by Karin Baine
Her cheeks burned as she made her admission. She’d enjoyed having his lips on hers, but he shouldn’t read any more into it than the fact that she’d gone too long without physical contact.
He tilted his head to one side and gave her his confused puppy face. He was really going to make her spell it out.
‘I didn’t entirely hate the kiss. Okay?’
Heat enveloped her whole body. With any luck it would burn a hole in the floor for her to disappear into.
‘Now that we’ve got that out of the way I...er...should go check on the cupcakes.’
And stick her head in the oven while she was at it.
‘Pardon?’
For an intelligent, worldly man, he was very slow on the uptake. The mystery of his single status was solved if he took this long to realise when a woman was telling him she liked him.
‘For goodness’ sake. Henri.’ Lola threw her hands up in the air and walked towards the kitchen.
Gabrielle would be back soon, so there was no point getting into this now. He was off the hook, and she’d made a prat of herself for nothing.
She donned her oven gloves and waited for cake therapy to take effect. Unfortunately Henri was standing between her and her salvation.
‘How can I believe you wanted that kiss when you were so tense in my arms?’
‘I was confused. It had been a stressful day, if you remember? Now, I’m not going to stroke your ego any more. If you’ll move out of the way, I’ll get back to what tonight’s supposed to be about. Gabrielle and cake. Nothing more.’
He folded his arms and leaned against the worktop, clearly with no intention of moving out of her way.
‘If that was you enjoying yourself, I’m starting to feel a little hard done by.’
‘Too bad.’
Her heart did that same stupid jig when he’d made a move on her the last time—and he wasn’t even touching her. Yet.
‘Why don’t we try it again? Only this time going into it with our eyes open. Figuratively speaking, of course.’
He pushed himself off the counter and took a step towards her. Lola bit back a squeal but stayed firm, slowly nodding her response. What harm could one more kiss do now? It wasn’t as if they were going to embark on some red-hot affair and blur that line between work and play even more. This was about satisfying her curiosity and salving Henri’s bruised male ego. A Frenchman believing he’d failed as a Lothario must be devastating.
He came at her with such force he nearly knocked her off her feet. She clung to him, her stupid oven gloves around his neck, struggling to stay upright as he claimed her mouth. This time his lips were hard and demanding, yet every bit as passionate. She melted into him like chocolate in the sun and forgot all about her golden rule about keeping work and play strictly separate. And he was definitely prettier than her.
* * *
Perhaps it was that comforting smell wafting from the oven, or the knowledge that she definitely wanted this, but kissing Lola tasted even sweeter than he remembered. She was moulded to him, every one of her curves pressed against him, and preventing all logic from getting to his brain.
It didn’t matter that they were colleagues or that he couldn’t commit to someone with more baggage than he when she was teasing his tongue with the tip of hers.
He let his hands slide over the curve of her hips and down to the swell of her buttocks. She moaned when he pulled her flush against him, and there was a real danger that there was more than the cupcakes getting burned here. There was a fire blazing inside him for Lola, and only one possible way of extinguishing it. A kiss was one thing. Taking it any further would complicate all aspects of his life.
With great reluctance he loosened his hold and gave her one last soft kiss. ‘This is probably a really bad idea.’
‘Yeah. Probably.’
She looked up at him with desire-darkened eyes which didn’t reflect what she was saying. Her lips were parted, swollen from his tending and inviting more.
In the scheme of things, he didn’t see how much damage one last kiss could do. He moved in again, fastening his mouth on hers and warming himself in the last of their passion before the cold wind of reality blew out the flames.
A cacophony of noise rang out around them as if they’d triggered a What the hell are you thinking? alarm. The ear-splitting beep from the oven timer had gone off at the same time as Gabrielle sounded the doorbell.
Henri sprang away from Lola like a horny teenager busted by his parents while making out with his girl.
‘I’ll get that.’
‘I’ll get these.’
* * *
Lola scuttled away to rescue her and Gabrielle’s cooking efforts, letting her hair fall across her face so Henri couldn’t read her properly. She was as bad as his introverted niece at times—so careful not to let him know how she was feeling at any given moment.
Was he really so scary that no one could relax around him and say what was on their mind?
The irritating drone of the bell carried on until he was forced to leave Lola and their moment in the kitchen to answer the door.
‘I thought you’d got lost,’ he said, opening the door once he’d straightened his clothes.
‘I was only gone for, like, five minutes.’
Another roll of exasperated teenager eyes and Gabrielle took herself and her purchases to the hub of the apartment. Everything important tonight was going on in that kitchen.
Henri checked his watch and confirmed the time. Five minutes was all it had taken for his world to be completely turned upside down. With anyone else a kiss wouldn’t be such a big deal. Hell, he’d done more than that with women he barely knew. It held so much more meaning with someone like Lola, who was slowly easing her way into his life.
