The Paris Connection

by Cerella Sechrist

  “As she is falling, the rigging will delay her descent, and you must approach her like so.”

  René stepped closer to demonstrate, showing Cole how to move forward with his arms extended. “You will try to take her momentum by grasping her hips.”

  Emma tried not to look directly into Cole’s eyes, but it was impossible.

  “Go on, show us,” René instructed.

  Cole’s hands touched her briefly at the waist. René sighed.

  “No. Like so.”

  René moved around Cole to grab his hands, forcing them from her waist and lower, onto her hips. She swallowed and tried not to fidget.

  “See? You will grab your partner and help lower her to the ground. The descent may happen faster than you expect, so you will need to be watching carefully and react quickly. The most important consideration is to protect her head and neck as she falls. Place one leg in front of the other, like this, and flex your knees.” René tapped Cole’s legs until he mimicked their host’s position.

  Emma saw René turn away from them and back in Giselle’s direction.

  “Was that demonstration sufficient, mademoiselle?”

  Emma didn’t know what her friend said. She was too distracted by the feel of Cole’s palms, lingering on her hips.

  “You may release her now, monsieur, if you feel comfortable in the duties of a spotter.”

  Emma swallowed as Cole’s hands remained on her body. He was studying her quite intently, and she began to feel herself blush.

  “Cole,” she murmured. “You can let go now.”

  He blinked. “What? Oh.” He released her as though he’d been touching a hot stove and took a few steps back.

  “Are there any more questions?” René asked as Emma forced herself to pay attention to their leader instead of keeping her gaze on Cole, who had quite deliberately turned his back to her.

  “Then we will divide into pairs.” René placed Giselle and Marc together, despite both of them rolling their eyes at this pairing, and then Aurora and Louis before turning back to Cole and Emma. “And since you two demonstrated so well, we will assign Cole as the spotter, and Emma, you may take to the ropes. If you will follow me, we will outfit you in your helmet and harness.”

  Without any other choice, Emma turned her back on Cole and followed René.

  * * *

  TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Emma was regretting the idea of the activities course. René had decided that ladies should be first and had sent Giselle, Aurora and her onto the rope bridges while the men served as their spotters on the ground.

  The course itself required all of her attention, and yet, she couldn’t help feeling highly aware of Cole’s eyes on her as she struggled from one rope step to the next. René called out encouragement, as did Louis, and Marc occasionally exchanged barbs with Giselle, but Cole remained notably silent. Emma found herself distracted with curiosity about what must be going through his head as he watched her fumble along.

  And then there was the way he had held on to her, after René had ended the spotter demonstration and stepped away. What had the look in Cole’s eyes meant? Why had he been gazing at her so intently?

  “Take your time, Aurora!” René called out from below. “It is not a race. Those behind you must move at your pace. This is how you learn to work together!”

  Emma brought up the rear of their line, and it suited her just as well that Aurora’s steps were cautious. Finding her footing on the ropes was difficult enough without attempting to race across the bridge. She could only imagine what it would be like if Marc was in the trees with them. He would be pressing for speed, and the results would likely be catastrophic. Which made her wonder again... What had Cole said to him? They had returned to the group with Cole decidedly impassive and Marc seeming satisfied. She knew her fellow recruiter could be impatient, with somewhat of an ambitious streak, but his comments earlier had been a trifle uncharacteristic. Marc usually possessed more restraint in his commentary around his coworkers. Then again, they had never been forced as a group into a situation such as this one.

  “Careful, Emma,” René warned just as she misjudged the rope hold in front of her. She retreated, shifting her weight to her back foot to regain her balance, but it was too late. Her distraction had caused her to move without being certain she had a strong enough hold. She felt her right foot begin to slip off the rope while she still attempted to maintain her balance with her left one.

  She could feel herself losing control. “Falling!” she cried in warning, as René had instructed them. She tensed, waiting for her spotter’s response to let her know he was prepared to catch her fall. Her breath caught, her balance tipping precariously. Any moment now, she’d be flying through the air. She had a vague sense of Aurora and Giselle bracing against her movement, and then Cole’s voice came to her from below.

  “Fall on!” came the response that signaled her spotter was ready.

  With that reassurance, she let go, feeling the tug of the belaying system as it minimized the speed of her descent. The nearby trees went past in a blur of green and brown while the breeze from her fall rushed through her ears. As she approached the ground, she sensed Cole positioning himself, and then, almost effortlessly it seemed, he had her by the hips and easily guided her to a standing position.

  René was ecstatic. He actually clapped his hands with delight.

  “Perfect! A perfect catch! Did you see? I have never seen a beginning spotter catch a faller so flawlessly.”

  René went on, but Emma tuned him out. She was too caught up in Cole’s stare once more. He was studying her with an expression of both curiosity and seeming disappointment. She couldn’t understand what it meant.

  And still, he held her as before.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, uncertain what else to say.

  He opened his mouth as though about to speak, considered, and then closed it once more. She cocked her head.

