Free Unbreak My Heart (Childhood Sweethearts Reunited) by Helen Scott Taylor Page B

the door." As Andre stood, and smoothed back his mussed hair, she followed his every move with her eyes. One of his shirt buttons was undone, and a delicious patch of tanned skin peeped through the gap. What would have happened if they hadn't been disturbed?

Chapter Five

    Kate opted to wear the green sandals to the party because they matched her dress and Andre liked them. On the journey to the Delacroix's house, Kate ached for Keiko. Mrs. Cooper seemed nice enough, but it was the first time Kate had been apart from her baby. She felt as though she'd cut off part of her body and left it behind.
    When they arrived, Andre held the car door open for her. Kate's heel caught on a stone and she nearly twisted her ankle as she climbed out.
    "Steady." Andre crouched and massaged her lower leg. "All right now?"
    "Mmm." His fingers sent delicious tingles over her skin that made her forget the pain. He helped her out and she clung to his arm, limping slightly across the bumpy parking area beside the huge manor house overlooking the sea.
    "Perhaps you can put yourself under self-hypnosis to forget the pain," Andre offered.
    She gave him a quizzical look. "What do you know about hypnosis?"
    "I read."
    "Tell me something I don't know," she said, laughing.
    His lips tilted in a warm smile that was so familiar it touched a spot deep inside her. "There was an article in Prestige Hotel magazine about a hotel outside Amsterdam that offers hypnotherapy. Stressed businessmen chill out after sales conferences with a dose of hypnosis and meditation."
    "Well, there's your new angle. Turn the Caspian into an alternative health center. You can offer thirteenth century treatments for the authentic Caspian experience. Guests will pay you a small fortune and all you have to do is stick a few leeches on them and feed them herbal tea."
    Andre laughed. "You're a bit off with your dates. Leeches were used more recently. In the thirteenth century they probably ate lizards' tongues." He tapped his fingers against his lips. "I'll have to read up on it."
    "Don't get carried away. I was only joking."
    "I know, but the subject's interesting." She stumbled on her tender ankle and Andre clenched the muscles in his arm to support her. "Good job I'm here or you'd be flat on your face."
    Kate giggled, intoxicated with the pleasure of his company. "Have you been working out, Mr. Le Court?" She squeezed his biceps playfully. "You didn't get these pushing a pen around."
    "I do twenty minutes of exercise each morning when I wake up."
    "You've got a home gym hidden in the closet. Why didn't I guess?"
    He laughed. "I just do a few pushups and stomach crunches, that sort of thing."
    Her imagination provided images of Andre, shirtless, doing interesting things on his bedroom floor. Then a memory she had nearly forgotten flashed back. "Hey, you used to do pushups on the beach. I counted for you. I poured cold water on you if you didn't make fifty."
    "I aim for a hundred these days."
    "Wow, Mr. Universe, watch out. I could do with toning up. Perhaps I should join you." As they approached the open front door, light jazz music filtered through from the back garden.
    Andre stepped aside to let her enter first. "You'll never wake up that early."
    "You could wake me." She winced inwardly. Squirming around half naked on the floor with Andre was not the brightest idea if she wanted to stay sane. These emotional kamikaze tendencies must be due to postnatal hormones.
    "You can exercise at leisure in the gym at the Caspian. Why get up early?"
    The click of heels on the wooden parquet floor saved her from answering. Elizabeth Delacroix prowled toward them, her beautiful curtain of chestnut hair glowing beneath the lights. The woman gave Kate a cursory glance before fixing her attention on Andre. "Good evening," she said, her gaze cruising over his body.
    Andre cleared his throat and straightened his cuffs. "Hello, Liz. How's Edmund this evening? Feeling better, I hope."
    "Fine," Elizabeth