He couldn’t promise her anything when he had so many commitments elsewhere. Yet he didn’t think he was capable of resuming a strictly professional relationship now that he’d had a sample of what he might be missing. That side of her he’d seen in Angelique’s class hadn’t been a fluke. Behind that shy interior there was most definitely a passionate showgirl waiting to be coaxed into the spotlight. Lord help him, but he wanted to be the one to help her shine.
Henri flopped down onto the sofa, content to leave Lola and Gabrielle to bond over their baking whilst he was left alone with his thoughts. It didn’t happen very often without someone requiring his assistance.
He’d only just relaxed back into the seat when Gabrielle screamed, and he was back on his feet and running in no time.
‘What is it? What’s happened?’ His doctor instinct kicked in and he burst through the door to assess the scene and see what he could do to help.
He slid on the sticky red trail splattered across the kitchen floor. The carnage was worse than he’d feared. Gabrielle shrieked again as Lola attacked.
‘What the hell...?’
‘We got a bit carried away...sorry.’ Lola grinned at him, chocolate frosting dripping from her chin, her hair white and caked in flour.
‘So I see.’ Henri surveyed the kitchen, in the aftermath of an apparent food fight.
‘She started it!’ Gabrielle squealed from behind a fetching buttercream beard.
‘Well, I’m finishing it. Your mother will have both our lives if you go home like that.’ It was true, Angelique would not be happy, but it was good to see his niece having fun for a change.
‘Spoilsport!’
He turned at Lola’s insult—only to meet a blob of chocolate cream flying through the air at him. Gabrielle was doubled over laughing as he scraped away the brown dollop and flung it back at Lola.
‘Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?’
He helped himself to the bowl of ready-made icing and prowled towards the giggling teenager. She ducked behind Lola, unable
to hide the wide smile spreading across her face. Henri couldn’t remember the last time they’d laughed together like this, and it was all down to Lola.
‘Run, Gabrielle! Save yourself! I’ll cover you.’
Lola blocked him at every turn, protecting her charge until she could make a run for it. Gabrielle sprinted out through the door and down the hall, and the sound of the lock turning on the bathroom door told them she’d made a successful escape.
‘Very brave, Miss Lola. Unfortunately you’ve put yourself directly in the line of fire...’
He scooped out a handful of sweet goo and spread it over her face. Not to be outmanoeuvred, Lola returned the favour, until they stood facing each other as painted warriors.
‘You don’t scare me,’ she said through short breaths.
‘No?’ He watched her chest rise and fall more quickly with every step closer he took.
‘Maybe a little.’
‘You are very pale.’
He caught a blob of icing on her lip with his finger, but before he could wipe it away Lola caught it with her tongue. Every part of Henri stood to attention when she drew his fingertip into her mouth and sucked it clean. Her mischievous grin said she knew exactly what she was doing to him—and where.
‘Is it safe to come out yet?’ Gabrielle yelled from the bathroom, and the guilty pair separated to a respectable distance.
‘Yes, we’ve called a truce. Now get your butt out here and help clean up.’
Henri didn’t want her to catch them in the act. There was no way of knowing how she’d react to her uncle and her friend getting it on. Even if she didn’t mind, there was no point in getting her hopes up that this was some epic love affair when he didn’t know what he was doing. If he started something with Lola and regretted it later there was every chance he could break more than one heart along the way.
A clean version of his previously flour-dusted niece appeared, shaking her head when she saw the iced faces before her.
‘You two are such dorks.’
‘You love us, really. Come here and give us a big hug.’
Henri and Lola flanked Gabrielle and moved in for a two-pronged attack, wrapping her in a group hug to smoosh their faces against hers.
Gabrielle’s laugh reached deep inside to touch Henri’s heart. Moments like this were few and far between when he and Angelique were so caught up in work. He made a mental note to set more time aside in future to have fun with the kids and remember that there was more to being a replacement father than rules and school pickups.
‘Okay, guys, I think playtime is over. We’d better get this mess cleared up before Jules gets home or we’re all in trouble.’
Lola was the first one to break the huddle and Henri reluctantly followed her instructions. In that happy kitchen all the stresses in his life had ebbed away and he’d acted without worrying about the consequences. Now he’d have to return to being the responsible adult who so many counted on.
After cleaning up, they sampled the fruits of the girls’ labour until all three of them were in danger of going into a sugar coma.
‘You can take the rest back for your mum and Bastien.’ Lola boxed up the remainder of the cupcakes for Gabrielle, effectively ending the evening.
‘Thanks for tonight.’ Gabrielle reached up to give Lola a peck on the cheek as they left.
‘Yes, thanks for everything,’ Henri said as he, too, planted a kiss on her cheek.
If Gabrielle hadn’t been there he might well have asked Lola for more. More than either of them were ready for. Perhaps this was one time when his responsibility to his family had saved him from making a huge mistake.
CHAPTER SIX
‘OKAY, MR RUTHERFORD, the X-ray confirms there is a fracture in your shoulder, but the bone hasn’t moved so we don’t have to operate.’
Lola’s burly rugby-playing patient was visibly relieved at the news. She’d warned him they might have to pin the shoulder, since the fracture was so close to the joint, but he was safe for now.
