Her Best Match: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 1) (32 page)

“Don’t make him mad at me. I still have to work for him.”

Henri looked at her with a devious twinkle in his eyes. “Trust me,
mon ange
.”

Anne and Henri walked in the conference room door just as Gherring was about to begin the afternoon session. The smile Gherring gave to Henri didn’t reach his eyes. Henri, however, grinned and shook Gherring’s hand, pulling him to the side to speak to him. Gherring’s eyes narrowed, his lips pressing together in a hard straight line, but he nodded assent. Anne had taken her place at the head of the table next to Gherring. Henri strolled around the table speaking to his friends and acquaintances before making an obvious point of placing a chair for himself next to Anne’s. Her face hot and her pulse throbbing in her temples, Anne pretended to study her handout.

“Let’s begin now,” said Gherring, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. “We’re delighted to have Henri DuBois visiting with us. I know many of you already know him. If this is your first time to meet Henri, let me just say ‘I’m sorry’ in advance.” Gherring laughed and the group joined in… even Henri, who seemed to relish the introduction.

Gherring continued, “As you may know, Monsieur DuBois’ company, La Porte, has had a cooperative agreement with Gherring Inc. for a number of years. This association has been fruitful and profitable for both companies, as I’m sure Henri can attest. He will be an excellent resource should you have any questions about that option.”

After this introduction, Gherring plunged forward in the presentation. Anne found herself mesmerized by him, even though she’d prepared the PowerPoint herself. The time passed quickly. Questions were answered. The companies deliberated privately and questioned Henri about his association with Gherring Inc. And Gherring closed the deal by seven o’clock, without ever threatening to actually buy out the other two companies, although perhaps they knew he was considering the possibility.

“You were right,” Anne told Henri. “It was exciting. It was fun to be a part of it all. At least it was fun after my part was over.”

One of the female board members approached Anne and Henri. “Henri, someone is finally going to tame you?”

“Only because I asked you so many times, and you turned me down. How is Charles? You are ready to leave him for me?”

“One day, Henri, I might say ‘yes’. Then what will you do?” She laughed, and turned to Anne. “Ms. Best, it was so nice to meet you. Watch out for Henri! I am looking forward to working with you in the future. Do you have a card?”

“Uhmm, no, uhmm… I don’t have a card with me. But if you need me, you can reach me on the main line.”

“Excellent. And here is my card.”

Anne took the card, the first of many. Soon Gherring joined their group along with Jared, exchanging greetings and promises of future communication. Gherring kept a close eye on Henri and Anne, until the last person left the room.

Henri clapped his hands with glee. “Well done, Gherring. That should bring a few billion more into your coffers. Where are you taking us to celebrate?”

“Us?” asked Anne.

“Yes,” Gherring spoke with obvious irritation. “Henri
suggested
he should be allowed to participate in the second half of the meeting and the celebration after, in exchange for keeping his mouth shut about my
secretary
.”

“Yes, and I believe I did my part to help close the deal. It was Sir Walter Scott who said, ‘O what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive.’ He was correct—
N’est-ce pas
, Gherring?”

Gherring narrowed his eyes, and Henri said, “And the other part of the deal?”

“I have
already
apologized to Ms. Best, but I will say it again.” He turned to Anne and caught her chin with his hand, turning her to face him. “Ms. Best, as I have told you before, everything I do
means
something to me. I wasn’t making light of you. I simply wanted to make you feel better. I never meant to cause you more emotional stress.”

Their eyes locked together, and for a moment Anne was lost in a blue ocean. She floated into their depths and forgot anyone else was in the room. She regretted her harsh judgment of his actions. It was Henri’s turn to look annoyed.

“Ah-hem!” said Jared. “Aren’t you going to apologize to
me
for making up that story about how I blanked out on a presentation? Only don’t grab my neck—I’m afraid you’ll choke me.”

Gherring dropped his hand from her face.

“Really! I’m
so
hurt!” Jared used an effeminate voice and started chuckling.

The tension broke as the others joined in.

Anne giggled. “Really, Jared. My feelings weren’t hurt. I was just indignant for
you
. And the appendicitis thing was exciting. After all, I’ve never actually gotten to see one burst open before. I could’ve marked that off my bucket list. Could’ve been even better than getting my passport stamped.”

Jared said, “Now about that celebration…”

A dinner that could have been awkward, with a glaring contest between Gherring and Henri, was instead incredibly jovial. No one was able to maintain a glum attitude for more than a few seconds with Jared constantly entertaining them. One could almost imagine Gherring and Henri were friends. Almost.

“… And we looked everywhere for that pacifier. Finally, at midnight, I was going out to the car to buy a new one from the store. But when I sat down in the car, I felt this hard lump in the back of my underwear…”

Anne had tears pouring out of her eyes, her mascara long gone after a night of sidesplitting stories about Jared wrestling with newfound fatherhood.

“Stop, Jared! I need to catch my breath!” She giggled and wiped her face with her napkin. Anne waited until Jared was telling a new story to Gherring. Then she leaned over and whispered to Henri, “When do you have to go back? Tonight or tomorrow?”

“I have to go back tonight. We meet with the doctors tomorrow. They will tell us the results.”

Anne reached out to take his hand. “I don’t know if you’ll feel like talking, but call me if you do. I’m praying. I want to know.”

“I will call you. I’m so afraid. They haven’t said the word cancer, yet. But…” Henri choked a little. “She doesn’t deserve this. I wish it was me.”

Anne squeezed his hand, but Henri excused himself from the table and went to compose himself. Gherring and Jared turned questioning eyes to Anne.

“I don’t know if he’d want me to tell you…” Anne started.

“Well I overheard the word
cancer
,” said Jared.

