Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

shirt, cufflinks, shoes and tie.
Already recognising Luc’s unique scent, her body was on full alert as she felt
him come up close behind her. Her nipples sprang to life beneath the soft
cotton of her bra and chills ran down her spine. So much for being objective
then.

 
    “I don’t know how to thank you
Rachel.” Luc smiled at her as he took the bags full of his new stuff, and then
just as the twins skipped over to meet them so Rachel had no chance to react,
he bent down to whisper in her ear, “but I promise to try and find a way.”

 
    Turning to greet his friends, he
lifted up his arms towards them showing off the bags.

 
    “Hey guys look at what your mum
picked out for me. I’m going to look like Ryan Gosling!”

 
    “In your bloody dreams!” Lucy
mocked smacking him on the arm.

 
    “In our dreams you mean!” joked
Jess and the three of them took off down the escalator to the car park laughing
and fooling around.

 
    Rooted to the spot as her stomach
continued to somersault anxiously, Rachel was left in no doubt that the
seemingly innocent words of thanks that had just left Luc’s lips so close to
her face so that only she could hear, was completely the opposite. Was Luc
seriously flirting with her or was it his easy charm that he used on all women
– after all he clearly loved being around the opposite sex. Rachel’s
heart fluttered nervously at the possibilities that lay behind his parting
promise.

 
 
    **********

 
    After the day of
the shopping trip Luc didn’t go out for the rest of the week. Rachel often
heard the twins encouraging him to go clubbing with them but he politely and
gently refused. Part of her was secretly pleased to have him around; the house
felt so empty when she was on her own.

 
    Saturday night,
however, Rachel was home alone as the kids had made plans to go to the pub and
then out for dinner. They had spent the whole of the previous day; Good Friday
studying as usual and wanted to have a bit of fun this holiday weekend. What
Rachel should have done is worked on replying to some emails and letters that
she had so far ignored – some were to do with her personal financial
matters, but mostly concerning Nate’s business..

 
    Nate Renton had
been CEO of a well-respected firm of corporate lawyers based in the city called
Gyles Bishop. Their comfortable lifestyle was the benefit of all Nate’s hard
work, however, the firm’s success was due to their irrefutable reputation for
honesty and integrity. Consequently, they weren’t always as ruthless as they
could be just to win but Nate said his conscience was at peace even if his bank
balance didn’t run to the millions it could have. Although Rachel and the girls
were more than appreciative of the comfortable lifestyle Nate had provided
– Rachel actually thought they had more than they needed as it was.

 
    The project Nate
was trying to get off the ground was the introduction of a pro bono division to
Gyles Bishop to deal with small businesses and organisations suffering in the
current financial crisis. Nate was keen to involve Rachel due to her relevant
experience in that field; however, due to his passing the project had met with
some resistance from the other partners and was temporarily on hold.
Apparently, Rachel had an obligation to maintain an interest in Nate’s existing
projects in the event of his death. As such, she was vaguely aware that she was
supposed to approve a decision to discard the project as no one else was
prepared to take it over at this time. Rachel had no idea why Nate had
instigated that particular protocol. She was keenly aware that this project was
a subject close to both her and Nate’s hearts and its termination weighed
heavily on her. Rachel wasn’t really required to do anything about it until the
new CEO, Joe Mason took over; and decided she’d think about it more then.

 
    Joe had been hired
by the senior partners from his family firm in New York, and he had