9. Rosie
9
ROSIE
“ L ouis has a private jet?” Georgia gasps as we arrive at the private airport for our flight to the South of France, to surprise Emily.
This is exciting, I’ve never been on a private plane before. I get out of the car and the driver takes our bags and hands them to the staff.
“Holy shit, who the hell is that?” Ava gasps.
I turn around and my stomach falls out from me. What the hell is Daniel doing here? Then my brain clicks; the Daniel Georgia has been organizing this weekend with is him. He’s Louis’ brother, that is the family who he has been talking about. How did I not realize? It was there in front of me the entire time and I was too blind to notice it. Shit. He’s going to know I lied to him about this weekend. I watch as Daniel walks down the stairs looking like a damn supermodel, dressed casually in cream linen pants and a sage green linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up his tanned arms.
“That must be Daniel, Louis’ brother,” Georgia states.
“I’m calling dibs,” Ava states as she takes off her sunglasses to get a better look at him. I swallow hard, not liking the way Ava’s face has lit up. Jealousy starts to eat away at me as I mentally compare myself to Ava. She is this gorgeous blonde bombshell. She’s confident, sexy, alluring, has great breasts, and works out. She’s more like the women Daniel normally dates, and if she has her sights set on a man, they usually don’t stand a chance. I look over at my best friend who is dressed in a gorgeous white sundress, which shows off her curves and the legs that go on for miles thanks to her heels. Her skin is glowing, and her blonde hair is blown out to perfection. Then there’s me.
Daniel’s steps falter as his eyes land on me. He takes his aviator sunglasses off as if they are playing tricks on him.
“Rosie?” Daniel questions with a deep scowl.
I can feel Ava’s eyes boring into the back of my head. “Mr. DuPont, this is a surprise,” I say, holding out my hand, giving him the best professional greeting I can muster. His steps slow as she takes my outstretched hand.
“You two know each other?” Ava asks.
“We only met the other day when my boss took me to his gallery to help pull art for a project,” I explain, giving him a smile I hope hides the panic that is currently taking over.
“Yes, that’s right. What a small world,” he says as his lips thin. “I had no idea you were Emily’s friend.”
“Hi, I’m Ava,” she says, pushing out her tits while holding out her hand toward him. He takes it and shakes it, but his eyes don’t leave me, which makes Ava’s beaming smile drop slightly.
“And I’m Georgia, we’ve been chatting,” she says as they shake hands.
“It’s great to finally meet you. Come, let’s get you settled on board.” He smiles before turning and walking away from us.
“Anything going on between the two of you?” Ava asks as we slowly walk along the carpet toward the plane.
“No.”
“Good, so you don’t mind if I …?” she asks.
Do I mind? Yes, but is that what I say? No. “He’s a work client, so … you know,” I say.
“Great because that accent and those dimples. I’m going to be riding that face by the end of the weekend,” Ava declares as she strides off in front of us.
Now I feel sick.
“Are you okay?” Georgia asks, noticing me.
“Yeah, all good, just not a fan of planes,” I lie to her. It’s a half-truth as I haven’t been on many in my life.
“Me either,” she declares, linking arms with me as we walk up the stairs. When we reach the top, I can see Ava has already commandeered the seat next to Daniel and is proceeding to flirt with him. I can’t look at the two of them talking, it makes me feel sick.
“Let me help you with that,” Daniel says, jumping up out of his seat and standing behind me as I slide my bag onto the rack. I can feel his heat radiating against me.
“You lied to me,” he whisper-growls into my ear as he places my bag on the top bench before moving away from me and taking his seat back beside Ava. She crosses her legs, showing off how long and tanned they are, but Daniel’s eyes are still fixated on me. I frown at my friend and look away. It’s going to be one long ass flight if I must watch my best friend flirt with my one-night stand for the next couple of hours.
“You’ll have to excuse me, I have some work to do,” Daniel says, waving his phone in his hand to her.
“Oh, yes, of course. I won’t disturb you.” Ava smiles but I can see the disappointment on her face as she moves seats to where Georgia and I are sitting.
“Strike out?” Georgia teases.
“He has work to do. Didn’t want to bother him,” Ava explains.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out.
Daniel: What the fuck. You told me you were going away with your family.
Rosie: My friends are my family.
Daniel: Why did you not want to tell me about Paris?
Rosie: I don’t know.
Daniel: Are you looking for another one-night stand?
Rosie: Screw you.
Rosie: Actually, why don’t you screw Ava, she seems interested.
Daniel: Jealous?
Rosie: No.
Daniel: The glare you gave your friend when she started flirting with me said otherwise.
Rosie: That was the sun in my eyes.
Daniel: Bullshit.
Rosie: Whatever, you do you.
Daniel: Fine. You do you then.
Rosie: Fine.
Daniel: I am not interested in your friend. FYI.
Rosie: Why not? She’s gorgeous and sexy, most men fall for her.
Daniel: Lucky I’m not like most men.
Rosie: I thought you were busy working.
Daniel: If you mean making the next level on Candy Crush as being busy then, yes.
A loud laugh falls from my lips, and both of my friends stare at me.
“Sorry, read something funny,” I say. They nod and go back to playing on their own phones.
Daniel: Smooth recovery there.
Rosie: Shut up.
Rosie: Leave me alone. I’m trying to not freak out in this tin can.
Daniel: Are you afraid of flying?
Rosie: Yes.
Rosie: I’ve only been on a couple of planes in my life. Also, this is a small one.
“Sorry, excuse me, ladies,” Daniel says. The three of us stop playing on our phones and look over at him. “Rosie, do you have a sec? Ivy’s sent over some files and wants us to go through the art for the project.”
