More Than a Fling? Read Online Free

comes from a wealthy family. He’s in
touch with a new generation of tech-savvy people who have money. He’s
charismatic and interesting. I want you to go to Cape Town, meet the guy, and if
you still think he’s the wrong choice then we’ll talk again.’
    The wrong choice? Ally now thought. Hah! The perfect choice.
    Her mobile rang and she glanced down at the name that flashed
on the screen. Luc...of course. She slid her finger across the screen and
answered the call.
    ‘Where are you?’
    ‘Waiting to meet Ross Bennett again,’ Ally replied in a
resigned voice. ‘He’s a strong candidate.’
    ‘I am the man !’ Luc crowed with a
loud, undignified whoop. Ally hoped that he was alone in his office and that
nobody could hear his self-congratulations. ‘And that is why they pay me the big bucks, ladies and gentlemen!’
    ‘Yeah, Luc.... You are the man,’
Ally grumbled. ‘Luc one, Ally zero.’
    Luc was silent for a minute before he spoke again. ‘Ally, you
can’t possibly be upset because I had an idea that panned out...can you?’
    ‘Maybe a little,’ she admitted.
    Luc’s chuckle was warm and affectionate in her ear. ‘You are
such a pork chop, kid. We run Bellechier as a team effort—you know this. I might
be the CEO but I frequently ask my dad for help and advice. When Patric gets
stuck on a design he calls our mother and they talk it through. You can’t find
the face and we’re trying to help you out. When are you going to stop taking
everything so personally, sweetheart?’
    But it was personal. Because if she
wasn’t performing at a hundred per cent she was failing them, wasn’t she? They’d
given her so much, and since she couldn’t give them what they most wanted—her
thoughts and feelings—she gave them what she could—her labour and her loyalty.
‘I’m sorry.’
    ‘Don’t apologise...you’ve done nothing wrong!’
    His words were kind but Ally could imagine Luc shoving his hand
into his coal-black hair in frustration. She frequently frustrated her very
emotionally expressive and intelligent family. Dammit.
    She looked for an excuse to end this conversation. ‘I’m just a
bit tired, Luc.’
    ‘Tired, thin...probably undernourished. You’re working far too
hard and you are going to burn out, Alyssa. And then Maman is going to kill
me!’
    Back to this old chestnut... She’d always been thin—that was
nothing new. And, yes, she was working hard, but she always had. ‘Luc, I’m fine!
How many times do I have to say it?’
    ‘We don’t believe you...mostly because you look like a panda
and you barely touched your food the other night. Are you coping at work?’
    Ally’s eyes narrowed as the barman topped up her wine and she
sent him a grateful smile. ‘Do you have any complaints?’
    ‘No, of course I don’t.’
    ‘Then I’m coping at work.’
    Ally heard the long breath he expelled. ‘You are the reason I
don’t have a girlfriend, Ally; I spend too much emotional energy worrying about
you.’
    Ally had to smile at that. ‘Rubbish. You don’t have a
girlfriend because you have a low boredom threshold.’
    ‘That too. Listen, with Ross try your best, okay? Be
charming...funny...because despite the fact that you are as prickly as a
hedgehog I know you can be both. Je t’adore, Alyssa.’
    She wished she could give him those words back but, as always,
they stuck in her throat.
    ‘Bye, Luc.’
    Luc disconnected and Ally dropped her phone into her bag. Her
brothers: good-looking, smart, kind. Even if she was prepared to get involved
with a man, could get involved, she’d probably still
be single because they’d set the bar extremely high.
    One day maybe she’d feel brave enough to try to find a man who
matched up. Maybe one day she’d have the time to try. One day.
    But not any time soon.

TWO
    ‘Something with your wine?’
    Ally looked up into those amazing green-brown-gold eyes and her
heart kerplopped in her chest again. His caramel-brown hair was squeaky