The Billionaire's Desire (7 page)

Ally pulled the pins out of her bun and shook out her hair. The elevator doors opened with a ding and she stepped off.

“Ah-
lee
.”

She froze. It was him, wasn’t it? Not a figure of her imagination and longing?

“Luc?” she asked, uncertain.

“Hello.” He was impeccable as always, but casual, in jeans and a gray v-neck t-shirt, smiling at her with hope in his chocolate-brown eyes, and he held a rich leather binder in one hand.

“Hello,” she whispered. “How did you get up here?”

“Your doorman, Bruce. He, ah, was so kind as to let me wait for you here. But rest assured, he said if aught should happen to you, I would have him to answer to.”

She felt a smile tug at her lips, the first genuine one in days. “You came.”

“I brought gifts.” Luc opened the binder and procured a white sheet of paper. “Look.”

He pointed at one particularly lengthy paragraph and Ally read aloud. “‘By this contract Gemme, International, etcetera, etcetera, renounces and hereby terminates said existing contract with Catherine Alexandra Fedoroff, effective immediately…”

Ally looked up at him in shock. “You fired Catherine?”

“For you.” Luc chuckled. “Well, all right. Not just for you. She was a danger to Gemme anyway; her temper tantrums were causing several other clients to quietly cancel bookings and ad campaigns. Her career is going to take a hit when word leaks that we have dropped her; but it’s over if she continues as she has been. Not even the loveliest face is worth such a horribly bitchy attitude. And besides – I found a lovelier one.”

It was enough to make Ally melt into him. She realized suddenly that they were still standing in the hall.

“Will you come in?” She unlocked the door and felt his hand at her elbow. How easy it would be…

He followed her in and they sat comfortably on the couch in her living room where she had done most of her moping.

“You fired Catherine Fedoroff for me?” she confirmed.

“Are you surprised?” Luc looked genuinely amused.

“Well – yes. She’s been your go-to face for years now. Didn’t she help take the brand international? And she surely must have some pull in the industry…”

“She agreed. As you can see at the bottom of that sheet – ” Ally noticed she was still clutching the contract termination – “
she signed. She is finished with Gemme.”

Ally wasn’t naïve. “For how much?”

“A handsome severance bonus. I was more generous than I ought to have been.” Luc made as if he would reach for Ally’s hand, but she pulled it away abruptly.

“Generous to your wife?”

“Present number two,” he said with precision. “
Voila
.”

Luc opened the binder again and p
ulled out a packet.

“It is a Xerox, but I assure you, the original has been filed.”

Ally did not think she could be any more stunned as she scanned the legalese. “These are divorce papers.”

Luc smiled. “I went to her hotel after you left me at the restaurant. I was going to ask her for a divorce. As it turned out – she had already contacted her attorney and prepared the papers. All they required was my signature.” He sniffed, in that delightfully snooty French way. “I think she has taken up with someone new, some nineteen-year-old model she met at the Gemme party in St. Tropez. Who knows? I don’t care, I swear to you, Ah-
lee
. I want you. Please, please, my darling. Tell me you believe me now. Tell me that you have seen reason – you have come to your senses. This, all of this, I did for you. Because I care for you. And I have faith in us.”

“I thought I was just a weekend fling,” Ally began. She searched Luc’s warm eyes with her own glittering blue ones. “I…couldn’t imagine that you would truly be interested in me.”

“You are not. I truly am. Look…I don’t pretend to know where this will go. I don’t sit here and tell you that everything will be perfect and a fairy tale. We’ll have to make this work somehow. It will be difficult. But I support you, did you know that? One hundred percent in your career, I want you to be the very best you can be. And I hope you want the same for me.”

“Of course.” Ally’s eyes began to fill with the happiest tears. “So we’ll take it slow. I suppose we’ll fly back and forth a lot at first…”

“Oh,” Luc interrupted her. “I forgot to mention. Firing Catherine is just the beginning of our fresh start. We’re going to be branching out our designs, taking things in a new direction. And we’re opening a New York office, which I’m going to make the hub of international operations. Did I forget to mention that?”

“Yes!” Ally shouted, playfully slapping him. Her heart felt as if it might burst with happiness. He caught her by the arm and gently pulled it so that her fingers brushed the nape of his neck. Then he kissed her, long and sweet.

“Can you stand to have me in your life from now on, every day that I can manage it?”

“Yes,” she whispered, and he rewarded her with another kiss.

“Will you come back to Paris with me and stay for awhile in the St. Tropez house this summer?”

“Yes.” His lips were on her neck, his fingers unbuttoning her blouse.

“Ah-
lee
…”

“Luc?”

“Will you go on a second date with me to Marcel’s…and promise you won’t run away this time?”

“Yes,” Ally said with a giggle as Luc swept her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.