“Oui, ma belle. It’s plenty of time.”
She nodded but didn’t seem convinced. He watched her for a moment as she sat on the wide bed. The lilac-and-green comforter looked perfect against her ebony skin. But as she sagged against the pillows, he began to worry. Maybe this was too much to ask of her. He didn’t need them to be married immediately, but the thought of not being sure of forever made his heart clench. If she needed to wait until the baby was older, until they had some semblance of a normal life back, he would give her that time.
He lowered Sophie into her crib and brushed a hand over her springy hair. Then he climbed into bed beside his fiancée.
“Talk to me. Are you not happy with this?”
She leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder as he cradled her against his body.
“Yes. I’m happy,” she said, but her voice held the edge of tears. “I’m sorry. If this hormonal shit doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to lose my mind. I hate feeling like I might cry for absolutely no reason all the time. But I am happy. I promise. I’m just exhausted.”
She yawned, as if to prove her point. He pulled the covers down, and she slid under them. He nudged her. “Turn over.”
She didn’t ask any questions as she rolled to lie on her stomach. He ran his hands over her back in slow circles, and she sighed. He leaned down and kissed her shoulder, rubbing her back gently but not asking for any more.
Did he miss the fervent lovemaking they’d had in the past year? Absolutely. But they needed intimacy and closeness more than he needed sex. And they both needed sleep. Mandy watched him for a few more moments until her eyelids began to droop, concealing her beautiful brown eyes.
Her black lashes formed small half circles against her brown skin, and he resisted the urge to kiss them. She had to rest. Her breathing slowed, and still he continued to soothe her with caresses along her shoulders and the back of her neck.
“Fais des beaux rêves,” he whispered. The only reply he got was her soft snoring. Apparently she was already having those good dreams. Julien settled his body against hers, wrapping her snugly in his arms. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you happy, he promised her silently.
Chapter Seven
“What do you mean, he canceled?” Mandy groaned.
“Ma belle, he is occupied.”
She wanted to punch something. “This is the third time he’s canceled. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t want anything to do with his grandchild.” Julien’s father seemed determined not to meet her either. She and Julien had tried to arrange to go down and visit him in Carcassonne before the baby was born, but that had seemed impossible. She had a sickening feeling in her gut telling her Pierre hated her, though he’d never met her.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. How could he be so occupied he can’t spare a day or two for a visit? Honestly!”
“Shh,” he cautioned, and he was right. Sophie was sleeping in the next room, something the little girl didn’t do enough of, certainly. Mandy needed to keep her voice down and her temper in check.
“He hates us. He has to.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t know that.” Julien took a step toward her, and she moved out of his reach. It wasn’t easy maintaining distance in the small kitchen, but she did her best. She needed him not to touch her right now. She wanted to tear her hair out. It had only been a week since she’d agreed to next month’s wedding date, and already she was going crazy.
“What else am I supposed to think? He hasn’t even met me yet. We’ve been together over a year, and I’ve barely said hello to him on the phone.”
“I haven’t met your family yet either,” he said softly.
“That’s different,” she said through clenched teeth. “They’re halfway around the world. And in case you forgot, they’re coming here in three weeks to meet you and our daughter. He’s a few hours away by train, for crying out loud.”
“It’s nine hours,” he corrected.
She glared, and he sat down, seeming to know now was probably not the best time to be correcting her.
“Have you even told him about the wedding?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she knew he hadn’t.
“I haven’t talked to him in a few days. But I will tell him. And make sure he knows how important it is to me that he be there. How important you are to me. Don’t be mad, ma belle. He takes a little while to get to know people. But when he does, they’re friends for life. It’s a French thing.”
She didn’t want to be Pierre’s friend. She was going to be his daughter-in-law. “Don’t give me that crap about how French people are cold at first but become warm and loyal after a while.”
“It’s hard for him. S’il te plaît, chérie, don’t be so hard on him.”
