“I see. It must be quite pungent.”
Piper ignored the comment, choosing to wipe her nose again instead. “Did you need something, monsieur?”
A tentative smile worked its way across his features. Afraid to set her off again, probably. “I wanted to apologize for losing my temper this morning. The coffee, it was not your fault.”
No, it wasn’t, she wanted to say. She didn’t. Since he apologized, the least she could do was be gracious in return. “I should have known better than to put a cup where you couldn’t see it.”
“And I should know better than to behave like a brat,” he countered, one-upping her. “It’s rude to blame others for my shortcomings.”
Piper wasn’t sure she’d call partial blindness a shortcoming, but she accepted the apology anyway. If she didn’t, the two of them might spend all night exchanging regrets. “Thank you,” she said with a sniff. The man would never know that his “I’m sorry” had just beat out the coffee stain as the day’s bright spot.
“Do you need another paper towel? I would offer you something nicer, but I’m not a handkerchief person. A napkin perhaps?”
That made her smile, picturing him retrieving a napkin from the linen closet. “Thanks, but I’m okay now.” There remained a slight pressure behind her eyes trying to push out tears, but she could keep that under control. A quick splash of water and she’d be fine.
“Are—” She took one last swipe at her nose. “Are you in for the evening?” As if she didn’t already know the answer. Frederic was seldom “in.” His evenings were one big social engagement. How one person could squeeze so much activity into a week, she didn’t know.
Just as she expected, Frederic shook his head. “I have tickets for the symphony. I came home to change my shirt is all.”
Meaning he would be home late, as usual. “I’ll make sure to leave the foyer light on before I turn in.”
“Thank you.” He turned to leave only to pause. “Why don’t you take the evening off as well? Some time with friends might make you feel better.”
Sure it would, if she had friends to go out with. “I...” Thankfully, the beep of an incoming message on her cell phone saved her from having to make up some embarrassing lie.
“Sounds like your friends have the same idea,” Frederic said.
She reached into her pocket, smiling when she read the message on her screen. “It’s my sister,” she told him. Why she felt she needed to tell him that, she didn’t know.
“You have a sister.”
A question as much as a statement. Surely he knew. Then again, he might not. This was the longest conversation they’d ever had.
“She works as a housekeeper back in Boston.”
“Ah, so cleaning is a family business.”
“More like a family situation we both fell into.” From his expression, she could tell he didn’t get the joke. No surprise. It wasn’t very clear, or funny. “She wants to video chat.”
“Sounds like you’ve got something to look forward to.”
“Yeah.” Piper smiled. Talking to Patience would definitely make her feel better.
“I’m glad.” And for the first time she could remember, he gave her a warm, genuine smile. “I’ll leave you alone so you can talk. Good night.”
“Good night.” To her horror, she almost said “Don’t go” instead. Her loneliness was out of control if a smile could make her slip up like that.
Piper waited until she heard the front door shut before going to get her computer. Her apartment sat at the back of the house. Technically, it was more like a suite of rooms—bedroom, bathroom and sitting room—but they were still nicer than anything she could afford on her own. They also came with kitchen privileges and monsieur’s kitchen was a dream come true even for an uninspired cook like her.
It was into the kitchen that Piper carried her laptop. Patience specifically said video chat, which meant she was planning on a nice long conversation. By putting the laptop on the counter, Piper could cook while they talked. It would be almost like home.
Almost.
A few keystrokes later, Patience Rush’s face appeared on screen. Took the older woman about two seconds to frown. “Your eyes are all red and puffy,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
Wow, was that the question of the night or what? Maybe she should have looked in a mirror to see how awful she actually looked. “I was chopping onions,” Piper replied. At least it was more believable than blaming the cheese.
Too bad her sister didn’t let the lie slide as easily as her boss had. “Onions, huh? You sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Patience arched a brow. Her form of mother guilt. It worked every time.
“Okay,” Piper admitted, “maybe I was thinking about home a little bit too.”
“Oh, sweetie, I miss you, too. But hey, a couple more months and you’ll be back in Boston bragging to everyone you know how you’re a fancy French chef. Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?”
“I do,” Piper replied, the familiar knot starting to twist in her stomach. She got the heavy unsettled feeling every time Patience started gushing about her great Paris adventure.
“So what is it that has you video chatting me in the middle of your day?” she asked, changing the topic. Her sister seemed especially bubbly today. A big difference from the last few phone calls. Her image on the screen glowed and not from computer glare either.
“What? A girl can’t miss her baby sister?”
“A girl can definitely miss her baby sister.” Same way the baby sister could miss her. Piper blinked back some fresh tears. “But usually you text. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate.”
“Never too much for you.”
“Awww.” Sweet as the sentiment was, Piper wasn’t buying. Not with the way her sister’s eyes were sparkling. “Seriously, what do you want?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“I knew you wanted something.” Although what kind of favor could Piper do from halfway around the world? Send someone a souvenir? “What do you need?”
“I need you to pay a visit to someone there in Paris.”
“Who?”
