Lucky Charm (35 page)

He had thought he was through with love
. B
eing engaged to Amanda Seeder would do that to a man, but apparently he had been mistaken. He had dated plenty of gorgeous women, but now that he thought back on it, they all had one thing in common: they were beautiful women who had no qualms about exchanging their looks for the position and security that men had to offer them. Amanda was no exception
;
she had been with him because of his title and his chateau, but when a more lucrative opportunity presented itself in the
face of Hew Lewis, she literally
had
jumped on it.

Annabel was different
. S
he was beautiful, but she was al
so smart, funny
,
and independent
. S
he was
the kind of woman who went after her dreams and got up when life knocked her down. And Etienne found her independence refreshing, so refreshing that he could not get enough of this addictive libation. He could not remember the last
time
he had talked with a woman for hours,
sharing his innermost thoughts
. C
ome to think of it, probably never.

At least that was what Etienne had surmised about Annabel from their time together
. O
f course
,
he could be wrong, but his instinct told him that he was spot on. They had been inseparable for the past three weeks
. N
ow that he thought of it, there would be hell to pay at the office for his neglect of his business, but it had been well worth it.

When the plane lifted off the runway, Etienne felt his chest tighten
. P
erhaps he should have thrown caution to the wind and gone in to get her after all, but it was too late now. He picked up his cell phone and typed in a text message:
Miss you already. Text me when you land.
Love
, E
.

He was about to press the send button when he frowned and erased
Love
, replacing it with
Kisses
. He did love Annabel, but he could not quite bring himself to tell her
that
yet.

#

It was eight at night on a Sunday when Annabel finally lugged her suitcase up the stairs of her walk-up. Still panting from the effort, she flung open the front door to her apartment and collapsed on the couch
. T
he trip had been great, but the flight back was delayed by over two hours
,
and now she was exhausted. With a sigh, she got up and looked around
. H
er apartment still bore the signs of her hasty departure
. T
he red tank top she ended up not taking with her on the trip still hung on the chair
,
as did the extra pair of jeans that did not fit into her suitcase.

The sight made her sad
. T
he magical trip to
Paris
was over
,
and now she had to go back to reality. One minute she was leaving on
the
vacation of a lifetime, and now, the three weeks had flown by in
the
blink of an eye, leaving her feeling as though the whole thing had been a dream. If only she could feel Etienne’s arms around her to reassure her that it all really did happen.

Her
cell phone beeped, and Annabel saw that there was a text message from Etienne:
Miss you already. Text me when you land. Kisses, E.

Her first impulse was to call him, but then she realized that it was three in the morning in
Paris
, so she would have to wait until tomorrow to hear his voice. Her heart beating like crazy, she typed back a reply:
Just got home. Miss you too. Kisses, A.

When the alarm clock blared the next morning, Annabel barely resisted the urge to smash the annoying gadget against the wall. With a groan, she sank back into the soft pillow and contemplated calling in sick, but her sense of duty prevailed
. S
he ambled out of bed and headed for the shower.

The jetlag was taking its toll, and she found herself stumbling through her morning routine. When she caught herself pouring instant coffee into her cereal bowl, she knew it would be a tough day. Of course
,
she could have been more conscientious and booked the return flight for Saturday instead of Sunday, but despite feeling like a walking zombie, she did not regret her decision
. A
n extra day with Etienne was worth all the sleep in the world.

Annabel smiled as she remembered his text from yesterday
Miss you already. Kisses, E
. And boy
,
did she miss him too
. S
he craved him so much, it scared her. She missed the way his stubble tickled her face when he kissed her, the way his fingers intertwined with hers when he held her hand, the way his muscular, powerful body pressed against hers when they made love – a myriad of emotions accumulated in so short a time. She was falling head over heels fast, and it was too late to turn back now.

“Hi, Sally.” Annabel braved a smile as she entered the office.

“Annabel! You’re back!”

“Yes, I am.” Annabel sighed. “I wish I weren’t,” she whispered.

“Trust me. I know exactly how you feel, even though I haven’t been away for years. But boy, am I glad you’re back
. T
his place was a mess without you. That dimwit, Janine, won’t lift a finger, and Paige had me working overtime
.
I did my best, but I’m afraid you’re in for a huge clean up. I’m sorry,
h
on.”

“Thanks for the warning, Sal. And thanks for pitching in.
”

“Any
time.”

“This is for you.” Annabel placed a box of chocolates she
had
brought from
Paris
on Sally’s desk.

“Thank you,
s
weetie. Let me know if you need any help wading through your desk.” Sally winked.

When Annabel opened the door to her office, she instantly understood why Sally had warned her
. T
hree huge piles of paper towered on her desk. Her vacation was officially over
. N
ow, it was time to roll up the sleeves.

“Well, somebody looks well-rested!” Arms crossed on her chest, Paige appeared in the doorway of Annabel’s office.