Mandy took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Pierre’s past and the way Julien had described his father’s devastation at his mother’s leaving didn’t give him a pass to ignore her and Sophie. It was one thing if he didn’t want to know Mandy. She wouldn’t be so upset over that. But she wasn’t going to deny her daughter a grandfather because of his stubborn refusal to let someone close.
“Fine. I’ll reserve judgment until after I meet him. But that better be soon.”
“It will be, ma belle. I’ll make sure he’s at the wedding at the end of the month.”
That should have made her feel better, but Mandy couldn’t get rid of the fist that seemed to be clenching her stomach in a viselike grip.
* * * *
The next three weeks went by in such a rush that Mandy could barely keep her head on straight. Sophie was growing rapidly, already trying to sit up on her own and starting to use her fingers to clutch the bottles of breast milk. Mandy was thrilled to have such a happy, healthy baby, but she was drained all the time. Thank God she wasn’t teaching any classes this summer. After the maternity leave, she wasn’t prepared to go back to work anytime soon. No way could she teach in this condition.
Sophie was still waking every few hours at night to eat. Julien was so good with her, getting up to feed the baby when Mandy was too tired. But she still woke up each time her daughter cried. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a full night’s sleep.
“Okay, all the court documents are in my bag. Are you ready?” Julien asked.
She had to blink a few times and think about what the hell she was supposed to be ready for. He held Sophie in his arms, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Sophie’s soft light brown skin looked great against her pink-and-green outfit. Mandy took a second to look around the bedroom. Clothes were strewn over the bed, ones that still fit and ones she couldn’t get back into yet.
Her bag lay half-empty on the bed amid the clothes. Right, they were leaving for the hotel, where Mom, Tyler, and Layla would be waiting for them. She didn’t know if she was ready to see them all yet. She was sure she looked like shit.
“Apparently not,” Julien said. He set the baby in her crib and turned to Mandy, sliding the duffel down his shoulder and onto the floor. “Let me help.”
“Yes, please.” She didn’t know what to bring for a week at a fancy hotel. She’d stayed in a lot of hostels and small B and B’s while traveling Europe, but five-star hotels were foreign to her. Half the wardrobe she’d bought in France didn’t fit her yet, so she had limited stock to pull from.
Julien grabbed a handful of sexy underwear from her lingerie drawer. Well, evidently he was done with the granny panties she’d been rocking the past few months. Which was fine with her. Except her sex drive seemed to have evaporated in her fatigued state. She leaned back against the wall and watched as he packed clothes for her. A swimsuit, several beautiful summer dresses she could still squeeze into, high heels, stockings, and more lingerie got folded neatly into her bag. She loved watching how meticulous he was.
Julien had some serious OCD tendencies, but even when he walked behind her to reclean everything she’d just cleaned, she found his habits adorable. She didn
’t protest all the lingerie he packed. It might be nice to wear some the week of her wedding. She was entitled, right? Baby or no baby.
But she didn’t know if she would feel as sexy in the lingerie with her postbaby body.
Julien opened the closet with a flourish and took out the simple white gown she was going to wear for the ceremony at the mayor’s office. Their appointment was two days before the wedding Layla had organized. The guests, few as they were, had been invited, the venue decided, the dress picked out. As promised, all Mandy had to do was show up.
Layla still wanted input on decorations and the cake, and the specific room to use for the ceremony and reception, but that was it. At least Mandy hoped that was it. Layla had been sending her constant updates by e-mail and phone the past weeks, and Mandy had barely glanced at them. Was it wrong that she didn’t really care what the wedding looked like?
“Et, voilà,” Julien said, laying the garment bag containing her dress on the bed.
“Merci,” she said. Julien turned his bright green gaze on her, and she froze at the first spark of lust she’d felt in months.
“De rien, ma belle. The car is waiting downstairs,” he whispered.
And suddenly she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay here in their bedroom together and reintroduce herself to her fiancé. But there would be time for that at the hotel.
