Cover Up (Cover #2) (14 page)

I allowed
my eyes to fall to her lips, as well. I played her little game, fueling her evident desire as her chest began to rise and fall rapidly. I slowly released a soft warm breath against her lips, causing her to close her eyes expectantly before I finally spoke.

“Let’s get one thing straight
, Charlette. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever go on a date with you, let alone chose you over Emily. Now, get the fuck out!”

Chapter Eleven

EMILY

“Please
mon amour, stay with me,” Julien said to me through pleading eyes.

I was in his home again. This time I was fully clothed. He
stood at the top of the staircase in a black tux, looking absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. I wasn’t one to call a man beautiful, but he was. The sight of him in his expertly tailored suit, which stretched perfectly across his strong solid chest, made my body weak. God, he’s gorgeous!

I didn’t know what it was about the man that made my body betray me each time I was in his presence
, but it was as if every part of me called out to the man, wanting to surrender to his overpowering, sexy, will.

“I can’t, I’m sorry…” I began. I couldn’t give into him. It wasn’t fair to him given my circumstance. I was a broken woman. I didn’t even know anything about him. What did he do for a living? Who were his parents? When did he fall in love with me?

“Croyez-moi, chérie. Trust me sweetheart,” he said as he descended the stairs with his arms stretched out towards me.

Panic gripped
me and I instantly turned away, pushing through the massive double wooden doors and ran away from him. I couldn’t give in. I had to stay away.

“Please! I can’t! I’m sorry!” I yelled out through
my tears.

“Emily! Em’
, wake up!” I heard Suzie say as she shook my body awake. “Sweetie, you ok? You were screaming,” she informed me as she brushed her fingers through my hair.

My breathing was accelerated. I was no longer having erotic dreams
about the Frenchman. Instead, he now invaded my dreams with pleas and declarations of love. I couldn’t handle it. I needed to process everything I had learned in the last forty-eight hours.

I shook my head towards Suzie, as she looked down at me clearly concerned. “Tell me what you were dreaming about sweet
ie?” she asked.

I knew I could
n’t hide it much longer from her and, though I still hadn’t sorted out my feelings about all that had happened, I told her everything. I told her about the erotic dreams I had at the hospital. I told her how I somehow ended up in front of his home. I told her about asking him to kiss me, how he swept me off my feet, and brought me inside. Suzie’s eyes widened so much that I couldn’t help but laugh when I told her that I had asked him to make love to me.

It was quite impulsive really, I knew
. But, at the time, I felt as though I needed some kind of confirmation. My gut told me that the Frenchman and Julien were one and the same, but my mind … my mind remembered none of it.
How can I have such a passionate connection with a man and not remember any of it?

“What do I do Suzie, please tell me
, because I am serious freaking the fuck out,” I confessed.

“Girl
, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but I think that - before you do anything - you need to know that Adam wants you back,” she confessed wearily.

I immediately shot her a look
, unable to believe that I, Emily Roberts, had two men pursuing me - an ex that I don’t remember breaking up with and a fucking sexy ass Frenchman that has some sort of voodoo powers over my body. I knew that most women would be thrilled to have two men chase after them, but I … I couldn’t handle it. It was too much!

“Are you sure? He
didn’t say anything to me,” I whispered, completely in shock, while I replayed the last few days in my mind. Nothing seemed to indicate that Adam still wanted to be with me. In fact, he had done everything he could to keep his distance from me. I looked over at Suzie who was biting her lower lip then turned away, knowing that she only bit her lip when she was nervous.

“I’m sorry
, Em’, but I’m positive. It’s not the end of the world, babe. I will help you sort through all of this, don’t worry,” she offered, trying to ease my exhausted, useless, mind. “Let me make you some coffee and we can have a girl’s night and talk about all of this… or something else. Whatever you want, ok?”

I nodded my head and she strolled out of my bedroom.

Great! Just what I fucking needed.

I could barely deal with the fact that Julien was in love with me and I hadn’t the faintest idea as to who he was. Now, I had to deal with Adam
. And why we had we broken up? I was still clueless, because I’d not had the chance to speak to Diana, who’d been behaving rather oddly lately. We were normally inseparable, but she was scarcely around - unless everyone else was around.
Had our friendship changed that much in just a year?

“Hey
, where is Adam anyway?” I yelled out to Suzie, who was in the kitchen banging things around. I suddenly remembered that he had been here yesterday morning.
Fuck, had I really slept through an entire friggin’ day? No more midnight solo wine parties for me.

“Oh
, I sent his ass home. He didn’t want to leave, but a few purple nurples later and he was scurrying out the door,” she teased. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Reaching over to the nightstand
, I grabbed my cell phone. It wasn’t the one I remembered, but when they grabbed my things out of the closet in my hospital room I discovered it. Apparently flip phones where now out and huge monstrosities, bigger-than-my-entire-hand, were now in. I hadn’t figured out how the device worked yet, but I powered it on pressing the button on the right side. Instantly it lit up and felt proud of myself. It was silly, but I couldn’t help but feel a small victory.

When the device powered up all the way
, I noticed that I only had five percent battery power left.

