Music pierced the air of the medieval building on the outskirts of town. At various times in its long history it had been an abbey, a brothel, a hotel, a theater, and a stable. The neighborhood’s main draw remained that it was in the middle of nowhere, and the train’s last stop. The neighbors would be at the party, and no one ever complained with free-flowing champagne in their hands.
Gigi stepped inside the smoke-filled room. Pushing past guests, Gigi smelled the alcohol. Strange to think she’d drowned out years of sadness from those very glasses.
A booming voice sang out, “The sweetest woman I ever loved never tasted as good as champagne.”
In his white button-down shirt, folded sleeves, gray tie, and sweater vest, Cary had slightly more gray in his hair now, but he still looked the eternal good boy.
“Idiot.” She bowed to Cary and sang back his stupid song, “So I chose cheap dates and expensive champagne . . .”
“Gigi!” Cary cried, then waltzed her in a circle to welcome her back then led her to the nearest bar.
She shook her head the second he offered a glass of wine.
His eyebrows shot up. “What, or should I say, who has put this glow back in you? You never said no to champagne.”
“What? I’m pale and thin.” She unbuttoned her matronly sweater and hung it on the counter. “I am not glowing. Don’t be crazy.”
“Still, there is fire back inside you. Hmm. I know that look. It’s a man who has you all worked up.” Cary sat her next to him, and insisted she took the glass. She held it, but didn’t sip. Then Cary pressed for details. “Is he hot? Rich? Old? No. Not old. You’re glowing.”
Sean’s smile flashed in her eyes and she felt her cheeks flush. “Don’t be stupid.” She shook her head and repeated, “I am not.”
“And in denial, girl.” Cary pinched her butt. “Spill. He must be hot. You know I’ll get it out of you or go to your hotel.”
“Don’t you dare.” Gigi pushed off the feather boa that fell on them from somewhere. “There is nothing to tell.”
“Who is this guy that has you hot and bothered? Will I not approve? Is he gay and impossible for you to get, like me?”
She threw her head back, laughing. “No, Cary. I’m here with my students and, uh, Sean Collins is the other chaperone.”
Cary’s face grew serious. “Sean Collins? The love of your life, Sean? The one your evil mother—”
“Yep.”
“Well, girl, this is your chance to make it right. Kiss and make up.” He leaned closer. “And, oh, believe me, the make-up sex can be”—he kissed his fingers—“magnific”.
Never drink around Cary. She placed her drink on the nearest table to avoid the temptation of becoming intoxicated. She couldn’t risk believing Cary’s wild fairy tales. She’d known for years not to follow his advice, but until now she hadn’t cared. Her heart thumped at the thought of being in her own fairy tale, but she was hardly heroine material. “Sean can’t love me. I destroyed us, not my mom. So my feelings don’t matter.”
“Yes, they do.” Cary stood up and went to the fire escape.
She followed, and Cary closed the window the second she had both feet on the metal railing. The cold night air had her body tingling.
Cary sat and patted the area next to him. “Come on, now.”
With a sigh, she plopped herself down beside her good friend.
“Tell me what’s going on, girly.”
“Sean Collins bought the school yesterday.”
“Did he know you worked there?” Cary sounded hopeful.
Nodding, she gently bit her lip.
“Is he working to win you back?”
“No. How could he? He never cared to look me up for months and I lived next door to him. He seemed shocked when he saw me.” Sean had never pursued or chased her after she’d left. Of course she’d avoided him at every turn.
“Shocked is good. He followed you here to Paris?”
“Not followed, chaperoned. Sean’s here for the school group, not for me.”
Cary blew out an exaggerated breath. “Do I need to spell this out for you? He’s a man and straight men are simple. He’s here for you,”
Cary corrected.
A sense of calm serenity surrounded her, and her heart expanded. “Why are you not excited about this?”
“Why would I be? He hates me. He has to hate me. He wants to talk about the past.”
“Ohh, that will be good for you both.”
“I can’t. I’ll fall apart.”
“So distract him.”
“How?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
She punched him in the arm.
“What? Is the chemistry gone?”
Despite the cool temperatures, her body grew warm again. “Well, we did kiss.”
Cary squealed. “I knew it. I just knew it. Even all those years ago. Sean’s the only man for you.” His eyes narrowed. “So what’s the problem?”
“I don’t get why he kissed me or what I should do,” she admitted.
“Funny girl. Do tell all.”
“It was either kiss me or kill me,” she repeated in a deep masculine voice. Then she whispered in her own voice, “His kiss tasted of summer moonlight and youth.”
Cary poked her knees with his. “He chose to kiss you, little one. He’s still attracted to you.”
“He has every reason to hate me. I don’t want to hear how he can never forgive me.”