He seemed to sense her reluctance, and her sudden desires, for he rushed across the room and threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her head to his. He pushed his lips against hers, his touch urgent, a strangled moan coming from his throat. She opened her mouth to him instantly, letting her tongue slide against his lips. He kissed her like he was a man starved for affection.
It broke her heart.
Had she really been neglecting him so harshly? As he thrust his hard cock against her core, she groaned. Yes, she had definitely been neglecting him. And herself, if she was truthful. Her body was going up in flames.
“Putain,” he said forcefully, pulling back from her.
Fuck, indeed. “We have to go,” she said, breathless.
He nodded but didn’t release her. Sophie let out one piercing scream from behind them, and Mandy finally let go. He did the same, and she hooked the diaper bag on to her shoulder and bent down to lift Sophie from her crib. Holding the baby on one hip, she bounced her gently and grabbed the dress from the bed.
Julien grinned and picked up the other bags. “We’re getting married,” he said.
She felt an answering smile tug at her lips. Yes, they were. It was now or never. She just hoped she was ready.
* * * *
Julien rubbed his fingers along the back of Mandy’s soft hand. One kiss, and the needs of his body had come rushing back. He’d been pushing them aside for weeks, contenting himself with holding Mandy, with light touches and a little cuddling. But now his body raged at him, begging for more. As the car the hotel had sent pulled up to the curb in front of the Marietta Paris, he sighed.
Maybe he could get Mandy alone in their room within the hour. But when he looked out the window at the people who could only be her family, he felt that dream die.
The front of the hotel was as beautiful as the rest of the buildings in Paris, with beige stone, a gray roof, and wrought-iron balconies. A small purple awning marked with the Marietta Hotel insignia hung above the main doors, but aside from that, the hotel blended in seamlessly with the surrounding architecture. Across the street from the black-and-gold fence of the Jardin des Tuileries, it looked almost tame.
As soon as Mandy opened the door, her family converged on her. She was ushered free of the car, and he leaned over to get Sophie.
“I’ll take that,” a woman said as she poked her head into the car. “I’m Angela. Now hand over my grandbaby, and nobody gets hurt.”
Julien chuckled, liking Angela immediately. He could see where Mandy got her no-nonsense personality, and her looks. Her mother’s wide-set nose and thick lips were a dead ringer for Mandy’s. He lifted Sophie, and Angela took her granddaughter. Julien got out as the driver unloaded the bags and gave them to a bellhop.
Mandy turned, begging him with her eyes for a rescue. Julien couldn’t help the pang of sadness that wound through him, seeing Mandy with her family. Even as she wanted free of them a little, it was clear she loved them dearly. He’d never had that growing up. He had no idea what a sibling relationship was like, or how a close bond between mother and child could feel.
Pushing aside his morose thoughts, he slid into step beside Mandy and took her hand. Her cool fingers fit perfectly between his, and she tightened her grip. By this time next week, these people would be his family too. He was determined to win them over.
“Julien, this is my brother, Tyler,” Mandy said. Julien shook hands with the other man, noting the assessment in his chilly brown eyes. They were a few shades darker than Mandy’s, but Tyler’s cheekbones were the same as hers. He was much taller than his sister, though, and Julien felt almost dwarfed by the larger man with his wide shoulders and shaved head.
“This is my girlfriend, Layla,” Tyler said.
Julien stuck out his hand, but Layla moved in and kissed his cheek, then moved back so he could kiss her other cheek. Her mocha skin was several shades lighter than Tyler or Mandy’s, and her features more narrowed. But she was about Mandy’s size, and her eyes glowed with warmth as she smiled at him.
“Bonjour,” she said, her French accent impeccable. Mandy had said Layla’s mother worked as the CFO for the Marietta Hotel Corporation, and it was clear this woman had spent a good amount of time learning Parisian French.
“Bonjour,” he replied. “Merci pour tous ça. C’est trop gentil.”
