A Billionaire's Love Story, Book One: Falling In A Moment Read online

  Chapter Three:

  Luke looked at his watch for the fifth time in less than an hour. It was barely 8:30 pm and he was already bored out of his skull. The party had been going on for a little more than an hour and a half, and already some of the guests were feeling the effects of the free-flowing alcohol that was being provided by the swarmed bartenders. From his spot in the shadows, nestled between two tall awkwardly placed plants, he leaned a shoulder against the large plane window that offered a breathtaking view of both the city and the sea. It would be beautiful, if he was viewing it with a beautiful woman whom he loved, but instead he had spent the better part of the evening battling off desperate women seeking his money and access to his family. Why was it so hard to find a woman who wasn’t either put off by his fortune or turned on by it? Why was there not a woman who wanted him for him, and to hell with the money? Luke knew his older brother Andrew would have just told him that women and their love were a liability. But Luke knew he spoke from a bitter place due to his divorce nearly 5 years earlier. If he listened to his older brother Jonathan, he would tell him it was impossible to love just one woman, and tell him to enjoy the perks of having women throw themselves at him. But he wasn’t a playboy like Jon, or a recluse like Andrew. He wanted a love like his parents had.

  They’d met on the subway and clicked, and next thing they knew they were married, and happily so through to this day. It was because of their love story that Luke didn’t give up on finding a woman he, as his father described it, just clicked with. When Luke had years ago asked his father to clarify more, he’d just said he would know what the click felt like when it happened. But Luke was close to giving up on the click. Even though he was only 27, he was tired of attending these parties and business trips alone, only to fight off attention and return to his apartment unaccompanied again.

  Watching his brothers navigate the room, he glanced at Andrew, a tall giant of a man who looked like he would be more at home felling trees and plummeting down a bean stock than wearing a custom tailored suit. He had the Charmant dirty blond hair, though he was flecked with premature gray and kept it cropped close to his scalp. He had a broad chest and had a booming voice, which carried even if he tried to whisper. He had their father’s eyes, a silver gray, which at times looked the color of storming clouds. He was holding an impromptu business conference in one corner with all the investors and other important guests, his personal secretary Julia not far from his side, scribbling notes; he rolled his eyes at what he saw. His brother was not someone who stopped working, even at a party in his little brother’s honor.

  Sweeping the room, he saw his older brother Jon holding a similar conference, except with all the eligible and maybe even ineligible women hanging on his every word and mannerism. Jon, though just as tall as Andrew, was lean where his brother was broad and, while Andrew enjoyed his hair cut short, Jon kept growing it long, his honey blonde hair tied up in a flattering pony tail at the nape of his neck, much to the chagrin of Andrew, who viewed this style as unprofessional and dirty, but Jon never cared. He too had inherited their father’s stormy gray eyes.

  Luke, on the other hand, while he had inherited the customary dirty blonde hair and height that characterized the Charmant men, had taken after his mother and had her hazel eyes. He marveled at how different his brothers were in that moment. Yet, he was amazed at how similar they were, both graduates of top schools, and in the top percentage in everything they did. They’d been the faces of the company since his parents began to take on less and less responsibility, especially with each brother running a specific piece of the large Charmant family business. Their father had built a business empire, and they were the heirs to it. No pressure. right? Luke snorted when he realized he too was now a part of the family business, and had been for a little over a year. He too had excelled in his classes, ranking in the top percentage. He had studied business like the rest of his brothers; though his heart had called for him to study art and literature, he knew it would not be supported. So, he followed in the footsteps of those before him, and even now he was mirroring his brothers.

  He had been given control over the family publishing company once he’d finished getting his Masters in Business Administration, and was pleased when his older siblings had designated this part of the company to him. He did not believe he would have done so well in the technology and innovation sector that Jonathan controlled, or the import and export division that Andrew oversaw. At least he was immersed in a part of the company that he enjoyed, and could speak with people who held a similar passion as he. But still, he chaffed at the bit at times, going to meetings where people only cared for the bottom line and not producing quality literary works.

  With a deep sigh, Luke looked at his watch again, 8:35 pm. Great. Luke knew he had to mingle, had to thank all these people for coming. Had to network, but the idea seemed too unappealing, Maybe just a few more minutes away from the crowd. And so he just watched the people milling around.

  Then he heard something to his right. Pressing himself closer against the window, he moved nearer to the source, and at first all he heard was men laughing, but then he heard an angelic voice. “But you see with such work by women like Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, you would not see such a rise in…” The voice was cut off by a loud cluster of women moving towards his hiding spot. Quickly ducking away before they could see him, he snuck out of his corner and made his way through the crowd towards the voice that was not only pleasing to his ear, but was discussing some of his favorite Victorian authors with such authority.

  He tried to push his way closer to the source of the voice, but found that he was constantly being congratulated and thanked for such a lovely party along the way. Trying hard to maintain his manners, he was at the end of his ropes before finally he broke through the crowd and found himself stumbling and face to face with the woman who had enthralled not only him but the crowd around her. When his hazel eyes locked with her Emerald ones, he found that his father was right, something had clicked and he knew it. This was the one he had been looking for all his life, and he had just embarrassingly almost knocked her down in the process of trying to meet her.

  Straightening, he quickly remembered his manners and closed his gaping mouth. Bowing slightly, he could think of nothing else to do in that moment, but bow deeply to this woman, who as he took her in upon rising, looked like a goddess from ancient times. With such fiery hair cascading in curls down her back, he ached to reach out and touch one of the silky curls to see if it was really as soft as it looked. Her gown, as dark green as her eyes, drew his gaze to all her curves, and he felt a heat rising up in his body that he was sure those around him would notice. But it was the adorable freckling that covered her face and neck that made him wish he could pull her to him and place delicate kisses over each and every one of those speckles.

  Her dainty hand coming towards him is what snapped him out of his musings. First learn her name, you dolt, he chastised himself for being such a fool. She held her hand out and waited patiently for him to grasp it to shake. But as he captured her supple hand, he tenderly turned it so that her knuckles were presented and softly grazed his lips across her skin. A jolt of pleasure shot through him at the contact, and looking into her eyes, he saw how they darkened, and he hoped it was because she felt the same connection and flair of passion that he had.

  Realizing he had still not secured her name, he rushed out, “I am Luke Charmant, and you are?” A twittering of laughter brought back the fact that he was surrounded by a watchful audience, who had no doubt taken note of how he’d fallen over himself in front of this beautiful stranger.

  “I’m Elle, Elle Cinder. I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Charmant.” Her voice was deep and melodic, and the smile she awarded him, though slight, made him want to do whatever it took to see her smile always.

  “Call me Luke; the only Mr. Charmant I know is my father.” He smiled wide, still not believing the feelings that were floating
around in him. He wanted to take her hand, and run and pull her into an empty room, and learn everything there was to know about her, and also to ravish her, but mostly to speak to her alone, away from prying eyes. Elle chuckled at his little quip and her laughter made his smile grow wider.

  “Miss. Cinder,” he stressed the Miss, just to give her time to correct him on her married status. It would break his heart if she had told him it was actually ‘Mrs. Cinder’. He had only been in this woman’s presence a few moments, and he was already heartbroken at the thought that she might already be taken by another. She did not correct him, so he continued, “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

  She seemed taken aback at the request, but sat her purse and flute of champagne down at the nearest table and nodded her head. Holding out his arm, he gently placed her hand in the crook of his own and led her out onto the dance floor, happy that he had listened to all those planners who had said a dance floor would be a necessity for the party.