Lucky Charm (42 page)

“Good afternoon. Sorry to have kept you waiting, I am Annabel Green,” Annabel recited her client greeting mechanically
,
without even bothering to look up as she opened the door.

“Hello, Annabel.”

T
hen she did look up. Etienne Gerard was standing in front of her. He looked tired, but unmistakably happy to see her. Despite his disheveled hair and wrinkled sport jacket, Annabel found the sight of him irresistible.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, thinking that seeing him like this could not possibly be real and fighting the need to pinch herself.

“I tried to call you, but you weren’t answering your phone, so I flew in
. I
t was the only thing I could do after the text message you sent me,” he answered simply. “You weren’t home, so I came here and asked Paige
not to tell you that it was I
waiting for you because I was afraid that you might not want to see me.”

The sound of his voice melted her defenses at once.

“Of course I want to see you
.
I missed you so much.”

“No
t
as much as I missed you.” He took a step toward her and before she knew it, she was swept up in his embrace. Her body turned to butter as Etienne’s arms held her tightly, and his lips found her mouth.

After what felt like forever, Etienne finally pulled away from her.

“About the text message…” she murmured.

“It’s history now
. A
ll I needed to know is that we are all right.” He halted, his dark, intent eyes holding her gaze. “Do you know why I walked out on our first date?”

“You said you had an important engagement… It doesn’t matter
. W
e don’t have to rehash this now.”

“But it does matter, Annabel. It matters to me.” He squeezed her hand. “After Amanda and I broke up, I thought I would never be able to get close to a woman again, but when I met you, I knew I had been wrong, and it scared me. Did I really want to risk getting hurt again?” From the look on his face, Annabel understood that he was baring his innermost feelings to her. “So I ran away like a coward, but later that night when I was all alone in my apartment, I understood what a fool I had been
. Y
ou are worth taking a million chances. A
ll night I tried to think of a
way to get you to forgive me….”

“And it worked.”

“Yes, it did
.
I was beside myself with happiness
.
I never dreamed I could ever feel this way about a woman again
. E
ver since we met, I’ve become a different person. You mean so much to me, Annabel.”

So why haven’t you called for weeks?
a tiny voice inside her whispered accusingly.

“I’m sorry for disappearing on you like this
. I
t’s been crazy at work.” He looked at her sheepishly, as though having read her thoughts. “For years
,
I’ve been trying to turn the chateau into a hotel, and finally, I got an offer from Marriott
. W
e’ve been negotiating
around
the
clock
. I
t’s been so busy
that I couldn’t even break away for a phone call. But it’s a done deal now, and let’s just say that from now on, I’ll be able to fly into
New York
as often as I want. That is
,
of course, if you still want to be with me.”

“Of course
,
I want to be with you
.
I am so glad you’re here.” She pressed her face against his chest. But first things first – she still owed Etienne an explanation. “About that text message…” Annabel launched into a detailed account of Lilly’s crazy scheme.

“Your friend Lilly has a wild imagination.” Etienne’s eyes danced with happy sparks. “That is truly a funny story, especially now that we can laugh at it together.”

Annabel took out the hear
t-shaped pendant from the pocket
of her jacket. “I guess I won’t be needing this anymore.”

“I love you, Annabel Green. It’s something that I wanted to tell you weeks ago, but
I
was too much of a coward to
tell you how I really felt about you, Ann
. Well, here it is
.
I’ve said it now.”

“And I love you, Etienne Gerard.”

As Etienne held her tightly in his arms, Annabel knew that it would not be easy for them
. H
e lived in
Paris
,
and she lived in
New York
. T
here were thousands of miles between them and a six-hour time difference to boot, but all of that ceased to matter after Etienne told her that he loved her, for it was said that love could overcome all obstacles
. S
he believed with all her heart that they
would find a way to be together.

Marie
Astor
is the author of
contemporary romance novel
s
This Tangled Thing Called Love
,
On the Rim of Love
,
romantic comedy,
Lucky Charm
,
romantic suspense,
To Catch a Bad Guy,
and a short story collection,
A
Dress in a Window
and Other Stories
.
Marie is also the author of young adult fantasy adventure novel,
Over the Mountain and Back
.

If you enjoyed
Lucky Charm,
please stop by Marie Astor’s website:
www.marieastor.com
to
find out more about her books.