I stare at him, what project? Georgia elbows me to go, and I jump up and walk over to where he’s sitting, feeling Ava’s glare on my back the entire way. Daniel smiles at me as I take my seat and he leans in with his phone, his hand landing on my knee.
“If you get worried about anything during the flight, I’ve got you.”
Is he serious? This man did that to get me sitting beside him the entire way so that he could hold my hand if I became scared on the flight.
Damn him.
My stomach flip-flops.
The flight wasn’t long, and there’s a car waiting for us with another handsome man waiting beside it.
“Matthieu,” Daniel calls out, and he walks over and hugs him, they start speaking in French.
“Who is that guy?” Georgia asks.
“His cousin, I think. Daniel mentioned he was going to meet us here when we landed,” I answer.
“What a gene pool.”
“Daniel spoke to you the entire flight, what was that about?” Ava asks.
“He had questions about a project we’re all working on,” I say.
“And that’s all it was?” Ava says.
“Yes.”
“You’re not seriously laying claim over a man, are you?” Georgia questions Ava.
“No. But they did seem close,” Ava states.
“Do you think I’m flirting with him?” I add, trying to throw her off.
“He seemed to be flirting with you,” Ava says.
“He’s French, Ava, him reading a menu sounds flirty,” Georgia tells her. She’s not wrong. But I don’t like the way Ava has gone about claiming Daniel, even if I hadn’t secretly hooked up with him before. She’s never done that. Is the private plane making her extra thirsty?
“Ladies, let me introduce you to my cousin, Matthieu, he runs the Paris office,” Daniel says.
“Enchanté, ladies,” he says, kissing each of our hands. Daniel rolls his eyes behind his cousin’s back which makes me smile. Then the boys usher us into the car and we head to Louis’ house. Ava, of course, grabs the seat next to Daniel before I even have a chance to. She’s been rubbing on him the entire way and it’s starting to annoy me. I try to remember what Daniel told me and not worry about Ava’s antics because he isn’t interested. Not that I care.
We arrive out the front of Louis’ home, and it’s stunning, no wonder Emily has been having a great summer, this place looks magical.
“Right, here is the plan. Daniel and I will go inside first, and we will bring Emily out and you all yell surprise, got it?” Matthieu states as they both get out of the car and head to the front door.
“Gosh, Daniel smells nice, I couldn’t stop sniffing him the entire way.” Ava sighs.
“It wasn’t half obvious,” I grumble to her.
“Not my fault. I know what I want and what I want is that sexy French man in there,” Ava declares.
Jealously hits me, and I want to rip my best friend’s eyes out. You told her nothing was going on. Nothing is going on. It’s only a weekend, then she will be back in London and a new guy will distract her.
“Come,” Daniel says, pulling Emily out the door. There’s a glow about her that she didn’t have when she was in England, her cheeks are rosy, her skin is tanned, and she is radiating sunshine and happiness.
We all scream as we rush toward her.
“We missed you,” Georgia says through her tears.
“I missed you girls, too,” Emily adds as she hugs us in disbelief.
“Wow, that’s loud.” Louis comes out, resting his shoulder against the door. As soon as Emily hears his voice, she disentangles herself from us and runs toward her man, jumping into his arms and kissing him.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she says, kissing him. I’ve never seen her this happy before.
“You’re welcome. I thought you might be missing them,” Louis tells her. I notice the way he’s looking at our friend, and there is nothing but love there and I couldn’t be happier for her.
“I was. I just …” Emily says still in awe that we are here.
Louis continues to smile down at her, happy that he’s made her this happy. “Tomorrow, we’ll take you to my Paris apartment, and you can have a girls’ weekend there. I’ll stay with Matthieu and Daniel to get some overdue business stuff done,” Louis explains to her.
“Paris, guys, we’re going to Paris.” Emily squeals as she rushes back to us, and we jump for joy again.
“I’ve set drinks and food up by the pool if you want to go hang out,” Louis adds.
“Yes, come on,” Emily says, dragging us through the gorgeous home without even giving me time to stop and admire it.
“This is the life,” I say, laying back on the sun chair as we laze by the pool. We’ve had a couple of bottles of champagne and platters of cheese and bread.
“Seriously, Emmy, that man is hot.” Georgia turns and smiles at Emily.
“His brother and cousin are hot, too.” Ava smirks as she lifts her sunglasses and ogles Daniel and Matthieu, who are walking back with Louis from his studio. I will not stab my friend, I repeat several times to myself.
“You look happy. France suits you,” I tell Emily.
“I’m painting again. I know. I know … I started in Ibiza, and then Louis took me on a date to this castle in the countryside which was surrounded by lavender fields, and he set up a private painting session. We talked and painted for hours. It was great.”
“I can’t believe he’s gotten you painting again. This is phenomenal news,” Ava adds.
“It took me a little while to warm up, but once I lost myself in the stunning views, plus the great conversation and maybe a couple of wines, it felt good to be painting again.”
“He’s your muse.” Georgia winks.
“Maybe he is. I’ve missed you guys so much,” Emily says.
“We’ve missed you,” Georgia adds.
“Please tell me you’re going to be staying here forever,” Ava asks.
“Haven’t really thought about that. My job ends soon. Louis has his exhibition in New York and then I guess … I don’t know.”
“The way that man looks at you, he’s not going to let you go back to London without him,” I tell her.
“You think?” I can hear the uncertainty in her voice.
“Why can’t you stay on as his assistant?” Georgia asks.
“Because he hasn’t asked?”
“He’s going to ask,” Ava states.