The boys paired up with girls. The students organized themselves three at a time, two girls per boy or two and two, and they ensured everyone had a partner. She kept a watchful gaze on everyone as they departed. She’d run out to save anyone one of them. No one would get to the students or Sean. Gigi pushed her shoulders back the moment she stepped out, and despite the shouts for a picture, she stood and waited for Sean to join her. She held her arms to her sides though she realized her red dress had a slew of cameras pointed at her. Her temperature skyrocketed, but she’d stand in anyone’s way who even thought to hurt him.
The lights blinded her, but she refused to go anywhere until he stepped out. “Get out now, Sean Collins.”
Behind her, he called out, “Gigi, I should leave.”
“Too late. Face the fire and let’s go.” She stepped forward to give him room and soon he scooted out of the car. She inhaled the second his arm went around her waist. Then she smiled to everyone around them and led him out.
Once he started, he practically carried her to the yacht.
Reporters called out, “Is Gigi the reason for the murder?”
“Mr. Collins, anything you want to say to people?”
“Why does a billionaire who owns one tenth of the globe in various industries keep company with a high school teacher?”
Gigi stopped Sean, but kept her hands on his muscular chest and knew what she had to do. She stepped away and faced the crowd. “Sean is an amazingly wonderful man and father, and his family owns the companies . . .”
Sean kept his hand on her legs, then he picked her back up and carried her inside. Now she couldn’t say anything else but his muscles warmed her. On board, he hugged her and whispered, “I asked you not to say anything.”
She crossed her arms determined to argue with him if he dared let anyone push him around. Then she saw this battle plan left him winded. She tugged at his waist to keep him close and stared up at his stormy blue eyes. “I won’t let anyone say bad things about you.”
To prove her point, she kissed his cheek, then twirled away from him and the step. A smile formed on her face. She found her footing near the steps, then followed him away inside.
In the thirty seconds, Sean had gathered the students. She walked closer and heard him say, “You did amazing. Have fun and don’t think about this for the next few hours. Ms. Dumont and I will be with the other chaperones downstairs.”
Her group nodded and left the adults to join the teenagers. Every nerve ending in her body stood in attention. He pointed to the stairs that led downstairs in the yacht. “Let’s go.”
Gigi refused to let him go, took his hand, and joined the rest of the faculty downstairs. Her body must be flushing. In the glass she saw her flushed skin. She clenched her hands like that might help, but then two French headmistresses hurried over. “We had no idea you knew aristocrats, Ms. Dumont. This explains your intense knowledge of French.”
“The Collins are Irish Catholics from Massachusetts. Irish boys are a dime a dozen there.” Sean had not been blue-blooded aristocracy. He was her hero. The comment made no sense. “I lived in Paris on and off for the past ten years.”
“Yes, but you speak too properly for where you lived,” the snooty woman explained, then turned her nose up and beamed at Sean. “Monsieur, we take great pleasure in ensuring your stay is amazing.”
Politics played a role in everything, including judging a language contest. The pretentious judge would never be good enough for Sean. Her skin tingled again.
Then he came closer to her. She straightened his tie then went in search of a drink. At the table, she picked up two glasses of champagne, and brought them back. Without thinking, she handed one to him. Then with his hand on her back, again, he whispered, “Thank you.”
The two French women left, and she answered, “I’ve lived my life wanting you to be happy, Sean. Nothing’s changed.”
He traced his hand down her spine, and her body heated.
The Canadian group walked on last, and her mentor stared right at Gigi then asked, “What the hell happened, and who is Sean Collins?”
“I’m Sean.” He waved.
“Figures, the American team.” Therese, the French Canadian, greeted them warmly and finished, “Gigi, you have good taste in men. I thought you a snob turning men away when we went out for drinks. Had I known this man waited for you at home, I’d have understood. Next time, I will keep the men, or you can set me up with a date.”
“Sean and I . . .” Gigi hadn’t known what to say. Sean wasn’t her boyfriend, or anything, was he? She gulped for air then blinked, straightened her shoulders, and shook it off. When her temperature returned to normal, she smiled uncomfortably. She must have looked foolish for not finishing her sentence.
Sean’s grin never wavered and he answered, “Gigi and I grew up together. We lost touch for a while, but this won’t happen again.” Sean took her hand. “She’s come home to stay.”
“Sean, this is Therese.” With Sean, her life improved dramatically, but she’d never once intended to stay in Hyannis.
Sean shook Terese’s hand, and Gigi blinked as her heart beat wildly. No, Therese was nice, but she couldn’t have Sean. She swallowed then finished, “She’s been invaluable in helping me learn how the competition worked.”
“Had I known I trained the direct competition, I’d have given less advice,” Therese answered with a curious grin. “Now you must tell me. Are there more men like your Sean in your home?”
