Seeing the Love Read Free Page A

into such a whining bastard?
    Lucas felt a pang of concern when he spoke to Deema, one of her colleagues, about a stock query and she mentioned that Natalie was out for a medical appointment. All afternoon? He shuddered. He’d spent enough time being examined and prodded by a succession of people in white coats. He wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
    Lucas paid special attention to Natalie’s orders that afternoon and tried to ensure they all went through the warehouse with minimal fuss. He was about to log out for the evening, when his phone rang. He didn’t check the caller.
    “Lucas Wade. How can I help you?”
    “Hi, Lucas.” Natalie . “My orders have all gone out today. Even the ones with backorder stock.” Her honeyed voice washed over him. “Is it you I have to thank for that?”
    He smiled as he leaned back in his chair, phone against his ear. With his left hand, he scratched at his almost-beard. It had reached the itchy stage, which meant he had to try and shave again. He hated shaving now. Dragging his attention back to Natalie, he chuckled.
    “Just doing my job.” He made a split second decision. “Hey, someone told me you had a medical appointment this afternoon. Everything okay, I hope.”
    She hesitated, and he mentally kicked himself. He hated when people ventured into that level of personal detail with him, so why should it be any different for Natalie?
    “I have to have an operation in a couple of weeks. Nothing serious, but I’m not looking forward to it. I came back this afternoon because I need to re-plan my schedule.”
    All the light had gone from her voice. He gripped the phone tighter. “How long will you need to be off?” That would be a gauge of how serious it was.
    “Not long. A few weeks. Someone will cover for me here.”
    She was the only bright spot in his long and dark day, and the prospect of not speaking to her for weeks made his chest tight. He’d think about that later. Right now, he wanted to cheer her up. Somehow. “You have a lovely accent,” he blurted. “Where are you from?”
    A tiny pause before she answered. “I’m Kiwi, but I lived in France until I was eight. My parents were French.”
    “ Were French?” He tried to make a joke. “What are they now?” The silence that answered him made his stomach churn. Christ . In his ham-fisted attempt to make her laugh, he knew with a crippling certainty that he’d just made things a hundred times worse.
     
    *
     
    Natalie swallowed hard and stared at her screen, blinking and not allowing the tears to well up. Lucas didn’t know. How could he? She hadn’t even told Deema, and she was the closest Natalie had to a friend.
    “I’m sorry, Natalie. I’m an insensitive asshole.” Lucas’s voice was low and hesitant.
    “It’s okay. They died a few years ago.” She forced herself to speak, trying to sound as though it was really of no consequence. She couldn’t. She rubbed angrily at her eyes. “It was so unfair. A drunk driver ran into their car.” The words rushed out of her and then lodged in her throat. Tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision.
    “I’m sorry,” Lucas repeated. Natalie chewed on her lip and took a shaky breath. He pitied her already. How would he react if he knew everything? The prospect was unthinkable.
    Time to steer the faltering conversation down a safe track, before Natalie embarrassed herself any further. “So”—her composure was as fragile as spun sugar—“What do you have planned for this evening?”
    She heard a rustling noise down the line, and then Lucas cleared his throat. “The usual. Gym. Walking Molly. Do you speak fluent French, then?”
    The sudden question caught her off guard. “Yes. Why?”
    He hesitated. “I was thinking of taking lessons. Maybe you could teach me a few phrases? You know, the useful ones.”
    A fat salty tear trickled down Natalie’s cheek, and she scrubbed it away with her fingertips. French lessons? She’d get to listen to him speaking in