“De rien,” she said. “Really, it’s nothing. I’m happy to help. Everything’s set except for a few minor details that we can work on over the next couple of days.” Layla turned to Mandy and pulled her into a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”
Mandy embraced Layla eagerly enough but quickly returned her hand to his.
Layla smiled at them. “Well, Mom and Tyler are on baby detail. Let me show you up to your room.”
They followed her into the interior of the hotel, which was as opulent as the Palais du Luxembourg. Vaulted ceilings held up by Grecian columns that dominated the space allowed for plenty of light over the dark cherry reception desk, the bright tiled floors, and several sitting areas. People milled this way and that, and he could spot the American tourists from the European ones just based on their shoes. It was a talent he’d perfected since moving to Paris.
Mandy seemed momentarily awestruck but recovered quickly, turning to Angela. “Mom. Don’t bother to say hi to me or anything. It’s only been eighteen months since I saw you.”
He knew by her tone that Mandy was being sarcastic, but there was a hint of truth to her words. She’d probably been looking forward to seeing her mom again after so long apart, and Angela had been so focused on Sophie she hadn’t given Mandy a proper hello.
“Oh, God.” Angela stopped and turned, pulling Mandy into a one-armed hug. “Honey, I’m so sorry. You know me. I’m a little baby-centric. What can I say?”
Mandy laughed and hugged her mom, kissing the top of Sophie’s head.
“I missed you,” Mandy said, her voice choked with emotion. He’d seen how hard it was for Mandy to be without her mom during the last few months of pregnancy. Mandy had called New York constantly.
Julien watched Angela hold his daughter tightly, speaking to her and bouncing the sleeping girl in her arms. The woman was a natural with kids. Much more comfortable than Mandy had first been when they’d come home from the hospital. He was at ease, knowing his daughter would be well cared for while he and Mandy attended to the wedding needs.
And their own.
Chapter Eight
Mandy closed the door behind the bellhop and turned to Julien, her gut churning. She knew Mom would take excellent care of Sophie, but she hadn’t been away from he
r daughter for more than a few minutes since she was born. The hollow ache in her heart terrified her. Was this what it felt like to be a mother?
She’d thought she knew terror when first bringing Sophie home. But she was wrong. This was much, much worse. She turned back to the door, ready to rush to her daughter’s side, but then Julien was behind her, pressing the front of his body against her back, his hands on the door on either side of her shoulders.
He dipped his head and whispered in her ear, “I know, ma belle. She’s right there. And she’s safe. We both have to learn to be away from her a little.”
He was right. Mandy let go of the handle, her forehead resting on the door. “I didn’t think it would be this hard.”
“We can go visit her later. Deal?” he said. She knew he wasn’t just saying it for her benefit. He missed their baby girl too. Even though he’d spent more time outside the apartment without Sophie than she had, he still felt the same gut-wrenching agony she was now experiencing.
“Okay,” she said.
He kissed the sensitive skin behind her earlobe, and she shivered. Maybe he could find something to take her mind off missing their daughter. She turned in the box between his body and the door to stare into his green eyes.
She ran her hands over his sculpted cheekbones, keeping her gaze locked with his. She loved watching the gold rings around his pupils darken when he got all hot and bothered. When Mandy threaded her fingers through his silky locks and tugged, his eyes rolled back. She pulled his hair and pushed him until he was in the center of the room. He let her direct him where she wanted him.
Let her do whatever she wanted to him.
The familiar surge of power rushed over her as she led him into their bedroom off the living area in the Victor Hugo Suite. She loved that she could do this to him. After his initial pursuit of her, his first seduction, he was not only willing but also eager to give her the reins. Maybe because he was a younger man, or maybe because he just knew she needed the control. Either way, she reveled in the intensity of sexual desire that she hadn’t felt in nearly eight months.
Marietta Hotels 2: An Engagement in Paris Page 4
