Breaking Love (Full Hearts Book 2) (15 page)

“You love to ski?” he asked excitedly.

“I do. Do you?”

“Very much. Can we go together soon?”

“Sure. I’d love that,” Megan said as they reached her car. She unlocked it with a press of the button on her key fob and Luc opened the door. The car was covered in snow now and needed to be brushed off. Megan grabbed the brush off the floor of the car and straightened up.

Luc took it gently from her hand. “You get in and start up the car. I’ll do this,” he said.

Megan happily complied, feeling rather spoiled.
Don’t get used to this
, she told herself,
this is only a dream
.

Luc opened the driver’s door when he had finished and handed her the brush. “Good night,
mon ange
. Over the next few days, I will enjoy the anticipation of being with you again.”

Megan smiled as he kissed her. “
Mon ange
? What does that mean?”

“
My angel
. Is that too much?”

“It’s wonderful, actually. Good night, Luc.”

“Text me when you get home. I’ll wait up.”

“I won’t forget.”

Megan drove slowly home. It was well after midnight and she was beginning to get sleepy now. It had been a long day and she was in a daze from the evening’s end. She turned the radio on loud and opened the window a crack to keep her alert for the ride home. When she pulled into her garage, she turned off the car and sent Luc a text.
Made it home. See you Thursday morning for round three.

A few minutes later, as she took off her boots and placed them in the back hall closet, she heard her phone chime.

Round three? I thought we would just talk. I’m beginning to think you only want me for my body.

Megan laughed quietly to herself.
Smart man. You figured me out already.

For an angel, you are a little bit of a devil.

You don’t know the half of it.

I am compelled to find out. Bonsoir, Megan.

Good night, Luc.

Megan smiled as she locked up and made her way to her bedroom. She had a hot shower and then collapsed into bed, grateful her mom would get up with Elliott so she could get some extra sleep.

It was almost nine when Megan woke the next morning. She heard the phone ring and then Elliott running up the stairs and bursting into her room. “Mom! Mom! Turn on your computer! It’s Dad and he wants to Skype with me!”

Megan rubbed her eyes with her hands. “Okay baby, hang on,” she said, smiling at Elliott. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, trying to steady herself. “Tell your dad it will take about five minutes to log on.”

Elliott was already disappearing down the hall, chatting excitedly. “She was still sleeping. She said it will take five minutes, but I know how to start up the computer so I’ll do it. . . .”

“Shit,” Megan muttered under her breath. She was tired and her feet hurt from the day before. She always felt nervous when Elliott spoke to Ian. She knew Elliott would think that maybe Ian would start calling every day or come and see him.

Pulling a sweater over her head, she walked over to her bathroom and took a swig of mouthwash, gargling as she stared into the mirror. Her hair had a wild look to it because she had gone to bed with it wet. She tried for a brief moment to fix it, then gave up, spitting the mouthwash into the sink and padding down the stairs to the kitchen.

Elliott had the computer started and was looking for the Skype icon while Helen looked over his shoulder, trying to help him.

“I got it, Mom.” Megan yawned, trying to wake up. She opened the program for Elliott and pressed the video-call button to connect him with his dad.

“It’s working, Dad! Can you hear it on your computer?” Elliott grinned up at his mom. The familiar sound of the call connecting could be heard, then Megan looked down to see her ex-husband sitting outside on his patio in Florida in a T-shirt. He was tanned and looked as handsome as ever, if a little bit worn down from hard living.

Ian grinned at his little boy, hanging up his cellphone. “Hey, buddy! Look at you! How’d you get so big?”

Megan walked away from the computer, rolling her eyes at her mom. Helen handed her a mug for her coffee and whispered in her ear, “Time. He got so big while that jackass has been MIA. . . .”

Megan stifled a laugh and poured herself a coffee. “Thank you for the sleep-in day. I am wiped.”

“So,” Helen whispered, “did you meet a man last night?”

“Yes, and I went straight to his hotel room just like I promised you I would,” Megan muttered under her breath to her mom.

Helen giggled softly and Megan joined in, but for a completely different reason.

The two moved to the kitchen table, where Megan could casually listen to the call without being seen by Ian. Elliott was chatting away excitedly about the train set he thought was from him. They spoke for about twenty minutes before another call came through on the home phone. Megan was surprised at how sober Ian seemed and marvelled at the fact that he was even awake this early on a Sunday.

The phone ringing interrupted Elliott’s happy chatter. He held up a finger to his dad. “Hang on, Dad. It’s my friend Jase on the phone.”

Elliott answered the call. “Hi, Jase! I’m just Skyping with my dad. He lives near Disney World. . . .”

He paused for a moment, then looked over at Megan. “Mom! Can I go to Jase’s today? His parents want to take us skiing at Eldora for the day. Can I go? Please, please, please?”

