Chapter 34
At seven thirty my alarm sounded. I open my heavy eyes and slowly sit up to find the other side of the bed empty. Luc never came home. I check my phone and don’t see any missed calls or messages from him either. My head pounds, mimicking a giant hangover, except this was not from alcohol, it was from the mixture of emotions running through me. Throwing the covers off, my feet touch the ground. I shuffle the small distance from the bed to the bathroom and turn on the hot water. Like lead bullets hitting a tin roof, the sound pings across my ears as the droplets hit the porcelain floor. I rest my head between my shoulders. The cool sink is even colder against my warm hands and did little to help wake me up. I almost jump when I look up at the small mirror, at the dark circles under my eyes. I make my way into the shower, steam wafting up from how hot I have the water on.
What in the town’s drinking water had made me bid on Luc last night? I didn’t even have a drop of alcohol that I can blame the lapse in judgment on. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, what made me not only bid on him but enter into a bidding war for him? I broke our agreement. It was g?te only, and I’ve pretty much pissed on his leg in front of the whole of Carcen.
I rest my hot forehead against the cool tiled wall and release a deep breath. The night replays in my head, from the moment Madeline called his name, when he walked out on the stage, when his eyes locked on mine. The memory makes my skin become too tight. Adjusting the hot water dial, I grab my loofa, squirt a generous amount of liquid soap, and start scrubbing my skin so hard it turns red. I have no idea what has gotten into me that would make me react this way.
With my mind swirling, I need to keep myself busy with a new project, and my paintings aren’t cutting it, so it leaves the chateau. I load the wheelbarrow up with gardening supplies and wheel it all the way to my little square of transformed dirt. The first thing to bring a smile to my face is some of the seedlings that have already started to sprout up through the soil. At least I’m getting something right. I kneel on the ground and set to work removing the weeds that have grown, making sure all the seedlings don’t have any roots exposed. I let the calming task untangle my nerves. Even though my goal is to lose track of the time, I fail at it horribly, checking my phone for the umpteenth time—still no message from Luc, but there is one from Madeline.
Madeline
Isobel won the chateau voucher.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Rory
Is it too early to rescind the voucher? The chateau isn’t doing charitable donations yet
I pocket my phone. My eyes crease at the corners to avoid the glare from the bright midmorning sunlight. After all the gardening equipment is back in the shed, I make my way to the main chateau.
“Hey.” Luc walks out of the chateau just as I’m about to walk in, narrowly missing me bumping into him.
“Hey,” I reply, nervously tucking phantom loose strands of hair behind my ear. “I see you didn’t come home.”
“I went to find you last night, but you’d already left.”
“Yeah, I needed some air,” I reply.
“What the hell was that all about?” Luc questions, his voice gruff and feral.
“What are you talking about?” I walk past him. I need water and some distance between us.
“Can you stop that.” Luc follows behind me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” My throat closes.
“You know exactly what I am talking about.” He takes a step closer, invading my personal space. He is so close that I can smell the mint on his breath from his toothpaste.
“I’m sorry, I don’t.” I open the fridge, blocking him out.
“So, you just expect me to believe you bid on me for what…” Luc trails off.
I turn to face him, closing the fridge door with my drink in hand. “It was charity,” I deadpan. The thought of Isobel’s hands on him made my blood boil. I certainly can’t tell him that every waking moment, my thoughts drift to him. But most of all, I can’t admit André was right and that I have somehow fallen for Luc in a way I didn’t know was possible—and risk losing my chateau in the process. It’s always been about the chateau for Luc, and I was stupid enough to think it was more.
“You really expect me to believe you entered into a bidding war ‘for charity,’” he says. I can’t decide if he was hoping I would say yes or no, because as much as he seemed angry, he also seemed excited?
“No need to expect, because it is the truth.”
“This goes beyond this chateau,” Luc growls. “Now you have gone and made it personal.”
