“Thank you. I appreciate it more than you know. We’ll be done by noon. Now I’d better let you go. When you come tomorrow, park here and I’ll leave the back door open.” He backed away from the van so she could drive down to the street.
Each time she passed the entrance to the Fontesquieu estate, she thought about him. But this time it conjured up his comment about her eyes being the color of the flowers that grew there.
Cami didn’t want to believe he was the kind of man who flirted with every woman he met, but maybe he was like that and had picked on her because it was so easy. Any woman young or old would be wildly attracted to him. Mademoiselle Herve had been a case in point. Cami wished she weren’t. In fact she was upset that she’d agreed so easily to help clean his study in the morning.
There were some troubling facts about his past already staring her in the face. He’d had an affair with one woman that produced a child, yet he’d married another one. Now divorced, he was taking on the responsibility of fatherhood with the son of his lover.
Where did a cleaning lady fit in this scenario except to provide a momentary distraction for him? That was all she was or could be. Maybe he flirted in order to deal with his pain over losing Antoinette and could be forgiven. Who knew?
Cami had fallen out of love long before her divorce had been finalized. Any pain had more to do with her disgust for being such a bad judge of character. Since then she’d only gone on a few dates, but no man had interested her enough to get involved, not when she was facing heart surgery.
The only thing to do was be polite to the complicated man who’d given her and her mother a job for the week. Grateful for tomorrow’s extra money, she’d do the cleaning and leave. Once out of sight, out of mind.
But to her chagrin Raoul wasn’t out of sight during the night. He filled her dreams. She tossed and turned, and awakened on Saturday feeling restless and sick with excitement at the thought of seeing him again.
She climbed out of bed to get ready and fastened her hair back with a tortoiseshell clip. Once dressed in jeans and a blouse, she found her mother in the kitchen and told her she’d been hired to clean his study.
“That man is interested in you. What’s nice is, you’re interested in him too. Have a good time.”
Cami ignored her mother’s comments. “I’ll be back by one to get you.” The two of them were going to do some shopping for friends and extended family. This was one of the few free times left before her operation. “It will be my last trip to the villa.”
“Are you sure of that, because I’m not,” she quipped.
Cami left the apartment afraid her mother was right. If he happened to ask her for another favor, she probably wouldn’t be able to resist.
* * *
Saturday morning Raoul opened the back door when Cami’s car appeared. Every time he saw her, it was like the first time. She had an inner and outward beauty that appealed to him on every level.
“Bonjour, Cami. Thanks for coming to help me.” He walked her inside and headed for the study. He’d lined up the furniture and boxes along the hallway.
They made their way past everything to enter the room where he’d placed a drop cloth and ladder. There was a door at the end of the room that led outside to the driveway.
“I was up early and finished most of the ceiling. You’re free to start the walls. I don’t think this will take us long.”
Her lavender-blue eyes were charged with excitement. She put on the safety glasses and gloves to get busy. “You’ve done the hardest part.”
“This is nothing compared to what you and your coworkers accomplished this last week. When I bought this place, I knew it needed a thorough going-over and felt sorry for you.”
“It wasn’t bad, Raoul. The people who lived here before left it reasonably clean. Try cleaning a half-burned house. That’s a real nightmare.”
Her life hadn’t been easy. “I can only imagine.” Once done, he climbed down and put the ladder out in the hall.
As soon as she finished the last wall, he rolled up the drop cloth and cleaned the floor. “We make a good team,” he announced at last. They stood in the doorway. “The room is ready to furnish.”
She eyed the oak desk. “You’re going to need help moving this.”
“I’ll do it. Leave the heavy lifting to me.”
* * *
Cami had no choice because of her heart condition, but it didn’t matter. His tall, hard, fit body could handle anything and was probably the envy of most men. No woman could keep her eyes off him.
While he brought in the furniture and told her to sit on the love seat, she was able to watch him. He also brought in a file cabinet and more chairs before he pulled a framed picture out of the desk and set it on top. At the first sight of the two people in the photo, she let out a cry.
He turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t believe it,” she whispered and got up to get a closer look. “That’s you with that older man!”
Raoul chuckled. “Yes, but what do you mean?”
She stared up at him, incredulous. “You’re the young man I saw at the vineyard with this older man years ago!”
“You saw me? With this man?” He tapped the picture.
“Yes. I was twelve. I was in the car with my mother and father. We’d stopped to watch the grape pickers. You and he were walking through the vineyard talking to the workers before you headed toward a big black car waiting at the side of the road. It had a gold hood ornament.”
“That was a special day for me.”
“For me too. I asked my papa about the emblem and he said it meant you belonged to the Fontesquieu family. You happened to smile at me before you got in. Good heavens! That’s why your smile seemed familiar to me on Monday when we first met in the nursery.”