A sudden knock on the front door pulled me
from my thoughts.
Who was that?

I looked over at the clock on my nightstand. It was now after eight. Sighing, I pulled the covers off me and slid out of bed. I needed a nice
, long, hot shower. As I made my way to the bathroom, Suzie rushed into the bedroom.

“Umm
, there’s a guy here asking to speak to you,” she announced in hushed tones. She looked weird as she closed the door behind her and hurried to my side.

“Well…who is he?” I asked, confused by her flushed cheeks and odd behavior.

She looked at me and swallowed hard, “I forgot to ask. I just … I told him to wait,” she said breathlessly.

I grabbed my robe
, quickly put it on, and sauntered to my bedroom door expecting Suzie to come with me; but she sat on the edge of the bed, completely beside herself. I had never seen her so … bothered.
What the fuck?

When I reached the living room
, I saw the man staring out my window with his back to me. At first glance, I thought it was Julien, but I realized that this man was too short to be my Frenchman.
Did I seriously just refer to the man as my Frenchman?
I groaned and pushed the thought out of my head.

“Hello, how may I help you?” I asked as I approached the man.

He turned around slowly and immediately I realize just what had Suzie so frazzled.
He. Was. Gorgeous.

“Hello
, Emily. I know that you don’t know me, but I need to speak to you,” he offered as he extended his hand for me to shake.

I couldn’t move. I
nstead, I stood there like a complete fucking idiot staring into his stunning blue eyes. Suddenly, Julien’s grey/gold eyes flashed before my eyes jolting me out of my trance. “Umm, excuse me, hello,” I said and reached for his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you
, Emily. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about you,” he said once he released my hand.

Still a bit uneasy about having such a fine specimen in my living room, I looked away. “Please have a seat Mr.…”

“Belmont. Shane Belmont.”

FUCK. ME!

“Of course,” was all I managed to say, as I slowly sat down on the opposite side of the couch, clenching my robe shut. It wasn’t hard to believe that he was related to Julien. One look at him in his sexy leather jacket, ripped jeans, and biker boots made me instantly flushed. He was sexy as hell, and had a bad boy air about him that made me feel quite warm between my legs. It was unnerving really to be in his presence. He wasn’t better looking than Julien, but his rugged style was definitely a turn on. And boy, did he turn me on. The Belmont name obviously produced nothing but hot men; and they all seemed to want something from me.
Please don’t tell me this one is in love with me too! I just can’t take anymore fine men chasing after me. Loss of mind and all…

“I’m sorry to intrude
, but I needed to speak with you regarding Julien,” he offered, obviously picking up on my discomfort. He leaned closer before continuing. “He told me everything that happened and I need you to know that my brother is very fond of you. In fact, I have never seen him so smitten by a woman.”

I knew he believed that he was helping
, but the truth was this was the very last thing I needed to hear right now. This was too intense, too much for one person to absorb just a few days after a car accident, a coma, and my current amnesic state.

“I know that Julien is in love with me
, Shane. I understand that. It’s just … I can’t be with him, with anyone for that matter, right now. I don’t even know how we met. Did I approach him? Did he approach me? Had he pursued me for weeks, months, what? I have very little memory of the man, outside of…” I trailed off, realizing that continuing would not be appropriate.

“I understand. This
must be very difficult for you. I can’t imagine losing part of your past so suddenly. But, Julien isn’t a part of your past. I believe he is your future,” he declared, staring into my eyes to convey his seriousness.

Unable to speak
, I looked away. I didn’t know what to say. I still needed time to process everything.

“I know this
is very confusing, but you didn’t hear the anguish in his voice when you were in the coma. He was a complete ―”

“He was there?
At the hospital?” I asked, turning to face him. I hadn’t seen him there, not once. I assumed something went wrong with us before the accident. It never accord to me that he was with me in the hospital.

Shane laughed and sat back
on the couch, his right arm stretched across its back. “Was he there? He never left, ever! Even after my father threatened to fire him should he miss any more work, still he wouldn’t leave your side.”

I couldn’t believe he had done that for me, sacrificing his career for me. All for a nut case that couldn’t even remember what the hell he did for a living. He must have left after I woke up.
But, why?
If he loved me so much, why not be there at my side?

Shane cleared his throat, “He didn’t want to leave
, you know. But … you called out for someone else and it damn near killed him,” he muttered softly.

I called someone else’s name? Who? It was then that I remembered asking for Adam when I had come to, worried that he had been hurt. My heart sank.

“Oh no, he must of heard me ask for Adam. I thought … I thought Adam was hurt. I … didn’t know,” I stuttered, realizing how hurt he must have been to hear me call for another man after all he had done for me.

“It’s ok. My brother is a strong man. Or rather he used to be,” Shane joked as he
rose to his feet. “I know you have a lot of things to think about, but one thing is certain - Julien loves you and needs you.”

I stared at Shane, my throat squeezing shut. I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. To know that Julien had cared for me while I was comatose was beyond the sweetest thing I had ever heard. It pained me that I had caused him
pain, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault.

I
got to my feet and walked over to the sexy Frenchman’s brother, throwing my arms around his waist, “Thank you for telling me.”