Page 75 of Right With You
Outside, we heard Aurelie calling both our names.
He shook his head. “We should go. But could we plan to go to bed early tonight? Take some time before we’re too tired to talk and…”
Oh, the things my mind wanted to fill into the blank were many. I knew what he meant, though, and it wasn’t anything as sexy as I might’ve liked. Instead, it was exactly what weneeded, and that fit.
“Yes. Please,” I said, and we walked hand in hand out to the car while my mind sifted through a cascade of thoughts.
I hadn’t wanted anyone. It’d been a long time since I’d let myself need anyone, especially a man. But what settled into my heart as we drove to dinner was the simple realization that Luc had been giving me what I neededandwhat I wanted.
And without knowing it, it was quickly feeling like I needed and wantedhim.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Luc
Bernard and Cynthia de Valois were as politely judgmental as I’d expected.
What I hadn’t anticipated was how pleasant my grandfather had been thus far. Kind greetings to me, an air kiss near Elise’s cheek and a show of admiring her dress. She did look incredible tonight, but the gesture put me on alert more than anything else.
Because when Odette and her parents walked in, he fawned over all of them in the most French way possible. Subtle smiles, glittering eyes, a sly compliment to Odette and the suggestion Cynthia looked like she might be her sister… even in his late seventies, he had charm many couldn’t resist.
He trotted out all the tricks to accomplish his goal, which I supposed was convincing them their daughter had been given a warm welcome and every consideration. For their part, when introduced to my fiancée Elise, they both smeared smiles into place and nodded, murmuring congratulations which were so disingenuous, I might’ve laughed if I hadn’t seen the embarrassed set of Odette’s mouth.
We made it through dinner unscathed and generally focusing on polite talk of business and travel, but my grandfather had insisted on dessert, and something about his affect had changed in a way that set me on edge. Whether from decades of knowing him or years spent observing people in operational settings, I sensed something was coming.
“So, Luc, do tell us how you and lovely Elise met,” my grandfather asked, as though he cared.
“Yes. We’d love to hear the story, wouldn’t we, Odette?” Cynthia said, brows raised high on her pretty but un-wrinkling forehead.
Odette offered a thin smile, but her demeanor had been subdued tonight. It made me want to send her away from the table to free her rather than endure her brightness dimmed so much she seemed like a bird with clipped wings.
“Technically, I met her at a bar, though it was through mutual friends.” I glanced at Elise sitting on my other side, anticipation and a crush of desire flooding me at the sight of her beautiful face.
Have I ever wanted anyone more?
“What did you think when you first saw her?” Michele asked, ever the romantic voice in the crowd.
Elise huffed, fingers knitting together in her lap like the question made her uncomfortable. She must not have realized how distinctly I remembered our first meeting.
I caught her eye, waiting for her to stop glancing away and hold my gaze. When she finally did, I spoke to her. “I thought she was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.”
She exhaled sharply, so I settled my hand over hers, needing the contact, and continued. “I’d heard about her from our friends, knew she was impressive. But then there she stood with this expression like she didn’t care a bit about meeting me after I’d interrupted her conversation with her friend, and I… I could hardly breathe for looking at her.”
Her lips parted and I drew closer. What would I give for a few minutes alone with her? Maybe she could excuse herself to the bathroom and I could slip out, too. It wouldn’t be much, but I could kiss her, taste her, have her to myself for a moment and confirm every word of this was true. It wasn’t a show for the de Valois family or my grandfather.
It wasn’t a fact meant to fade sometime in the future.
Let’s not think about that right now.
“Una storia perfetta, fratello,” Michele said, satisfaction lacing his words exclaiming our perfect history.
“And did she know whoyouwere? It’s hard to imagine anyone not recognizing you, let alone your name,” Bernard asked, severing the moment.
“No. Actually, she only recently learned, as did most of my friends and colleagues.” Of course, Bruce and Wilder had been privy to my full background check and legal name. I’d wanted them to know the full reality and also to understand why I was so comfortable overseas when I’d initially signed on to work the overseas position after active duty. But everyone else who’d just found out? They’d all given me incredible amounts of grace for having lied to them for years.
“Stunning. I’m sure she was rather pleased to be marrying into such a family,” Cynthia said, a perturbed expression on her face.
Elise shifted, and I laughed as though it wasn’t a deeply awkward thing to say. I’d owe her more apologies after tonight, though she must’ve known there’d be some of this considering the context.