“It has only ever been about the chateau,” I say, finally getting the courage to look him in the eye, but instantly falter, my tongue dries. I try to swallow but the action seems new and foreign. The sun creates a halo around his face. My heart skips a beat only to pound harder in my chest, my neck feeling like it was vibrating from each beat.
“Not anymore,” Luc replies his lips set in a thin terse line, and I lose the grip on my emotions.
“You knew from the moment you met me, that this,” I aggressively point around me, “this chateau is all I’ve cared about. All I’ve wanted. And that I was—no, am willing to fight for it with everything I have.” My voice falters, my eyes sting with unshed tears. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t entirely the truth either. I also think I might be willing to fight for…us?
“It was always more than the chateau, and you know it.” Luc closes the distance between us. “You broke our deal and brought feelings outside the g?te.”
“But that’s just it, isn’t it!” I scream at Luc, using all my weight to try to push him away. He takes a step back, only to take another one forward.
“You really think that is it?” he yells back.
“Oh, poor little Luc. The first thing in his life he has wanted and someone has said no,” I continue, incapable of keeping my mouth from spilling out the pent-up rage.
“Oh please, you are the chairman of the poor-me fund.”
“Excuse me!” I screech at a pitch so high the birds nesting in a nearby tree take flight.
“You heard me.”
I storm out the kitchen side door straight out into the open and in front of the moat.
“No, I don’t think I did. Remember, I am too dumb to know how to speak a lick of French.”
Luc throws his head back and laughs at me. “Chérie, I have said many, many things about you, but dumb is not one of them. Conniving, maybe, but definitely not dumb.”
“You smart-assed…” I sputter, looking for the right insult, but come up short. Anger causes my arms and legs to shake. I do the only thing I can think of. With both my hands firmly placed on Luc’s chest, I push with all my might, sending him straight into the frigid cold moat. Luc’s eyes widen in shock as he falls backward with a giant splash.
“You…” Luc comes up sputtering.
“I what?” I reply, smugly crossing my arms over my chest.
“You are going to pay for this, Aurora Allard.” Luc glares at me, his tone ice cold.
“Sure,” I roll my eyes, “I’m shaking in my boots.” A decision I’ll probably regret later, because Luc reaches an arm up and grabs the end of my jacket. With a tug, he pulls me into the cold water with him.
“LUUCCCCCC….” I break the water, coughing and sputtering. Brushing the wet hair from my face, I glare at him.
“Admit it, Aurora.” In a flash, Luc jerks the back of my neck with the palm of his hand, pulling me closer to him.
“I don’t have anything to admit,” I reply.
Luc nips at my chin. Then my earlobe. Then my neck. “Admit it, or I will be taking Isobel up on her offer for a date.”
My nails dig into his biceps. “You can’t do that,” I seethe, my blood turning acidic as my vision clouds red.
“Why not?” His face draws down in an innocent gesture.
“Because I—because I—won you at the auction.”
“It’s just an auction.” He shrugs his shoulders.
“Because I’m falling in love with you, you stupid—” I don’t finish the sentence because Luc fuses our mouths together. As our tongues continue to duel, Luc cups the base of my skull in one hand and the other rests on the curve of my hip, making my body flush with his.
He rests his forehead against mine. “Fucking finally.” His hot breath tickles across my lips. “Because I’m past falling in love with you. I’m already there.” He takes my lips again.
“I’m glad I won you at the auction, then. It would’ve been awkward if you’d been in love with me and had to date someone else.”
“Trust me, Aurora, I had a backup plan to get you to win me.” He smirks, and it clicks. “Besides, I think it would’ve been a little awkward for your boyfriend to be out dating other women.”
“Oh, so you’re my boyfriend now?” Even if it’s only behind closed doors.
Luc kisses the corner of my mouth. “Impératrice, did you miss the part where you are mine?”
I’m so boycotting Isobel’s shop. There is no way she is getting her hands on my man.