Piper listened as her sister explained. The favor was for Piper to visit the sister of a dead artist named Nigel Rougeau.
“Hey, isn’t your boss’s cat named Nigel?” she interrupted. Patience was always telling stories about the big Maine coon cat.
“The cat’s a namesake,” Patience replied. “Nigel was Ana’s lover in the seventies.” Ana being the little old lady Patience worked for.
Her sister went on to explain a very tragic story involving Ana and the painter. “There’s a small chance that one of the paintings Ana posed for still exists,” she said.
“And you want me to talk with Nigel’s sister and find out for you.”
“If anyone knows if one of Nigel’s paintings survived, it would be someone in his family.”
True enough. Especially if Nigel and his sister were as close as she and Patience were.
“I think she’d find talking to you a lot less intimidating than a private detective.”
“I am definitely unintimidating,” Piper replied. More often than not, she was the one intimidated.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Of course.” A couple hours of her time was nothing. In fact, it would break up the monotony. “I’ll call her tomorrow and see if she’ll meet with me. Maybe you’ll luck out and there’ll be a big old painting of Ana hanging in her house.”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” Patience said with a laugh. “Stuart and I will be glad for any information you can find out.”
“Stuart, huh?” That was a new development. Until recently, Patience’s descriptions of Stuart Duchenko leaned more toward th
e suspicious jerk variety. Putting down her knife, she leaned close to the screen. “How are things going with the two of you? Is he still cool with, you know, the club?”
“Seems to be,” Patience replied.
“See? I told you he’d understand. It’s not like you went to work in that place because you liked dancing naked on tables.” It was the same reasoning Piper used on herself whenever the teasing at school got to be too much to bear. Of course, she never told Patience about what the kids used to say. Her sister was embarrassed enough.
Case in point, the wince crossing Patience’s face right now. “Of course I didn’t, and you were right. Stuart says he understands.”
“Wait—what do you mean ‘says he understands’? Don’t you believe him?” There was a note of reluctance in the comment Piper didn’t like.
“No, I believe him. Stuart’s been great.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Patience shook her head.
Nothing came with a very dreamy sigh. No way was Piper letting the reaction go by unnoticed. “Patience? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Um...”
Son of a gun, her sister was red as a tomato. There was only one thing that would make her blush that deeply. “Oh my God! Is something going on between you and your boss?”
“He’s not my boss,” Patience said quickly. “He’s my boss’s nephew.”
She was splitting hairs and they both knew it, which was why Piper asked, “What exactly is the difference?”
“About the same as between you dating your boss and you dating his next-door neighbor.”
“Pul—leeze.” Like that was a good example. “The only neighbor I’ve met is an eleven-year-old boy, and my boss doesn’t even...”
“Doesn’t even what?”
Notice I’m here. That’s what Piper was going to say, anyway. Only he had noticed tonight. Absently, she ran a knuckle down her cheek as she remembered his kind gesture.
“Piper?”
“Sorry,” she said, shaking off the memory. “I lost track of what I was about to say. And you still haven’t answered my question. Are you dating Stuart Duchenko?”
There was a definite darkening to her sister’s blush. “For now, yes.”
A different kind of heaviness took up space in Piper’s stomach. The same uncomfortable feeling she used to get as a kid when waiting to be picked for dodgeball. She was always left for last.
Ignoring the sensation, she pushed her lips into a smile. “No way! That’s great! I’m so happy for you.” She was, childish reaction aside. She had no reason to feel anything but happy, really. It was just her pity party making its reappearance.
“Don’t go making a big deal,” her sister was saying. “The two of us are having fun together, that’s all. It’s nothing serious.”
The sparkle in Patience’s eyes said otherwise, but Piper kept the thought to herself. Patience would admit the truth soon enough.
The two of them talked and joked while Piper worked and for a little while, her loneliness receded.
“Why aren’t you making some fancy French dish?” Patience asked as she was putting the casserole in the oven.
“Because I felt like macaroni and cheese. Would you feel better if I called it macaroni au fromage?”
“A little.” From her chair on the other side of the world, her sister frowned again. “Are you sure you’re all right? You mentioned your boss earlier. Is he still treating you okay?”
Once again, a paper towel and a smile flashed before Piper’s eyes. “He’s treating me fine.”
“That sounded weird.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way you said ‘fine’ with a long sigh.”
Piper rolled her eyes. As if her sigh could be any longer or dreamier-sounding than the ones her sister made. “How should I say it? He treats me fine. We hardly see each other.” Today’s encounters notwithstanding. “Not everyone socializes with their boss, you know. I meant Ana,” she added quickly before Patience got the wrong idea.
“So long as he isn’t giving you a hard time.”
“I swear, he isn’t.”
They talked a little longer, mostly about silly stuff. Patience told a few stories about Nigel the cat and about how things were going with Stuart. Piper lied about how well school was going. By the time they said goodbye, she’d cooked and eaten her casserole. She would have said that the night was exactly what she needed, except that as soon as she turned off the computer, her melancholy returned stronger than ever.
