Free All That the Heart Desires by June Moonbridge Page B

with me.
    I picked up my mobile and called Dame. He was, as always, ready to listen to me without interruption. It was not fair on Harry, but I needed him. And he knew that.
     

For more than a month I was under constant pressure. I just couldn’t escape it. I was tense, like a taut string, ready to snap at any moment.
    Anger prevailed. I was angry at all who came to the boutique and wanted Demain . I was angry at Shore who had started it all. I was angry at Blackbird who had disappeared again and left me without information. I was angry at Harry who wanted me to do things I didn’t want to do. And I was angry at myself and at my weakness at not being able to say ‘No!’ and stand firmly behind that word.
    I’d managed to hide the perfume from Shore. After the Canadian Grand Prix, he was in the perfumery every single day. I was shocked to see him come in on Tuesday morning looking for it. I knew it would be hard for me to get my nerves under control, so I left him alone with Lucille and Michelle and hid in the back office. But that was the only day I managed to avoid him.
    The following day, I was billing a customer for her purchase and, before I knew it, Michelle and Lucille had gone and hidden in the office. Seeing his smiling face as he gallantly opened the door for the departing customer, my heart started to pound so hard, I was afraid he might actually hear it.
    “Hello again,” he said and came closer. “I missed you yesterday.” I was still behind the counter.
    “Good morning. Well, I didn’t know you were here yesterday. Was something wrong, that you are back today?”
    “You weren’t here, that was all that was wrong.” He came closer and leaned on the counter. At the same time, I stepped away and pressed myself up against the wall and almost blended in with it.
    He looked handsome as always in his jeans and black Tee shirt and he was aware of that. The silver glow of his grey eyes returned when our eyes met.
    “And I’m still without the perfume.”
    “And it will stay that way!” slipped out of my mouth before I actually think properly.
    “You think?”
    “I know! You can choose any one from these shelves, but not Demain .”
    “We will see,” he smiled, stepped away from the counter and went to the door.
    “Interesting, I can smell it today, more intensely than yesterday.” I looked after him and the closing doors with astonishment. He could smell it?
    The next day’s encounter was almost the same. The difference was Michelle and Lucille asked me if they could go for an early lunch. As Jasmine was empty, I let them go. Five minutes after they were gone, Lorcan Shore reappeared.
    “Will today be my lucky day?” he asked.
    “No,” was my short reply. His eyes narrowed and he smiled. At that time I actually could read his mind. He was not referring to the perfume. And I … blushed.
    ‘Really?” he winked at me and his broad smile somehow made me furious in an instant.
    “Take down the billboard!”
    “No!”
    “Then leave, for heaven’s sake! We have nothing to discuss!”
    “Are you sure about that?”
    “Yes!” Passing him by, I went to the doors, opened them and showed him out. Surprisingly, he did what I asked.
    “Don’t come back!”
    “I can’t promise you that,” were the last words I heard, before the doors closed behind him.
    If only he wouldn’t look that damn sexy.
    I slammed the doors of my office and stayed there for the rest of the day.
    I had a bad feeling the following day. I sensed he would return, but as the morning passed and the afternoon too, I became more confident that he had finally got tired. Wrong! The door opened and there he was. White Tee shirt, jeans and a broad smile on his face.
    “Good afternoon, ladies,” he greeted us all. “What a beautiful sight.”
    He was right. He was a beautiful sight. Something to rest your eyes on. Michelle and Lucille giggled and before I knew it they were gone.
    “Take down the