Page 50 of Right With You
There was only one possible answer.
“Alright, Elise. I’ll kiss you when we get home.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Elise
Mr. Devereaux looked as tanned and severe as ever as we entered the luxurious black and red lounge. Aurelie was glowing, as was Michele, and since they’d had such a happy aura of congeniality every time I’d interacted with them in the last few days, this was no surprise.
With Luc’s hand burning a hole in my dress at my lower back and his promise that he’d kiss me when we got home… well, I was basically on fire.
It wasn’t just his touch or the impending kiss. It certainly wasn’t the highly ostentatious and incredibly gorgeous ring he’d slipped on my finger. It was the little platinum chain he’d fastened around my neck, the brush of his fingers there, and the lingering reminder that he’d thought of me.
He’d consideredme.
It shouldn’t have been revolutionary, but it was. In his very Luc way, he’d given me a huge gift that might’ve seemed flashy for the sake of our situation, yet nestled it into thoughtfulness so personal, it made this feel real.
And it just shouldn’t feel that way. It couldn’t.
And yet you asked him to kiss you? Great way to make it stay totally fake, genius.
Just the thought of the kiss had me igniting again.
I was set aflame right until an absolutely stunning woman stood from a wing-backed leather chair and turned to greet us.
This must’ve been Odette.
Her long blond hair and giant Disney princess blue eyes fringed with thick, dark lashes and her absolutely ridiculous bone structure gave way to a lithe body with porcelain skin and French manicured nails and a dress so feminine and classy in a blush pink, I could hardly breathe.
Like, really, I could hardly remember how to inhale because it felt like someone had punched me in the gut.Thiswas the woman Luc’s grandfather had chosen for him?
She’s a frozen princess singing at an ice palace and he’s a guard who shows up to capture her, then falls for her in the wind-whistling night…
Half of me expected Luc to snatch the ring off my hand and tell me, “Thanks, but no thanks.” I honestly couldn’t have blamed him if looks were the only factor. But when she smiled as though delighted to see us both and gave prim little air kisses to him, then me, I simply didn’t know what to do with myself.
“I’m so happy to meet you both. Mr. Devereaux has told me so much about you,” she said, an alarmingly genuine-looking smile on her face. No trace of an accent like Aurelie, so maybe she was actually from New York despite her rather French-sounding name?
But like, she had to secretly be evil or something, right? That was how the stories went. She’d be awful, and then I’d feel happy to have helped Luc escape his dire fate.
If nothing else, she was beholden to her parents, or Mr. Devereaux, in some way. She wouldn’t be here otherwise… unless what she wanted was a loveless marriage with a super wealthy, super-hot war hero?
Okay, so maybe her being here isn’t that big of a mystery.
“Nice to meet you, too, Mademoiselle de Valois. I hope your travel was uneventful,” Luc said, offering her a subdued version of his smile.
A sickly sensation flashed through me—jealousy.
“I heard you own a donut shop, Elise. Are you open tomorrow? I’d love to come try one. I’ve been in Europe lately and they just don’t know donuts like we do,” she said, a sweet giggle accompanying her words.
“We are open, yes. Seven to ten-thirty tomorrow.” I hoped my smile didn’t look as fake as it felt.
Aurelie put her arm around my shoulders, shooing Luc away. “Her donuts are the best I’ve ever had. I mean that,” she said, looking right at me like she needed me to believe her.
“I’m so glad.” And I was. I just… couldn’t quite care about my donuts right now.
A waiter arrived and set down a tray of drinks including six flutes of champagne and several high ball glasses filled with cocktails. I wasn’t one to self-medicate with alcohol but right about now, a glass of bubbly sounded like the perfect distraction from the green monster rearing its head in my chest. Luc wasn’t mine, per se, so was I taking this fantasy too far here? No. Let’s just say I was invested in my role as his doting fiancée.
“Let’s toast.” Michele gestured at the tray and everyone took one, Mr. Devereaux the slowest to acquiesce.
