by Caro LaFever
His brows rose. “Are we going to spend the evening cataloging my grooming habits?”
“I like what you’re wearing.”
A spark of laughter turned his hickory eyes gold. “I guess this means I’m no longer a saleau, correct?”
“Correct.” A light sprinkle of happiness soared inside her, making her grin. “No more saleau.”
“Excellent. I can hope to hear no more nicknames in this lifetime.”
His snarky humor surprised her into a chuckle.
A grin spread across his face, and the light inside her nearly engulfed her in joy.
Luc Miró was coming alive before her very eyes.
His attention turned to the waiter who’d approached their table, and to her surprise, he was cordial and animated as he ordered a fine bottle of Zinfandel along with an appetizer of charbroiled oysters. But when his focus returned to the menu after the waiter left, his expression started to—
Reaching across the table, she put her hand over his tightening fist. “No frowning.”
“You can be a bossy female, you know that?” His tenseness eased under her touch, contradicting his surly accusation.
“Are we going to have pork or beef?”
“BBQ both,” he growled.
“You like BBQ, I’ve been told.”
“By Lali, I suppose.” His frown turned to a scowl, yet there was still a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Scheming women.”
“That’s what we do.” She gave him a languid roll of her shoulders along with a sensual smile. “It’s all for your benefit, though.”
A sharp bark of laughter came from him. “Is that what you tell yourself?”
“My Maw-Maw always said, what a man doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
A dark cloud drifted into his eyes. “What happens if he finds out?”
The tension slid back into the hand beneath hers. Nina tightened her grip on him, feeling as if she were pulling him from the depths of a deep hole he’d fallen into long ago. She needed to find the right words here, the right wisdom that would start to heal him. “Then his woman should tell him her plans and confess she did it for love.”
“Love.” A shocked look crossed his face before it went blank. “But what if she doesn’t love him?”
This was about his dead wife, she felt it in her bones. The knowledge sifted into her, bringing with it strength and courage. “Then she has no business being around the man. She should have left him before she schemed.”
“A woman schemes only for love?” His question was soft and hesitant.
A quiet sort of hush came between them, even though the restaurant was filled with noisy tourists and locals. The clang of glass and china disappeared, the sultry tones of jazz filtering from speakers drifted away, the scent of good food and fine wine receded.
“Yes, Luc.” She met his dark gaze with a solid one of her own. “A good woman only schemes for love.”
Chapter 24
The moment he turned his hand to grasp Nina’s, to lay his palm along hers, to wind his fingers through hers, to take in the warmth of her skin on his, Luc knew he’d turned a corner. True, it wasn’t a corner he’d wanted to arrive at, nor a corner he’d even knew existed. But it was a corner nevertheless.
He knew it the moment he slid his hand around.
The skin of her palm was soft, yet there were small calluses on her fingers, telling him she worked hard at her shop. He moved his own fingers along hers, taking in the soft and tough. He didn’t want to talk about scheming and women any longer. Keeping it simple was safer. “When am I going to get my tour?”
“Of my shop?” Her quick mind followed him easily. “Anytime you want.”
Glancing up, he caught her gaze lingering on his hair. “I only combed it, Nina. It’s not a big deal.”
“No?” Her pinky finger tickled his palm. “But you did it for me, so that makes it special.”
He let her teasing touch and touching words swirl inside. He let her smile and smoky eyes take him in. He let her strong spirit and scheming love close. Very close.
Trying to lighten the mood and distract himself, he threw out a suggestion he hadn’t thought about for a long time. “Maybe I should cut it.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
Another bubble of laughter crept up his throat at her perceptive observation.
“You should do that all the time, Luc. Laugh.”
He met her frank gaze, but before he could respond, their wine and appetizers arrived.
Her hand slowly let his go.
The butter and garlic sauce sizzled, and the oysters were fresh. He grunted his approval, which elicited a chuckle from across the table. Easing into relaxation, he let himself enjoy the experience of being waited on and eating food he hadn’t cooked himself, or picked up from a fast-food joint on the way home. Even the jazz music tingling in his ear didn’t pull him away from his pleasure.
The waiter arrived again for the main course order. Nina gave him a look before placing two orders for baby back ribs.
“I remember what you said to Lali, Creole Man.” Her lips quirked.
He mumbled a curse, but left the order alone. It might be a good idea to explore what had happened to BBQ recipes in the last five years. Curiosity and a strange exhilaration ran through him. He felt different, more alive in a crazy sort of way. Trying to distract himself again, he focused on the woman across from him.
That was a mistake.
Except he didn’t realize it until it was too late.
She’d left her hair down tonight and done some curling, so the brown strands wove in a pleasing manner around the puffed sleeves of her dress. Her fingernails caught his attention when she waved at an oil painting on one wall and started chattering about the restaurant and her memories. Like her toenails, they were painted. Unlike his mami or his aunt, though, she hadn’t chosen a sedate red or a patrician pink.
Of course not. This was Nina Blanchard.
They were painted white, with little colored feathers floating on the surface. In a flash, he had a vision of those feathered fingers skating down his spine.
