Page 47 of Rosé with My Fake Fiancé
“We don’t know if Luc’s given up, but I doubt it,” Jade says. “You’re going to have to find him to get an answer.”
“To the right question,” I mutter.
“What?”
I wave her away. “Nothing.” I pause. “Actually, everything. I’m going to Paris.”
* * *
An excruciatingly long time later,I’m at a cafe in Paris near Luc and Anouk’s apartment. Doubts have been creeping in again, but encouraging messages from my friends keep me grounded.
At least, grounded until I spot Luc.
I almost don’t recognize him. His shoulders are hunched, his eyes on the ground, worry lines between his eyebrows. He’s already passing the café, and I call out his name, standing and weaving my way out of the tables and chairs to chase after him.
“Luc!”
This time he hears me and stops, slowly turning around like he isn’t sure what he heard. Our eyes connect, and my worry deepens further.
“Luc, are you—”
The breath whooshes out of me as he takes a stride forward and meets my momentum, wrapping me up in his arms. I’ve never been so glad to hug anyone in my life, and after the surprise recedes, I return the gesture, wrapping my arms around him. I feel the tension in Luc escape in a rush, and he presses his face into my neck, taking big shuddering breaths that ramp my worry up.Somethingis obviously wrong.
I hold him close and run my hand in a soothing circle over his back. I can feel the struggle in his body to get himself under control, so I add soft, kind words.
Finally, he pulls away, wiping his face with his palms. “Mémé fell yesterday,” he explains, and my heart goes out to Anouk, the kind woman who’s old enough that a fall could do terrible things. “She’s okay now, but she fell, and I wasn’t home. I was out driving and had to go back home for something and found her.”
“Oh, sweetie,” I say. “I am so sorry. Thank god she’s okay.” I keep touching him, rubbing my hands up and down his upper arms and over his shoulders.
Once he’s deemed his face is dry enough, he tugs me toward him again, this time in a simpler hug, a grateful hug, not a collapsing-under-your-stress hug.
Luc places his chin on my head. “How did you find me?”
I laugh against his chest. “I went to your old apartment and knocked on doors until someone called the super so I could get a forwarding address. They probably shouldn’t have given it to me, but they did. Then you weren’t home, so I thought I’d wait in a cafe and check every hour. I didn’t expect you to walk right by me, though it is on the way to the metro.”
He squeezes me once. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” We both pull away, and I catch the look on Luc’s face: it’s guarded now, unsure, which I’ve never seen on him before.
“Look, Tessa. With Mémé’s injury, I don’t know how—”
“Wait,” I interrupt. Luc’s going to apologize for not being able to come visit me for a while, and I don’t want him to feel guilty for another moment. I need to act my age and tell Luc the truth. “I have to ask you a question.”
Luc’s lips part for a moment before he swallows, his Adam’s apple jumping in his throat. “Okay.”
“Will you be my boyfriend?”
Surprise bursts from Luc in a laugh. “Really?” he asks, running a hand through his hair.
“Yeah. I know that it’s not ideal, being a flight away from each other, and of course, you need to stay here to take care of your grandmother, so I’ll come as often as I can. But I like you. A lot. And I know you like me, too. So maybe you can hurry and answer the question.”
Luc slips his arms around me and pulls me closer, a winsome smile on his face that has my heart flipping.
“I was going to tell you that even though I won’t be able to visit you for a while, I still want you with everything that I have. I was going to ask you to wait for me. I was going to tell you I am obsessed with you.” He gives a lengthy pause, searching my face. “That you would come here, worried about me, looking for me. You make me feel so many things, Tessa, and you’re all I’ve wanted.”
Part of me still fears this is too fast, too likely to fail. But the other part, one that sounds oddly like my friends’ voices, reminds me that Luc’s a grown man, and his feelings are his, and I can’t control them.
“Really. And I know that it’s going to take you longer, but I’m very persistent.” I laugh at that. “To answer your question, yes, I want to be your boyfriend.”
