Chapter Thirty-One
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I don’t know how Antoine managed to snag a front-row seat and a VIP pass to a concert that sold out a year ago.” Gabriel raised his water bottle in a mock toast. “But I don’t care as long as the brat is appeased.”
“Hear, hear.” Michel clinked his mug against his cousin’s bottle. “And Marion kept her end of the bargain beautifully.”
Thank God for that. If Aunt Celine had come to Los Angeles, his time here might have been cut short. That would have been a disaster. If he asked Emma to come to Rouleme with him right now, he would surely scare her off.
He had yet to confess his love to Emma, but he showed her how much he loved her every moment they spent together. He would give her the words as soon as he figured out how to prove to her that they were perfect for each other despite—perhaps even because of —their differences and that his love for her would never change. Once he convinced her, she had to come to Rouleme with him, wouldn’t she? He only wished he had more than one month to win her over.
“The thought of my mother in LA…” Gabriel gave an exaggerated shiver.
“Is Marion stopping by Los Angeles?” His personal assistant extraordinaire had mentioned that the concert was in San Francisco.
“Next Sunday.” Gabriel tried for a grimace, but he couldn’t hide his excitement at the prospect of seeing his baby sister. “She wanted to helicopter down Saturday night, but I put my foot down.”
“You mean you begged,” Michel said with a smirk.
“We can’t have her drawing unnecessary attention to herself like that,” Gabriel continued as though he hadn’t spoken.
Michel shrugged. “A helicopter arrival is hardly noteworthy in Los Angeles.”
“I’m not risking it,” Gabriel said with a stubborn set of his jaws. “I worked too hard—gave up too much—to be where I am.”
“Professor Chevalier,” said a small voice. Gabriel started and spun in his seat. An eye and a part of a nose peeped through the small gap in his office door. “I was wondering—”
“How curious,” Gabriel interrupted, his voice icy and hard. “Am I mistaken, or did his office hour end more than half an hour ago?”
“I know but… I thought…” The eye and the tip of the nose turned red. “I’m so sorry for disturbing you.”
The disembodied face disappeared with a scuffling of trainer bottoms. Michel frowned when his cousin turned to face him again. “The Sphinx strikes again. Why do you do that?”
“Knee-jerk reaction?” Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need the Sphinx persona to teach philosophy effectively. If my students ever got a whiff of the twit I truly am, my chances of convincing them to respect philosophy will fly right out the door. I don’t want myself to get in the way of showing my students how incredible and essential philosophy is to humanity.”
“Christ, you are such a nerd,” Michel teased affectionately, touched by his cousin’s earnest explanation. And there was more to Gabriel’s preoccupation with coming across as a serious academic. “I can’t believe the people of Rouleme actually believed what the tabloids were feeding them. You were never the empty-headed playboy they made you out to be.”
“My unparalleled good looks are a blessing and a curse.” His smile held a bitter edge that said it was more of a curse. “Besides, I didn’t help matters, did I? It was just easier in some ways to play into that role.”
“You should be proud of the life you built here, Gabriel.” Michel understood why his cousin had to leave Rouleme behind. No matter what he did back home, he would never have been more than a pretty face. He needed a fresh start. “But might I remind you that was my student you just scared away.”
“Like I said, knee-jerk reaction.” Gabriel shrugged with a rueful smile. “Besides, you need to learn to set boundaries for yourself, too.”
Michel couldn’t hold back a harsh bark of laughter. “Easier said than done, my dear cousin.”
“I never implied that it would be easy.” His cousin watched him with quiet sympathy. Neither of them was speaking about his role as a professor. “Look at the extremes I’ve had to go to for my profession.”
Being a king wasn’t a profession. It would soon be his life. Setting boundaries would be impossible. In fact, there might be no Michel left, only the king, if he didn’t have Emma by his side. All the more reason he had to convince her that they were meant for each other.
But… what about Emma? Would she be happy by his side in Rouleme? Would leaving her life behind be the best thing for her? He pushed the thoughts aside and quelled the gnawing anxiety in his stomach.
“Should we start heading for the Town and Gown?” Michel stood from his chair with a determined grin.
Gabriel groaned but rose to his feet. “The Sphinx does not enjoy interdepartmental mixers.”
Michel rolled down the sleeves of his dress shirt and refastened his cuff links before adjusting the tie he’d loosened earlier. Then he retrieved his navy suit jacket from the coatrack and shrugged into it. “Perhaps I should’ve brought a change of clothes.”
“Are you fishing for compliments? Well, I think you look very pretty, cousin dear.” Gabriel grinned, just begging to be smacked on the side of his head. “And there’s no need to fuss. It’s not a ball. It’s just a get-together for the faculty and their TAs to mingle with people outside their departments.”
