One Night With You- April in Paris

by Taisha Demay

  “Same here, Miss Reneau.”

  “Nonsense, call me ‘Madeline.’ After all, you’re practically family.”

  April glanced over at Jean-Luc who simply winked and smiled.

  Before dinner, they enjoyed a glass of smooth, Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend and

  engaged in conversation.

  “Jean-Luc tells me you have your own business; what is it?”

  She glanced over at Jean-Luc, wondering what else he’d told his aunt. “I own and operate a shop called One Stitch at a Time. My partner Donna and I offer sewing services to the people in the town where we live. Everything from simple details like replacing buttons, zippers or hemming. We also design and create outfits for special occasions. Before that, I worked for a Manhattan fashion house.”

  “Is it successful?” Madeline wondered.

  “Not at first. But now, we're bringing in a steady stream of clients. Especially now that we’ve taken on an additional investor, someone from right here in Paris.”

  Madeline and Jean-Luc exchanged glances. “That’s wonderful.”

  Dinner consisted of Coq Au Vin served over creamy mashed potatoes. April found the dish delicious but a tad over salted. While they ate, she watched Jean-Luc. She noticed his eating slowed considerably with each forkful, the same as her.

  The evening held several other surprises for April beyond the cuisine. As Madeline poured the expresso, she began to relate some of her experiences as a primer ballerina with the American Ballet company when she was younger. Despite the fascinating stories, her attention strayed to Jean-Luc, looking remote yet handsome in the chair across from her. Madeline reclaimed her attention when she began to tell her about her nephew substituting for a pastry chef friend of hers one evening during an event after a performance of Swan Lake.

  Jean-Luc seemed embarrassed and immediately rushed to change the subject. “April doesn’t want to hear about that, Aunt Madeline.”

  April chuckled amused by his obvious embarrassment. “Yes, I do. Go on, Madeline.”

  Disregarding her nephew’s groan, Madeline smiled and continued. Janelle and Lola Souvare were hosting the party. I figured since he’d just graduated from culinary arts school with a certification in pastry making he could use the exposure. Personally, I think he did well for it being his first time handling a crowd of that size.”

  Jean-Luc gave April a pained smile. “It was a disaster.”

  “Stop,” Madeline admonished. “You did fine.”

  “Whenever you tell this story, you always forget to mention your male companion who acted like he had a stick up his butt. He was the prince of some country no one had ever heard of.”

  “Honestly,” his aunt chuckled. “I still can’t remember the man’s name either,” she admitted.

  April thoroughly enjoyed herself all evening and was sad when it was time for them to leave. As she and Jean-Luc headed back to the hotel, she asked if everything Madeline had said was true or if she had embellished the tales to make them sound more interesting.

  “Sadly, cheri, it’s all true,” he assured her. “I’ve heard the same stories from her friends.

  “Was she ever married?”

  “Nope. She said the only man she had ever considered marrying was a dancer she’d met while on a tour in Moscow. Unfortunately, he had a wife. Once she found out, she never saw him again. From several things I’ve heard, she’s had some bad experiences with men. Though she appears tough on the outside, is very soft-hearted and generous. One of her biggest disappointments is that she never had any children.”

  As he steered onto the street, leading back to their destination, April looked over at Jean-Luc. “Do you think you’ll want a family someday?”

  He didn’t respond right away. His mind returns to her revelation about miscarrying their child. He wondered about what it would have looked like. Would it have had her grace, humor and dark eyes and glossy hair?

  “I would hope so. Do you want children?”

  She shrugged. “I suppose, someday.” Noticing drops of rain beginning to dot the windshield.

  Jean-Luc tensed as he gripped the steering wheel, pulling into a space not far from the hotel. He hadn’t used protection when they’d made love last night, and she could very well be pregnant. He wondered how she would feel about it. Climbing out, they walked in silence into the hotel and back to her room. And though he seemed to be making progress in convincing her to give their relationship a chance, he didn’t want to push and drive her away. Once they were inside her room, he cupped her face in his warm hands and bent to kiss her briefly on the lips before stepping away.

  “As much as I’d like to spend the night, I can’t. I have a meeting early in the morning, but I will see you afterward. Goodnight, cheri.” Turning, he walked over to the door, opened it and stepped out into the hall, shutting it behind him.

  Stepping over to the couch, April sank down on it, releasing a weary sigh, wondering what she could have done to cause him to act so distant.

  An hour later, a freshly showered April dressed in pajamas wrapped a shawl around herself and stepped out onto the balcony, and she felt lonely. Leaning against the wall, she heard the sound of music playing in the distance, and didn’t recognize the melody,

  but it sounded like a lonely, sad lament. She imagined someone sitting in front of a cafe playing for the tourists.

  She thought of Jean-Luc at his apartment, alone, and her there in the hotel, unable to sleep. She needed to make a decision regarding their situation. Something had to happen and soon, afraid that if she would make the choice to remain and regret it later.

  When the music stopped, she went back inside and to the bedroom and sat down on the bed. For a fleeting moment, she thought of leaving and returning to America and back to her life without resolving anything. But running away didn’t solve anything, so

  she would remain until both of them hashed things out.