“Hmm. Evidence suggests otherwise. He kissed you. He followed you to Paris—”
“—to chaperone,” she automatically finished. “He did ask me not to go on this, our, date.”
“Wait, we’re dating? Hmm, you’ll have to rethink this,” Cary said in a well-intentioned, best-friend way. Pushing her hip with his on the stair, he waited for her stare up at him then finished. “I’m not the best option to strike up the man’s jealousy. So what’s his life been like?”
“He has a son he’s super proud of. His wife died before they finalized the divorce, and he battled cancer. All the cancer is gone now, and his doctors believe he’ll be fine. At least he has his son, a reason to get up in the morning.” She envisioned herself becoming mother to his son. The Collins clan sticks together, through thick and thin, his mother had once said to her.
“His life hasn’t been easy then, yet he’s richer than any other man I’ve known. The answer is staring you in the face, doll.” Cary poked her.
She crinkled her nose. “What are you talking about?”
“First, in any kind of conflict resolution you have to get through the stormin’ part before you get to the normin’, well, in your case the screwin’ part.”
She gave him a horrified look. “What are you talking about?”
“You have to let him yell at you, Gigi. You ran away from home, and never giving him a right to say anything to you.”
“No,” she almost cried, and huffed a second. “I won’t be able to take his anger.” She shriveled her shoulders into her neck. “I can’t.”
“You can, and you will,” Cary said firmly. He gave her a minute, then continued, his voice calming and sweet. “Words don’t kill anyone. Then you convince him in time to forgive you. You kiss him, hold his hand, be there for him.”
“I will?” Sean had taken her hand multiple times that day.
“Let yourself be happy, Gigi. You deserve a second chance. We all do. Then, of course, you show him a good time in bed,” Cary finished with a satisfied grin. “You tell him you love him and then, boom, you both live happy-ever-after and invite me and the lucky hunk I’m dating to the wedding.”
“Wow, that sounds so easy,” she said in a state of shock.
“Little one, it’s one conversation you fear. No one dies from talking, and you are an adult now. I’ve seen you tell people no,” Cary told her.
She reached for her necklace. Sean had loved her once. “No other man ever compared to Sean, so there wasn’t another option.”
&nb
sp; “Then trust yourself. Soon you get him to tell you he loves you.” Cary said.
But happy ever after with Sean would be impossible.
“Little One, you can have Sean back if you put yourself out there.”
How she wished everything would work out with a snap of her fingers and a little effort, but why should Sean believe her? Exhaling, she looked up at the full moon and stars. The moon, somehow, took the heaviness of her burden off her shoulders for that one moment. She closed her eyes, and pictured having a picnic with Sean off in the woods, near a babbling brook. Her life would be so different. But how to get from the here and now to the future? She opened her eyes.
Cary bumped his hip into hers. “Don’t worry, doll. I’ll help you win your man back.”
“No.” She shook her head, remembering running on the streets of Lyon covered in red paint because of one of his hair-brained schemes. “Your plans end in disaster.”
“No, my plans always work. I get what I want. I had you move in and clean up after me for years. Now I need you to be a rich man’s wife to pay for my alcohol. This will work.”
“Ulterior motive, I see.” She laughed then sobered as she touched him on the shoulder. “You know, Cary, you could come home. People are more tolerant these days, at least in many parts of our country.”
“I can’t. It’s still too hard. My first love died there, remember?”
Tears prickled the backs of her eyes. Cary’s lover had died of AIDS.
He playfully swatted her arm, “I never used Paris to hide from my true love. But I have found someone here, created a life for myself.” He gestured toward the raucous party going on behind him. “Have you learned nothing from the French when it comes to love?”
She met Cary’s eyes. He sounded sincere and he believed in fairy tales, despite the loss of his first love. She swallowed hard. “You’re right. You don’t always get a second chance. I will think about what you said, but you should know I don’t believe in fairy tales anymore.”
“Sweetheart, you’re living in one. You have it in your power to decide the ending.”
She trailed her fingers down her necklace to the ring. She remembered when Sean had put it on her finger. Maybe the heat exuding from her chest meant the future could be bright, too.
Sean wasn’t sure exactly where in the world his brother Liam was, except for the fact he wasn’t in Boston. They were both watching the Bruins game and they both screamed ‘score’ over the computer mic when the puck passed the goalie, into the net.
The yelling subsided, and Liam asked, “Let me get our conversation straight. You make me lots of money then want my permission to sex up Gigi again?”
“No.” Sean clenched his teeth, knowing he hadn’t said anything of the sort. He’d mentioned Gigi’s name only. “I told you, Gigi’s on a date with another man.” And I won’t be touching her.
“Lying to yourself about women is why you married Jennifer when no one liked her. Gigi’s different on many levels,” Liam admitted. “She’s always been yours.”
