Breaking Love (Full Hearts Book 2) (31 page)

Opening the car door, she paused for a second. “I’ll email you the ultrasound pictures. We’ll figure out the rest later. Goodbye, Luc.”

With that she got into her car and made a U-turn back to the freeway.

Luc stood on the dusty road in shock, the pain she had just inflicted on him squeezing his heart with a viselike grip. He had been so sure it would work out this time. He would explain why it had taken him so long to get to Colorado, and she would rush into his arms. He had imagined it over and over in his mind during the last two days and nights. He had planned exactly what he would say and how he would say it. Once she heard him out she would know he had always loved her. They would vow to never let each other go again. He would pick her up and carry her inside to show her their new home. They would spend the afternoon making love and making plans, then go together to pick up Elliott and give him the news. Today they were supposed to become a family, and it would be every ridiculous fairy tale he had laughed at in his entire life.

He slowly walked back to his car, unsure of what to do next. How had his desperation for her become all-consuming? A life with her was everything he had never wanted, but now, as it was slipping through his fingers, he knew it was the only thing he had ever needed. Only Megan could still his restlessness and fill his very soul with all the love and contentment that had been missing in his life.

Her words raced through his mind.
I’m just not in love with you. I never have been. It was just sex for me. . . .
You were just a warm body.

He drove slowly back to his new house, stopping on the way for some wine and a corkscrew. When he got to the house, he remembered he had no glasses. He had gotten Walter to convince the previous owners to leave a large sectional in the living room and some lounge chairs next to the pool in the yard. Luc’s footsteps were heavy as he dragged himself across the main floor and out the back door. He uncorked the wine and tipped the bottle up, filling his mouth with huge gulps of the warm red liquid.

“Women,” he said to himself, settling into a lounger. The day had grown hot and the world around him seemed still. Luc took in the view of the mountains, watching a hawk swoop in the distance. It was a beautiful place. This should have been a perfect day.

For the first time in his adult life, he had no plan. He had a baby coming into the world in a few short months. He was alone in Boulder, Colorado, and the woman he loved was across town insisting that she didn’t love him.

Three hours later, Luc woke up, sweating and dizzy from the heat and the wine. He had been sleeping in the sun, in a black T-shirt and jeans, for hours. His stomach lurched as he stood up. Looking down at his arm, he noticed the redness before he felt it. He had the worst sunburn of his life. Making his way down to the master bedroom, his mouth fell open when he saw his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His face, neck and arms were already the colour of the inside of a ripe watermelon. He winced, thinking of how he was going to feel in a few hours.

“Of course,” he said to the bright red man staring back at him.

“Elliott, can you get that? It’s probably Grandma.” Megan called from the kitchen. It was Elliott’s first day of summer vacation, and she was getting a picnic ready for them to take down to the beach.

The doorbell rang again.

“Elliott! Where are you?” Megan called, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and walking briskly to the door. She swung it open and came face to face with Luc, who had a dark tan. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the sight of him.

“Luc? You’ve been tanning?”

“I may have fallen asleep in the sun. But I’m not here to talk to you. I’m here to talk to my baby.”

Megan folded her arms across her chest. “What?”

“I’ve been doing some reading and found out that a baby will recognize her parents’ voices when she is born
if
she hears them talking enough. So I am here to talk to the baby. You go on about your day. I won’t disturb you.”

Megan sighed heavily, ushering him out onto the front steps. She followed him and closed the door. “I don’t want Elliott to know you’re here. I haven’t told him about the baby yet. I’m trying to figure out how to explain it.”

“Oh. I see,” Luc said. He paused for a moment. Her stare was ice cold as she looked up at him. “Okay. Well, I want you to call me as soon as Elliott knows, so I can come talk to my baby. Or maybe I can come after he’s in bed, if that makes it easier for you.”

Megan shook her head. “I know what you’re trying to do. You think you can say all sorts of wonderfully romantic things and I’ll change my mind, right?”

