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

Raoul hated to admit she was too. The truth of it shook him almost as much as the fact that she didn’t give anything away she didn’t want him to know.

He came to the turn for Cros de Cagnes and veered left to follow the coast road. “What is it you do for a living … besides rescue drowning victims?”

She put on a pair of sunglasses. “I draw landscapes to create backgrounds for video games.”

Video games? Raoul had to admit that was one answer he would never have expected. “What genre?” She was an artiste all right, but the kind she was alluding to came as a revelation, if it were true.

“Mostly for children and young adults.”

“No war games?”

“If you mean the kind guys from eighteen to thirty play all day and all night long, then no.”

Whether she was conning him or not, he couldn’t help but chuckle because what she’d said was so true. After she gave him some examples, he was prompted to ask the name of the company she worked for.

“Other World Video Games. You’ve probably never heard of it.”

“I can’t say I have.” So far she’d picked something so safe, he couldn’t accuse her of lying until he’d researched it. “How long have you been doing that kind of work?”

“Since college.”

“Did you get a degree?”

She nodded. “Graphic design.”

While his mind did the math he remembered something. “At breakfast I saw you with a sketchpad.”

“Yes. It’s filled with drawings of Siena and the Palio. I was working on a scene when your brother started to choke. Chantelle wanted to see it.”

To his dismay, every time he asked her a question, she answered it without hesitation. If she had things to hide, he wouldn’t know it from her seemingly forthright manner. So far she hadn’t asked anything of him. The idea that she was merely tolerating him didn’t sit well.

Raoul kept telling himself he was doing this for Guy’s sake, but a part of him knew that wasn’t totally true. Laura Aldridge had captured his attention in too many ways to lie to himself.

Earlier this morning he’d phoned his attorney and asked him to run a background check on her. Louis promised to get back to him when he had any solid information. In the meantime it was up to Raoul to learn what he could from the woman herself. If he asked more personal questions, maybe he could get her to squirm. That’s what he was looking for, to catch her in something that would give away her agenda.

“How do you balance your work and marriage?”

After a quiet interval, she said, “I don’t.”

That’s right. She only had time to concentrate on ruining someone else’s. Her refusal to play his game had just raised the stakes. He took the next right that brought them into Juan-les-Pins, an extension of Antibes.

“I’m going to check out a complex of buildings in the yachting district that our company might purchase for our export line. It won’t take me long. Afterward I’ll drive us through Vence to one of those little villages you referred to. We’ll have a late lunch and do whatever we feel like.”

She nodded as if amenable, but he felt her tension because she’d only been putting up with him until they returned to the villa. He could tell by the rigidity of her body that her patience was wearing thin. That was the crack in the veneer he’d been waiting for.

“Would you like me to stop and get you a drink first?”

“No, thank you. I have a bottle of water in my bag if I get thirsty.”

Still no eye contact. To travel around Europe alone picking up vulnerable men, she’d learned to be independent. It was part of her mystique, another intriguing trait he hated to acknowledge.

A few minutes later he pulled up to the entry of an empty warehouse and parked the car alongside a bank of palm trees. They’d shield her from the sun while he was inside. Jean-Luc, their company’s real estate agent, was already in front of the doors waiting for him.

As soon as he saw them, the older man headed for the Porsche. One look at Laura and he started salivating. It put Raoul in mind of Guy, who would have had the same reaction when he’d seen Laura for the first time. The identical thing had happened to Raoul, causing his own desire and anger to flare.

On impulse and something else he couldn’t put a name to yet, he leaned across the seat and kissed her full on her unsuspecting mouth. It happened so naturally she didn’t have time to resist.

That was the idea. Jean-Luc was bearing down on them. A picture was worth a thousand words, so they said. He was the biggest gossip on the Côte d’Azur. He had to be to stay in business. By tomorrow word would have reached Guy’s ears that his brother was involved with a blond bombshell, and Guy’s hands would be tied.

If he confronted Raoul, Guy would be admitting his own guilt. Though he’d be furious with him at first, it would expose Laura for the opportunist she was. One day Guy would thank him.

