Page 21 of Enemies to French Kisses
“We’ve tried every major variable, and that didn’t do it. But we have another avenue.”
“Like what?”
“Adjusting every singleminorvariable until we are tuned into perfect harmony.”
A sigh of failure escapes my lips.
She touches my shoulder, warmth running through my body. “It’s not over Marc. Come back to the table. I need you if we’re going to hit this deadline. Besides, we have a secret weapon that those other guys over at Tinter Biotech don’t have.”
“What’s that?” I could kill myself for the desperation in my voice.
Her eyes are filled with fire. And this time it’s not directedatme, butwithme. “Irefuseto fail.”
She looks at me with a sparkle in her eye, and I know that she believes it. She believes it so much that I feel my own doubt begin to wane.I believe her.
I nod. “Five hours. If you’re right—”
“And I am.”
“—then we’d better wake Vincent up.”
“Eh?” Vincent stirs on hearing his name.
“Wipe off the drool,” Laura announces. “We’ve got some massive calculations to do before sunrise.”
Doubt still lingers in my stomach, but a ray of hope is beginning to glimmer in the distance.
“What did I miss?” Vincent hisses at me.
I grin at him. “Our last chance.”
* * *
We each havea finger on the ‘Enter’ key.
“Vincent,” Laura looks up at him to her right, “is it ready?”
“It’s ready.”
She turns to me. My chest leans into her shoulder and with her face tilted this way, her cheek grazes my lips. She doesn’t flinch.
“Marc?”
“Ready.”
“Three, two, one…”
We press ‘Enter’ together and off the proposal flies into the winds of chance.
But Laura was right. By adjusting all the minor factors—hourly rates and purchasing at scale, as well as times of year for delivery—we could overcome just about every foreseeable hurdle. I don’t know how her mind came to terms with that, but it did, and in ways I couldn’t have expected.
It was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.
She sighs and sits back hard against the chair. “It’s done.”
We are all exhausted, but euphoria floats in the air. Her lips curl into a satisfied smile, a smile that lights up something inside me that I cannot let show.
“Well?” Guillaume enters, his steps uncertain, not his usual positive and bounding self.
