Chapter Eight
As the sun set behind the mountains in the distance, painting the estate a hazy shade of orange, Kelsey took a quick breather. Standing near one of the multiple bars her crew had erected around the grounds, she watched as guests shuffled out, smiling and laughing, happily worn out from a fantastic wedding reception and heading out to whatever their night had in store for them next. There were a few after parties planned at various hotel suites and restaurants in the area, but the wedding had ended before nine so the bride and groom could have their send off and head out to catch their flights to their honeymoon.
Exhaustion had begun to creep in around the edges, but Kelsey was still flying high on the exhilaration of putting together such a massive, beautiful event.
So when her email inbox alerted her to yet another Alexander Arroyo interruption, even that couldn’t pull her head out of the clouds… until she read the message.
I’ve had a thing for you, too, if it makes you feel any better.
Kelsey’s eyes widened. She stared at the email, as if Alexander’s words would change—or go away—the harder she looked at them.
No such luck.
He’d always had a thing for her? Was he serious, or just messing with her? Why would he just randomly type this email now? They’d known one another for years and he hadn’t tried to pursue anything with her since high school. To the contrary, in fact, anytime they were near one another he did anything and everything he could to irritate her.
“Mademoiselle?”
With a sigh of relief, Kelsey pushed thoughts of Alexander aside, then turned toward the welcomed distraction, gasping softly when she laid eyes on Jean-Luc.
Having finished his duties for the wedding, he’d recently showered, and his hair was still wet and slicked back behind his ears. He’d replaced his sexy chef’s uniform with a white button-down dress shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and tailored, light gray slacks that fit him too well.
Muchmuchtoo well.
“Punch me,” she whispered.
“Quelque chose ne va pas, Kelsey?”
Careful to focus on hisface, not his body in those snug slacks—although focusing on his face didn’t make it any easier to breathe—she tried to compose herself. Jean-Luc might be done with his job for the Winchesters, but she was certainly not. He’d shaved since this morning, his fierce jawline smooth, and his lips even more pronounced against his freshly shaven skin.
“You need to stay away from me, Jean-Luc.”
“Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas?” His brows knitted together and he tilted his head, as if confused by her request. Cute.
“Oh, you knowexactlywhat you’re doing to me.”
“I don’t understand.”
There it was again, that heavily-accented English. “My ass.”
His lips quirked up to one side. “A lovely ass.”
He stepped over to her, caging her within his arms so quickly that she didn’t even have time to register that this was the moment to run like hell in the opposite direction. By the time her brain woke up and crieddanger!,he was already close enough that the heat of his body pushed her past the point of boiling and right into Death by Jean-Luc territory.
“Your…” He pursed his lips, which only made her focus on them harder. “How you say… votre le travail es terminé?”
“Travail… terminé?” What could that mean…? Kelsey’s eyes widened. “Terminate? Terminated? I’ve beenfired?”
Jean-Luc frowned. “Fired, non. Complete?” His brows furrowed as he tried to explain. “Fini? As-tu fini pour…” He motioned around them. “Tonight, fini?”
Kelsey nodded. The job she’d been hired for wasn’t fully complete until after she set up brunch for the remaining wedding party tomorrow morning, buttechnically, her job was finished for the night.
Jean-Luc flashed a wicked grin. “Alors tu peux me montrer comment faire un gâteau, ma petite Américaine, et je te montrerai comment embrasser comme les Français et baiser comme les Français.” He leaned forward and, before she could think to push him away or even try to figure out what he’d said, his lips crushed against hers.
She dropped whatever she’d been holding and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, stretching out her body against his, reveling in the deliciousness between his legs. He pressed his tongue into her mouth, and she nearly moaned as he toyed with her tongue, her teeth, flattening his hand at the base of her back and holding her against his hard body. He pulled back to look at her, smiling wickedly as his gaze flicked back and forth between her eyes.
The distance allowed her a moment to breathe, and the fresh air pumped oxygen through her veins and into her brain and her eyes widened as the realization hit her. She’d just crossed the line she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cross with him in the open, with possible witnesses nearby.
And, God help her, she wanted to cross it again.