Breaking Love (Full Hearts Book 2) (12 page)

Luc tossed and turned most of the night, unable to get comfortable. Clarissa’s words haunted him. What
was
the point of his life? He was forty-one and was utterly alone in the world. He had friends and money—and friends who were only interested in his money—but at the end of each day, he was alone. He had felt sorry for Megan and, until this moment, it had never occurred to him that he was every bit as alone as she was. Much more, in fact. She had her mom and her son.

He finally drifted off to sleep around 2 a.m., waking late in the morning with that awful feeling in the pit of his stomach again. Getting up, Luc took a shower and made himself a coffee. He had nothing pressing that day. He had planned to go over to the nightclub in the late afternoon but had thought he would be spending the morning in bed with Clarissa. Wandering over to the desk, he turned on his laptop and googled the distance from Aspen to Boulder. He could make the drive in a little under four hours. Without thinking about it, he threw a few things into an overnight bag and grabbed his coat, stuffing his cellphone and wallet into the pocket, then hurried out of his suite. For the first time in his adult life, he was going to act on impulse without having a carefully thought-out plan.

An hour later, he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a rented Durango, hooking up his cellphone to the hands-free. He set the navigation system to guide him to Boulder, not sure where he would find her. How big could that city be? He’d figure out where she was.

Megan was up long before the sun to shower and get dressed for the day. She quickly had a bite of breakfast and poured coffee into her travel mug as she watched her mom’s car pull up in front of her house. Elliott would still be sleeping when she left. Megan and her mom chatted for a few minutes before Megan picked up her equipment. She stood in the doorway and looked at her mom for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to tell her about Charlie coming by.

“Hey, Mom. Have a really great day. And don’t be afraid to try something new today, okay?”

Helen gave her a confused look. “What? What do you mean?”

“Just that. Have a terrific day, alright?”

“I will. You too, honey.”

* * *

The day with the wedding party started out rough. The bride, Quinn, was both very nervous and very bitchy at the salon. She had a definite idea of what she wanted her hair and makeup to look like and nothing seemed to please her. Her mom and sisters rushed around, trying to placate her, bringing her some champagne and orange juice to help her relax. Megan tried to stay out of the way and get a few shots as directed by Quinn herself. Megan was dreading the rest of the day as she got into her car to drive to the groom’s parents’ house.

When she arrived there, the groom, Rodney, looked pale and a little bit green. He was still in a bathrobe, sitting on the couch, trying to choke down some cereal when his dad let Meg in. The groomsmen didn’t look much better.

Rodney’s mom, Diana, came down the stairs to greet her. “Look at these idiots. Quinn is going to be furious when she sees the shape they’re in.”

Megan bit her lip, thinking about the mood the bride was already in. “Right. I just saw her and she was a little . . . stressed. We’re going to have to work fast to perk them up and get them dressed. I have to be over at Quinn’s mom’s place in an hour. Do you have some champagne and orange juice, by any chance?”

“In the kitchen. I’ll be right back with it.”

The men stared vacantly at Megan as Diana walked out of the room.

* * *

“Elliott, when that cartoon is done, come into the kitchen, okay? Lunch is ready,” Helen called to her grandson.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and answered it. Charlie was standing on the other side with an empty measuring cup in his hand.

“Hi, Helen. I came to borrow a cup of sugar.” He smiled at her. His hair had been carefully combed and she could smell a hint of cologne.

“Oh, sure. Come on in. Megan’s not home but she won’t mind.” Helen turned and led him into the kitchen.

“What are you making?” she asked.

“What?” Charlie replied.

“What are you making that you need sugar?”

Shit.
He realized he hadn’t thought the lie through. “Coffee.”

“Coffee? And you need an entire cup of sugar for that?” Helen raised one eyebrow at him. She knew what he was up to.

“I like it sweet?” He looked a little panicked.

To his relief, Helen laughed and shook her head. “Megan put you up to this, didn’t she? Before she left the house today, she told me not to be afraid to try something new. I take it you’re what she was referring to.”

