Lucien (19 page)

“Hmm?” he answered from inside the bathroom. Water sloshed as he cleaned the razor in the sink. The only good thing about Luc shaving in the morning was that the sexy, five o’clock shadow would be back by four this afternoon.

Elise smiled to herself, wondering if tonight could possibly be better than last night or this morning. “Do we have time to pick up something to eat on the way?”

Water gushed into the sink then stopped and he appeared in the doorway, patting his face with the towel hanging around his neck. “What place did you have in mind?”

“There’s a diner down the street. Thelma’s sister owns it. She says they have the best breakfast sandwiches.” Elise paused, frowning thoughtfully. “Maybe we should pick one up for Ben, too. He’s nearly as cranky as you when you’re hungry.”

Luc tossed the towel back on the counter in the bathroom and went for his shirt. “I doubt food will put Ben in a good mood this morning.”

“Why?” Elise picked up the towel and leaned against the door.

“Because the file you found for us yesterday has disappeared.”

“The one that was stuck in the drawer?”

He grimaced, draping his tie around his neck. “That’s the one.”

“Did Ben look in the pockets of his briefcase? He’s always stuffing things in there.”

“That’s probably the first place he looked.” Luc tucked in his shirt then quickly and efficiently knotted his tie. “If we don’t find it, then it’ll be another long night. I’m not looking forward to searching Accounting’s hard drives.” He scowled at the crooked tie and started to undo it.

Elise dropped the towel in the dirty clothes hamper and went to him. She pushed aside his hands and straightened the tie for him. “You won’t have to. The missing file was a copy.”

Luc froze. “What?”

Elise smiled at the tie and smoothed it down. “There. Much better.” She looked up. “By the time I got it out of the filing cabinet it was crinkly, so I made two copies. I gave you one and put the other in a more logical place.”

“She made a copy.” Luc laughed and crushed her to him in a quick hug. “Come on. Let’s go get you some food and make Ben’s day.”

Elise sailed through the door with the copy of the spreadsheet. “Here you go.” She handed it to Luc.

“You are an angel,” he said.

“Hmm,” Elise purred. “Yes, I am. Will there be anything else, sir?”

Luc glanced at the numbers and grinned. “No. This will keep me occupied for the rest of the day.”

“In that case, I shall be in the supply room for the next couple of hours.” Her eyes twinkled in excitement. “I’m on the hunt for a fresh box of pens to chew on.”

“It’ll take you hours to find a box of pens?”

“You obviously haven’t seen the supply room. Compared to this place, Andersen Corporation was a dream.” She sighed. “If you and Ben are gonna buy this place then someone will have to organize the little stuff. So that’s where I’ll be, locked in the store room.”

“Alone?”

“Very alone.” A speculative gleam lightened her blue eyes. “Unless you’d care to join me.”

Luc rose and draped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her towards the door. “As much as I’d love to, Ben will hunt me down for these numbers.”

“Are they very important?”

“They are, but I haven’t figured out exactly why yet.” He leaned down close to whisper, “While you’re in the supply room, can you do a quick inventory?”

“It’ll take more than one day,” she warned.

“It’d take anyone else a week and I wouldn’t ask, but Ben wants to hurry this along so he can buy this place and turn it into a money machine.”

Elise looked up at him. “You don’t mean money pit?”

“I know it looks like it, but the computer geeks who keep gawking at you have come up with a micro-chip Ben swears will make him a gazillionaire.” Luc’s smile was wry and fleeting. “That’s what you get when you let a bunch of engineers work without supervision. Ideas which defy conventional wisdom on how a computer should be built. Your admirer, Calhoun, produced a prototype on Monday which floored Ben and had him breaking out the checkbook. Again. It took me an hour to talk him into waiting.”

She frowned. “So why haven’t you let him stroke a check yet?”

“Because,” Luc lowered his voice as someone passed them in the hallway, “the numbers don’t add up. Until I find out where the money has disappeared, I’m not letting Ben buy this place.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “And inventorying the supply room will help?”

Luc showed her the spreadsheet, pointing to the amount paid for supplies. “Doesn’t that number seem a little high to you?”

“Good grief,” Elise gasped. “Andersen had three times more employees than this place and I know they never spent that much on pens.”

Luc thumped the page. “That’s how much for just one month.”

Elise’s eyes widened. “One month? Goodness.” She swallowed and nodded. “You’ll have your inventory by tomorrow at noon.”

Luc left Elise in the store room and headed up to the second floor where Ben waited for him. He strolled into the vacant CEO’s office and tossed the spreadsheet on the desk before Ben.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

Ben pounced on the sheet. “Where did you find it?”

Luc smiled smugly. “I didn’t. My wife made a spare copy.” He removed his jacket and tossed it onto the couch.

