Breaking Love (Full Hearts Book 2) Page 9

  Her words dug into Megan like talons. Megan willed the elevator to arrive before she had to hear any more. Finally the doors opened and she could escape. She pushed the button and gave Simone a little nod and a weak smile.

  “Enjoy the rest of your trip, Megan. I will be here waiting for the repairman to finish.” She rolled her eyes as the doors closed.

  Megan tried to blink back tears as she rode down. Her worst nightmare at that moment would be for Luc to be there when she got to the main floor. Please don’t be here, please don’t be here, she begged silently.

  As the doors opened onto the main floor, she was filled with a temporary relief at finding the lobby empty. She quickly rushed out of the building and into the cold rain that had started to fall. She walked briskly down the street, not thinking about where she was going.

  She had been used, and that awful woman had just delighted in filling her in on what an idiot she was. Simone’s words burned a hole through Megan’s heart: an easy thing . . . he is a predator . . . most women give in on the boat. . . .

  Everything he had said was a lie. This was just a game he played to fuck as many women as he could. He didn’t want to take care of her or show her his city. Her mind raced through the day before and all the time they had spent together at the museum and the Eiffel Tower and dinner. He had seemed so sincere and tender. All that stuff about art and his mother. How could all of that have just been a regular routine for him? How was that possible? Maybe Simone was lying to her. But if that was the case, how could Simone know where Luc had taken her? Was that why he had brought Harper and her back to the hotel two nights earlier? Was it all just to get her into bed? Was it all really that calculated?

  She walked for several blocks before realizing she had no idea where she was. Stopping to look around, she tried to find a cab. She was no longer on a main street, so she would have to find her way back to a main road to get a cab. She suddenly felt completely alone. She was lost in Paris, it was freezing and raining, and she had been used. Luc was with another woman before the sheets had even gotten cold.

  She found her cellphone and started to send a text to Harper, but her phone died before she could hit Send. “Motherfucker!” she exclaimed under her breath. A passerby clearly understood, giving her a dirty look for her foul language. She shoved her phone back into her purse and continued walking, trying to wipe the tears away with her hands. They were streaming down her cheeks now, mixing with the rain. Megan shivered, feeling chilled right to the bone.

  Finding herself back on Luc’s street, Megan’s heart pounded in her chest with rage and, now, urgency. She needed to get out of here before Luc got home and saw her. She would lose all sense of dignity if he saw her here now.

  She rushed along away from his building as quickly as her legs could carry her. Suddenly, a sleek black car pulled alongside her. She looked at it out of the corner of her eye, her heart feeling like it had jumped into her throat as she heard his voice.

  “Megan!” Luc called, sounding happy to see her.

  She refused to look and kept walking quickly.

  “Megan? What’s wrong? Get in the car before you freeze,” Luc ordered as he drove slowly beside her.

  “Fuck off,” Megan snapped, without looking at him.

  “Would you stop walking and tell me what’s wrong?” Luc called firmly.

  “Nothing will be wrong as soon as I get away from you. Now seriously, fuck off!” she spat as she turned in the opposite direction.

  He couldn’t turn around because of the other cars on the road, but he could pull over. Luc hit the brakes hard, swerving the car to the side of the road. Several cars behind him honked. He grabbed the keys and got out, jogging up the street to catch her.

  Megan felt a hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop. She froze in place and tried to shake his arm away. “Let go of me,” she said firmly, through her teeth.

  “Not until you tell me what has made you so angry with me,” Luc said, spinning her to face him.

  Megan looked up at him. He took no notice of the rain pouring down as he gave her a hard stare.

  “I found out about your little game. Simone filled me in. I guess I was just another woman to hear your accent and spread her legs, right?” she shouted.

  “What?” Luc’s head snapped back in surprise. “There is no game, Megan. I don’t know what she told you, but I really like you.”

  Megan scoffed. “I’m sure you liked all of us, for a few minutes.” She tugged her arm out of his grip and started to move away.

  Luc easily matched her pace, staying right beside her. “Megan, stop. Let me give you a ride to the hotel. I want to get you out of the rain so you can warm up and I can find out what Simone said. There must be some misunderstanding.”

  Megan quickened her step, ignoring him and craning her neck in search of a cab.

  “Megan, stop! This is silly. How can I defend myself if I don’t know what she told you?”

  Megan stepped out onto the street to flag down a passing cab, but it continued on. “That’s hardly my problem, Luc. If you want to know what Simone said, go ask her. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just another bad memory. Now fuck off!”

  Luc grabbed her arms and pulled her back onto the sidewalk as another car barrelled toward her. The driver of the car let out a long honk as he passed. Luc spun her to him. “Megan, stop this! You are acting like an insane person. Come with me to the car so we can sort this out!”

  “Sort what out, exactly?” Megan spat out, her face wrinkling up in disgust. “How you like American women because we’re so easy? You won the game, Luc! You knew exactly what to do and say to get me into bed, just like you’ve done with countless other women! It’s my own damn fault for trusting you in the first place.”

  “Megan, there is no game. I really like you and I wanted to be with you.” Luc’s voice was a mixture of annoyance and pleading.