Charlie lowered his head and then raised his eyes up to her. She was so lovely, with her sparkling green eyes and her shoulder-length blond hair with grey mixed in. She was giving him a hard look, but there was a hint of amusement there as well.

“Yes. I’m afraid my kids have been on me to find someone to spend time with. I finally realized maybe they’re right. I mean, what’s the point of being so handsome if you don’t have a nice lady to admire you?”

Helen laughed. “That would certainly be a waste, wouldn’t it? You’re barking up the wrong tree, though. I’m not in the market for a man.”

“Well, what about someone to go for coffee with? If it goes alright we could try lunch, then maybe by summer we could progress to dinner.”

Helen stared at him as she considered it. Charlie was a kind man. He had always been so good to Megan. His wife had been gone for years now and he hadn’t rushed out to find someone new to take care of him, like so many men did.

“One coffee. That’s all I can commit to,” she replied, trying to look serious.

He smiled in relief. “One coffee.”

“Now, do you want the sugar or not?”

“Not. But if I could get your phone number, that would be equally sweet.”

Helen laughed a little and shook her head. Part of her was annoyed at what she was doing as she wrote the number on a piece of paper for him. The other part of her was extremely flattered.

* * *

As Luc drove, he knew what he was doing was ridiculous, laughable even, but he felt compelled to do it anyway. He needed to see her again and that was all there was to it.

He suddenly realized this could be the beginning of a perfect arrangement for both Megan and him. They could have a long distance relationship. That might suit Megan because they could work it around
her
life and make sure Elliott would not be involved. They could speak on the phone and meet whenever they could, but they would both still have their own lives.

He checked the distance on the navigation system. He still had another hour to go until he reached Boulder. The roads had become icy and it began snowing hard as he got farther north. He’d have to drive quite slowly now, meaning the trip would be well over seven hours instead of four. It reminded of him of drives to the Swiss Alps to ski in the winter. He’d been too busy to do that for a few years, although it was something he had once loved. His mind wandered back to when he had learned to ski. It was one of the first things he had done when he had enough money. Luc had always wanted to go skiing as a boy but his mom couldn’t afford to take him. He knew his father took his wife and other children to the Alps each Christmas. That was one of the reasons Luc never saw him over the holidays.

His father, Jean-Paul Chevalier, had been a well-known politician in France, and Luc’s mother, Stephanie, had been his mistress for many years. They had Luc, and from time to time, his father would come by to see Stephanie, always bringing a toy for Luc to play with. He would stay the night and leave shortly after breakfast, not to return again for weeks.

As a small boy, Luc always yearned for his father’s attention. He wished Jean-Paul would come by to see him and would sometimes ask why his father had never taken him to the mountains. His mother would explain that Luc’s father had his other family and that wasn’t how this worked for people in their situation. As Luc grew up, he began to understand that as a mistress, his mother would never receive the devotion reserved for a wife. Luc’s heart began to harden as his disappointment in his father grew. Luc watched Stephanie pathetically accept whatever pittance she got from Jean-Paul and saw how depressed she became when he left, knowing he wouldn’t return for a long time. His father would get what he wanted and then go back home to his real family. Jean-Paul’s wife knew about Stephanie and Luc—it was almost expected that a man in her husband’s position would have at least one mistress. She looked the other way.

Luc had decided that when he grew up, he would do the one thing it seemed all the very rich did—ski in the Alps. He would show his father and the rest of his father’s upper-class friends that he was every bit as good as they were. He picked up the sport very quickly. It had become an obsession, and for several years he skied every chance he got until he was one of the best on the slopes each time he went.

Now as he drove along, memories of his mother’s sadness haunted him. Maybe that was why he was drawn to Megan. She had that same air of sadness about her when she spoke of her ex and her son. She was strong in ways that his mother never had been, however. Megan was never going to be taken advantage of. She had gotten away from her ex as soon she realized she had to. Sometimes Luc had wished his mother would move back to the United States with him, taking both of them away from the destruction and disappointment his father caused every time he left them again.