Megan walked over to Elliott. “Tell him I’d like to talk to his parents, okay?”

Elliott did as he was told, then handed the phone to his mom. Elliott, too distracted to talk to his dad at the moment, waited to hear what Megan was going to say.

Ian watched the scene unfold, realizing how far removed he was from even the slightest parenting decision. He didn’t know if his son could ski or if this Jase boy’s parents were responsible enough to take him along. He saw Megan’s torso as she took the phone, then watched as she walked away to the living room. Her gait was so familiar to him, and he could tell she was hiding her slender frame under that big sweater and her plaid pyjama bottoms.

A stab of regret cut Ian hard, an all-too-normal feeling for him. How many Sunday mornings like this had he missed in Elliott’s life? All of them, really. He sat quietly, thinking about what it would have been like to be there with them. Would he and Megan go back to bed after seeing Elliott off? Would they still have that heat they used to? Megan had always been so sexy and passionate. There was nothing about
her
that had caused their breakup—it was all Ian and his drugs. If he could take it all back and start over with her, he would.

A minute later, he saw her walk back into the kitchen. She was still beautiful as she smiled at Elliott and gave him a little nod. “Okay, now get back to talking to your dad, silly beans!”

Elliott yelled with excitement, “Yes! I get to go skiing, Dad! Do you like to ski? I love it!”

“I do enjoy it. I don’t get a chance to go often living here, though.”

“You should come up for a visit and we could go together.”

“Maybe I should, Elliott. That sounds like a great idea.”

“Mom could come too. She’s a great skier.”

“I remember.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you kind of know her.”

Ian chuckled at his son’s perspective. “Yeah, I guess I do kind of know her.”

* * *

An hour later, Megan helped Elliott bring his ski helmet and booster seat out to his friend’s minivan. Elliott and Jase jumped around in the van, yelling eagerly. Jase’s mom, Rebecca, laughed at the pair. “Okay, you two, get buckled in already!”

She turned to Megan. “Can we keep him until after supper? We were planning to eat at the hill.”

“Of course.” Megan handed her some money, “This should cover his lift ticket, equipment rental and meals.”

Jase’s dad, Cory, shook his head. “No, no. He’s our guest. It’s our treat. Really, you’re doing us a favour. It’s so much more fun for Jase with Elliott around.”

“Well, use it to buy everyone lunch, then. I insist.”

“Alright.” Rebecca smiled. She knew Megan well enough to know that she didn’t want to feel like a charity case.

“Thank you,” Megan said. “I’m happy for him. He was doomed to an afternoon of shovelling with his boring old mom before you called.”

“Thank
you
!” Rebecca said. “We’ll be back around seven, if that’s alright.”

“That would be perfect.” She turned to Elliott. “Have fun, be safe and be on your best behaviour.”

“I know, Mom. Love you. Bye!” he said quickly.

“Love you too. Bye, guys.” She watched the minivan slowly make its way down the street for a moment before running back into the now empty house to get out of the cold.

Her mom had gone home earlier to get ready for church. Megan wandered over to the kitchen to pour herself another mug of coffee. Looking at the clock, she realized it was close to ten. She wondered if Luc might be in town still. Should she text him? Maybe they could see each other. But would that seem too desperate?

The thought of him made her blush all over—he brought out a wild side in her and she liked it. Sitting there in cozy sweatpants now, she could hardly believe she was the same woman in nothing but leather boots the night before. The memory of his kiss, of his smile and of him inside her filled her mind, bringing a feeling of desire to her entire body.

She grabbed her cellphone off the table and texted him.
Hey, you, how did you sleep?

A minute later, her phone chimed.
Like only a very satisfied man can. How about you?

Very well. Elliott got invited skiing for the day, so I have the day to myself. Trying to figure out what to do. . . .

Really? I know a handsome Frenchman who happens to be nearby. If you ask nicely, I bet he would take you out for the day . . . 

Who says I want to go out? I might want to spend the day in bed. I haven’t decided yet.

A second later, her cellphone rang. “Is this a handsome Frenchman?” she asked.

Luc laughed a little. “It might be. Is this a sexy American girl with tall leather boots?”

“It might be. Although at the moment, I’m in very alluring blue sweatpants.”

“Mmm, if that’s all you’re wearing, I’ll be right over. Sweatpants come off easily.”

Megan laughed, feeling turned on by the thought of him taking her pants off. “So, listen, aren’t you driving back today?”

“I can’t drive back, as it turns out. There’s some freezing rain a couple of hours west of here. They had to close the main freeway. I was just trying to get a flight back later today if possible and leave the rental at the airport. The latest flight is at eight tonight. Maybe I can book that one so we can spend the day together?”