Raoul stared hard at her. “You were the pretty girl with the long glossy hair watching me from the back window. You reminded me of a black-haired Rapunzel. I couldn’t figure out what you were doing inside a taxi.”
She laughed. “My twelve-year-old self decided then and there you were the young prince who lived in the château.”
“That’s incredible.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Even though you’re grown up and your hair has been caught back, it must explain why I felt drawn to you in those first moments. We had a connection.”
“I agree,” she murmured. “Who’s the man in the picture with you?”
“My great uncle Jerome, the man I’ve talked about. It was my birthday. I’d just turned fifteen and his wife took that picture of us when we returned to the château from inspecting that particular terroir in the vineyard. They’d planned a surprise for me that evening. It was one of the happiest nights of my life.”
She nodded. “Seeing that photograph takes me back to a time of great happiness with my parents too. From the time I was five, Papa always took us to the vineyard in the fall. It was one of my favorite things to do with him, but because certain roads were blocked off, we could never get close enough to the château to suit me. Then he’d drive us around Vence and relate stories about its history.”
“Give me a for instance,” Raoul urged her. “I love hearing about your childhood.”
“I remember him saying that Francis the First, the knightly prince who furnished the ash tree that still grows near the fountain in the city, loved his mother so much, he knelt before her whenever they talked.”
Raoul cleared his throat. “I didn’t know that fact about his mother.”
“Do you think it’s true?”
“We’ll never know, but it makes a tender story.”
“Yes. Papa loved history and knew a lot of things. He should have lived for a long time.” Her voice wobbled before she sat back down.
“His legacy lives in you, Cami. Your words have touched me to the core.” He walked out in the hall and s
tarted bringing in the large boxes containing a computer and printer. Then he brought in the smaller boxes.
“Shall I help unpack those? I’m still on your clock for another hour. Let me be useful.”
“Your work ethic is as unmatched as your energy. Make yourself comfortable and we’ll go through them. Before we do though, I’ll bring us some coffee and then we’ll get started.”
“That would taste good about now.”
CHAPTER FOUR
ENCOURAGED THAT CAMI didn’t want to leave, Raoul hurried to the kitchen and made a fresh brew. His mind kept going over the things she’d told him. The mention of the knight’s mother made him realize he needed to call his own mother and try to make things better between them.
He hadn’t sat next to her at the funeral, but that was because Sabine had been right there. Even if his mother understood, he wanted to explain and Cami’s words reminded him he shouldn’t put it off.
Filling a plate with pastries, he carried everything to the study and handed her a mug. The pastries he put on the desk, then he pulled up a chair.
She reached for one and bit into it. “Um. Just what the doctor ordered.”
Raoul swallowed his coffee, then studied her for a moment. “I can tell you’re wondering why I kept this room locked while you and your coworkers were cleaning.”
A fetching half smile appeared. “Am I that transparent?”
“You know that old saying about eyes being mirrors of the soul.”
“Afraid I do. I’ll keep them closed from here on out.”
Low laughter rumbled out of him. Raoul knew he was in terrible trouble where she was concerned. It was too soon to be this enamored, but he couldn’t help it and decided it was time to do something about it.
“If you remember, I told you I wouldn’t be accepting the CEO position.”
She drank her coffee slowly. “I remember everything you told me.”
“That’s because I’ve gone into business for myself, but it’s still a secret. I put these boxes in here last week and locked the door. I didn’t want anyone coming to the villa and getting curious.” He opened the first one and pulled out some files.
“Why are you telling me?”
He gave her a long side glance. “After what we’ve just shared, I trust you.”
“That’s a real compliment. Are they in alphabetical order?”
“No.”
“Would you like me to arrange them?”
“Please.”
She took them one at a time and made a pile next to her. “That was easy. Why don’t you open another box?”
Once they got started, there was no stopping her. Soon all the boxes had been emptied and she’d put all the files in the cabinet.
“You did that fast,” he commented.
She flicked her gaze to him. “Are these boxes from your office?”
“This is my office.”
“You know what I mean.”
His lips twisted into a smile. “I’m head of Fontesquieu Marketing and Sales for only a few more days. Then my ties will be severed from the whole family business.”
She bit her lip. “Doesn’t that disturb you a little?”
Her insights were a revelation. “If you want to know the truth, I can’t wait. I’ve started a new company and have sent ads throughout Provence. From here on I’ll be doing all business here at the villa.”
“So that’s why you didn’t accept the CEO position.”
One dark brow lifted. “No. That’s not the reason. I would never want to be the head of the family business under any circumstances. At this point I intend to be my own man. One of the reasons I chose to buy this villa was because this study has an outdoor exit and parking around the back for clients.”
“I noticed.”
“It makes everything convenient without involving the rest of the household.”
“Of course.” She cocked her head. “Do you mind if I ask what your new business is about?”