“Okay, everyone! I know we’re all cold, but I promise we have only a few more group shots before you can go warm up in the limo!”

Megan’s feet and hands felt like ice as she took shots of the wedding party on a footbridge. She was grateful that she had worn her long red coat, but her dressy black boots were not nearly warm enough, and she needed bare hands to work the camera. The groomsmen had started with the one mimosa that morning and kept on going. All five of them were drunk and unruly by now, making bunny ears or doing the shocker hand gesture each time Megan tried to get a picture.

Megan moved the camera away from her face. “Alright fellas, you’ve had your funny poses. Now, these ladies here have bare shoulders, and they are freezing. Be chivalrous and help us get through this fast, okay?”

Quinn spun to face her husband’s friends, her face now full of rage. “Stop it! STOP IT! You fucking idiots are
ruining
my day!”

Rodney, who was not in the least bit drunk but had a wicked headache, flinched as his new wife screamed. At the moment, this felt like the worst day of his life. He put his hands up, palms out, at his friends. “Okay, guys, seriously. Pull it together here.”

The guys rolled their eyes but managed to stand still for a few minutes. Megan took shots as fast as she could and then sent the bridal party back to the limo, leaving only Quinn and Rodney to contend with.

Quinn hissed at him. “You look like a fucking mess. Your face is totally green.” Turning her sights on Meg, she snapped, “Megan, are you going to be able to fix this?”

“I can fix anything. It’s not that bad, really, through the lens,” she lied as she adjusted the zoom. “Well, here you are, just the two of you. And you did it. You got married!”

Megan held the camera back up to her face. “Okay, can you turn your bodies to face each other, look into each other’s eyes and hold it?” She clicked away. “Tilt your head up a bit, Quinn. That’s it. Perfect! You make such a beautiful couple. How did you meet anyway?”

Quinn spoke up, her voice still a little angry. “I had a flat tire on the freeway and he stopped to help me.” Quinn looked over at Megan.

“Oh, keep looking at Rodney,” she said. “So he changed your tire for you?”

Quinn started to laugh. “No, he didn’t have a clue how. He didn’t have the jack on properly, so when he took the tire off, the whole car fell, which caused major damage to it. We had to call a tow truck.”

Rodney smiled at the memory. “I was just winging it. I stopped because she was so beautiful, and I figured, how hard could it be? I’m sorry I’m such a knucklehead. We shouldn’t have gone partying last night, Quinn.”

“That’s okay. You’re
my
knucklehead.”

Finally the couple seemed to relax as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Rodney lowered his mouth to Quinn’s and they shared a long kiss. Megan breathed a sigh of relief. The day was about to get much easier.

* * *

Luc dialed Harper’s number and hit the hands-free button on his cellphone.

“Hello?”

“Harper, it’s Luc. How are you?”

Harper’s voice was flat as she replied, “Fine. What’s up?”

“I need your help, actually. I’m on my way to Boulder to see Megan, and I don’t know how to reach her.”

“What do you mean? You’re going to fly there today?”

“Oh, no. I was in Aspen and I rented a ridiculously huge vehicle and started driving. I want to ask her out for dinner.”

“Are you serious? Have you lost your fucking mind? That’s an insanely long drive just to ask someone out for dinner. She can’t go, anyway; she’s working at a wedding all day. I don’t even know if she’ll want to see you, Luc. She felt pretty upset about what happened.”

“I know. I feel terrible about it and I can’t stop thinking about her. I was hoping we could start over.”

“Start over? With what? It was a one-night thing, Luc, and she made it pretty clear that it’s over. I think you should turn around and go back to Aspen.”

Luc sighed. “Listen, Harper, I can’t. I’m about one hour out of town. I just have to find out if she’ll see me, okay? I’ve been fucking miserable since she left.”

“It’s not really about you, Luc.
Megan
doesn’t want you in her life, or anyone else, for that matter. I don’t think you’ve thought this through. It’s not going to go anywhere. You don’t even live on the same continent.”