  If she were honest with herself, she would admit she wanted Jean-Luc to convince her he wanted her for keeps. She would want to believe him. Flopping back on the bed April stared up at the ceiling. Heaven help her, but she wanted to believe with all of her heart that he was being sincere, wanting a future that included the two of them. If that made her out to be a fool, then that’s what she was.

  Memories of their first meeting came rushing back. She had felt so alive and so loved. Was it wrong to want that feeling again? To love someone and have it reciprocated?

  Alive.

  That was the word to describe how she had felt when she met Jean-Luc. The instant she saw him she had realized she had only been existing up until then, not really

  living. Looking back at that day, she realized she hadn’t been happy until then. She enjoyed the life she had, doing what she loved. She was healthy, and the sun was shining.

  While taking in the sights around her, she stopped to listen to a street musician with a violin playing a rendition of La Vien Rose. She had just eaten dinner at a cafe, a meal of fragrant Beef Bourguignon. A soft breeze was blowing off the Seine, sending the scent of freshly baked Baguettes and pastries. Realizing she had strayed from the street she

  had originally started from, she decided to stop in a local bakery and use what little French she knew to ask for directions.

  Inside, her eyes immediately locked with the most compelling pair she had ever seen.

  The man’s dark blond hair was mussed, and there was flour on his tanned skin; he grinned at her from behind a long, glass counter.

  “Can I be of some help, cheri?” he asked.

  His voice sent shivers along her spine. Her heart beat like mad in her chest as she stared over at him. Suddenly, she realized she had been gawking and cleared her throat in an attempt to regain her composure.

  Not wanting to appear any more of an idiot than she already did, she spoke, while making a gesture of defeat. “It appears I’ve gotten lost.”

  “It happens more often to people than you think,” he told her w
ith amusement while moving to stand in front of her.

  She watched as he approached, mesmerized. He was a tall, athletically built man, the other thing she noticed were his eyes, a brilliant shade of warm green with flecks of

  amber.

  “Tell me where you are wanting to go?”

  Breaking out of her trance, she told him. “I’m looking for the Hotel Monsieur Saintonge, you wouldn’t happen to know where that is?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do. I would be more than happy to show you.” He turned and said something in French to a young man who had just emerged from the back while removing his apron. “We can leave now, Pierre will take care of things here.”

  She went with him. There was nothing else she could do. He had offered to escort her back to the hotel. He made her feel special from the first moment their eyes met. The attraction had been immediate between them. Intense, natural, and excitingly sensual. What she found even more remarkable was that he seemed to be perfectly at ease around her.

  They’d spent time talking and getting to know a little about one another, then he kissed her, and she was lost. His lovemaking had made her feel alive, making her forget the things that bothered her for so long. Treating her like she was the most precious treasure, though the intimacy between them was new, his kisses were hungry, demanding, sending shivers of delight traveling along her spine.

  When their eyes met, she could see the fire in their depths, and when his body touched hers, exquisite sensations coursed through her; totally alien and yet in some way, intensely familiar. As though some part of her had always known they were there but had rigorously held them at bay. As she looked up into his eyes, she saw his expression change, sharpening. Watching while her body started to tremble in primitive response to his touch.

  Touching, stroking, reminding her that she was wanted and desired, and all of her defenses swept away by him. No man had ever made her feel like this; she barely knew him, but her body hadn’t listened. Jean-Luc’s touch was the magic key that opened the locks she had carefully secured around her heart. Knowing what they were doing was wrong; every instinct she possessed told her that—every instinct except one, and that one clamored above the rest for satisfaction. Her body, starved for all that he offered for so long. It blindly over-rode the danger signals from her brain. Which was why the next morning guilt had intruded, and she ran.

  Chapter 5

  By the time April woke up the following morning, gray clouds had converged on the city, large, heavy drops splattered against the window panes with monotonous regularity. After ordering breakfast, she phoned Donna to check on things at the shop and the first thing her friend asked is what the status was between her and Jean-Luc.

  April rolled her eyes. “I didn’t call to gossip. I want to know if our problem was solved.”

  “Please, of course, it was. I already told you it would be,” Donna replied. “Now, about you and the Frenchmen, tell me what’s happening with that?”

  “His name is Jean-Luc. If you must know, things are going okay, I suppose.”

  “What do you mean, you suppose? Either the two of you are getting together, or you aren’t, which is it?”

  “I guess you could say we’re headed in that direction.”

  Donna sucked her teeth in frustration. “You get on my nerves sometimes being so vague. Either you wanna be with him, or you don’t. There is no in-between.”

  She knew that, but for some reason, April had a feeling that although things seemed to be going well between her and Jean-Luc, something wasn’t quite right, and she wasn’t quite certain what it would be.

  “Look, although things are going well with him, I...just don’t want to jinx it by keeping my hopes up.”

  She’d expected Jean-Luc to show up just as he had yesterday and was disappointed when he didn’t. She hadn’t even gotten so much as a text. It was ironic that when she had finally decided to meet him halfway, he was nowhere to be seen. Her mind began to conjure up reasons why. Perhaps he was busy at the bakery or had other business to attend to, and whatever it was, it certainly didn’t include her.