“For years I’ve wanted to build a consultancy firm for people who desire to start their own vineyard, but don’t know where to begin.”
Cami blinked. “Kind of like their own private expert.”
He smiled. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“You’d rather do something like that than continue to work for your family?”
“In truth, I’ve wanted to do it for years.”
“Your knowledge will be invaluable!” she cried.
Her excitement sent chills over his body. “Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it.”
He stared at her. “Why do you say that?”
“Every time I’ve ever driven past your family’s vineyard, I’ve wondered how it got started and how your family continued to make it flourish over the centuries.
“To me it seems like an impossible project that would take someone brilliant to start a whole new vineyard and make it work. But you know all its secrets! No one would ever go wrong consulting you. There’d be no risk.”
“There are risks, Cami, and it takes a lot of work.”
“But they’d be learning from your genius.”
“My great uncle was the genius. I need the journals he kept to help me, but they’re with my ex-wife. One day I’ll get them.” A dark brow lifted. “Anytime you want, you’re welcome to head my advertising department.”
A gentle laugh escaped before she glanced at the cabinet. “So those files represent the people who’ve already responded to your ads.”
“That’s right.”
“You’ve received a lot already.”
“We’ll see how much it grows. I’ve advertised under an old family name Degardelle that has no connection with the Fontesquieu family. I won’t be giving away any family secrets, but I know enough about the art of raising grapevines to help others. I want something that my son can get involved in one day, if it’s what he wants.”
Her eyes lit up, intensifying their unique color. “He’ll want to do everything you do, I promise you. As you now know, my papa was a chauffeur de taxi. As a little girl, I had a dream of owning my own taxi.”
“After what you’ve told me, that doesn’t surprise me.”
“I imagined driving all sorts of interesting, fascinating people around. That was until Papa drove us to your family’s estate and I saw the château for the first time from a distance.”
One black brow quirked. “What happened then?”
“I thought we’d come to the land of enchantment. As I told you a few minutes ago, I imagined being the princess who lived inside with her prince.”
Cami had no comprehension what this conversation was doing to him. In an earlier time, he would have loved living in the château with her. “How long did that dream last?”
“After Papa died, it stopped, but he always had the most influence over me. I’m sure your son will want to follow in your footsteps. That’s how it works. Now I have to go.” She stood up.
Enthralled by her conversation, the last thing he wanted was for her to leave. She had yet to tell him about the rest of her life, her failed marriage, but now wasn’t the moment to detain her. She had an appointment.
“I’ll walk you out.”
“Please don’t bother. You’ve got all your computer equipment to put together. You have no idea what a pleasure it’s been to work here for you. I’m glad we met and I wish you all the happiness in the world with your son.”
That was a goodbye speech if Raoul had ever heard one, but he had news for her and followed her through the villa to her car. “This may be your last workday with me, but I want to go on seeing you. Tomorrow I have to run by my old office on the estate and would like to take you with me. You’ll be able to see the château up close.”
He’d caught her off guard. “You mean it?”
“Knowing how much you loved your father, I’m certain another visit there will have special meaning for you. I’ll be with my son part of the day, so I was thinking five o’clock. I’d really like to do this for you. All I need is your address.”
He could hear her mind working, but was having a heart attack waiting for her answer. Finally, “How can I possibly say no to an invitation that would mean the world to me? I’ll be outside at five. I live in an eight-plex at 130 Almond Street.”
Relief swept through him. “I’ll be there.” As he helped her get in, he brushed her lips briefly with his own before shutting the door.
* * *
Raoul’s quick kiss had come as a breathtaking surprise. The touch of his mouth on hers had kept her restless all night. She was still shaken when she got up on Sunday.
Cami could no longer pretend her deepest feelings weren’t involved. Meeting this man who was bigger than anything life had really thrown her. He’d created feelings in her she didn’t want to have, let alone feelings she didn’t believe were hers to have!
Her mom had gone out with friends earlier. Cami left a note that Raoul was going to show her the château up close this evening, but she wouldn’t be late. He had his little boy to get home to. Her mother’s prophecy had come true. Cami couldn’t stay away.
After washing her hair, she used the blow-dryer and left it loose and curly around her shoulders. While she put on her makeup, she realized she was a far cry from Rapunzel, the golden-haired princess high up in the tower.
She put on a wraparound blue skirt and matching sweater. After grabbing her jacket, she left the apartment a few minutes early and went outside to wait. When she saw the gleaming red Jaguar pull up in front, she sucked in her breath.
Raoul got out and helped her in the passenger side. He wore a burgundy-colored pullover sweater and dark gray trousers. One covert look at him and he’d become the embodiment of her fictional, dark-haired prince living at the château.
Falling For His Unlikely Cinderella (Escape To Provence Book 2) Page 5
