“What’s the going rate for feeding you?” She leaned up on her elbows and looked him in the eyes.
“Say, five hundred more a month?”
“Deal.”
*****
“This is worth way more than five hundred dollars more a month.” Michelle tossed a pan into the sink. It hit the side and bottom, the clanking sound reverberating through the room. Alex let out a squeal, Amelie’s eyes widened and Bea laughed.
“You’re scaring the children.”
“What was I thinking? I can’t cook. Spaghetti yeah, but other than that, no. How close is the nearest restaurant that delivers?”
“Listen, it’s just lunch,” Bea said. “We’ll fix some sandwiches, and put out some fruits and vegetables, and then we’ll discuss dinner after you put Alex down for a nap.”
“Are you sure you don’t want a job as a cook? I can, I don’t know, sublet it to you?”
“You don’t sublet jobs,” Bea said. “Besides, I have my own family to feed.”
Michelle turned to Alex as Bea’s words soaked into her mind. He looked so cute sitting in his chair. He held a cookie in one hand, and a set of plastic keys in another which he banged on the tray. He looked happy and healthy, and when she caught his eye, he giggled, which made her do the same.
She waved at him and he giggled more. The sound tugged at her heartstrings. She licked her lips and schooled her face. She needed to remember this was only a job. She wouldn’t be staying in France forever. Sooner or later she would have to leave, which would mean leaving Alex. If she let herself get too attached, then leaving would be painful.
It was already too late for that thought, though. She knew that without question. Leaving Alex would be hard, and as much as she hated to admit it, leaving Alliot would be hard, too. He’d stayed true to his words last night, and had not touched her other than to spank her, and then rub soothing cream into the ridges the belt had left on her skin.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Part of her had wanted him to touch her, to make some sort of move, and part of her hadn’t. When he announced that it was time for sleep, she’d wanted him to ask her to stay. Instead, he’d helped her stand, and then walked her through Alex’s room to her own, nodding at her before he left to go back to his own room.
“Or do you just not want to tell me?” Michelle jerked her head toward Bea.
“What?”
“I said, how has Alliot been through all of this?”
Michelle thought about the spanking he’d given her last night, how he’d “spanked” information out of her that she’d never told anyone before.
“Surprisingly calm. He seems to think it’s just one of those things that happens.”
“He’s so cold,” Bea said, slicing a loaf of homemade bread.
“No,” Michelle responded. “He’s reserved. He has feelings, he just doesn’t let them out very much.”
“You like him.” Bea gave her a wicked grin. “Has something happened between the two of you?”
“No, it hasn’t. But yes, I like him. We’ve spent quite a lot of time together, and I think he’s just not a person who shows their emotions easily.”
“Oh, this is just too good to be true,” Bea said. “Tell me he feels the same way.”
“Bea, I told you.”
“Right, like I believe you. You should see the look on your face. It’s like you’re looking at a mountain of presents on Christmas morning and you can’t figure out which one to open first. You’re positively glowing.”
“Bull. You’re looking at me the wrong way. I’m just confused.” She stared at the bread, and then shuddered. “Do I really have to make bread?”
“I’m sure we can find bread in the village. But that would mean you’d have to go in every few days.”
“Don’t think so. I’ll stock up and freeze it, then pull it out as I need it.”
Bea’s laugh made Michelle stop what she was doing, which was pulling out storage containers of sliced meat.
“What?”
“I want to be a fly on the wall when you try to serve Alliot bread that’s been frozen.” Bea leaned over and kissed her daughter, then straightened up and winked at Michelle.
“And don’t think you’re getting off by changing the subject. I know what I saw. You like him. A lot. Admit it.”
Michelle turned from her friend to hide her face. It was true, she was developing feelings she didn’t understand, but she would fight them, because nothing good could ever come of them.
*****
Five days later, Michelle stared at an almost empty cupboard and wondered what she’d fix for dinner that evening. She’d made spaghetti the first night, and they’d had leftovers for lunch the next day. Then, she’d made steaks that had been in the refrigerator, just waiting to be cooked. Then, they’d gone to Bea’s house for dinner two nights in a row. Bea had slipped her two new loaves of bread, and Michelle had taken them gladly, putting them in the large bag of items she carried to take care of Alex.
Tonight, though, she had no choice but to cook, since Bea had gone into Paris with Luc to visit friends of theirs. As she studied the bare surfaces, she wondered why more food wasn’t kept in the house. Or maybe they’d just caught Mrs. Thaxton on the cusp of a new shopping cycle. She knew that wasn’t it, though. Bea had told her that Luc, like most Frenchmen, wanted his food fresh, which meant several trips into town to go to the market during the week.