“Your wife is an angel.”

“Yes. She is.” Luc pulled up a chair on the other side of the desk.

“How much to get her to work for me,” Ben asked, scanning the sheet like he was memorizing it.

“Forget it,” Luc answered quickly. “You can’t have her.” Not now. Not ever. He cleared his throat. “By the way, you and I are taking Elise to dinner tonight. And you’re buying.”

Ben looked up. “Why?”

“Because my wife is at this very moment inventorying the supply room. And we,” Luc added smiling, “are going to show our appreciation while she tells us what she’s found by seven tonight.”

“The whole room? She won’t have the whole thing done by seven tonight.”

Luc arched a brow. “Care to place a bet on that?” He knew his wife, the taskmaster. If Elise said she’d have something done by noon the next day that meant the previous evening. Because he—of all people—knew that come tomorrow morning she expected Luc to keep her busy with another project.

“How much?”

“If I win… you send her flowers with a note from me.”

“And if I win… same deal, but the note is from me.” Ben held out his hand to shake on it.

“Deal.” Luc shook his hand and smiled. Either way, Elise would get flowers which would make her smile and overlook the tedium of organizing the hellish room downstairs. And if by some bizarre coincidence Ben should win, Luc would still come out on top. Because he’d make damn sure the bouquet from Ben paled in comparison to the one Luc would send her.

A boot squeaked on the tiled floor and shiver of premonition snaked down Elise’s spine. She glanced over her shoulder. Oh no. A Bingley. Just what she needed at six-thirty.

“Luc. Where are you when I need you,” she muttered, yanking the copies of the finished inventory from the copier. She grabbed the original, then spun around and scampered towards the hallway leading to the office where Luc and Ben were holed up.

A coarse laugh from behind her told her it was Bingley Junior. She should have known. Bingley Senior didn’t squeak; his cowboy boots thudded.

Elise rounded a corner and into a hard wall of chest. Strong arms came around her to steady her and she looked up. “Lucien,” she cried in relief.

“I’m glad to see you, too, darlin’, but why were you running?”

Elise swallowed her dignity and decided it was time to let Luc release some pent up hostilities. “Because Junior was—”

“Where is he?”

Elise pointed back the way she came. “He was right behind me.”

Luc set her aside and marched like a soldier off to war. Elise fell in line behind him and had to skip to keep up with his long strides. They met up with Ben in the hallway.

“You two ready for dinner?”

Luc advanced on him. “Did you see Junior come this way?”

Ben nodded and pointed down the hall. “Just saw him bolt out the front door.”

“Damn, he’s probably to his car by now.” Luc raked a hand through his hair and turned around to her. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing. He just looked at me and,” she shuddered, “cackled. I didn’t stick around long enough to hear him if he did say anything.”

Ben checked his watch. “You can get Junior tomorrow. We’ve got reservations at seven and I’m starving.”

Elise touched her throat. “Reservations?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ben answered with a smile. “We’re dining at the Quarter House. And I’m told that if we’re a minute late, they’ll give our table to someone else. So motivate your husband and shake a tail feather. You can tell us all about the supply room on the way.”

Elise had forgotten all about the papers in her hand. “Oh. Wait. Here,” she said, handing a copy to Ben. “You can look over that while I go find my purse.”

Ben’s jaw dropped as he studied the sheet. “It’s done?”

Luc pressed a hand to the small of her back and escorted her down the hall. He laughed and said, “Meet you out front, Ben.”

Elise looked up at her husband. “You know, Luc, I could have this place up to your high expectations within a month or two.” She smiled. “That is, if I get free reign over it.”

“Darlin’, the first change we make is booting the Bingleys out the door.”

Elise clung to his arm and he slowed his stride to match hers. “Maybe you should wait to deal with the Bingleys until after your analysis of the company is finished.”

Luc’s smile was as charming as it was determined. “Finished or not, the Bingleys and I will have a talk.”

“But, I’m not—”

Luc laid a finger across her mouth and silenced her. “Trust me, Elise. I’ll take care of everything.”

Elise sighed. “All right. But if they won’t sell this place to you after you smash them to bits, don’t come running to me.”

Luc laughed and dragged her off to get their things.

Timing is everything, Luc thought as he watched the florist’s delivery truck turn out of the parking lot. He tapped his lucky pen against his palm and went off in search of his wife. Luc knew that a woman would agree to almost anything for the first hour after receiving a gift—such as flowers. He knew because he’d used this ploy to get him out of trouble with his mother many, many times.

Luc grinned and caught himself before he started to whistle. He was in an excellent mood. Married life, he decided, suited him. Especially when every morning he woke up to a disheveled Elise.
Ah
, he sighed inwardly,
life is good
.