Sean said, “I have three single brothers and many cousins.”
“Excellent.” Therese kept her eyes on Gigi. “I still have options, then. Dear man, may I speak privately with my friend?”
Sean dropped his hand from her side, nodded, and left. Gigi’s body turned cold the second his hand left her.
Therese directed them to the corner near the window and said, “You look confused.”
“I am,” Gigi said, heart thumping. Did she stay with Sean? How could she be good for him after everything? But then, he had no one else. “I don’t know what to do.”
“About the murder investigation? Do you believe—?”
“No.” Gigi cut her off. “Sean wouldn’t harm anyone. It’s rekindling a relationship with him, stirring up my heart. Part of me wants to run for the hills.”
“Are you mad?” Therese’s face turned white and her mouth turned downward. “Is he bad? Treat you unkindly?”
“No, he’s the best man in the world.” Gigi would never allow anyone to speak badly of Sean. “I’m not the best woman. He deserves the fairy tale.”
“Far too hard on yourself.” Therese squeezed her arm. “Forgive yourself.”
Loving Sean and being his wife were entirely different things. Her mother had told her to stay away from him for his sake, and she had. “I don’t know.”
“Then I hope he proves his worth in some way,” Therese said. “And you must open up. One cannot fall in love if we don’t allow ourselves.”
“Why is it hard for people to understand? If you love someone more than anything else, you want them to be happy. That matters more than my personal desire.”
“You only let go of people who don’t want to be there. That man is standing over there, waiting for you.”
Therese had made a point. Gigi’s head stopped spinning and she listened. “Plato sold us on the idea for every man there is one woman who is his soul mate. Deny yourself love and you deny him his soul mate.”
“My life is not philosophical.” How does one argue soul mate? She shook her head. “Sean and I don’t make sense.”
Therese shrugged. “When does love make sense? Get back there and figure out your life with him. But, seriously, open yourself up. I will stay away because your my friend, but honey, not all girls are loyal when a man is that good looking and rich.”
Gigi kept her head down, but followed her friend’s gaze. Sean leaned against an edge of a wall, with his hands in his pocket, and spoke to some woman Gigi hadn’t
met. Gigi started toward him and instantly his blue eyes intensified at her approach.
When she reached him, he automatically touched her and his hand gently massaged her shoulder. “This is Gigi Dumont.” She smiled at the woman and Sean finished, “Geegs, this is Sophie LaSalle. She’s one of the final judges.”
Sophie offered a small frown at Gigi then she smiled back. Gigi’s mind swirled with Therese’s warning.
Gigi hugged Sean and said, “In three days, the competition starts. The day before is full of practices.”
Sean kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry, Geegs. The students are ready.”
The dinner bell rang, and interrupted all conversations. The students would eat above deck, while the chaperones ate below. The board in charge of the competition organized tonight for all the students to mingle with each other. But if anything happened, they’d be called by the ship’s personnel immediately. Sean found a chair for her and held the seat for her.
Therese took the seat opposite, and ensured the judges sat away at another table. “I can tell you two definitely grew up together. For a new relationship, you act like people who’ve been married for fifty years.”
Gigi smiled. “I was three, in the park, playing, when Sean found me in a tree then took me home to meet his mother.”
Sean laughed, and her leg entwined with his under the table. “I knew what I wanted then and now.”
“And your mother let you go to his house, at age three?” Terese’s question hung in the air.
“No one says no to Sean Collins.” He passed the bread rolls without missing a beat.
Damn. She’d loved Sean even then. Now she sat next to a man capable of so much. He’d make leaving again difficult. And the butterflies in her chest gave him more power than he realized.
The waiter brought out the salads. Knowing she despised them, she took Sean’s tomatoes without asking and added a few pieces of her spinach to his plate.
After her first bite into his tomato, she caught Terese’s upturned eyebrow. Gigi relaxed into the chair. But then a sudden rush of cold air hit her spine. She stood up and said, “I’m sorry. I have to go to the powder room.”
Sean had no argument and she rushed from the table. At the door, she locked herself in, and stared at herself in the mirror, again. She never should have given Sean any room. Every touch sent warmness inside her and her face now had a permanent pinkness in it.
She closed her eyes and argued with herself. He should have the perfect wife and family. Her heart hammered on, and screamed for her to listen to the soul mate story. Her feet rocked and she held the vanity. She’d stopped believing fairy tales, yet her heart soared with hope.
Someone tried to open the door.
Her hands jittered as she reapplied her lipstick. What if the murder charges had surfaced to warn her away from Sean? Someone knocked on the bathroom door with more fervor.
Gigi cleaned herself up and opened the door. She nodded at the next woman and left to rejoin the table.
