him as a constant companion all day at her clinic.

  “You’re coming to the office with me?”

  “Yes,” he’d told her.

  “You’ll be inside. All day. Every day.”

  “That’s generally the way it goes.”

  She’d frowned. “Do you plan on being there during the sessions? Will you accompany me to the bathroom?”

  “That’ll cost you extra.” His attempt at humor hadn’t been received well.

  She’d narrowed those ice blue eyes and sneered. “You’re not funny.”

  “I wasn’t hired to give you laughs. I’m here to keep your butt safe. It’s what I do.”

  “Can’t you stay in your truck? I don’t want you in the office. You’ll make our customers uncomfortable.”

  “I don’t really care what you want. It’s imperative I be in the same building with you, within calling distance.”

  She’d opened her mouth to say something, but Drake had walked by and shut her up without a single word. He’d simply ran his finger d
own her back. Annie had whipped around, eyes wide with terror, shoulders drawn up, skin covered with goose bumps.

  With one simple act, he’d reminded her how close J.B. had gotten to her right under everyone’s nose. He’d given her a serious look and spoke in a low growl. “Let the man do what he needs to do to keep you safe, Annie.”

  The subtle message had worked and Annie had kept any further comments about Nash’s tactics to herself.

  Drake hadn’t seemed too thrilled at being the cause for her bent will, but he’d apparently seen it as a necessary, albeit regretful, means to an end.

  Nash sent a reply.

  Nash: No sign of him. No phone calls. I talked her into going to lunch today. Should be leaving shortly.

  Drake: Good.

  Nash stared out the glass door into the parking lot, his thoughts returning to what he’d learned about J.B. Montgomery. The bastard was more than an attempted rapist. He was a stalker, in the truest since of the word. He loved the thrill of the chase, as well as the enjoyment of toying with his victims before going in for the kill.

  The roommate of one of his victims said there had been a steady barrage of phone calls, written messages on her car, in her mailbox, and even tacked to her apartment door. The poor girl had been terrified to leave her apartment. In every case, J.B’s initial meeting with these women had simply been a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In Annie’s case, it had been that, and a little more. He’d seen this girl nearly incapacitated by her migraine and obviously couldn’t pass up the chance to have a little no-risk fun. He hadn’t counted on getting an ass-kicking from the pissed-off-Texas-transplant lawyer in love with her.

  He turned at Annie’s approach, raised his hand before she could utter the excuse already forming on her lips. “No, I don’t want a sandwich and chips. No I don’t want to order a pizza or anything from the deli down the street. Get your purse. We’re going out into civilization.”

  Her shoulders drooped, deflated at his insistence; she grabbed her purse and met him. “I don’t like this, Nash.”

  He slung one arm over her shoulders and turned her toward the door. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”