Chapter 30 #3
It was something he often asked himself.
He glanced around. “Because when I saw it, I knew it was meant to be mine. Even if I never lived here, it’s the closest I’ve felt to home in a long time.
I grew up in the country. It didn’t look exactly like this, but I didn’t want something the same. I just wanted peace.”
“Where did you grow up?”
Did he tell her? He had no real reason to not tell her. “In the Loire Valley.”
She frowned slightly. “The Loire Valley? In France?”
Matthieu raised his eyebrows. “You’ve heard of it?”
“My mom always wanted to visit. She said it looked so beautiful and that it had all these old castles.”
“Chateaux,” he corrected.
“Oh, right. You have a French name but I wasn’t sure that you were born there since you don’t have an accent.”
“ Non, je n’ai pas .”
“Wow, okay, now you sound French,” she informed him.
He had to smile. He hadn’t expected to find this conversation amusing. But that was Maya. She had a way of lightening the mood. Even when she was being serious.
“But what about your accent?”
He shrugged. “It’s easier to blend in without an accent. People remember an accent. They don’t remember a guy who sounds like everyone else.”
“Hate to break it to you but there is no way that anyone with eyes wouldn’t remember you. You’re like the sexiest, hottest guy I’ve ever met.” She put a grape in her mouth before she seemed to realize what she’d said.
Then her eyes met his and she started to choke.
He got onto his knees and pounded her back. Finally, she managed to swallow it.
“I’m good,” she said hoarsely. “I’m good.”
Matthieu grabbed a bottle of water from the basket and held it to her lips. “Small sips.”
“Well,” she said, her eyes streaming. “That was embarrassing. Can we, um, could we, um, you know . . .”
“No, I don’t know. Sip your water.”
“Forgetthateverhappened.”
He eyed her as he continued to force her to drink.
“Forget you choking?”
“That too,” she said in a hoarse voice.
He raised his eyebrows. “Forget that you called me the hottest, sexiest guy you’ve ever met? Now, why would I want to do that?”
Maya groaned and closed her eyes.
“Don’t be embarrassed.”
She felt something brush over her cheeks and opened her eyes to find him wiping her tears away with a tissue. Then he held the tissue to her nose. That finally spurred her into action and she grabbed the tissue, blowing her nose.
“No?” she queried.
“No. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, why would I want to forget?”
“I could say a lot nicer things to you.” She slammed her hand over her mouth as he chuckled.
What was wrong with her?
“Did you put truth serum in the sandwiches or something?” she grumbled.
Jeez. Maybe she’d overdosed her brain on Matthieu. Perhaps she needed to calm down a bit. Perhaps look at him a little less.
“Yes, I did,” he told her. “Also, you haven’t eaten the sandwiches yet.”
“Great.”
“Eat some sandwich. Slowly. And no talking while you eat.”
She watched as he started cutting the grapes in two.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she picked up a sandwich from her plate.
Funny, she couldn’t even recall putting food on her plate.
“Cutting up the grapes so you don’t choke again. You have some issues eating fruit. Obviously you need to be more careful.”
That was ridiculously overprotective. And so freaking sweet.
“You really don’t have to do that,” she told him.
“Of course I do. I don’t want you choking on them. Eat some more.”
“You’re always very bossy about what I eat.”
“Because you don’t eat enough.”
“I can stand to eat a bit less. These thighs still have some wobble,” she joked, poking her legs.
She thought he might laugh with her. Although she was hoping he wouldn’t out-and-out agree. What she hadn’t expected was the intense look he gave her.
“Who the hell told you that?” he demanded.
Maya stared at him in shock. “What makes you think someone said it to me? I might just think that.”
“In that case, we might need to do some talking, you and I.”
All right. That sounded rather ominous. And not something that she wanted to do.
“It was my stepmother,” she cried. “She used to say things like that to me. She’d tell me that I couldn’t have dessert that night because I was starting to get flabby thighs and she wouldn’t have a fat stepdaughter.”
“That. Fucking. Bitch.”
Yeah, she was that.
And more.
“She needs to suffer for that. There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, everything is right with you. Too right.”
That was a strange compliment.
“That came out sounding wrong,” he said.
“What I meant to say is that you are perfect. Beautiful and brave and your body doesn’t need to change at all.
No more giving yourself tiny amounts of food to eat, understand?
I want you to eat properly. You’re busy moving around all day.
You need proper fuel or you’ll get ill.”
He was right. She knew it. It was just that sometimes her stepmother’s voice got into her head and she couldn’t get it out.
“Okay.”
“That’s my good girl,” he praised her.
Damn. She liked being called a good girl. She liked it way too much.
“But I still think it’s crazy to cut up grapes for me,” she told him. “Just like it’s kind of crazy to own this land and not live on it.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about all of the untouched beauty of it.”
“Well, that’s true. But I really would love waking up in the morning and opening the curtains to this. Sitting out on a porch with a cup of coffee and listening to the birds. Or to Marshmallow farting.” She grinned. “But you’re right, maybe it should stay pristine and beautiful.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he murmured with a strange look on his face.
“Do you ever miss France?” she asked. “Do you ever go home?”
“Actually, I haven’t been home in a long, long time. I think I would prefer to forget that I ever lived there.”
She bit down on her tongue to stop herself from asking any more questions. Because he really didn’t sound like he wanted to talk about this anymore.
And Maya knew better than anyone what it was like to have a painful past that you’d rather forget.