by Taisha Demay
“Can’t you let your partner handle it, while we work things out?”
April knew she could; Donna had all but suggested it. “I suppose, but I’d have to go back sooner or later.”
“You will, just not right now.”
A soft sound escaped her lips just before he covered them in a hard, desperate kiss. Passion flared quickly between them, strong and uncontrollable. All her errant thoughts
vanished in the heat of the moment. Nothing was as important as their need for each other. There would be time to talk later. Now, was the time to feel.
Jean-Luc removed the clip from her hair and combed his fingers through, loosening the silky strands. His hands were unsteady as he pushed the jacket from her shoulders to the floor. Then he unbuttoned her blouse, his pulse quickening when he saw she wasn’t wearing a bra, and he noticed her nipples were erect. His gaze returned to hers. “Looks like someone was in a hurry.”
She shrugged. “What can I say, I was anxious to see you.”
“In that case, let’s see what else you’re not wearing.”
He needed to feel her skin against his, but he didn’t want to rush this. He wanted to go slow, take his time and savor the moment. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over to his bedroom, placing her down on the bed, kissing her with fierce need, and April surrendered with raw passion. She didn’t want tenderness. She was on fire. It was in her blood and a wild sweet flame was burning in her from wanting him.
He discovered she also was wearing a thong, and after doing away with that, and her skirt, he then removed his clothing, never taking his eyes off of her. When she raised her arms to him, he grabbed her hips and thrust inside her, a coiling tension began to build within him, exquisite moans of pleasure filled the air. Primitive need reached the pinnacle as he felt her shudder beneath him. Satisfaction was fierce and possessive, her body writhing in pleasure, feeling the rhythmic urgency within him. Her own seemed to surge in response, melting against him, her teeth biting into his shoulder, and she was enveloped in fierce desire. With the hard hunger of his body, they both reached the precipice together.
The next morning when April opened her eyes, she felt the warm pressure of Jean-Luc’s body pressed against hers, his arm curled around her waist, holding her against him. When she tried to move his arm and wiggle free, his hand simply lifted and moved up over her body, coming to rest possessively against her breast, a sleepy murmur came from his lips as the pad of his thumb moved drowsily against her nipple. The lazy caress making her aware that he was indeed awake.
“Where are you going?” he whispered behind her, his voice lazy with the satisfaction of touching her, his lips warm as they exposed the nape of her neck, his free hand pushing aside her hair. His laughter slithered across her skin, sending tremors running along her spine, memories of the previous night of writhing in his arms while he made love to her.
He laughed again, almost silently as she moved to straddle him, shivering as he slid inside her warmth. They moved together urgently toward their release, palms pressed against his muscular chest, eyes filled with passion. April suspended in a heavy fog of desire, the breath leaving her lungs as an orgasm overtook her. She cried out from release, both falling over the cliff together.
.
“I knew it!” Donna enthused, when April informed her she’d be staying, in order to spend time with Jean-Luc just to see how it would all play out. Making the decision the night before after their lovemaking. This was her one chance and she was going to take it. “What else happened?”
“I met the ex,” she told her.
Hearing this, her friend's eyes widened. “You’re kidding! What was she like?”
“Sophisticated and a knockout, everything I’m not,” April said sadly.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit; you’re beautiful and a successful business woman.”
April snorted. “You’re only saying that because we’re friends.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.”
“I suppose.”
Donna let April’s doubtful reply go without further agreement. “Your problem is, you don’t believe you deserve to be happy. Did that thing with Paul mess you up that much?”
She leaned back. “Maybe it did and maybe it didn’t. It’s just that, I feel like it's all just too good to be true.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s what every girl dreams about. Which is, meeting the man of her dreams and living happily ever after.”
“Is that what you have with Tim?”
“I certainly hope so; I’m too old to be starting over. Besides, we’ve been together since high school, so I guess we were meant to be.”
She looked over at the screen. “You honestly want me to leave you to run the shop alone while I chase something that may just be a dead-end?”
“Would you stop!” Donna admonished. “Unless you don’t think he’s worth it.”
April wished she could say he wasn’t and believe it. But she remembered the look in Jean-Luc’s eyes, and the hunger she felt in his kiss. She also picked up on the fact that he wasn’t the type of man who would give up easily. Which meant, she shouldn’t either. “He’s worth it.”
“Then, you have your answer. Let me know how it’s going. In the meantime, I’ll place an ad in the paper for temporary help,” Donna told her.
Hearing this, she frowned. “Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun just a little?”
“No, I do not. We both know you’re going to stay. Besides now that we’ve taken on those big accounts, we could use the additional help.”
“Alright, do what you need to,” April conceded.
“Okay. Talk to you later.”
Shutting the laptop, April hoped she wasn’t making a mistake sticking around, because it may just end up being something she would regret.