Sean stood at her arrival and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Of course. Tonight we’ll talk.” She rolled her shoulders and made the decision. Good. She surprised herself, but no other options remained on the table. “You deserve answers to your questions.”
She stared at him over dinner. What exactly was she going to say to him? And since when were decisions this difficult?
Chapter 23
After hours of dancing with Sean, Gigi’s feet ached, but her heart stayed fast and excited. His sandalwood smell lingered on her skin, and every touch of his skin on hers left her needy and lightheaded. She sat beside him on the way back.
The limo stopped and the group went into the hotel. She followed the teenagers and intended to supervise bed time. At the elevator, she glanced across the lobby, then froze. Antonio. Her hands curled up in her stomach and she cringed.
Tightening her shoulders, she gritted her teeth and formulated how to get that annoying gnat out of the way.
Sean’s gaze followed hers, and he, too, stared at the dark-haired man.
She swallowed as Sean told the students, “Go to your rooms. Ms. Dumont and I will be up in ten minutes to check on you.”
“No,” she said. Sean should not be here. He had enough to worry about. “Sean, why don’t you go upstairs and settle everyone in? I need to talk to Antonio. I’ll be five minutes, no more.”
“You don’t have to be alone,” Sean said as squeezed her hand. “I’m here.”
“This is something I have to do.” Antonio had details, knowledge. She’d face the man then go upstairs to Sean. “I’ll be right back, Sean.”
The elevator opened and the students went inside.
Sean refused to go, and instead, he threw his jacket on her shoulders then nodded at her. She wavered on her feet for that instant, but kept still until the elevator doors closed behind her.
Then her attention swung back to the bar. The lobby wasn’t a good talking place. She pressed her lips together, gathered her courage, and strolled over to Antonio. “Shall we go across the street to the bar at the restaurant?”
Antonio bowed in agreement then grabbed her arm to escort her.
Gigi turned back and stared into Sean’s face. She’d have had a different life if she had run to him.
At the bar, Antonio ordered a bottle of wine and two glasses.
As soon as the waiter left, she told him, “I’ll get you your money. But I told you I needed the year.”
“You get your picture taken with one of the richest men on the planet, shop at one of the most exclusive stores, and can’t pay me my money?” Antonio asked, a dark scowl on his face.
“I didn’t borrow or spend money.” She crossed her arms. Her mother had set her up borrowing money with Gigi’s signature on the contract.
Antonio represented just one of the unsavory people she now avoided. Gigi pushed her seat back. “I will pay you back every dime. You have my word.”
The waiter brought them the wine and served two glasses. Antonio brushed his hands against her knees, then up her thighs. She squirmed, and he said, “You will get me my money tomorrow from your rich boyfriend. Otherwise our deal is off.”
She shoved at his hands to get him to stop touching her. How dare he?
Then, wham! He flew off his chair and landed with a grunt on the hard floor.
Heart pounding, Gigi spun around in her seat and stared.
Sean leaned down and punched Antonio again.
The nearby patrons gasped, and Gigi felt her jaw drop open as she stared at the cheering teenagers behind Sean. Heat swept up her cheeks. She stood up and tugged on Sean’s arm. “Sean, what are you doing?”
“We’re going back to my hotel, where the staff will not allow this man back inside,” Sean said calmly, though he kept his fighting stance toward Antonio. “Go, Gigi.”
Her stomach clenched. She’d caused this. She had to fix this, especially
with the teenagers on the other side of the room watching. “Everyone’s overreacted. Let’s go to our rooms.”
As she escorted the students away, Gigi craned her neck to watch the men at the bar.. Sean still hovered over Antonio and she could see that they were engaged in a heated argument. All because of her. Outside, she and the students safely crossed the street. “Wait in the lobby,” she directed them. “I won’t let anything happen. Be back in sixty seconds or less.”
They followed her orders without question, and she walked back. The men continued to shout at each other, and she went next to Sean. She gulped and hoped to avoid escalation. Then she tapped his shoulder with her arm. “Please, Sean. He’s not worth it.”
Sean glared at Antonio. “Stay the hell away from her or you’ll be answering to me.”
“What do you plan to do? Kill me like you did that girl?” Antonio sneered.
Gigi stepped in front of Sean as he lunged for Antonio. “Sean, think of the students. They’re waiting.”
With a huff he stepped away, sh
ot Antonio one last angry glare, then exited the restaurant.
They found the students in the lobby waiting, then escorted them all to their rooms for the night.
Gigi took a fast shower, looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
With her towel wrapped around her head, she strolled out of the bathroom in another. She stopped mid-stride and clutched the towel to her body.
Sean sat on her bed.
“How did you get in?”
“I own the place, remember. Do you want me to leave?”
Chaperoning Paris (Collins Brothers) Page 14