  Megan rolled her eyes and sighed. “You know what? It doesn’t fucking matter! We agreed to one night. No more. We had it. Whether or not you’ve done the same routine with a thousand women or not makes no difference. It’s clearly over. Now just get away from me.”

  “Megan, I have not done that a thousand times. Just come with me out of this rain. I don’t want to end things like this.” He pushed his now-drenched hair off his forehead with his hand.

  “It doesn’t really matter how it ends. It’s done, which is how we both wanted it.”

  Luc took hold of her upper arms with both hands. “It does matter. I don’t want you to go home so upset. Let me take you to the hotel. Get in the car.”

  Megan shook him off. “You don’t get it, do you?! I told you before—I don’t need you. I don’t fucking need a man! I am not getting into your car!”

  Seeing a cab, Megan stepped off the sidewalk and held her hand up. The cab stopped and she got in without looking back.

  EIGHT

  Megan’s mind was swirling as she fumbled through her purse to find her room key. She was shivering violently and her hands felt like ice, making it hard to unlock the door. When she finally got in, she found the suite empty; Harper was still at her meeting. Glad to find herself alone, she walked directly to her bathroom. She turned the shower on to heat up the water and stripped down, feeling cold and tired. She stayed under the spray of the hot water for a long time, letting the heat rid the chill from her bones.

  When Megan got out, she realized she was starving, having not eaten since the night before. She could hear Harper on the phone as she opened the bathroom door, dressed in a hotel robe and slippers.

  Harper grinned and waved enthusiastically when she saw Megan. The expression on her face changed as she watched her best friend dissolve into tears and collapse onto the loveseat.

  “I have to go. My friend Megan just came in.” She paused. “Au revoir.”

  Harper tossed her cell onto the coffee table and rushed over to Megan. “Oh my God, what happened, honey?”

  Megan told her the entire st
ory from the beginning. Her head was pounding by the time she had let it all out. “It’s just so humiliating, you know? To find out I am just one of many.”

  “Meg, do you think you can trust Simone? She’s a total bitch. What if she was just screwing with you?”

  “I ran into him when I left, Harper. He didn’t exactly deny it.”

  “Oh, Meg, I am so sorry. If I had known that this was what he did to amuse himself, I never would have set you up with him. I just feel so responsible,” Harper said, pulling Megan’s head onto her shoulder.

  “It’s not your fault. How could you have known? He seems so sincere and thoughtful. Besides, I knew what I was doing. I made my own choices.”

  “But Meg, I practically pushed you into his bed. I literally dragged you to meet him, and then I left you at the restaurant with him yesterday, like an asshole. I feel just horrible. What kind of friend am I, to push you into the arms of a total creep?”

  “Harper, it’s not your fault. You were just trying to give me a good time. How could you have known?”

  “I really thought I knew him better than that. I never should have done this.”

  “I chose to go with him, Harper. I chose to get into bed with him. That was all me. I wanted to.”

  “But you never would have if you had known the truth about him.”

  “Oh, I don’t know why I’m so upset about it anyway. It was only ever going to be one night. What difference does it make if I was the first woman he seduced this way or the hundredth?”

  “It makes all the difference,” Harper said, giving her a peck on the head.

  “It does, doesn’t it?”

  They sat for a minute and then Megan straightened up suddenly. “You know what? I’m in Paris for only one more night, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that prick ruin it. Enough tears. What are we going to do?”

  “Are you hungry?” Harper asked.

  “Famished.”

  “I say we spend the afternoon eating and shopping and drinking too much wine, then we see where the day takes us.”

  “Deal.”

  * * *

  Luc arrived back at his apartment thoroughly pissed off. He was freezing and drenched, and the driver’s seat of his car had become soaked on the way home. He stormed through his front door, looking for Simone. As he crossed through to the kitchen he could smell her cigarettes, which caused his anger to build. He hated that she insisted on smoking in his home. She had been his assistant for years, but he was furious enough to fire her right then.

  He found her reading a magazine at his table, drinking his wine. “Simone, are you feeling especially bitchy today? Is that why you had to upset an innocent woman?”

  Simone gave him a slightly bored look, blowing smoke toward him. “So, you heard from the American? I did you both a favour. You can be rid of her now, and she will get over you quickly.”

  “You forget yourself, Simone. I am your boss. Not the other way around. I never gave you permission to interfere in my personal life! And put out that fucking cigarette! I’ve told you before, I don’t like that in my home.”

  He stalked down the hall to the laundry room. Finding the repairman gone, he turned back to the kitchen. When he got there, he found Simone putting on her coat to leave. He crossed his arms and glared at her.

  Simone glared back as she picked her purse up off the counter. “I’m going, so you can finish your temper tantrum alone. I don’t get paid to be yelled at.”

  “You also don’t get paid to be cruel.”

  “Why does it matter to you what this woman thinks? She means nothing to you.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “Because no one means anything to you, Luc. Not even me, and I have been the only woman in your life who has lasted more than a few weeks,” she declared as she walked out the front door.

