Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) by Sylvia McDaniel Page B

lips, wondering what they would
feel like to kiss.
    Jon barged into the room. “Louis, Priscilla
Morgan is here to see you.”
    Louis glanced at Jon and then again at
Marian. “I’ll tell Henry to bring you the ledger. Excuse me; I have
more pleasant matters awaiting me.”
    He turned and walked away and she couldn’t
help but watch the way he strode across the room with a determined
step. Yet when she spoke with him, he seemed more playful than
serious. Which was Louis Fournet, the serious businessman or the
playful bachelor? Or some randy combination of both?
    A few minutes later, the balding accountant
strode into her office, a big ledger in his hand. “Mr. Fournet said
to bring this to you.”
    Marian smiled at the accountant and took the
ledger from his hands. “Thank you, Henry. I appreciate your
promptness. And I know that you realize if you ever question my
authority again, it will be your last day with Cuvier
Shipping.”
    The man frowned, but nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Marian watched him as he hurried out the door. She sighed and
turned her attention to the ledger. Taking a sheet of paper, she
made some notes as she flipped through the ledger to see who Cuvier
Shipping was doing business with.
    Ten minutes later, Marian heard the soft
trill of a woman’s voice and glanced up from the accountant’s book
to see a woman with a full figure, who had tumbling blonde curls,
and a soft angelic face. Priscilla Morgan was everything that men
adored in a woman.
    She watched Louis laughing and talking with
the pretty woman, participating in a flirtatious ritual that amused
Marian, yet made her sad. He leaned toward the woman telling her
something for her ears only and Marian couldn’t help but wonder
what it would be like to have a man’s attention. So many years had
passed without even a flirtatious smile from her husband. Had they
ever been this enamored with one another?
    The woman smiled coyly at Louis and Marian
watched him respond to her banter with his own teasing response,
just as Jean once reacted to her so many years ago.
    Louis responded like her dead husband. They
had been business associates and friends who had much in common.
And the very fact they seemed alike should be enough to keep
Marian’s thoughts off the dark-haired man with the bewitching blue
eyes, perhaps too much like Jean Cuvier.
    Marian returned her attention to the ledger
and tried to concentrate on the names and figures before her eyes.
Each time she heard the woman’s laughter, the words seemed to blur
on the page as her concentration shifted to the people across the
hall.
    Why couldn’t she just block their laughter
from her mind? Why did the woman’s voice seem more like a purr that
made Marian’s heart ache? With a sigh she returned to the ledger
page, more determined than ever to learn all she could about Cuvier
Shipping. Her focus had to remain on the company and her children,
not her Don Juan of a business partner.
    ***
    Louis sat staring across the hall feeling
morose as he stared at Marian Cuvier. Silk-wrapped and smelling of
lilacs, the woman with her stubborn will of iron had entrenched
herself in Jean’s office these last weeks. Nothing seemed to bother
her enough to send her running home and losing this battle between
them was maddening.
    He hated losing any battle.
    Worse, little-by-little Marian seemed to be
charming and winning over the men who ran Cuvier Shipping. Slowly
she had managed to break down their resistance and he could see
subtle changes in their attitudes and even in their language. He
hadn’t heard a swear word ring out in the office in over a
week.
    At first he scoffed at her attempts to bribe
the men with fresh baked goods each morning. They were smarter than
to let their stomachs lead their minds. Now he was considering
donning an apron and bringing in a full-course meal, just to show
them they were being bought off.
    But then this morning as he walked in, he’d
overheard a conversation between