He went fully erect under the table.
Head tilting, her expression turned quizzical. “You okay?”
The knowledge sunk into him. A hard, solid weight. Yet one he allowed himself to take in. Allowed himself to accept. Even relish. “More than okay.”
There was going to be sex between them tonight and every other night after that. He labeled it sex, but knew deep inside—this was more for him. And maybe for her. For the first time in years, he was willing to offer his cock and his trembling heart as well.
Jesucristo.
Those smoky eyes lit with fire as if she understood what was streaming through his mind and body. “What are you thinking about?”
The husky question got lost when the waiter strode to their table with steaming plates. Still, it lingered over the table, an echoing call of female to male, of mate to mate.
Luc adjusted himself under the table. Forced himself to focus on the food.
The BBQ was excellent. Not as good as his, but very good. The side dishes of russet potatoes and fresh string beans were also acceptable. There was some spice he couldn’t define in the BBQ sauce that tickled his interest.
“He eats. And doesn’t complain.”
The taunt tickled him as well. A reluctant smile crossed his face. “Shut up and eat.”
“No man says shut up to me, saleau.”
“Nicknames.” Wagging a finger at her, he let his smile grow into a grin. “I thought we’d agreed.”
“Ah, let’s talk about agreements, then, cher.” She placed her elbows on the table. The action drew his gaze to her cleavage. The pink dress was demure, the drape of the silk and lace hiding what she had. He’d seen the hidden treasures before, though, and he remembered them vividly.
“What are you looking at?” Her words curled around each other like a lattice waiting to catch him in its grip. “I think I
know.”
“Then why ask?” The crazy exhilaration strummed through him once more. “If you know so much, Miss Nina.”
This time it was her turn to waggle his finger at him. “Nicknames.”
He pushed back his empty plate, letting the atmosphere, the good food in his stomach, and the teasing of this woman wash across him. For the first time in forever, he felt content. Happy.
Mierda.
“Are you done?” The question came out harsher than he’d intended.
Her gaze filled with instant bewilderment before her lips, those unpainted lips, firmed.
She was such a mix of so many things. Her painted nails with her unpainted mouth. Her hoodies and T-shirts and pink, pretty heels. The unmistakable mist of sex in her eyes overlaid on a girlish whimsy that tugged at his heart.
“I’m done with dinner, but not dessert,” she stated.
The attentive waiter swished to their table. “We have a superb bread pudding.”
“I know. I remember when my Paw-Paw brought us here.”
The waiter’s eyes lightened. “You’ve been here often?”
“Not often enough.” She switched her furrowed brows at him to a lovely smile at the other man. “So this is a treat.”
Luc wanted that smile only for himself. This was jealousy roiling inside, he realized with a shock.
He’d never been a man to be consumed by the green-eyed monster. When he’d been a teenager, he’d been too big and gawky to attract the girls. Genia’s arrival in his life had seemed to be a blessing at the time, and she’d been cunning enough to keep him content for years. Not until the very end had he realized he should have been more aware, more concerned.
More jealous.
Did he really want to go there again? Into the abyss of rage and envy?
“A lady should always have a treat.” The waiter beamed.
Apparently, Luc had no choice in the matter. Jealousy ripped away his manners. “What kind of sauce do you use?”
His gruff question shot through the mutual love fest going on in front of him.
“Sir.” The waiter dipped his head, his expression growing tense. “The chef has prepared a praline sauce.”
“Just like when I came here as a child.” She clapped her hands together, still in love with the waiter. “With raisins and cinnamon and whipped cream?”
“You have a good memory.” The waiter turned back to her another smile on his face.
“She’ll have a café au lait, I’ll have an espresso, and we’ll share one order.”
His curt pronouncement landed like a thud.
“Yes, sir.” The waiter scuttled away.
If it had been Genia sitting across from him, she would have pierced him with a glare and a spat of castigation. If his mami had been, a stern scold would have been the response. Instead of either of these, the woman across from him smiled. A warm, willing movement of her lips that lit into his gut and sex, setting him to fire.
“You’re jealous,” she said with simple candor.
A male wish to hide flew by. “I’m not—”
“That’s adorable.” The smile turned into a grin. “You’re adorable.”
No man wanted to be adorable. He scowled at her, his contentment leeching away to be replaced with surly wariness. He didn’t handle jealousy well. The one time in his life when it had consumed him, he’d done enormous damage. And the last thing he wanted to do with this winsome woman was damage her in any way.
Maybe he should re-examine his decision to go to bed with Nina.
His cock howled.
His heart shuddered.
“Hey.” She leaned across the table, her hand taking his once more. “Don’t look so serious and worried. I wasn’t going to run off with the waiter, silly.”
He hadn’t thought Genia was going to run off with his best friend. The thought had never once crossed his mind that the two people closest to him other than Lali would betray him. He’d been very foolish and very naïve.
Now, he wasn’t. Now, he was smart enough to fear what a woman could do. And fear what he could do when betrayed.
“Luc?” The smoke in her eyes dissipated, leaving cerulean blue. Like a laser intent on understanding him. “Talk to me.”