  “What is it?” she asked, her curiosity nearly overwhelming her. There was something on his mind, she could feel the question of it hovering between them.

  He watched her for a moment more, his grip still firm on her hips. And then he spoke.

  “Are you and Julien having an affair?”

  The softly whispered words, audible to no one but her, caused her to jerk with surprise. He released her, and she took a step back, feeling her jaw grow slack at this insinuation.

  And then, because it was the first reaction that came to her, she raised her arm, drew it back and delivered a slap to her boss’s handsome face.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE ECHO OF Emma’s smack reverberated around them. Cole rubbed a palm over his stinging skin.

  He had probably deserved that. Why had he even asked her such an inappropriate question? It wasn’t as if he really believed Marc’s insinuations. Maybe he’d simply wanted to catch her off guard and gauge her reaction to the idea.

  He watched as Emma’s expression went through a range of emotions: her mouth opened with shock, then her eyes narrowed with rage, and then they widened as she realized what she had done.

  He waited for an apology from her, but none came. Still, he sensed she was mortified by her reaction. She took three steps back before she began struggling with her harness and helmet.

  “Get it off,” she said, quietly at first, and then when no one came to her aid, she grew more insistent. “Off! Take it off!”

  He stepped toward her to assist, but she backed up again. “You. Stay away.”

  Holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, he inched backward. René finally moved, hurrying to unbuckle the belaying attachments. While he worked at freeing her, Cole watched as she tugged at the straps holding her helmet. Her hands were shaking, he noticed.

  He had to admit, her reaction pleased him. It was possible
she had reacted out of surprise at being caught, but he had been reassured by the shock in her expression. Not alarm at having been found out but rather utter astonishment at the very idea of what he’d suggested.

  There was nothing between her and Julien. He was certain of it. A sore jaw was a small enough price to pay for that reassurance. On the other hand, he wondered if Marc had known how Emma would respond to something like this. His gaze swiveled from where Emma still struggled to disentangle herself to where Marc stood several feet away. The other man was watching her with a smug expression, his smile triumphant. Cole felt his satisfaction deflate.

  Whatever game Marc was playing, Cole feared he had fallen right into it. He looked back to Emma as she tugged her helmet off and dropped it to the ground at the same moment René released the last of the harness straps. She stepped free of them and abruptly began walking away. Cole watched her go, her head held high. Good for her. She wasn’t going to let his tactless question shame her.

  When he looked away from Emma, he found the men on the ground watching him. Shifting his gaze above, he saw Giselle and Aurora frozen on the ropes, their eyes round in disbelief.

  “I think maybe that’s enough for one day, don’t you, René?”

  The sound of his voice seemed to propel their host into action. “Yes, I agree. We will return to the château.”

  As René moved to begin helping Aurora and Giselle find their way back to the ground, Cole looked in the direction Emma had gone. He thought about following her, but then decided perhaps it would be best to give her a moment alone so she could compose herself.

  Louis seemed to hesitate between joining him or going to assist René. Marc moved toward him, leaving Louis to finally shift in René’s direction.

  “You see?” Marc prompted when it was just the two of them. “She is unstable. Not at all an appropriate choice for a managing director.”

  Cole allowed a ripple of anger to run through him and then counted three even breaths before responding. “Now is not the time to discuss this further, Marc.” He held the other man’s eyes until Marc finally looked away. “Do I make myself clear?”

  “Oui,” Marc mumbled.

  “Good.” Satisfied that he would have no more commentary on the matter, he brushed by Marc in order to help the others. As he approached the rest of the group, Giselle was batting at René’s hands, trying to unbuckle her belaying restraints instead of waiting for assistance. He stepped up to them at the same time Giselle finally found herself free. She immediately placed her face within inches of his.

  “What did you do to her?” she demanded.

  Cole felt his patience slowly ebbing away. This weekend seemed to be driving them all farther apart rather than creating a team spirit.

  “Giselle, I understand she’s your friend, but I’m your boss, and I’m asking that you let Emma and I work out our differences on our own.”

  Giselle’s mouth tightened as he watched her battle with the choice words he was sure she’d like to share with him. She was quite pretty, but Giselle’s beauty was all makeup and style while Emma’s was fresher, more simple and pure. He had spent his entire career around well-dressed and polished women. He realized that was part of what made Emma so beautiful—very little about her appearance was artificial.

  In the time it had taken him to come to this realization, Giselle seemed to have come to one of her own and decided not to let the matter drop. “She was never like this before you came. Emma is the most steady, reliable person I know. Why would you try to make things difficult for her?”

  He couldn’t help it; a scoff escaped. “Me? You think I’m the one making problems?”

  “She would not have hit you if you did not give her a good reason,” Giselle seethed.

  Cole could feel the temperature of his emotions rising higher and struggled to rein them back under control. “Let me worry about Emma.”

  “Why? So you can get rid of her?”

  “I don’t want to get rid of her. I like her. I like her very much, and I think she’s a tremendous asset to this company.”