“You’re making the event sound like happy hour.” Michel watched Gabriel button up his light gray suit jacket. His cousin would look like an A-lister in a potato sack. “Even if it’s not a ball, it is being held in the Town and Gown Ballroom with a plus-one. It sounds like a proper fête to me.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Gabriel scratched the side of his jaw. “Especially with the open bar and dancing.”
As Michel hurried out of his office, the thought of dancing with Emma placed a ridiculous smile on his face. She had agreed to meet him at the party after a late-afternoon lesson. Even though they’d gone out just last night, he couldn’t wait to see her again. He quickened his pace while his cousin dragged his feet.
“Could you stop walking like an octogenarian? It would be rude to be late.” When his cousin effectively flipped him off by an expressive tilt of his head and a narrowing of his eyes, Michel shrugged and rushed ahead to USC’s famed ballroom.
He belatedly realized that Gabriel was slowing down to keep pace with Sophie, who had a talent for materializing out of thin air. She stared straight ahead and didn’t deign to acknowledge his cousin. Hmm . They had seemed to be on better terms of late. What changed? From the questioning looks Gabriel shot Sophie, he had no idea what was going on either.
When they got to the Town and Gown Ballroom, Sophie slipped into the shadows of the alcoves, and Gabriel joined Michel at his side. The ballroom wasn’t as opulent as the ones that Michel was accustomed to, but it was immaculate and welcoming, especially with the gold-and-cardinal theme of the event decor. Go, Trojans! Many faculty and their aides had beat them to the event, their clinking glasses and laughter ringing through the room.
Michel scanned the fast-filling space for Emma but couldn’t find her. He was relieved he’d arrived first. He didn’t want her to step into a room full of strangers by herself. Even though it was often unavoidable for him, he never got accustomed to the nerve-racking nature of the experience.
“I need a drink,” his cousin said in ominous tones beside him.
“Did something happen between you two?” Michel frowned, recalling the stilted interaction between Gabriel and Sophie.
“Hell if I know.” Gabriel huffed a sigh and raked his fingers through his hair. “She was finally letting me back in—smiling more, laughing at my jokes, even. I thought there might be another chance for us…”
“There is,” Michel reassured his obviously distraught cousin. “You just need to talk to her.”
Sophie and Gabriel had been the best of friends as children even though they were as different as night and day. Their friendship confounded the elders, but Michel had always known that they understood each other better than anyone else. Their differences complemented one another in the best possible way. He had never imagined that their feelings went beyond friendship, but now that he knew, they made perfect sense together.
Gabriel was already stalking away but stopped to ask over his shoulder, “Do you want anything?”
“No, thank you.” Michel would talk to his cousin later. For now, he needed to keep an eye out for Emma. “I’ll get something once Emma arrives.”
Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long. She glided into the ballroom with her head held high and shoulders thrown back, self-assured and confident even in the midst of strangers. He froze to the spot, his jaw going slack. She was breathtaking in a black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress. He already knew those shoulders would drive him to distraction all evening, especially with her hair up in a loose knot that left the silky skin tantalizingly bare. Her dress hugged her slim curves in all the right places, and his body tightened with desire. He shook himself out of his momentary stupor and rushed to her side.
“Emma,” he said in a low, husky voice. When she smiled at him with her eyes glowing—like he was the best thing she’d seen all day—the lust thrumming in his veins dissolved into heart-wrenching affection. He couldn’t help but run the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Her eyelashes fluttered as she ducked her head shyly.
Michel fought the urge to kiss her senseless in a room full of faculty and graduate students. After taking a calming breath, he tucked her hand in his arm and led her toward a secluded section along the wall by a tall potted plant. He needed a few moments to gather himself. But more importantly, he wasn’t ready to share Emma with anyone yet.
“How did your lesson go?” He wrapped a loose strand of her hair around his finger.
“It was so much fun.” She slid one hand beneath his jacket and pressed it possessively against his chest. His heart beat out a frantic rhythm in response. “We made hwayangjeok. Those little striped flags we had at the picnic?”
“Ah, yes. The perfect bite.” He covered her hand with his own lest she withdraw it. He needed her touch.
“Oh, you remembered. That makes me so happy.” She pushed up to her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “That’s your reward.”
She smelled so good—the warm floral note in her scent was stronger than the citrus tonight. He took a step closer and angled his body to hide her from the rest of the ballroom. “I think I deserve a little more than that.”
