Page 67 of Kissing for Keeps
“So,” Philippe says as we make our way toward the side of the chateau, “the wedding is this week.”
I take in a deep breath. “Yes. It’ll be here before we know it.” I’m not ready. I can’t help the feeling that something will go horribly wrong and the most important day of Madi’s life will be entirely ruined because of me.
When I started running Amy’s election, I wassoconfident, and so was she. We talked about her time in office as though it was a given, making plans, discussing my role. When little mistakes were made by me or my volunteers, I’d brush them off because we had it in the bag. We were polling so far ahead.
Until we weren’t. The loss blindsided me. Looking back now, I can see how each of those little mistakes shifted our trajectory just enough to lead to failure. So I’m not making mistakes with Madi’s wedding. I’m not taking success for granted.
“How long will you stay after the wedding?” Philippe asks as we near the swimming pool. There’s a solitary person in it—an old lady doing water aerobics. Good for her.
“Just long enough to do a little clean-up. I leave two days after.”
“And Jack, too?”
I glance over at him, but his gaze is ahead. “I actually don’t know when his flight leaves.”
“Salut,Maurice,” Philippe says to the security guard walking toward us.
“Bonsoir, monsieur,” Maurice replies, glancing at me and taking in my clothing. Does he recognize me as the sopping wet woman he found kissing Jack in the ruins?
Philippe stops, and the two of them have a short conversation in French. It sounds more friendly than business-like since both of them are smiling, and that makes me uncomfortable.
I let out a sigh of relief when we continue without Maurice.
“Are you friends with all of your staff?” I ask in what I hope is a conversational tone rather than one that screamsare you close enough friends that he told you about Jack and me?
“To different degrees, yes.” He tosses his head toward the security guard as we make our way around the edge of the pool. The old lady is jumping up and down, bringing her arms in and out with each jump. “Maurice has been here since I was a little boy, so he is almost like family.”
I make a mental note to tell Jack that Philippe isn’t too snobby to be friends with his servants, but then I realize that even using the wordservantwill probably defeat my point. Why do I feel so anxious to defend Philippe to Jack, anyway?
“Would you like to see the ruins?” he asks.
“Oh. Um, I thought you said they were closed to visitors.”
He offers his hand. “Not when you’re withme.”
I should be swooning right now. That’s standard procedure when a handsome man offers to take you to his forbidden castle ruins. Romance 101. But I’ve already seen them with Jack, and I doubt Philippe can top that experience.
I give him my hand, feeling more nauseated than swoony. He leads me toward the roped off tower and, instead of ducking under it like Jack and I did, he unclips the end, gesturing for me to pass through while never letting go of my hand.
He reclips the security rope and turns toward me. The night is darker than it was when Jack and I were in here, but the light of the pool casts a shimmering blue hue over the stairs and Philippe’s face. “This tower was part of the original chateau. It was ruined in a siege almost five hundred years ago.”
“Wow, impressive,” I say, keenly aware that I’m in almost the exact spot I was when Jack and I kissed. If he knew I was thinking about it while I was here with Philippe, he’d be grinning from ear to ear, I’m sure.
Curse you, Jack Allred.
“Yes, very impressive.” Philippe holds my gaze in a way that simultaneously throws doubt on what exactly we’re calling impressive and gives me a fair idea what he’s planning to do next.
I freeze becausewhat should I do?
I’ve heard a technique people use when there’s a place or object that’s associated with negative memories. Rather than avoiding that place, they intentionally seek it out and make new memories there. They take away the power of the past by painting over it with the present.
Maybe that’s what I should be doing here: kissing Philippe so this crumbly stone tower doesn’t have Jack and strawberry kisses graffitied all over it. Whyshouldn’tI kiss the nice, future French vicomte? Madi ordered me to have fun, and what’s more fun than a foreign romance?It worked pretty well for her.
Philippe takes a step toward me. “And yet, it has never been more impressive than it is now.”
Alarms are going off in my head because that’s a line if I’ve ever heard one. He’s probably said it a dozen times. Maybe that’s what he talked about with Maurice.Hey, don’t come by the east tower because I’m wooing another tourist for the next few minutes. Tomorrow it may be a different girl. Maybe that’s the real reason this place is roped off. It’s for the exclusive use of Philippe and his dates.
As he starts coming in for the kiss, I don’t know what else to do, so I step back.