  In the wake of these words, Giselle fell silent. Cole felt a twinge of discomfort and allowed his gaze to move from Giselle to the others. They stood in a half circle, staring at him. Even René, who had nothing vested in this conversation, seemed absorbed in their little drama.

  “She really is a quite lovely and capable woman,” Louis put in.

  Cole released a sigh. “I know she is.”

  Giselle reached for her helmet’s straps and unclicked them in one deft motion. She tugged off the last of her safety gear and shoved it into René’s hands.

  “I’m going to talk to her.”

  “Giselle, I understand your concern,” Cole tried again, “but I’m asking you to please stay out of it. I’ll speak with Emma once we’re back at the château.”

  Giselle wavered, and he knew she was torn between obeying her new boss or comforting her friend. She finally acquiesced with a short nod.

  Cole felt himself relax a little more. “Thank you.” He shifted his stance toward René. “René? If you please, let’s find Emma and return to the estate.”

  Fortunately, no one argued with that suggestion.

  * * *

  EMMA WAITED FOR the others by the van, cradling her wrist as it throbbed in protest from when she had slapped Cole. When the others finally arrived, she climbed inside without a word to anyone. Cole took the passenger’s seat, so Emma claimed a seat in the back, as far from her odious boss as she could get. Her coworkers filled in the rest of the vehicle silently, and Giselle sat next to Emma in a show of silent solidarity.

  The fifteen-minute drive back to the château was strained, weighted by the silence, but Emma didn’t care. Let the rest of them be uncomfortable. The quiet couldn’t be half as awkward as the humiliation she had just experienced. Every pleasant thought she’d tried to afford Cole up to this point was now tainted by the suggestion he’d made on the ropes course.

  His assumption that she and Julien were lovers was an embarrassment she could hardly bear. In his arrogance, he had taken her fondness for Julien, their shared affection for one another, and reduced it to something tawdry and clichéd.

  If this was how he thought of her, how he viewed the president of their company, then how could she possibly continue to work with him? It would feel like a betrayal to herself, and to Julien, as well. But then, she couldn’t help thinking that maybe it was the other way around—maybe Julien had betrayed her by instigating this merger, by allowing this man to take her place. Perhaps she was a fool to trust any of them, and this grieved her heart most of all.

  She had begun to like Cole, had started to recognize what it was Lillian Reid must see in him and why Julien kept encouraging her to give him a chance. But that newly born impression had dissolved in the face of his tasteless and presumptive question.

  They were just pulling into the château’s drive when her emotions began to overwhelm her. She suddenly felt as though she couldn’t breathe, as though one more second confined to this vehicle would smother her with its silent discomfort. As soon as René came to a stop, she began struggling to get out, climbing over Giselle and reaching for the van’s door handle.

  The others let her go as she fought her way toward the door and jerked on the handle to release it. Her wrist smarted in protest at the action, but she ignored the pain as she stumbled out of the van and took in several great gulps of air before striding toward the château’s front door. She had nearly reached it when he called her name. She hesitated for just a brief second and then kept going, suddenly even more desperate to escape. Her fingers closed around the door handle, and she turned it, only to find the door remained closed. Locked.

  He called her name again, and she felt him moving closer toward her. No. She didn’t want to see him, didn’t want to speak
with him, didn’t want anything to do with him. She only wanted to hide from what he obviously thought of her.

  But even as she pulled on the handle once more, she knew it was hopeless. She’d have to face him sooner or later. He was her boss.

  Releasing the door, she turned and met his gaze as he moved onto the step beside her.

  “Yes?” she questioned, keeping her voice as cool as possible.

  He appeared surprised by her sudden acknowledgment, after he had called her name so many times without a response. The soft hazel-brown of his eyes seemed darker than usual, filled with some emotion she couldn’t trust. It appeared almost like regret, and his frown certainly indicated some sort of distress. But she wouldn’t believe it.

  “Emma,” he said again, and she found her stomach twisting at the sound of her name on his tongue. How did he make it sound so special? Was it the fact that he spoke with an American accent, as she did? He had never said it so quietly, either, nor with such a pleading tone. “Could I have a word with you alone?”

  “No,” she answered quickly. She hadn’t even considered his question. She only knew that anything this man wanted from her would be met with denial.

  “Emma. Please. I would like the chance to explain and...apologize.”

  She sensed the others gathering by the van, watching the two of them. She didn’t want to give him an opportunity to explain why he had assumed such a thing about her, nor did she want his apology. But neither did she want to stand there, a spectacle for her coworkers.

  Tearing her stare from his face, she shrugged. “Fine. But I’d like the conversation to be brief. I have a headache,” she lied.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Cole nod. He then gestured away from the house. “Perhaps we could take a walk?”

  She turned in the direction he indicated and began striding away, keeping her focus squarely in front of her so she didn’t meet any of her coworkers’ curious eyes. She sensed Cole following her, though he said nothing until they were some distance from the house, weaving their way into the estate’s forest on a well-worn path. She might have walked the entire distance back to the city if he hadn’t said her name again in that way that made her breath catch in her chest.