A few hours later, she and Jean-Luc were enjoying lunch, when his cell phone rang, excusing himself, he fished it from his pocket, swiped the screen, pressing it to his ear.
“Bonjour, Pierre.” For several minutes he listened to his employee, then said.
“Juste une minute.” Putting his hand over the phone, he turned his attention to her. “Something has come up at the bakery I have to take care of. It shouldn’t take more than an hour or so. But I’ll be back, okay?”
April nodded. “Alright. I have things I need to do myself. Go ahead.”
Both sliding their chairs away from the table, they stood. He clasped one hand around the back of her neck, lowering his head for a brief kiss, before turning and walking out.
As promised Jean-Luc returned to find April packing her suitcase. “What are you doing?”
She looked up to see him. “I’m checking out of the hotel. If you remember this trip was a prize I won, and now, it’s over.”
“Now that you’ve decided to stay, why don’t you move in with me?” he suggested.
April considered his offer. She hadn’t lived with anyone since college. Did she want to share an apartment with her boyfriend? “I don’t know, Jean-Luc.”
He frowned. “What about once we get married?”
“That’s different. Then you’d be my husband. But until that time, I prefer to live alone.” Then she noticed the expression on his face, it was one of hurt. “Don’t look like that. It’s nothing against you. I’ve always been this way, even while I was growing up. My aunt used to say I was ‘acting bougie.’”
Jean-Luc laughed. “I’ve never heard of a quirk being referred to like that.”
“It’s not a quirk. It’s me wanting my own space, that’s all. Before you say it, the desk clerk helped me find a place not far from here.”
Though she offered him another reason, he knew she was just using it as an excuse to not fully embrace their relationship. She was scared.
“Okay, but I want to see this place and make sure it’s not some rat hole.”
“You know, you don’t give me enough credit,” she said, grabbing her purse and suitcase in o
ne hand, and Jean-Luc with the other as he followed her out into the hall.
“Why didn’t she want to live with you? It certainly would make more sense?” Nail pointed out when he and Jean-Luc met the next morning to go over some financial paperwork.
“She says she needs her own space. Something I don’t understand. One would think since we’re hoping to build a life together, she’d jump at the chance.”
Nail looked over at him. “Did it ever occur to you that she may not be ready for such a huge step?”
He frowned. “Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Maybe it’s because you’re rushing her into it. Think about it, the two of you were just reunited not more than four days ago, and now, you want to take a trip to the altar. What do you really know about this woman?”
Jean-Luc sighed. “I know she was raised by her aunt after her parents’ death. I know that she’s an independent business owner, that she has no other family to
speak of. I know that I love her, and she’s the woman I want to grow old with. That’s all I need to know.”
The other man nodded. “Okay, I guess I can accept that. My next question is, does she know who you’re related to?”
“What, that my uncle is the Duke of Candor? No, she doesn’t.”
“Don’t you think you should tell her?”
“Why should it matter? We barely know one another. My mother and he were never close. His father was a man who made a merger with my grandmother and bred a child.
We may have the same blood in our veins and the name, but we share nothing else.”
Nail sighed. “Fine, don’t say anything. Let’s get back to these books.”
“It’s just three o’clock, what’s the rush?”
“I’ve got a date with Sylvia, a girl I met at La Pare,” his friend informed him, grinning.
He frowned. “But what about Violette?”
Nail grinned. “What about her? Perhaps two is better than one, te n’es pas d’accord?”
Jean-Luc shook his head. “Chien Dog.”
Nail only laughed.
During the next several days Jean-Luc and April were inseparable. They each had their own work to do, but when they weren’t, they were together. He helped her get settled in the new apartment, fixing meals, taking long walks around the city, talking. Then, they weren’t doing that, they made love, and Jean-Luc spent more time at her place than he did his own. His belongings began to be transferred from his place to hers. A toothbrush, shaving gear, boots, clothing.
It was strange at first, but having him at her place seemed right and as natural as breathing...sometimes. April had lived alone for a long time and occasionally found it unsettling to have someone else around all the time. She mostly liked having Jean-Luc with her, but once the newness of having him there wore off, there were occasions when she was irritated by his constant presence. Even though he’d helped her find a location for the new shop, which was a lot easier with him than it would have been if she’d gone scouting for it alone.
They would literally bump into each other going from room to room, and April found him to be a distraction when she should have all her attention on opening a new shop. She kept telling herself she was being unreasonable and selfish to resent the invasion of her privacy, but she couldn’t help it sometimes. She was used to eating whenever she got hungry rather than at a definite mealtime, and to set her own hours to work on projects.
On the third day, April was determined to finish the details of getting One Stitch at a Time opened on the date she’d set. But, there were a variety of interruptions and distractions that kept intruding, though. His cell phone would ring more times than she could count during the day, he insisted that even though he took time away from the bakery, he needed to keep up with the day to day operation. He played her stereo, too loud, and came into the room she’d designated to ask her if she could sew a button on one of his shirts, then later asked if she could hem a pair of slacks.