To Catch a Bad Guy

By

Marie Astor

Janet Maple’s
stellar career ended with a lay
off and her boyfriend of five years told her that he wants to be just friends. When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.

Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy
both?

An excerpt from
T
o Catch a
Bad Guy

Chapter 1

Janet Maple took a deep breath while she wa
ited for her train to arrive. S
he was twenty
-
nine years old, but this morning
she felt like a first-grader. T
he same sickening feeling churned her stomach that she remembered when she first entered a room full of strangers as a five-year-old. She was much older now – a professional with a law degree to boot, and, until recently,
with
a successful career at the District Attorney’s office, but today
none of these things ga
ve her comfort or confidence.

I
t was not merely the prospect of starting
a new job that gave Janet the heebie-jeebies, but
it was the fact that she would be working for Lisa Foley. Talk about stirring up old insecurities… Lisa Foley had bee
n the queen ‘b’ in high school. C
ome to think of it, Lisa was still the queen
‘b.’ Every time Janet talked to her best friend from high school, Lisa never failed to bring back ‘the old glory days’
as she called them. With friends like Lisa
,
who needed a time machine? One could always count on Lisa’s sharp m
emory to recall
ev
ery embarrassing incident of adolescence
.

Well, the past is the past
, Janet thought
.
I should be thankful to Lisa for giving me a job
. When your former boss
also
happens to be
your ex-boyfriend, the subject of references be
comes dicey to say the least. Regardless of
how stellar one’s background looks on paper, employers always want
references, but
Lisa had hired
Janet without any references. I
n fact, Lisa’s phone call had come with
unsettlingly perfect timing. J
ust as Janet was about to give up all hope of white-collar employment, her old friend
had
c
o
me to the rescue. That was another one
of Lisa’s remarkable qualities:
for as long as Janet had known her, her friend seemed to have
a radar
for people’s misfortunes. In high school, Lisa was always the first to know who got dumped, who didn’t make the cut on the football team, and whose parents got laid off. So it was not surprising that Lisa knew about Janet’s being
“
downsized
”
by the District Attorney’s office, and when she offered her a job as Assistant General Counsel at Bostoff Securities, Janet literally jumped at the chance.

“Janie! Come in, come in!” Lisa rose from behind her long mahogany desk and opened her arms in an offer of a hug.

“Hi
,
Lisa.” Janet stooped for an air kiss from Lisa. At five seven and one hundred and thirty pounds
,
Janet was no giant
. F
ine, maybe she was not dainty, but her weight was smack in the middle of the healthy category for her hei
ght. But at five two and ninety
five pounds
,
Lisa made everyone tower over her – a trait that Janet was convinced Lisa secretly relished.

“Sit, sit.” Lisa waved her hand at the leather chair opposite her desk. “I’m so excited
that
we’ll be working together – it’s going to be just like old times.”

“I’m really glad to be here, Lisa, and thank you again for giving me the job.”

“That’s what friends are for, right? To help each other out
when you’re down in the dumps,” Lisa answered her own question.
“
So, how was your orientation?”

When Janet started her employment at the DA’s office, there had been a rigorous four-week orientation to initiate her and fellow law school recruits into the intricacies of the Assistant District Attorney job responsibilities. But here, at the Bostoff Securities, the orientation only resembled the process by its title – the entire affair had taken scarcely thirty minutes
,
as Janet was shoved into a tiny room for her photo id picture and given a thick binder with the company forms to sign. Janet supposed she was an experienced attorney now
,
and it was time she started acting like o
ne around Lisa.

“It went well;
I got all this paperwork to complete.” Janet raised the thick folder she’d been given at the orientation.

“Don’t worry about that
;
it’s just your generic HR stuff. What time is it now?” Lisa fumbled with her Ca
rtier watch. “Perfect timing; w
e’re going to lunch. But first, let me show you to your office.”

Lisa slid from behind her desk. As usual, she looked spectacular: her navy pinstriped suit seemed to have been made for her min
iature body (and it probably had been
), her four-inch Louboutin stilettos elongated her slender legs
,
and her pixie cut emphasized the perfect features of her face
. S
he looked like a corporate version of W
i
nona Ryder.

As Janet followed Lisa down the hall, she made a conscious effort to resist her urge to stoop – let Lisa stand on the balls of her feet instead.