Before she could answer, he dipped his head and captured her parted lips. When she whimpered and opened wider for him, he deepened the kiss and pulled her flush against his body. His hands wrapped around her naked shoulders, and all rational thought flew out of his mind. He needed to taste her soft, warm skin…
“Cool it, Romeo,” Gabriel said from behind him.
Emma started—even though Gabriel had spoken very softly—and pulled away from Michel. His hands instinctively tightened around her in protest before he forced himself to take a step back.
“For you, my lady.” His cousin handed her a flute of pink, effervescent champagne with a smile that was strained around the edges. He was obviously torn up about Sophie, but he still had come to stop Michel from making a spectacle out of himself. He pushed a glass toward Michel, urging him back to stop towering over her. “Let’s put some space between you two. There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Michel took his drink and clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. As he sipped his cold champagne, he took a quick glance around the ballroom. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed his lapse in judgment. Bloody hell . Forget the dignity of the crown. Making out with his girlfriend at a work function was inappropriate even for Professor Michel Chevalier—for any responsible adult.
Good God . He’d just failed to behave like a responsible adult. He suppressed the incredulous laughter that rose to his throat. But his mirth quickly died away at the realization that he might have embarrassed Emma. He ducked his head and whispered in her ear, “Sorry.”
She shivered and glanced briefly at his lips. Christ, have mercy. “That’s okay. I technically started it.”
“Will you kids be able to behave yourselves while I go top off my drink?” Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest, mischief fluttering just below his stern frown. He seemed to be doing a bit better.
“Fuck off.” Michel offered his cousin an affectionate grin.
Emma coughed to cover her laugh and said, “Now, now, boys. Be nice.”
“He started it.” Gabriel winked at her. Michel scowled when she blushed. Gabriel raised his hands. “I’m going. I’m going.”
“I like Gabriel,” Emma said with a little sigh that grated on Michel’s nerves.
“I can tell,” he grumbled unhappily, even though he had no reason to be jealous. Except that he happened to have a Greek god incarnate as his cousin.
“Are you jealous, Professor Chevalier?” She dimpled enchantingly at him. “I hope your students don’t know what a silly man you are.”
Before he could formulate a comeback for her saucy comment, Emma became distracted by something on the dance floor. She gasped, then clicked her tongue. When Michel followed her line of sight, he discovered Jeannie locked in a passion ate embrace with a dark-haired young man. Even though he had no right to be scandalized—since he had nearly found himself in a similar situation moments before—he felt a tad scandalized. He would never have expected this from his quietly awkward and hardworking TA.
“Oh no. Poor Sarah,” Emma murmured under her breath.
“Is something the matter?” he asked, but she didn’t get a chance to respond as a train wreck unfolded before their eyes.
“Um… excuse me.” A pretty Asian woman stepped in front of Gabriel, who had been on his way back to them. Her eyes were shining with adoration or… tears. She looked familiar. Ah, yes . Sarah Bae was a graduate student in the philosophy department—his cousin’s TA and Emma’s friend. “Professor Laurent… I… would you like to dance?”
Merde alors. Michel tensed, knowing what Gabriel—no, the Sphinx—would do.
“Sarah?” Gabriel blinked in surprise before his features hardened into a stony fa?ade. “Would I like to dance? With my own TA? You can’t be serious. That is quite possibly the last thing I would want to do. Surely you know me better than that.”
Knee-jerk reaction. His cousin’s sheepish expression from earlier flashed before Michel’s eyes.
“I’m so… so…” Sarah’s apology broke on a sob, and her lower lip trembled dangerously.
“Excuse me,” Michel said to Emma with a quick squeeze of her hand, and hurried over to his panicked cousin and the poor young woman. “Hello, Ms. Bae. I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
“Professor Chevalier?” The young woman sniffed as her eyes widened.
“Oh, you know who I am?” Michel offered her a warm smile. “I have heard such wonderful things about you from Professor Laurent. He said you were such a hard worker and that you were invaluable to his teaching.”
“He did?” She peeked at Gabriel but quickly glanced away.
“He certainly did.” It was true. His cousin had also mentioned how tempting it was to tease her about her last name, but the Sphinx would never do that. Gabriel would feel awful about this later if Michel couldn’t salvage the situation. “Between you and me, the man is a brilliant academic, but he unfortunately has two left feet. Would you care to dance with me instead?”
While Sarah stood with her mouth opening and closing, Gabriel gave her a curt nod, then shot Michel a grateful glance before escaping out the side doors to the balcony. Michel offered Sarah his hand with a bow of his head, and she took it with a shy smile.
As he led the young woman out to the dance floor, he realized he’d abandoned Emma without any explanation. Surely she would understand, especially since it had been her friend in peril. When he glanced over his shoulder at her, she waved him off with a blinding smile on her face.