“I haven’t thought it through at all, to be honest. But it might actually work very well. I could come and see her whenever I’m in the country and treat her the way she deserves to be treated, but I wouldn’t interfere with her life otherwise. It might be the perfect arrangement for her.”

Harper considered this for a moment. “I don’t know, Luc. If you just show up at her house, she is going to be exceedingly pissed at you. The last thing she would want would be to expose Elliott to whatever is going on between you.”

“Shit. I didn’t consider that. I just started driving. Maybe I should forget trying to see her.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Luc,” she said softly. “Tell you what—I’ll call her and tell her what you did and that I told you to turn back, okay? That way the ball will be in her court.”

Luc sighed, hating to give up when he was so close, but Harper was right. Megan would be angry if he just showed up at her house. “Alright. I won’t try to see her, but I can’t drive back right now. I’m in the middle of a blizzard. I’ll have to stay at a hotel in Boulder for the night. Maybe if you get in touch with her, you can give her my number and she can call me. I’ll be in town until ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Listen, I’m going to call Megan for you. But so help me God, if you fuck her around, I will hunt you down and chop you to pieces with a butcher knife, starting with that huge cock of yours. You got it?”

“She told you that about me?” He grinned.

“Dead, Luc. I will kill you dead. The last thing Meg needs is someone who is going to screw her over. She’s a good person and she’s had her share of disappointments.”

“I know that, Harper. I would never hurt her.”

“Okay, Luc. I’ll try.”

“Thank you. Goodbye, Harper.”

“Bye, Luc.”

* * *

An hour later, Megan was sitting at the back of the ballroom, changing camera lenses, when she noticed the light on her cellphone was flashing. She saw that she had missed calls from her mom and Harper. She walked down the hall toward the hotel lobby so she could get away from the noise of the music. She called home and Helen picked up.

“Sorry I missed your call, Mom. How are things going?”

“Great. Elliott’s just getting his jammies on and then we’re going to read in his room for a while before bed.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad.”

“Remember this morning when you told me not to be afraid to try something new? I figured out what you meant, you little monkey.”

Megan laughed. “So, did Charlie come by?”

“Yes. I agreed to go for a coffee with him. Now listen, I know you’re busy. I just wanted to tell
you
to be ready to try something new. If it’s good for me, it’s good for you. If you meet a nice man tonight, be open to it, okay?”

“No.”

“Well then, I’ll call Charlie and tell him I can’t go out with him.”

“Oh, nice, Mom. You’re blackmailing me using my kind widowed neighbour’s emotions as collateral?”

“Yes. It’s called hardball.”

“Grr. Okay, I promise that if the right guy shows up, I’ll hop straight into bed with him. Does that make you feel better?”

Helen laughed. “That’s my girl. Listen, I think I might stay here tonight, okay? The roads are getting much worse and I’m tuckered out. I might just go to bed after I get Elliott to sleep. That way, you can sleep in tomorrow morning and I’ll get up with him.”

“Thanks, Mom! You really are the best, even if you drive me nuts most of the time.”

“Good night, sweetie. Get home safely!”

“Will do. Bye.” Megan ended the call and smiled to herself. She wanted her mom to be happy, and even though she had no intention of following through with her own promise, it wasn’t a lie.
You never know, Ryan Gosling might be in town for some reason
.

A voice interrupted her thoughts. “Megan, it’s been a while. You look hot.”

She looked up to see Brad, the appetizer-penis-photo guy, standing beside her with a slimy smile on his face. Megan tried not to shudder as she looked back at him.

“Oh Brad, hi. You know someone in the wedding party?”

“Rodney’s my cousin. Great wedding, especially when I realized you were here.”

“Yes, a very nice day. Well, I better get back in there. I think they’re going to cut the cake pretty soon.”

Megan started to walk away. Brad touched her arm. “Hang on. You’ve got a minute for me, I’m sure. You never called after our dinner. I just wanted to know why. I thought we had a real connection.”