  Luc let her go without saying anything. He was pissed off and cold and was in no mood for any drama from Simone. He had just finished a long, boring meeting with his accountant, in which he had found himself unable to concentrate. He hadn’t been able to get Megan out of his mind since he woke up and found that she was gone. Pouring himself a brandy, he took a long gulp, feeling the warmth slide down his throat. He undressed as he walked down the hall to shower.

  As the afternoon wore on, Luc sat at his desk in his home office, unable to get any work done. His mind would not let him think of anything other than Megan. When he first saw her walking in the rain, soaked, he had been excited. He was sure she would be happy to see him and that maybe he could bring her home and spend the night with her again. He had been rushing home to get changed so he could go find her.

  As much as he didn’t want to admit it, something had changed inside him when he was with her. For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, he had felt completely happy to be with a woman. He had had a taste of what it would be like to be with her and he craved more. Megan was beautiful and caring and strong and fun. But there was more. Something about the way she looked at him when they were alone, and the way she touched him, was irresistible to him. They had agreed to one night, but he knew that would never be enough for him.

  Luc grabbed his keys and his coat. He needed to find her. He couldn’t live with himself if she left France thinking she meant nothing to him.

  He tried calling Harper’s cellphone when he got to his car. No answer. Before he left the parking garage, he sent her a text. Harper, I need to find Megan. She’s got the wrong idea about me. Please tell me where she is.

  He drove over to the hotel and went straight up to their floor. He knocked, waited and then knocked again, louder. Checking his cellphone, he found no response from Harper. He went down to the lobby and used the hotel phone to leave a message on their room voice mail. Not sure where to go next, he took a seat at the hotel bar and ordered a coffee, deciding to wait.

  * * *

  Harper and Megan had just finished a leisurely lunch at the BHV department store and were wandering around the shops picking out gifts for Megan to take home when Harper’s cellphone rang.

  She checked to see who was calling and then looked up at Megan. “It’s him!”

  Megan rolled her eyes. “Why would he even bother? I was very clear that I wanted him to leave me alone.”

  Harper put her phone back into her purse. “Well, that’s that, then.”

  “Exactly,” Megan muttered as she flipped through some skirts on a sale rack.

  They browsed around for a while longer. Megan selected a beautiful hat and scarf for her mom and some hand-painted toy soldiers for Elliott. Harper’s phone kept buzzing in her purse, indicating she had a text message. She swiped the screen on her phone and read the message from Luc, deciding to show it to Megan.

  “He really seems to want to talk to you, Meg. I’m starting to think Simone was messing with you. She’s seriously a bitch, and I wouldn’t put it past her to try to upset you just for her own amusement.”

  “Harper, please don’t start going soft on me here. He’s a total womanizer. He probably just wants to see if he can get me to sleep with him again before I go. That would be a real conquest for him.”

  “Maybe, Meg, but I don’t know. I’ve known Luc for a long time and the more I think about it, I really don’t think he’s like that.”

  “Well, even so, he got what he wanted and it’s over. He’s just another dick I have to forget.”

  * * *

  Two hours later, Megan and Harper walked through the front door of the hotel, arms loaded with purchases. Megan was finally feeling better as the pair made their way across the lobby, chatting about what they were going to do that night.

  Megan glanced over toward the bar. “Oh, fuck me,” she said under her breath.

  Harper turned quickly to her friend to see what was wrong. She looked over in time to see Luc striding over to them, appearing very uncomfortable. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks and a concerned expression on his face.

&nb
sp; Megan rushed to push the elevator button, dropping some of her packages on the ground. One of the toy soldiers rolled across the floor, landing in front of Luc. He picked it up and looked at it for a moment, then glanced up at Megan. She was doing her best to ignore him, scrambling to get her things gathered up as quickly as possible. He walked over and picked up a couple of her bags, then stood waiting for her to look at him. Megan sighed and gave him a cold stare.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Megan. I need to talk to you,” Luc said quietly.

  “There’s really nothing you have to say that I want to hear,” Megan replied curtly, snatching the toy back from Luc and dropping it into the bag.

  “I know you don’t, but I’m asking you to listen anyway.”

  The elevator doors opened and Harper and Megan stepped in. Luc followed them before the door could close.

  He stood beside Megan and took a deep breath before he started to speak. “I don’t know exactly what Simone told you, but she spoke out of turn. She was in the mood to cause trouble today. You need to give me a chance to explain.”

  Megan scoffed. “Why do I need to do that, Luc? I already spread my legs like you knew I would. I don’t think I owe you any more than that!” The doors opened again and they started down the hall to the suite.

  “Why do you keep saying that? About legs spreading?”

  “Isn’t that your charming saying about American women? We hear the accent and then spread our legs?” Megan hissed at him.

  “C’est quoi ce bordel? Fucking Simone,” Luc muttered, shaking his head.

  “Have you said that or not, Luc?” Megan snapped.

  He winced. “Yes, I’m ashamed to admit that I did say it once, but not in reference to anyone I was with. I was referring to some women at the club one night.”

  Harper dropped her bags and fished around her purse for her room key. She looked up and glared at Luc. “Nice,” she muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.