She mentally cursed the missing Mrs. Thaxton, and then shut the door, letting out a cry of surprise when she turned to find Alliot staring at her, what passed for a smile on his face.
“Problem?”
“Yes. I don’t know what to cook for dinner, and there doesn’t seem to be much choice left in the way of food.”
“Yes, I noticed that this morning. We’ll go shopping tomorrow morning, you and I. For now, we’ll go out to eat. How does that sound?”
“Like heaven. Where will we go?”
“There’s a little café in the village that has scrumptious fondue.”
“Sounds delicious.”
“It is, and it’s a nice outdoor atmosphere. We’ll eat, then do some shopping, and discuss the French way of doing things. You’ll have to go into the village a few times a week for food.”
“Yeah, Bea mentioned that.”
He leaned over, his lips inches from her own. “Plus, I want to teach you how to make bread, so you don’t have to steal it from Bea anymore.”
His grin spread and she laughed, covering her face with her hands. “It was a gift.”
“I’m sure. But Saturday is bread making day. Be ready.”
*****
The fondue was delicious. Rich melted cheese they used to coat the crusty bread and large chunks of chicken, roast and sausages that surrounded the huge bowl of cheese. As they ate, they discussed the foods they would buy.
“I like chicken, and beef,” Alliot said. “I’m not too excited about most fish, except I love salmon, with a beautiful cream sauce. When it comes time to make that, I’ll show you how.”
“Great. I hope I get a few lessons before you expect it to be just perfect.”
“A few. But I have some ways of making you remember exactly what to do.”
Michelle coughed around a piece of cheese-coated bread she’d just put in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “I’m sure you do.”
He lifted his eyebrows at her, then tore off a piece of bread and handed it to Alex. The baby took it and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, gumming it happily. Alliot put a few more pieces of bread on the baby’s tray, and then coated his own piece of meat.
“I like my food fresh, nothing canned or frozen. That’s why it’s best to travel to the village a few times a week. And that’s why you’re driving home.”
He took another bite and she stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not going to be able to drive you everywhere. You know how to drive a five-speed, right?”
“I’m an excellent teacher.”
“But, are you sure you want me to do it with Alex in the car?”
He thought about it for a minute, and then frowned. “Perhaps you’re right. We’ll wait until we get to the house, and we’ll see if Bea is home. If she is, then we’ll leave him with her and go for a ride. How does that sound?”
“I think I’m going to have to start paying Bea, that’s how that sounds.”
“Bea is just thrilled that you’re here, I can tell that,” Alliot replied. “And, I must say, that right now I feel the same way.”
“And right now, I can say I agree with you. However, I may not feel the same way later tonight, and you might not either, if I strip the gears on your car.”
Several hours later, Alex was safely asleep in a crib in Bea’s house, and Michelle was behind the wheel of Alliot’s little sports car. She had no idea of the make, or model. She just knew there were three pedals under her feet, and a gearshift under her left hand that had to be moved while she was driving.
“You want to make certain the car is in first gear, let out the clutch gently at the same time you press the accelerator. Once you’ve gotten the car to go, shifting during driving isn’t that hard. You remember what we talked about, about the gears?”
Michelle nodded even as she ran through the information in her mind. A standard H, plus one is how she tried to remember it. Up for first, down for second, then over and up and down for third and fourth. From there, up for fifth, then down for reverse.
“What happens if I throw it into reverse while I’m driving?”
“Then my insurance rates go up,” Alliot said with a laugh. “You’ll be careful, I know, and by the time you drive into town, you’ll be perfect at it.”
“We’ll take the road from here to the gate, and then you can back up and drive it back. From there, there are several small roads that lead down to the vineyards, and to the storage buildings there. You won’t find any traffic here, so you don’t have to worry about running into anyone. It’s just us.”
His voice sounded so comforting that Michelle thought she could actually do it. She swallowed hard, and then nodded.
“Fine. It’s just us.” She let up on the clutch and pressed the gas, and the car died. “Crap.”
“Try it again.”
She depressed the clutch, started the engine and got the same results. She gripped the wheel and shook her head. “This isn’t going to work.”
“Yes, it is. Try one more time. And, if that doesn’t work, you’ll try another, and another, until you get it right.”
“You sound like my second grade teacher. She used to say that about writing m’s and q’s.”
