“You’d leave me here, unprotected? You really are pond scum.”
“Hire a bodyguard. I can recommend a few, and I’ll wait till one gets here. Better yet, why don’t I drop you off at your mother’s? She’d probably hire you a truckload of Rambos.”
“I am not staying at my mother’s,” she said with a vehemence that was telling.
Hey, he could understand that. It would take a grenade to make him stay with Inez Breaux-Fontaine, too.
Then she tossed in the zinger. “Would you stay with your father?”
Guilt… she’s gonna blindside me with guilt. “You are not coming with me,” he asserted firmly. “It’s too dangerous where I’m going.” Not that I know exactly where I’m going, but I’m pretty sure it will be dangerous. “So, take your pick. The police or your mother’s.”
“I could do some more lab tests for you,” she offered as a bribe. “In addition to the data I have in my briefcase, I could even show you some different ways to test that you might not have even considered.”
He was tempted. Almost. But the prospect of spending days… maybe even a week… with Sylvie Fontaine looking down her nose at every little thing he did… He shivered with distaste. “I could make you do the tests anyhow,” he said.
She raised her chin defiantly. “You don’t know me at all, Lucien LeDeux. I don’t do anything under pressure… not anymore.”
Huh? What the hell does that mean? Don’t ask. It’s a lure. The guilt trip again. Don’t freakin’ ask. “Whatever. I’m outta here.”
“There’s one other thing I could do if you’d take me with you.” She combed the fingers of a shaking hand through her mussed-up hair, making the strands even more tangled. Her bottom lip trembled. Bright red blotches of mortification mottled her cheeks. His heart stopped, then thundered wildly against his chest. She looked unexplainably brave… and adorable.
Adorable? Luc should have run like hell then. The alarm bells in his head had dropped about three feet and had set off the love potion, big-time.
He felt as if a time bomb were ticking between his legs and in his heart. Still, he stood his ground, put both hands on his hips, and cocked his head in question.
“Honey, there isn’t anything you could offer that would make me change my mind. Save your breath.”
“Slow dancing.”
“No.”
“Real slow… with you.”
“No.”
“In the nude.”
“On the other hand…”
Chapter Six
Luc wanted to kick himself a short time later, even before they arrived back at his apartment.
It was a risky business, sticking around town, where gun-wielding, voodoo-practicing criminal elements abounded, with guess-who targeted in their crosshairs. His immediate concern was establishing a safe haven from which to operate. But first he needed to pick up his cell phone before leaving town. And, yes, a pistol, too.
Because of the laughable nature of the alleged love potion, Luc found it easy to forget that there was nothing to laugh about here. Not when his libido was stuck in overdrive… not when fanatics were making gris-gris dolls… not when weapons were being fired. In the midst of all that, what could he have been thinking to have agreed to bring Sylvie with him? It was too damn dangerous, physically and emotionally.
Sylvie thought it was the “slow dancing in the nude” offer that had convinced him in the end, but she was wrong. True, the invitation held some appeal. Okay, a lot of appeal, considering that it had been a twenty-year fantasy of his… the highlight of many an unconscious erotic dream. But it was the look of fear and vulnerability in her blue eyes, not nude dancing, that had snared him. As she’d stood in the midst of shattered glass in her plundered home, chin lifted with bravery, some powerful and frightening emotion had grabbed hold of his heart and shot all his common sense to hell.
It was too much to hope that it might be indigestion from his big breakfast. He couldn’t help wondering if the blasted love potion had affected his reasoning. He hoped so, unbelievably, because otherwise he would have to face an even more untenable conclusion… that he harbored feelings for Sylvie Fontaine… and had for a long time. Feelings!