As the days progressed, April became quieter as she felt the pressure building inside her like a steam kettle about to boil over. The renovations on the location she’d chosen weren't going as well as she hoped, and frustration was growing inside her as time passed without her feeling like she was accomplishing anything.
Jean-Luc was puzzled by April’s mood, unable to figure out why she seemed so distant. There was obviously something bothering her, but since he couldn’t read her mind, he hadn’t a clue what it was, but he found out.
After dinner he suggested they go for a walk, but April declined, saying she was going to the shop instead.
“It’s going to take time to get things completed. I think you should be patient. There’s
still a lot of time.”
“I think I should go down and check the progress,” she said with a bite in her tone. “If I don’t keep on them. I’m not going to open on the day I planned.”
“I thought you said yesterday that the contractor informed you he was waiting on that color paint you wanted to come in.”
“I am. But that doesn’t mean I can’t go and see,” she snapped.
“Would it make much of a difference if you took a break from stressing over it?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, since I haven’t accomplished much all day, I want to be sure I stick to the schedule. Right now, I have curtains to make for Mrs. Dubois and the pillow shams for Mrs. Bronté. So far, the only thing I’ve managed to do was sit here staring at this damn machine.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No,” she replied emphatically. “It can’t.”
He looked at her long and hard. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself, you need to relax.”
“Don’t patronize me, damn it! My profession is important to me. It’s not something to do to keep me busy while you’re conducting business for your bakery. I have a lot riding on this shop being a success. I just can’t sit back and watch the money roll in, that’s not how it works. I won’t be able to pay back the loan I got if I don’t have a place to conduct business.”
“April,” he said firmly. “I don’t want you to worry about money. If you need anything, I’ll just give it to you, just like I did before.”
“No, you won’t. It’s my business, not yours.”
He stared at her for another long minute. “What’s really bothering you, April?” he finally asked.
“I told you. I need to start making a living.”
She gazed around the room, before getting up to leave the room, but he moved quickly to stop her. He grabbed her arm and turned her around.
“You can go back to your sewing in a minute. First, I want to know what this is all about. If it’s something I’ve done or haven’t don’t, you’ll have to tell me. I can’t make it right if I don’t know what it is.”
She freed her arm from his grasp and took several steps away from him. “I’m...not used to living with anyone, Jean-Luc. I’ve been alone for a long time.”
He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. Fear knotted in his stomach as he waited for her to tell him to go. After a long, tense silence, he asked, “Do you want me to leave?”
“No!” she answered immediately. “No, I don’t want you to leave.” She released a sigh before walking over to the window, looking out onto the busy street below. “I don’t know. maybe I’ve got cabin fever. I feel as though the walls are closing in on me. We’re practically living on top of each other, and I’m having trouble adjusting to my life here.”
Relief washed over him. So that was it. Coming up behind her, he lifted his hands to her shoulders, turning her around. “We’ll work it out, honey. Right now, we’re living in pretty tight quarters, I agree.” His palms framed her face, and he forced her to meet his gaze.
“How about if we go to my place, it’s much bigger, and you’ll have your own space, what do you say?” He lowered his head and took her mouth briefly but hard. “Well, what do you say?” he repeated. “We both have a
lot of adjustments to make in our lives, but I’m willing to do whatever has to be done as long as we can be together. How about you?”
“I want that too.”
He hugged her fiercely, then released her. “Now, let’s get some of this stuff over to my place.”
She nodded. “Okay. But first,” she grinned, “I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t hard to get out of the rental agreement since she hadn’t lived there long. Her landlord who obviously had a fond affection for her fiancé was more than happy to release her from it. It had taken them a few days to move their stuff from her two-bedroom apartment to his enormous one.
Chapter 6
A few weeks later, April discovered something new about Jean-Luc while thumbing through a magazine that he’d neglected to tell her. She came upon a picture of him and a member of French royalty. When he came into the room and found her staring at the book she was holding, he immediately suspected something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong, April?”
She looked up at him. “You’re related to the Duke of Candor?”
“Only distantly.”
April furrowed her brow. “What does that even mean?”
“It means he’s my mother’s brother.”
“That would mean he’s a lot closer than distant. You don’t think that I’d need to know this?”
He shook his head. “Not really. It makes no difference. We virtually have no contact with one another.”
“But, he’s your uncle.”
“So what? As I said, we have nothing in common with one another aside from my mother.”
She bit her lip, wanting to ask, what if he wanted to come to their wedding? But instead, she said, “Don’t you think you need to change that?”
Jean-Luc shrugged. “He knows where to find me.”
His attitude really caught her off guard. “Wow,” was all she could manage. This was definitely a different side of him, a side she wasn’t sure she liked. April got to her feet.