"Nope." Freddie sounded quite cheerful admitting this, and Fleur felt herself relax. "He was nice to me, but I'm really not his type."
"But you're smart."
Freddie frowned. "I supposed he did happen to date women with degrees, if that's what you mean, but I wasn't actually talking about that. Rather..."
Fleur had a bad feeling about this.
"Mm...how should I put this? Most of the women I saw him dating were..."
"Bold and assertive?"
Freddie's eyes widened. "Yes. Exactly."
Shit.
"That's obviously not me," Freddie said, "but it's very, very you—-"
Fleur made a face. "You know how bad I am with guys."
But the other woman only dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "Being bold and assertive isn't just about how you are with guys. In your case, it also means knowing how to get your way without being nasty. So trust me, you are very much his type."
Fleur wasn't entirely convinced of this, but she didn't feel like arguing the point either because...
Oh.
She didn't want to talk to Freddie about Julian because it made her feel jealous.
Freddie was alarmed by her friend's sudden pallor. "Fleur? Are you okay?"
Fleur could only smile weakly. "Is there such a thing as pre-contract jitters?"
Freddie grinned. "If there isn't, there should be—-" The sound of someone knocking on the door cut her off, and Freddie, knowing what this meant, turned to Fleur, mouthing, Ready?
JULIAN HAD STRUGGLED with second-guessing himself the entire night. It was something he had never experienced before, and that gave him all the more reason to start questioning the rightness of pursuing a twelve-night affair with Fleur de Konigh.
He had always been the type to act swiftly, and consequently, he had never been the type to rest on his laurels or dwell on his mistakes. When one was done and over, he moved on, and that had always been the case, whether work was involved or when his most recent fuck had finally lost her appeal.
So why then...
Why the fuck was this arrangement with Fleur feel so fucking different?
Night turned into day, but the answer to this remained elusive, and Julian, having already risen at dawn, was on the phone with his friend Stephen Everly by six in the morning. While the other man's fortune was mostly tied up in the energy business, Stephen also happened to be the only lawyer Julian preferred to work with when dealing with any legal matter on US soil.
As typical with both men, it took them only minutes to discuss the essentials of Julian's situation, but it was when Julian finally remembered to mention Fleur's name that things got a little tricky.
"I know her."
Three fucking words.
Just three fucking words, and Julian at once wished he had chosen a different lawyer instead. It wasn't that he doubted Stephen's skills, but his concerns mostly had to do with his lawyer's looks.
"Did you two date?" he asked brusquely.
"No, we didn't date, and no, I was never interested in her that way either. It was her sister I used to like..."
Julian visibly relaxed at his words, and Stephen's lips twitched. His friend had always been the type to treat the women he dated as colleagues that he merely happened to fuck. Fleur was obviously different, and Stephen saw why this was the moment they entered the boardroom.
Any reservations Julian had about entering into a business agreement with Fleur became a thing of the past the moment their gazes met. Memories flooded his mind, and Julian could feel his cock already starting to stir.
She had changed into one of those modern power suits for women: a silk blouse, a dark fitted blazer, and a matching pair of barely-there shorts that once again showed her legs to their finest advantage.
Those legs would soon be his, Julian thought, and he could just fucking imagine them wrapped around his waist as he pounded into her over and—-
"Ahem."
That did not sound like Fleur, but it sounded familiar at the same time, and Julian reluctantly dragged his gaze away from his little flower so that—-
"What the fuck?"
Julian finally noticed the woman standing next to Fleur.
Fleur had her own moment of shock when she realized who it was standing next to Julian. "Stephen?"
Freddie struggled to hide her smile. She could already feel it. Things were going to be very, very interesting from here on, and to get the ball rolling...
"Hello, Julian," Freddie said cheerfully. "It's nice to see you again, but I'd just like to warn you in advance that I can't be your friend throughout this meeting."
Stephen decided to take his cue from the other lawyer and flashed a smile at Fleur's direction. "Same goes for me, I'm afraid. My client must take priority. I'm sure you understand."
Freddie gestured to the table. "Shall we take our seats?"
With Fleur and Freddie sitting next to each other on one side, the remaining available seats were the pair across them and one that was at the head of the table...which Julian didn't hesitate to take as this placed him adjacent to Fleur.