“It’s Hollywood’s fault,” she said to the Eiffel Tower a little while later. “All those movies making Paris look so wonderful. Leading a woman to hope life might be more magical under French skies.”
There was a smudge on the glass. Breathing some fog on the pane, she wiped at it with her sleeve. Patience would be horrified by her casualness. Her sister took cleaning very seriously.
Maybe if she tried a little harder. Gave more effort in class, learned to appreciate her surroundings more. Maybe then she could work up the enthusiasm she was supposed to feel for this adventure. Right now, she only felt tired. The carbohydrates were kicking in. Merging with her sad mood and killing what was left of her cleaning ambitions.
Discarding her plans to dig out the cleaning supplies, she sank into a nearby chair. The same one she found Frederic sleeping in this morning, she realized. Outside, the tower twinkled mockingly. Leaning her head back, she watched the lights dance. They were beautiful, weren’t they?
“Easy chair to fall asleep in, no?”
The voice close to her ear was deep and rough. Piper jumped to her feet. Grabbing the first thing she could find, she whirled around ready to attack.
Frederic raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t...” Considering she was wielding a pillow as a weapon, she gave up the argument. “I wasn’t expecting you home so early, is all.” It was early, right? Please say it was early.
“My date wasn’t feeling well, so we left the concert at intermission.” His eyes narrowed, as if zooming in on her. Too late, Piper realized she still wore her chef’s jacket instead of her uniform. “You were working hard?”
“No. I mean, I planned to but I...”
“I am joking.”
“Oh.” Thank goodness the lights were dim and he couldn’t see how red her cheeks were.
“If I recall, I suggested you take the night off to relax. I’m glad you did.” He crossed to the window. Hands clasped behind his back, he stood looking out at the tower.
One of the things Piper had noticed while working for Frederic was the way he concentrated so intently on whatever he was doing. Walking. Looking out the window. Some of the focus she attributed to his bad eyes, but lousy vision didn’t explain the power behind his movements. He moved with such deliberation. As though nothing could deter him from the action at hand. The guy could give Chef Despelteau a run for his money when it came to laser glares, that’s for sure. She could only imagine what it was like to be one of his students.
Or one of his dates, for that matter.
All of a sudden she realized those slate-colored eyes were looking at her. He’d said something, and she missed it. Again, she thanked the dim lighting for protecting her from bigger embarrassment. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you were enjoying your year in Paris so far.”
You mean her crying jag earlier didn’t give him a clue? “It’s a beautiful city.”
“That it is. Have you done much sightseeing?”
“A little.” When she first arrived and was still in her starry-eyed phase. After a couple weeks, however, solo sightseeing lost its luster. “Between class and work, I haven’t had much time.”
“That is too bad. You should make sure you see as much as possible. You never know when you’ll have another chance.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” For some reason, Piper felt as though he was talking about more than sightseeing. Or maybe fatigue was making her read too deeply between the lines. For all she knew, this was his normal way of making conversation. He approached everything else with intensity; why wouldn’t he approach talking the same way?
Regardless of the reason, the exchange left a hum in the air that made her antsy. Piper couldn’t help thinking how crisp and elegant he looked in his summer suit. Meanwhile, she was growing more aware of her wrinkled jacket by the second. Not to mention the smell of onion and cheddar cheese clinging to her fingers.
Suddenly, she needed some space. Setting down her pillow, she announced, “I’m going to finish cleaning the kitchen.” The kitchen was spotless, but she needed some kind of excuse. Then, whether because of the thickened atmosphere or something else, she added, “I’m really sorry, too, about my meltdown earlier.”
“Already forgotten, Piper. I hope whatever caused your distress is gone by tomorrow.”
“I hope so, too.” Not very likely, but a girl could hope. She went to say good-night, but Frederic had already turned his back to the room, his attention once again on the scene outside his window.
Must have been a trick of the shadows. Standing there with his hands behind his back, he suddenly looked alone and far away. Maybe I’m not the only lonely person in Paris. The thought was in her head before Piper could stop it.
Frederic Lafontaine, lonely. Sure. Now she knew she was tired.
CHAPTER TWO
THE NEXT MORNING, Piper called Marie Rougeau-Montpelier and introduced herself. To her surprise, the elderly woman said she would be thrilled to meet with her, especially once Piper mentioned her brother’s artwork. She invited Piper to visit after lunch. The appointment meant skipping a day of class, but Piper didn’t really mind. A day off, in fact, might do her some good. Help her get her head back into the game.
Marie’s address, which turned out to be a luxury tower near La Défense, the business district just outside the city, was easier to find than she expected. Not wanting to ring the woman’s bell before she was expected, Piper found herself wandering around La Grande Arche, the city’s twentieth-century version of the Arc de Triomphe. It was the perfect summer’s day. Not too hot, not too cold. Being lunchtime, the square was filled with people. Business executives sat on nearby steps soaking up the sun while tourists and others lounged on the grass in the nearby park. Piper strolled the perimeter and watched as they laughed and chatted with each other. Was this what Frederic meant when he told her to see as much of the city as possible?
Beauty & Her Billionaire Boss Page 2