Weddings: The Proposals: The Brooding Frenchman's Proposal / Memo: The Billionaire's Proposal / The Playboy Firefighter's Proposal

“How much longer do you expect she’ll be?”

“Since she just got started, I would imagine a half hour anyway. Is there an emergency?”

“Non. This can wait. Merci, Pierre.” He clicked off.

CHAPTER FOUR

LAURA was making her way back from the Villa Leopolda estate when she discovered the limo was gone. In its place an unfamiliar black Mercedes sedan stood parked, but a dangerously familiar Frenchman in cream trousers and a soft yellow crew neck lounged against the front fender watching her progress.

After their wild skirmish that had raised more questions than it had answered during the day, there was no escaping Raoul. As a matter of fact, she did wonder if he might come looking for her because he was a man who couldn’t tolerate unfinished business. She had thought she’d figured out why he didn’t like her, and under the circumstances she had made up her mind to be nicer to him.

Guy’s family was very close-knit. While they were going through this terrible period with Chantelle, Raoul obviously resented any outsider coming in. Laura could understand that. With tensions running high it was always harder to behave normally around a stranger. Raoul wasn’t used to anyone else being there. Perhaps he was even a little jealous that he didn’t have Chantelle’s full attention when he did drop in.

Because Laura had half expected to see him before the night was over, her footsteps didn’t falter as she made her way toward him. It was only 9:20 p.m., that magic time of night between darkness and light.

He waited with his powerful arms folded. Though a modern man in contemporary clothes, he had the look of a dark, forbidding prince who might have had the estate behind her built for his own private pleasure.

A strange half smile lifted one corner of his compelling mouth. “If you’re in the market for a piece of property, the villa can be purchased if you make an offer over 500 million American dollars.”

She stopped three feet from him. “That’s what the pilot told me when he flew me over it when I arrived here. I’m afraid I don’t earn that kind of money.”

“A woman like you doesn’t have to.”

Another glove slapped against her cheek. And here she’d been feeling more charitable toward him.

“You mean all I have to do is ask you to buy it for me and voilà—it’s mine?”

He straightened to his imposing height, reminding her how incredibly appealing he was. “It might be … for a price.”

She nodded. “That’s fair. I doubt even King Leopold’s first mistress knew he only planned to install her here for a season. She was a fool … like all the others that followed her. What is yours? Price, I mean.” It gave her a secret thrill to bait him.

His expression hardened, filling her with satisfaction that he couldn’t have it all his own way every second. “It might be too high.”

“You mean for a woman like me,” she mimicked him. “You’ve made your point and are probably right.”

“Stop the pretense, Laura.”

She’d had it with him. “What have I done wrong now, Raoul?”

A bleak expression entered his eyes, almost human. She didn’t know he could look like that, and it softened her to discover he might have feelings. “According to Pierre, you’ve been out here two hours. That’s a long time when you can’t even tour the rooms.”

“I wasn’t interested in the interior.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Since you’ve already decided what kind of woman I am, I guess it wouldn’t.”

He sucked in his breath. “What’s your real reason for being here?”

She laughed. “My real reason? What’s yours?”

His black brows formed a bar above his eyes. “Paul hoped you’d be back so you’d teach him CPR.”

“Paul was very endearing when he said he’d like to learn, but I couldn’t pin him down to a time. We decided to play it by ear.”

“Are you certified?”

“Yes. Since you’re such a protective uncle, I’ll have you know I’ve taught hundreds of people.”

“Even adult males?”

She cocked her head. “Are you needing a lesson?”

“And if I were?” he mocked.

She eyed him frankly. “I don’t know. Can you afford me? But maybe the better question to ask would be, can your reputation stand being in the company of a married woman like me?”

A little nerve hammered at his temple. “How married are you?” he demanded.

If she wasn’t mistaken, the subject had him all worked up. This was getting fascinating. “You either are, or you aren’t. Which are you, by the way, Raoul?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“It’s the same subject, as far as I can tell, Raoul. Why don’t you want to talk about yourself? What are you afraid of?” she teased with a smile. “Has your wife hired a private detective to follow your every move so he can show her pictures of the latest woman in your life? I’m told blackmail is still big business in France. Especially when you’re talking the Laroche fortune. Come on and tell me the truth. Who has more? You or Guy?”

His chest rose and fell visibly. “Does he know what you’ve been doing out here alone?”

Laura couldn’t keep up with his thought processes. He was all over the place. She felt like she was on the witness stand. “Of course. He’s the one who suggested I ask Pierre to drive me.”

The glitter coming from those dark eyes jolted her. “Guy would do anything for you wouldn’t he.”

“Well … I did save his life.”

“Can you prove it?” he bit out.

“No, but I imagine if you ask any of his friends who were there like Maurice or Luigi, they would be able to tell you. Luigi was exceptionally grateful to me too. In fact, he asked me if I’d like to spend the night at his villa in Rome, but Guy got to me first.”

Raoul shifted his weight restlessly before staring into her eyes. “I’ll concede I’ve been a little rough on you. For the last time, why did you come out here to this villa?”

“So if I tell you now, you’ll believe me?”

“Let me hear it first,” he murmured, though it seemed to cost him to allow even that much latitude.

“I wanted to do some sketches of the estate while there weren’t too many people around.” I wanted to get away from you. “During the day visitors often stop to talk or ask questions and it interrupts my concentration. Does that satisfy you?”

“No.” He almost hissed the word.

The white-hot heat of anger ran up her body to her face. “That’s because you hoped to catch me with a man so you could tell your brother to throw the scheming opportunist out of his house. Before you do that, you’d better be able to explain how I had time to do this!”