“Please don’t say anything, Jared. It’s not him—it’s a family member. And they don’t know for sure yet. Just act like everything’s normal.”

“The bill’s paid already. We’ll leave when he returns. We won’t ask any questions,” Anne was relieved to see sympathy in Gherring’s eyes.

“I’d never say anything. I’m not
that
insensitive. I’m thinking what if it was Emery.”

When Henri returned, the foursome went to the car. The mood had turned somber, and no one seemed inclined to talk. Henri asked, “Can you take me to the train station on the way back?”

“Henri, if you want to stay the night, Gherring Inc. will pay for a room. You really did help close the deal today. I never actually thanked you.”

“No, I need to be back before the morning. But thank you for the offer.”

At the station, Anne walked in with Henri while the others waited in the car. Out of Gherring’s sight, she hugged him hard, and they shed a few more tears together.

“I’m praying, Henri. I wish I could do more. You rescued me today, and I won’t forget it. I owe you, now.”

“You are still coming next week, right?”

Anne smiled. “I’ve got the ticket taped to my bathroom mirror! I look at it every day. But Henri, you don’t have to entertain me when I come. If you need to be at home or at the hospital, I’ll be there with you.”

“Of course you would say that,
mon ange
. I will have time to show Paris to you, no matter what happens.”

Anne stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

“I cannot believe that I, the great Henri DuBois, am reduced to a kiss on the cheek. Next week, I hope to kiss these again.” He touched her lips gently with his finger before he turned and departed.

When Anne returned to the car, Jared and Gherring were discussing the schedule for the next day. “I’d love to see Switzerland, don’t get me wrong,” said Jared. “But I miss my wife and my baby girl. So I was thinking about getting a commercial flight home. You said I was getting a bonus if we closed the deal. You could just take the extra cost out of my bonus.”

Anne said, “You don’t have to do that—I feel bad. Mr. Gherring, it’s okay if we go back tomorrow. I still got a stamp on my passport, even if I didn’t do any sightseeing.”

Gherring silenced them without raising his voice. “Jared, you can go back any time you please, and Gherring Inc. will pay for the ticket. This will be a lucrative deal at some point in the future. I am certain of it. However, Anne, as I was telling Jared, I have plans to go to Jungfrau tomorrow. You can come along,” he offered, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief, “or go back early with Jared if you prefer.”

“Well, I don’t know what Jungfrau is, but I’m going!” She grinned so hard it hurt.

Anne was so excited about the trip she arrived twenty minutes early to Gherring’s suite for breakfast. She knocked gingerly on the door, and listened for sounds of stirring inside. Then the elevator door opened and the breakfast cart emerged, heading for the Presidential Suite. This time she rapped loudly on the door, and Gherring opened the door clad only in a towel, his hair still dripping. The butler was unfazed by his state of undress, pushing the cart into the room and setting up the grand breakfast on the table.

She lagged behind, expecting Gherring would hurry to his room to change. Instead, he lounged casually and chatted in French with the butler before giving him a tip. She tried to act nonchalant. After all, she’d seen his chest and his legs before, in the gym. Why was her heart racing this time? It was nothing new. Just a chest. Well, not just a chest. A very nice, well-muscled chest with a firm stomach underneath. He certainly didn’t have the stomach of a fifty year old. There didn’t seem to be any flab there at all. Didn’t all fifty-year-old men have at least a little paunch? He looked very fit, but it was nothing she hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was the fact he had on a towel. There was that vague idea it was
only
a towel, and it might somehow fall off. Not that she hoped it would. It was just that it might—you never knew. But it looked like it was tucked in pretty well. It probably wouldn’t fall off. Not that she wanted it to.

“… Hello… Anne… Are you in there?” He was talking to her. Ohmygosh, he was talking to her! The butler was gone already. When did he leave? How long had she been standing there staring at his towel?

“Oh! I’m sorry. I was just… uhmm… thinking about being hungry—I mean—thinking about breakfast.” Anne could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

Gherring, however, acted totally oblivious. “You’re hungry? Let’s see what they’ve brought us.” He walked between her and the table and bent over to examine the contents under the silver domes. This afforded her a fantastic view of his backside. Under that towel. And when he bent over… Did the towel shift a little? Was it lower than before? Ohmygosh, what was she doing?

Anne promptly turned her back to Gherring. “I think you should go and get dressed. I shouldn’t have come so early.”

Gherring made a sound behind her. Was he laughing? She whipped around, but Gherring’s face was unreadable. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You’ve seen me shirtless before.”

“Yes but… it’s different… you’re in a towel.”

“Well, you can’t see through it, can you?”

“No, it’s just… Please go get dressed.”

Gherring smiled enigmatically. “As you wish.”

And he disappeared into the bedroom.

With Gherring properly attired, Anne was once again able to focus on what she really loved—food. They had eggs benedict—her favorite. And it was the best eggs benedict she had ever tasted.

“Wow.” Gherring’s dimples peeked out as he watched her eating. “I’m not sure I’ve ever made a woman look that happy before. All that effort and all it took was eggs benedict.”

“This is not just eggs benedict. It’s the best ever. I don’t know what they did to it, but… Wow!”

“I guess seeing the glacier at Jungfraubroch will be a letdown after the eggs benedict.”

“Oh, what time are we leaving? I need to brush my teeth.”

“The train leaves at eight a.m., and we’ll be gone all day. Dress warmly. Bring gloves and a hat.”

Anne rushed downstairs to pack her day bag.

“This is amazing! It’s so beautiful!” Anne felt like a broken record. She couldn’t help herself. She kept exclaiming about the scenery from the window of the train as it sped along the railway. “What’s the name of this lake?”