A violent volcano erupted in the depths of him. Emotions and words he’d suppressed for years blew from him like a blast. “My wife fucked my best friend.”
Her hand tightened on his and her gaze never wavered. “I figured it was something like that.”
He wasn’t done. “When I found out, I went crazy.”
“Mais,” her expression softened, “you had a right.”
“I found them in the club.” Cold sweat broke out along the line of his spine as the memories flooded into him. The darkness of the hallway as he strolled toward the back office. The noises he didn’t identify at first. The stunned confusion when he opened the door to the storeroom. “I hit Ames.”
“He deserved it.” With a swift move, she shimmied around the booth to his side. Her arms came around him, bringing him softness and acceptance. “Let the rest of it out now, Luc.”
How did she know there was more? More sickness brewing in him, a poison that had sat in his gut and spirit for far too long. “I yelled—screamed, really. No one else heard because of the jazz. They ran off, taking my car.”
“Yeah?” her palm smoothed along his neck to his cheek. “And then what happened?”
“Car crash,” he choked. “Both of them dead.”
She didn’t say anything to that. She didn’t have to. Her warmth along his side was enough. So much of the poison left him in that moment. Not all. But more than he’d ever imagined could. A sigh ran through him and he leaned on her.
Her fingers with those funny little feathers sifted through his curls. “Thank you for telling me.”
He’d never told anyone, not even Lali. His staff and friends, the street’s owners and his parents, all of them had speculated and gossiped. Yet, he’d never told another single soul the actual events that drove Genia and Ames to their death.
Why Nina?
His heart whispered, the kind of whisper a person couldn’t ignore.
But he tried.
Then, she took his fisted hand in hers, curling her fingers around his. She shifted closer, her perky breast bumping him. “Put your arm around me.”
Reluctant and nervous, he did as told.
Nestling into him, she looked up into his face with the grave smile he’d only seen one other time. “I won’t betray you like she did. I promise you.”
The sweet sincerity of her went straight to his heart. The blue of her eyes shone, no mist hiding her intentions. The plumy scent of her filled his sensitive nostrils, making him feel as if he was filled with her essence.
Tart and sweet.
Kind and fearless.
His Nina.
He drew a finger along the line of her jaw and gave her a smile of his own. “I’ll hold you to that, Miss Nina.”
Tutting, she laid her head on his shoulder. “No nicknames.”
Luc laughed, letting his fear go.
Chapter 25
Luc poked his finger in the center of the sheet of paper lying on the steel counter of his restaurant’s kitchen. “This area needs to be expanded.”
“We’ll need another permit, then. And when did you become interested in the festival, mon lami?”
He glanced at Lali and caught the smug look. “Quiet.”
“She’s got a point.” Nina lounged on a stool, her eyes laughing. “But I can’t say I mind. A bigger festival means more customers for my crappy shop.”
“Your shop is not crappy.” He frowned at her. He spoke the truth. During the last week, as they’d settled into a tentative, exciting, challenging relationship, he’d been at Trois Sœurs several times. Her older sister, Jeanie, had shown him around, explaining the charms, the perfumed oils, and even the magic witch jars. He couldn’t say he believed in any of the professed benefits. Except
the look on Nina’s face, when she’d come in and realized he’d entered the shop on his own and was showing interest, was worth the effort. Her expression had turned wistful and winsome, twisting his heart into a knot.
Trois Sœurs meant everything to her and he intended to make it a huge success.
“Fetid then.” Her blue-gray eyes danced.
A chuckle escaped him.
“I don’t believe I’ve heard you chuckle for eons,” Lali said, her face filling with delight. “It’s so nice to hear it again.”
He grunted and turned back to the festival plans. “I’ll call Miguel at the permit office and get this changed.”
“Excellent.” Nina hopped off the chair. Bounding to his side, she went on tiptoe to give his lips a kiss. “I need to get across the street to relieve Heni.”
Heni hadn’t come near him on his visits. Perhaps it was the presence of Lilith, always perched on her velveteen throne, her gaze narrowed. Or maybe she’d gotten a clue when Nina ran over to him every time he entered the shop and kissed him. Whatever the reason, he’d been relieved.
He still wasn’t great at dealing with women.
But Nina gave him hope.
And courage. And lusty sex every night.
It struck him again how open about their relationship she was. Since his capitulation, she’d spent a lot of time at his restaurant. The fact she’d become fast friends with his entire staff didn’t surprise him—it was quintessential Nina. What did surprise him was how she so easily touched him in front of others and he liked it. The way her fingers twirled in his hair, the stroke of her hand down his back, the kisses she landed when he least expected it. The touches and kisses soothed something inside him. Something that had turned rotten long ago and now seemed to be coming to life.
“I’ll see you tonight at home, saleau.” She gave him a quick grin before swinging around.
“No nicknames,” he growled, his gaze dropping to her tasty butt.
A laugh was her response, before the door slammed shut behind her.
“I’m so happy for you, Luc.” Lali eased to his side, her smile sincere. “She’s wonderful, and just what you needed.”