“Good morning!” Annabel jerked in her chair
. D
espite having drunk three cups of coffee, things were still slow moving. “It was a wonderful trip.
Paris
is a beautiful city: the art, the architecture…”

A sly smile appeared on Paige’s lips. “I’ve been to
Paris
twice, and I know that there are only three things that can make a woman glow the way you are glowing now: a great shag or being in love, or both.”

“I did meet someone.” Annabel grinned. A few weeks ago
,
she might have protested demurely, but now she saw no point in that
. S
he did have a
“
great shag
,”
as Paige put it
. I
n fact, it had been a series of wonderful shags, and she was in love to boot.

“Spill.” Paige perched her tiny behind on an armrest of the chair across from Annabel’s desk.

“His name is Etienne; he has dark hair and dark brown eyes. He is funny and smart and a complete gentleman.”
And I am totally in love with him
, Annabel thought, but
she
left that part out.

“Are you going to see him again?”

“We haven’t discussed the details yet, but yes, we agreed that we’d visit each other.” Annabel smiled dreamily.

“So you’re going to do the long distance thing.”

The tone of Paige’s voice melted the smile right off Annabel’s face.

“Do you think that’s a bad idea?”

“I do know that it’s hard, but then I’m no relationship expert. Hell, being in different cities is hard, but being in different countries… I just don’t want my Annabel to get hurt. You tell that fella of yours that if he tries anything funny, he’ll have to answer to me directly.”

“I will.” Paige’s protectiveness made Annabel smile. “So how are things in the office?”

“That’s it
? Y
ou’re switching to work without asking me about my love life?” Paige pursed her lips.

“I’m sorry
.
I didn’t mean to,” Annabel mumbled
. T
he probl
em with a boss who insisted on
heart to heart talks was that you never knew where the boundaries
were
.

“I was just kidding. But, as a matter of fact, I am seeing someone.” Paige paused for dramatic effect, no doubt waiting for Annabel to prod, but when she missed her cue, Paige burst out impatiently, “Robert Sunderland.”

“The gentleman who wanted to buy Marlene Parker’s shooting range?” Annabel had a terrible memory for names, but whip-lean, courteous Robert Sunderland had stuck in her mind, as did his name.

Paige nodded, her eyes twinkling with giddy sparks. “We are celebrating our two month anniversary tonight.”

“Wow, Paige. That’s fantastic!” Annabel forced herself not to sound too surprised
. I
n Paige’s universe, two months equaled to two years.

“I know, right? Things are getting pretty serious between us.” Paige giggled like a fifteen-year
-
old.

“You mean marriage?”

“Robert just might be the man to convert me
.
I could certainly see myself as Mrs. Sunderland
. I
t has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Paige winked. “At first
,
I thought this thing would not go beyond a couple of dates, but Robert wore me down with his chivalry
. H
e really knows how to court a woman. He flies into
New York
every other week
,
and he sends me flowers all the time.” Paige rolled her eyes dreamily. “It’s like he is my gentleman caller, and he makes me feel like a Southern belle.”

“Wow, that’s great Paige, and I’m really happy for you.” If ever there had been a real-life Scarlett O’Hara, Paige Martin fitted the bill to a T, and Annabel only hoped that Paige would have enough sense to treat her real-life Rhett right
. S
he refrained from putting this sentiment into words – Paige was, after all, her boss.

“The only bad thing about being in love is that it reduces productivity
. I
t’s been crazy at the office, and I’m so glad that you’re back. Well, I guess we’d better get to work now.”

For the next hour
,
Paige went over everything that
had
happened in the office while Annabel had been away
. T
here were meetings to be scheduled, presentations to
be designed, and tons of new projects to be worked on
.

At twelve o’clock
,
Annabel closed her office door and dialed Etienne’s number on her cell phone. Her heart beat faster with every ring as she waited for him to pick up.

“Hello?”

The mere sound of his voice sent a warm, fuzzy feeling down her spine and all the way to her toes. “It’s me. I just called to say hi.”
Get it together
, she thought,
you sound like a mumbling idiot
, but words suddenly deserted her.

“Annabel, I’m so glad you called. I wanted to call you, but I thought you’d be swamped at work.”

“I am, but work can wait for a few minutes.” God, it felt good to hear his voice. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him, how much she longed for his arms to hold her and his lips to kiss her, but found herself tongue-tied. They were thousands of miles apart, and the cracked reception made the distance between them painfully obvious. If only they could look into each other’s eyes
. J
ust
one glance,
or
one touch would be enough to convey how they felt, but as it w
as
, they were reduced to the bareness of words, each afraid to say too much.

“I miss you.”

The simple phrase made her heart race. “I miss you too. I had a really great time in
Paris
.”

“So did I. Hey, I’ve got an idea
. W
ould you like to meet me on Skype tomorrow? I know it’s hard with the time difference, but I was thinking that if you could spare a few minutes before you go in to work we could chat…”