Megan turned to him, pulling her arm away from him in the process. “Really? You couldn’t figure that one out yourself? You sent me a picture of your penis—such as it is—during dinner.”

“I thought it would be sexy. You know, a little taste of what was coming?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“A ‘little’ taste is an accurate description, actually. Maybe some woman somewhere would like that, but I don’t know who she might be. And on a first date, it’s just plain creepy.”

Brad looked embarrassed for a second. “Damn it. I’m sorry. I wish I could take that back. My buddy told me it was a good idea.”

“Let me guess—he’s been single a long time too, right?”

Brad laughed at her observation. Moving in a little closer, he gave her his best attempt at a sexy grin. “Listen, do you think we could go out again? Maybe start over with a clean slate? I promise not to do anything like that again.”

Megan backed away from him. “I really don’t think so. I’m actually with someone now and it’s pretty serious.”

Just then, she felt a hand on her waist and lips brush up against her cheek. She flinched and turned, only to see Luc standing behind her. He gave her a firm kiss when she turned and said, “
Mon ange
, I’m sorry that I’m late. The roads were awful getting here. Who’s your friend?” Luc narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw at the man as he wrapped his arms around Megan. Brad had backed up slightly already.

“Luc, this is Brad,” she managed to say as she stared at Luc in disbelief. How could he possibly be here at this very moment, looking so gorgeous and holding her so casually?

“We’re old friends. I better get back to my table,” Brad said as he walked off.

“Yes, you should,” Luc called after him.

Megan turned to Luc. “How did you . . . ? What are you doing here?”

Luc smiled down at her. “I came to get rid of that guy. He seems like a slimeball.”

“He is.” Megan laughed. “But seriously, how are you here?”

“I was in Aspen and I wanted to see if you would have dinner with me.” Luc looked into her huge green eyes, feeling that overwhelming yearning come over him again.

Megan put her hands up in front of her, palms out. “Wait—you flew here to ask me out for dinner?”

“I drove, actually, but that’s beside the point. I spoke to Harper on my way here, and she helped me realize I couldn’t just show up at your house. I asked her to get a hold of you and give you my number so you could contact me if you wanted to. She told me you were working at a wedding today, but I can’t believe it’s at this hotel! I just picked this place randomly. If I believed in fate, I would say that it had taken a hand in this.”

“I was just about to call Harper back,” Megan answered, feeling completely shocked to have Luc standing right in front of her. She had been one hundred per cent sure they would never see each other again. “You drove all this way, in this storm, to go out for dinner?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“Not for tonight. I would never expect you to go out on such short notice. I can come back. I will be in Colorado until Thursday. I was hoping we could go out one night this week, if you have time.”

Megan gave him a hint of a smile and shook her head. “You’re a little bit nuts, you know that?”

“So I’m discovering. In every other area of my life, I assure you that I’m in full control. For some reason, you can make me do stupid things like renting an enormous vehicle and driving for seven hours in a blizzard just to see you for a few minutes. I can promise you I’ve never done this before for anyone.”

Megan stared up at him. He was standing close enough for her to kiss him if she wanted to. And she wanted to. He looked amazing as he smiled down at her with that slightly unsure look, waiting to see what she would do next. But she couldn’t let this happen. This was her real life now and she had no room in it for a man like him.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Luc,” she said quietly. “I have to go. They’re going to cut the cake soon and the bride is going to lose her mind if I’m not there.”

“I don’t want to interfere with your work. I’ll leave my cellphone number in an envelope at the front desk for you in case you change your mind.”

“I won’t, Luc. I’m sorry you came all this way.”

“I’m not. I got to see you again.” He smiled at her, but his eyes were sad as he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know, Megan, sometimes we have to take a chance on something that isn’t logical but feels right. Everything about being with you feels right to me.”

“I have to go. Goodbye, Luc.” Megan reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek then turned back to the ballroom. Luc leaned against the wall and watched as she walked away.