Sean thought about losing the connection to the Internet and this video call. Instead, he poured himself a glass of beer and nodded.
“Gigi’s like my sister, though,” Liam continued, “so it’s always been kind of gross that my brother had a girl before I knew what the fair sex offered a man.”
“She was mine. Once. But I have a family now.”
“Reasonable,” Liam answered. “But you want her back, because you still love her. You were always the sap. I say start with that line. Then remind her of what she lost. Don’t let her go.”
Making love to Gigi again had played in his mind all day, but he intended a long-term relationship. All those years ago, Gigi had run from him based on guilt, or at least his gut told him so. Sean held his glass in his hands then shrugged. “I have never been like you or Daniel. And I could never be like Gerard. I like women.”
“We all like women. And none of us are at Gerard’s level of cynical.”
“Says the adrenaline junkie.”
“Fair shot. But you and Gerard became our parents before you grew hair on your chest.”
“I was responsible—”
“Ron?” Liam called to someone off screen.
Sean gulped his drink. On the viewscreen, a light flashed behind Liam near his window. Then he held the glass firm and asked, “Was that a bomb, bro? Where are you now?”
“I can’t say, and they are actually fireworks. People are out celebrating.” Liam turned back to the screen after staring off out his window. Sean didn’t believe him. “So tell me what Gigi did to you that you are swearing off sex with her. Did she become a nun?”
“No, not a nun. She’d never qualify.” Sean had never told anyone what had happened the night of Sean’s birthday party except his mother, who’d seen him moping around and cornered him.
Sean gulped his drink. After that night, Gigi had kept her distance. He’d respect that choice. There’d been no alternative. “Doesn’t matter. She ran off. Seriously, bro, I don’t know if I would have bought the school if I’d known she came in the paperwork.”
“You’d have bought it sooner.”
“Let’s change the topic. The game is on.”
Liam laughed. “You brought that girl home and told Mom you had found your wife. If you can’t have her long term, then bend her over the bed in every possible position and have your fill, baby bro. She’s still under your skin, and, unlike Jennifer, we all like Gigi.”
“I’ll take your advice under consideration,” Sean said, shaking his head at his brother’s crude language. He’d correct him but history told him it’d do no good.
“Guess I’m getting my sister back,” Liam said with a satisfied smile. “I did miss her opinions when she left. Guess we should have invited you into the clubhouse before you had sex.”
“I’m younger than Daniel, Liam.” Sean smiled. “And Gigi and I have both been in your clubhouse.”
Liam stared at him with his mouth open. “My tree house? I knew Gerard snuck up. You, too?”
Sean laughed. “Daniel had come home all proud. Gerard dragged me up, listening to him brag to you about Caroline. But Gigi and I knew exactly what’d happened.”
Liam scratched his son. “Caroline? Wait, yeah, I remember Caro. You and Gigi were freaks then?” Liam leaned closer to the screen. “Makes you sound more manly, bro. Like I said, I approve of her, even if she’s not Irish.”
“Ahh, but we’ll have to get the church to give us a waiver to make Mom proud.” Sean laughed.
Liam shook his head. “Yeah, your motherless child will need religion next. If I get a vote, Gigi is your best option. I’ll run a background check to see if something happened to her in our database.”
He hit a few buttons before Sean could get “Don’t” out.
The sound of footsteps in the hotel’s hallway caught Sean’s attention. Could be one of the teenagers sneaking off, but the electrical energy in his body made him think Gigi. “I have to go, Liam. Talk to you soon. Go Bruins.”
Sean clicked off the computer and rushed to his door. He blinked to force his mind to take in what he saw.
A half-naked Gigi stumbling down the hall with feathers in her hair.
Chapter 13
The next morning, Gigi woke up, ran a hand through her sticky hair, and groaned. Cary’s party had gotten out of hand the only way one of Cary’s parties could and, despite her best protests, she’d consumed some alcohol and did lots and lots of dancing.
And she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. She rubbed her eyes and tossed in her bed. Every time she had heard a noise on the street, she had flinched. Last night in the hallway she had scurried into her room to avoid talking to Sean though she thought she’d heard a noise from next door. She groaned again then stirred to move.
Hobbling out of bed, she twisted the shower faucet on and brushed her teeth until the water got hot. She rubbed the back of her neck and told herself not to dawdle. Staring into t
he mirror, she noticed her eyes were red, contrasting sharply to her pinkish skin. The sleep deprivation must have stolen whatever glow people had mentioned yesterday. She turned away, showered, and then checked the temperature outside. As she paced, the prospect of facing Sean weighed heavily on her mind. Every cell in her body clung to the idea that she simply disappear and never speak to him again.
She licked her lips, remembering his kiss, then threw water onto her face.
Chaperoning Paris (Collins Brothers) Page 8