‘Thanks, Doctor.’ The shaven-headed, mud-splattered muscleman might look intimidating on the outside, but he’d been a model patient since his admittance and very respectful to Lola as she’d assessed him.
She’d have to stop being so judgemental about people’s appearances when she knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of such shallow prejudice. If she hadn’t spent so much time with Henri she’d still think of him as an arrogant Frenchman who cared for nothing except himself. It was their secret that he was a loving, caring family man whose kisses were more addictive than a tray of chocolate-chip cookies.
Lola got her mind back on the job and went to work fitting a sling around her patient to keep his arm immobile. There was still some residual panic at being on her own with a member of the opposite sex who could clearly overpower her if he chose to. Perhaps that fear would never entirely leave. But she was working through it. She also had the safety net of knowing one shout would bring Henri to her aid, and that notion of support without being suffocated was a novelty for her.
With each patient she treated successfully Lola was growing stronger. It was a shame Henri hadn’t been there to witness her progression. She hadn’t seen him since that night in her apartment, and old insecurities made her question his absence.
It was unfair of him to kiss her and leave her in limbo about what happened next. For her, responding to their attraction had added a new dimension to her life. Since leaving high school her main goal had been survival. So far she’d put herself through medical school, moved out of home, and now was starting a new career. There was some semblance of a normal human being emerging, but there was one aspect of adult life she’d thus far avoided.
Her track record with men was short and traumatic, and not something she’d seen the need to explore further. Until Henri had kissed her.
That desire, the tenderness in his every touch, was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time, and she hadn’t realised how much she was missing it. If there was a way to capture that passion and romance without handing over control of her life she might be tempted into more French kissing.
Now that she was inextricably linked to his family she didn’t think Henri would intentionally hurt her and face the wrath of his sister and niece. Nor did she expect him to want to enter into any sort of long-lasting affair when he had so many other commitments. That suited her fine. She was only here for another month, and a fun, flirty fling might be just the thing to help her finally move on.
All she had to do now was get Henri on board before he had time to regret ever laying his lips on her.
‘Hello, sis.’ The sound of her brother’s voice automatically shut out all thoughts of romance.
‘Jake? What’s wrong?’
Lola did a quick assessment to see what injury he might have been admitted with, but since he was standing upright, with no visible signs of blood, it didn’t appear too serious.
‘Nothing. I thought I’d pop in and see how you were since we haven’t heard from you in days. Kyle and Matt are busy at the garage, otherwise they would’ve come, too.’
He’d find himself in Admissions very shortly, with the mobile phone he was waving in her face shoved somewhere the sun didn’t shine for turning up here unannounced.
‘You can’t “pop in” whenever you feel like it, Jake. This is a busy hospital and you’ll get me in trouble. Please feel free to pass that on to the other two.’ She hooked her arm through Jake’s and escorted him out of the department and back towards Reception.
Naturally this was the very moment she should cross paths with the elusive Henri.
He did a double-take as he passed them in the corridor. ‘Is everything all right here?’
It was on the tip of Lola’s tongue to explain the situation, but then she’d run the risk of anothe
r lecture about getting her priorities right. It wouldn’t go down well for him to find out she was dealing with family matters when there was a queue of patients waiting to see a doctor.
‘All under control, thank you, Dr Benoit.’ She tugged at Jake’s arm, determined to ditch him as soon as possible.
‘The level of personal attention you give your patients is very admirable, but I think you might be needed back on duty.’
Henri was letting her know this was another black mark against her—and she’d been doing so well.
‘Of course. I’m heading straight back after this.’
As soon as her toe had connected with her brother’s rear end.
Far from impressing Henri with her feminine wiles, all she’d succeeded in was annoying him again. She dug her nails into Jake’s arm.
‘Ouch! What was that for?’ he grumbled when Henri was out of earshot.
‘I told you I’d get in trouble.’
Now she had two areas to work on with Henri before she’d get anywhere.
‘Who’s that? A foreign exchange student? Can I put in a request for a hot blonde next time?’
Jake wasn’t being serious. Lola knew he didn’t have a preference when it came to a woman’s hair colour. Blondes, brunettes, redheads—they’d all claimed space in his bed over the years. He was an equal opportunities Casanova, who’d probably think all his Christmases had come at once if he had any inkling there was a burlesque-dancing Frenchwoman in town.
‘That was my boss—so I really need to get back before I get the sack.’
She led him to the exit and all but pushed him out through the door. He really wasn’t making this independence thing easy for her.
‘Well, boss or not, he has no right to speak to you that way. Do you want me to have a word?’
Jake rolled up his sleeves, ready for his own brand of talking. If it hadn’t been for everything Lola had endured, and the reasons behind her brothers’ fierce need to protect her, she might have found it sweet.
As it was, their concern was holding her back from enjoying her new life to the full. ‘No, Jake. I’m twenty-five years old. I can fight my own battles when I need to.’ She kissed him on the cheek. ‘I’ll make sure to check in with everybody when I get some free time.’