His laughter was deep, and it made her stomach flop. He didn’t laugh enough, and when he did, it made her insides quiver. She was feeling things for him that weren’t good, she knew. He didn’t reciprocate the feelings, and in the end she would have to go back home to Colorado, so she needed to fight what she was feeling.
She’d made that decision this afternoon when Bea had brought up the subject. Leave it to her best friend to see what she was feeling better than Michelle could see it herself. If she was Alliot, she could push it far under the surface, never letting anyone know. But she wasn’t like him, so she had to work at it. Tonight had just made things worse. The intimate, yet very relaxed, dinner, with him and Alex, the drive there and back, with the wind coming in through the open windows and sunroof. It had all been just a little too hard to handle.
She forced the thoughts from her mind and started the car one more time. This time when she let out the clutch, and depressed the accelerator, the car inched forward. Emboldened by her small amount of success, she gave it more gas, and the car shot out, throwing them both forward, and then back when the car died yet again.
This time they both laughed.
“Are you sure there’s not a car with an automatic transmission I can drive?”
“I’m sure,” Alliot said. “One more time, if you please.”
It took several more times, but Michelle finally got the car going, and shifted into second without a hitch. Third was more difficult, and from the corner of her eye she could see Alliot wincing as the gears ground, the sound filling the car. He didn’t yell, though, like she expected him to. He didn’t even threaten to spank her, which was really what she’d expected he’d do, especially after his comment about having ways of making her remember things.
Would he spank her tonight? Would he spank her for stripping the gears on his car? She could imagine how much a repair job on this would cost. Probably much more than he was paying her for the month.
She made it to the gate, and then had to step on the brake hard when she realized her foot was on the clutch, and not the brake.
“Not bad,” Alliot said. “Once you got going, you did very well, as I suspected you would.”
“Thanks.” Michelle stared at the gate. “Now what?”
“Well, put it in reverse, turn around and head back toward the house. From there we’ll drive down to the vineyard.”
Michelle stared at him as if he’d grown another head. “Reverse? As in backwards?”
“That’s usually what it means, yes.”
“Great.” It took her more than a few tries to find reverse, then juggle the clutch and accelerator and get the car turned around. Alliot stayed quiet the whole time, but she could tell he was tense. And, more than once, she could tell he was trying hard not to laugh.
A drive that should have taken less than ten minutes took her almost twenty-five. When she got to the house, she halted the car.
“I’m done.”
“No, you’re not. We’re going to the vineyard.”
“It’s dark, and I’ve never driven that road and I don’t think there are streetlights.”
“That’s why cars have headlamps.”
Michelle wanted to argue, but then again, she thought maybe, just maybe, she was getting the hang of things. She pointed the car toward the road, trying to ignore the narrowness of it, and the fact that it was not paved.
The small car bounced over the pits and ruts and before long, they came to a small cliff overlooking the vineyard.
“Pull in here.”
“Are you kidding? What happens if I mess up again?” She pointed the car toward it, gripping the wheel as she repeated the mantra of clutch and brake to herself. She exhaled loudly when the car came to a stop, without going over the edge.
“I did it.” Her laughter bubbled forth.
“Yes, you did. Very good.” He opened his car door and stepped out, coming around to offer her his hand and help her out.
They stepped to the front of the car and Michelle looked out over the moonlit expanse before her.
“It’s so beautiful.”
“Yes, it is.” Alliot put his fingers under her chin, lifting her face toward his. And then he kissed her, and Michelle knew all was lost. There was no way she would ever be able to give this up.
Chapter Eight
When his lips left hers, Michelle tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot, or like a scared child.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” She wanted to kick herself in the rear now, or turn around and tell him to spank her for saying something so idiotic.
“Why?” His voice was low, and seemed to soak into her skin
“We’re two very different people. And I’m only visiting, remember.”
He seemed to consider her words for a minute, and then took a step back. “Different how?”
“Are you kidding me? You spanked me after you’d only known me for two days.”
“And you allowed it.”
“What?” Michelle pushed at his chest but he didn’t move. For someone who had a desk job, his muscles seemed to be made of steel. “So, what you’re saying is that you spanking me was my fault?”
“Yes, it was. And, if you hadn’t thought you need
ed it, on some subtle level, you would have fought me more. I guarantee it.”
“You are a jerk. A Class A jerk.”
She didn’t expect him to smile. “Perhaps so, but it will take someone like me to work their way into your life. You are a Class A control person. You have to be in charge of everything. What you need is someone like me, to take the reins and allow you to step back and enjoy yourself a little bit.”
The Reluctant Au Pair Page 10