Luc pretended to be offended. “I would never do that. I know you’ve made up your mind. This is between me and my child. For now, I just want to tell her that I love her and that she doesn’t need to be scared of love like her mom is. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m never going to turn into a drug addict, and I’ll always be here for her. I’ll have to go on business trips from time to time, but I’ll always come back as quickly as I can because this is my home.”

“Her?” she asked quietly.

“I’m hoping it’s a girl. Then we’ll have one of each.” He gave her a sincere look.

Megan fought back tears but said nothing. It took every ounce of willpower for her not to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

Luc stared at her. “I’m going to go now, but I’ll be back. I’ll come every day, again and again, until the baby knows she can trust me completely.”

He turned and jogged down the steps, then turned back to her. “You look absolutely beautiful, by the way. Just fucking gorgeous.”

Megan could feel herself melt as she watched him get into his car and take off. He was driving a Mercedes SUV now, which meant he must have gone car shopping in the past few days and, in true Luc style, picked something sleek and luxurious but also practical.

* * *

The next day, Megan found herself working in Charlie’s garage alongside him, her mom and Elliott. They were preparing for Helen to move in and needed to clear out a lot of clutter.

“Maybe the easiest thing to do would be to start with all this recycling?” Megan wore a doubtful expression as she surveyed the mess. It was worse than her basement.

Charlie gave her a little nod. “Good thinking. Elliott, help me carry this stuff out to my truck. We can go hit the recycling depot and maybe grab an ice cream on the way back.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Helen called to him with a big grin. “You are not going to hightail it out of here and leave us to clean up this disaster.”

Charlie just smiled. “She’s on to me, hey, Elliott?”

“Yup.”

The two started moving bundles of newspapers, old envelopes and other papers that were stacked in the corner. After the pile had been cleared, Megan noticed a paper poking out from under an empty gas can. She crouched down and picked it up.

“You missed this. . . .” she started to say before looking at it more closely. It was a neatly folded paper with Luc’s handwriting on the back.

My life is meaningless without you. I will be right here waiting for us to start over. L

Her hand started to shake as she unfolded the paper. It was the real estate listing for his house. It showed
sold
across the photo of the front of the house.

“Charlie, how did this get here?” she asked, feeling panic.

Charlie walked over to her. “What’s that, Megan?” He peered at it for a second. “Oh yeah, this is that paper that was in those roses I gave you, Helen. Remember how you wouldn’t believe that I found them in my garbage can? Ha! Here’s proof.”

Megan let out a sob. “Oh shit!” she muttered, tears springing to her eyes. He had bought the house months ago. Before either of them knew about the baby. He really
was
in love with her.

“What’s wrong, dear?” Helen looked over at her daughter with concern.

“Nothing.” She smiled through her tears. “For the first time in years, everything is going to be fine.” Megan swiped her hand across both cheeks. “I have to go for a bit. There’s something I have to do. Okay? Elliott, stay here with Grandma and Charlie.”

“Can I come, Mom?”

“No, baby, you go get ice cream with Charlie and Grandma. I’ll be back soon.”

She rushed down the driveway and into her house to get her car keys.

* * *

Luc sat on an Adirondack chair under an umbrella in his backyard. He was reading a book for expectant parents. Beside him on a table was a copy of
Home Maintenance for Dummies
. He didn’t hear Megan’s car pull up. He didn’t hear the click of the latch on the gate. He didn’t hear the doorbell from where he sat. He did hear Megan call his name.

“Luc.” It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard and it made his pulse race, just like it did every time.

He turned to see her standing across the patio. Her hair was messy and she wore dusty-looking jean shorts and a grey T-shirt that was a bit snug around her growing belly. She looked lovely to him as he stood up and watched her rush toward him, her flip-flops slapping against the lawn. She stopped in front of him with a paper in her hand. He recognized it immediately.

“Why didn’t you tell me you bought this house months ago?” she said, her voice shaking.

“Because you kept insisting that you didn’t love me. I have my pride, you know.”