But Raoul’s thoughts faded as the taste of her was all he’d imagined and more, prompting him to take his time until she tore her lips from his. “How dare you,” she cried in a low tone.

Her outrage sounded genuine enough, but it came an instant too late because she’d started to respond to him before catching herself. It wasn’t something you could hide. If she was supposed to be involved with Guy, what did her reaction to Raoul mean?

To his dismay another part of him didn’t want to know the answer because for an insane moment he was enjoying himself too much. Raoul couldn’t abide the thought of her responding to him and his brother, too. Yet that was why he’d done this experiment, to find out what kind of woman she really was.

He smiled. “Come on, Laura. After what almost happened in the swimming pool last night, we both know you didn’t mind it all that much.” Satisfied to see the rush of hot color sweep into her cheeks, he left her to her own devices while he levered himself from the car to intercept Jean-Luc.

Denied an introduction, his curious friend would be even more eager to know the identity of the new mystery woman in Raoul’s life.

“Oh-la-la—” Jean-Luc clapped him on the shoulder as they walked toward the doors. “When your ex finds out about that one, she’ll want to scratch her eyes out.”

Raoul grinned despite his torment. “She can try …”

The other man’s laughter rang in the air.

What Jean-Luc didn’t know was that Danielle was no match for the woman whose lips were as soft and lush as the rest of her. In trying to protect Chantelle, it was guaranteed Raoul had opened himself up to an infinite number of sleepless nights and cold showers.

Laura couldn’t stop the trembling. Though secretly thrilled to realize the desire she’d felt last night wasn’t all on her side, she was also terrified. What if one of Ted’s undercover agents had discovered where she was staying and had followed the Porsche to Antibes.

With a telephoto lens they could’ve taken pictures of Raoul kissing her. That kind of evidence could influence a judge into siding with Ted’s attorney to hold up the case. Who knew how long it would take before she obtained her divorce? Laura didn’t dare entertain a relationship with Raoul that could jeopardize everything she’d been working so hard for.

She reached in her bag and drained her bottle of water in an effort to rid herself of the imprint of Raoul’s hard mouth. Those male lips that could twist with mocking cruelty had covered hers with enough coaxing pressure to draw a spontaneous response she’d had no power to stop. Knowing that he had a distinct dislike for her made her physical reaction to him even more unacceptable.

Though their kiss had been real enough, she sensed he’d done it for the other man’s benefit. To what end she didn’t know. If Raoul was trying to frighten her off, he didn’t have to wait until they had an audience. Things were more of a mystery than ever unless Chantelle was somehow behind all this.

It pained Laura to think that Chantelle might have asked her brother-in-law to find a way to get Laura to leave the villa without involving Guy. If she truly didn’t want her husband’s attentions, then of course she’d resent his bringing Laura into their home to try to help. Thinking back to this morning, Chantelle had been adamant that Laura go on the drive without her.

Laura could leave France tonight of course and probably ought to, but she owed Guy a truthful explanation. No matter what, her loyalty was to him. Yet to tell him what had happened today could also hurt him deeply if he didn’t know his brother was working against him to get rid of Laura.

She couldn’t figure it out. The two men’s relationship had to be somewhat normal, didn’t it? Otherwise Raoul wouldn’t have been at the party. Surely if there was real animosity between them, the brothers wouldn’t work together or live in such close proximity to each other.

Stymied by so many unanswered questions and the kiss that still haunted her, she came to the conclusion that all she could do was bluff her way through the next two weeks and avoid Raoul as much as possible. He liked making trouble, but she could give it back if she had to.

If things became impossible, she’d go to Guy and tell him she’d changed her mind about staying. To make a good case she’d tell him she didn’t want his family involved in the event Ted found out where she was staying. Surely he’d understand that. Who knew what complications might arise that could upset Chantelle unnecessarily.

Laura was so deep in thought she didn’t realize Raoul had returned until she heard the door open. In that brief moment she glanced around and their eyes met.