“Yes, do that. I’ll meet you at your hotel in about an hour, okay?”

“Perfect. Until then,” he said before hanging up.

Until then
, she thought. Those words coming out of an American man’s mouth would sound odd, but from him, wow. Megan hurried up the stairs to shower.

Forty minutes later, dressed in her cream-coloured winter coat, jeans and her new brown suede boots, she locked up the house. She had put on a little extra makeup, including Harper’s red lipstick, and put her hair up the same way it had been when she first met Luc. Her heart thumped in her chest as she drove over to the hotel. When she arrived, she was surprised to see Luc waiting for her in the lobby, dressed in his long, black wool coat and jeans, with a sexy grin on his face. He strode over to her.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.

“You look pretty good yourself.” She smiled.

“I thought I should meet you down here so we could go have a late breakfast together. If you came up to the room, I was afraid we wouldn’t get out of bed all day.”

“Why would you be afraid of that?”

“Because we should do
some
talking, don’t you think?”

“Talking can be overrated, but I suppose if you’re hungry, we should get some food into you.”

Luc leaned in to speak quietly into her ear. “Yes, we need to have enough energy for all the fucking we’re going to do later.”

Megan’s eyes popped open and she could feel her body react to his words. “By all means, then, let’s go eat.”

They made their way along the snowy sidewalk to a little restaurant that served Sunday brunch. Luc held the door for Megan as she stamped the snow off her boots. Inside, the restaurant was warm and busy. A hostess in a white dress shirt and black pants rushed over to seat them.

“Can we sit by the fireplace?” Luc asked her. “My girlfriend is always chilly and I take it upon myself to remedy that whenever possible.”

“Of course,” she replied, picking up two menus and leading them to a table in front of the fireplace. “Your server will be right with you.” She smiled at them.

The pair thanked her and got settled at the table. They ordered their meals and sipped coffee, grinning at each other. Images of the night before and the day to come occupied their thoughts.

“This is a most welcome surprise,” Luc said, taking her hands in his. “I did not expect to get the entire day with you.”

“Me neither. I thought you might be on your way back already.” Megan looked down at his large hands holding hers. The sight and the feel of them removed any trace of chill left over from their walk. “What time is your flight?”

“Seven thirty. I should leave for the airport at six, I think, right?”

“Sounds about right. I should get home around then anyway. Elliott’s being dropped off by seven.”

“So we have almost seven hours together. We should eat quickly,” he said, as their food was placed in front of them.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Megan laughed, picking up a fork and knife to cut a piece off her eggs Benedict.

After the first few tastes of food and sips of coffee, Luc took his phone out of his pocket. “Excuse me. I need to read this email. It’s from Simone, about the numbers from last night.”

“Of course,” Megan replied.

After a moment, Luc put his phone back in his jacket pocket. “I apologize. I try to keep that type of thing to a minimum when I’m out with a woman. I know it’s rude.”

“No, I understand. I find myself needing to work at unconventional moments and I’m running only one business. You’re running a lot of businesses.”

Luc smiled. “Thank you. It’s nice to be with someone who knows what it’s like. It’s not a sign of disinterest in you, only necessity.”

“I can’t see that bothering me, but. . . .” Her voice trailed off as Megan reconsidered what she was about to say.

“But? If there’s something I’m doing that bothers you, I want to know now, so I can make adjustments,” Luc said with a serious expression.

“It’s Simone, actually. After what happened in Paris, I’m a little concerned she might try to interfere again. And I’m wondering why someone with such a mean streak still works for you. Surely she must cause problems with the staff at times.”

Luc gave a little nod. “Yes, I’m sure it would be hard to understand. Simone has been with me for a long time. She is very loyal and does an excellent job, always putting out fires for me—a lot of them I will never even have to know about. She doesn’t have a family—at least, not a very nice one. She is an only child, like me, except instead of a philanderer for a father, hers was abusive. Her mother managed to get away from him only to marry another abuser. Simone has nothing to do with either of them. She and I are both without true families so, in some ways, we have become that for each other. That’s why she is so protective of me. Does that make sense?”

Megan’s voice was hesitant. “It does . . . but it doesn’t really help alleviate my concerns about her possible impact on our relationship.”

Luc reached his hand across the table to hold hers. “I know she was awful to you and I am so sorry for that. I will be very vigilant to make sure she doesn’t interfere. And if you somehow end up having a conversation with her again that you are troubled by, I need to know right away so I can deal with her accordingly. She will grow used to the fact that we are together and, in time, I hope you two will even become friends. Once she sees what I see in you, I know she’ll want to be your friend. How could she not? You are an amazing person. When that happens, you’ll see that there is no one as fiercely protective as Simone.”