  “You just need to be a lot more optimistic then you’re being,” Donna advised. “I mean, look at it this way, you know he wants to be with you; that’s definitely a good thing.

  So, stop trying to invent excuses not to and just go with the flow.”

  “I promise I will, okay.”

  “Good. Since you’ve been gone, we’ve taken on two new clients.”

  “Really, who?”

  “Sheila Grant came by the other day,” Donna said. “She wants us to outfit the girls for the annual banquet. Also. Noel Vance would like us to design her daughter’s wedding gown.”

  “Seriously? The sheriff’s wife?” April replied, astonished.

  “Yup, when the two most prominent members of our community want to hire us, it’s huge.”

  “You’re telling me, and we’re talking major bucks.”

  “Don’t I know it. This could really put us on the map,” she pointed out.

  “Which could ultimately lead to bigger contracts.”

  “Exactly,” April agreed.

  “Well, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

  By mid-afternoon, a bored April dressed and decided she needed to get out of the hotel and go to the bakery but remembered it was closed for repairs. So, she was going to his apartment, and with any luck, he’d be there. Grabbing her raincoat and slipping it on, she grabbed an umbrella and went out. The sidewalk was slippery with wet leaves, the city continued to be inundated with a steady deluge of rain. Knowing it would be too overwhelming to walk, she hailed a cab to take her there.

  Her first indication that he wasn’t alone were the voices she heard permeating the hall. When she raised her hand to knock, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it opened, what she saw sent a feeling of disbelief sweeping over her. There, in another woman’s arms, was Jean-Luc!

  A deep trembling began inside her, her attention concentrated on the tall, dark-haired elegantly dressed woman in the arms of her boyfriend. Why would he do something like this to her? Time seemed to stand still for an eternity while she stood frozen in place. She hoped that what she was seeing was a hallucination, and it would gradually disappear, but her heart labored in pain and disappointment because it didn’t. Pain curled and exploded inside her, tearing her apart, making her long to rush inside and demand an explanation. The sound of Jean-Luc’s voice broke April out of her trance.

  “What the hell are you doing? I already told you I’m with someone else, Minuette.

  “Jean-Luc, you can’t be serious, she doesn’t even run in your circles, I do.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.”

  “Jean-Luc?”

  Hearing his name, Jean-Luc turned to see April standing in the doorway, and hurried over to her. “April, how long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough to witness the two of you in a lip-lock.”

  “I assure you it’s not what you think.”

  April arched a brow. “Isn’t it?”

  “Is this the woman you mentioned? She isn’t even the right one, she’s so...plain

  looking,” Minuette scoffed. “What you see in her is a mystery.”

  Jean-Luc shoved his hands through his hair. “I see everything you aren’t.”

  Minuette made a dismissive sound in her throat. “Please, she has no style,” she sneered, regarding April’s white peasant blouse and long white skirt with disdain.

  “That’s uncalled for, Minuette,” Jean-Luc admonished.

  “But, it’s true,” she replied.

  The woman’s opinion of her didn’t sit well with April. She just decided not to be the clear-headed one. “Look, Minuette is it? I don’t know what you believe you still have

  with Jean-Luc, but the last time I heard, the relationship the two of you had ended

  a long time ago, and now, he’s with me. The next time I catch you trying to force
yourself on him, you’re not going to like what happens next, I assure you.”

  Minuette looked over at Jean-Luc, a hopeful look on her face, but when he hadn’t taken her side, she turned and walked out with a huff, muttering something in French, before slamming the door behind her.

  “Did you know she was coming here to try and reconcile, is this the business you had that you spoke of yesterday?”

  “No, I was as surprised as you were.”

  April had so many questions to ask but didn’t, she’d do it later. “I believe you,” she said finally. It’s just that…” Somehow she couldn’t find the right words to explain her feelings, mainly because she wasn’t sure what they were. “So much has happened so fast. There’s a lot I don’t understand.”

  Jean-Luc's fingers trailed over her throat before he dropped his hand. “I told you before. We need to straighten everything out between us.”

  The moment he tried to touch her, she moved out of his reach. “What am I to you, Jean-Luc?”

  “I think you should know that by now.”

  Stung by his harsh tone, April snapped back. “No, I don’t. The only thing you’ve said is you want me to stick around. Beyond that, I am clueless as to what it is exactly you want, please explain it to me.”

  Instead of responding to her question, he pulled her against him, his mouth claiming hers, kissing her hungrily with all the pent-up longing he felt. Raising his head, he whispered in a voice husky with emotion. “I want to know what you’re like deep inside.

  I want to see you at your worst, not just at your best. When we were together before. it

  was only for a brief time. It wasn’t real life; after you left, I realized how much I really wanted you.”

  She looked at him, not quite sure how to respond. She had a whole other life in America, in West Lake. “My trip is over tomorrow, and I have to go back home.”

  He frowned. “Why can’t you stay here?”

  “I have a business to run. I can’t just drop everything, it doesn’t work like that, and you know it.”