Megan grinned and started to tear up. “Sorry. These fucking hormones make me cry at everything. Last night I wept for an hour over a Dairy Queen ad.”

Luc smiled down sympathetically, “I know. I read about it in the book.” He wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

Megan reached up and wrapped her fingers around his wrists, keeping them in place on her cheeks. “Oh, Luc, I’m so sorry I said those horrible things to you. None of them were true. I was just
so
scared that if we tried to build something together
because
of the baby, it would never work out. I was scared that if you gave up everything for us, you would start to resent us and then you’d leave. I couldn’t go through that again.

“And now I can finally see the truth, that if I don’t give us a chance, I’m just going to ruin all of our lives: mine, yours and the kids’. I’m going to end up teaching them both to never allow themselves to love anyone. And that would be a horrible, terrible thing to do, because loving someone is the best part of life. So, I’m finally ready to take a leap of faith and tell you the truth. I fell in love with you when we were on top of the Eiffel Tower watching the sunset. You had your arms wrapped around me and I wanted to kiss you so bad, but I wouldn’t let myself. And I knew right then that I loved you, but I’ve been too stubborn and scared to admit it, even to myself. I love you. I am so completely and sickeningly in love with you, Luc Chevalier, that it frightens me when I think about it. I need you, Luc. Even if there were no baby, I would need you and
. . . and I hope you believe me. Everything I said the other day was a huge lie and I’m—”

A devilish grin spread across his face as he kissed her hard on the mouth to get her to stop talking. “I know. I knew you were lying. The book says that pregnant women tend to lie as much as drunk women.”

Relief swept over Megan, causing her to laugh out loud at his joke. She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him back. “God, you’re arrogant.”

“You love that about me.” He smirked as he pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers.

“Yes, I actually do. There must be something seriously wrong with me. This is the one and only time you will hear me admit to it, but there is something about your cocky attitude that just turns me on. I will go to my grave denying it.”

“I don’t care. I’ll always know it’s true.” He kissed her tenderly on the lips. “So, can we finally start our life together?”

“If you still want me after everything I’ve put you through.”

“I do, because I am sickeningly and completely in love with you too. There must be something seriously wrong with me as well.” Luc smiled, kissing her on the lips.

Tears welled up in Megan’s eyes again. “Then we must be meant for each other.”

“We are. You know, it’s just like I’ve always said—everyone finds their happily-ever-after,” Luc replied.

Megan pursed her lips. “You have never said that in your life.”

Luc gave her confused look. “You must have mistaken me for someone else. I’ve always believed in true love.”

Megan shook her head. “Shut up and kiss me again.”

“Yes, Bossy Boots.”

They held each other for a long time, their mouths moving in perfect unison, their hands exploring each other again. Their embrace embodied the pure and infinite love they had for each other. It was full of tender passion and honesty. Luc ran his hand ever so gently across her tummy, feeling the firm and warm home his baby was growing in. A surge of unbridled happiness moved through his body at the thought. They were going to be a family. The four of them. And he had never felt so content or at peace with anything in his life. As he looked into Megan’s eyes, he knew that his life of restlessness and loneliness was forever over. Everything he needed was right here, just like Harper had told him it was. In Boulder.

He picked her up and carried her across the lawn and up the steps to the back door of the house. Opening the door with one hand, he kissed her hard on the mouth.

“Welcome home, Megan.”

Breaking Love

SECRET SCENES GIVEAWAY!

Need
MORE
Luc? Here’s your chance!

I have put together a booklet including two steamy scenes that didn’t end up in the novel. They are hot, and coming from me, that’s saying something . . . And now I’ve put them into a secret scenes booklet, just for you! Anyone who posts an honest review of the book will get a copy of the booklet—for free, of course! Here’s how to get it:

1. Post a review of
Breaking Love
on Amazon,
Goodreads
, Google Play, iBooks, and/or Kobo.

2. Go to my website
www.mjsummersbooks.com
to get your booklet!

Happy reading, everyone!

—MJ