Chapter 21 #2
She shrugged, like it was no big deal, but it sure as hell was. Even tonight, despite having her own issues at the store, she’d put them on the back burner to focus on me. I wanted to return that every way I could. Make her see how important she was becoming to me.
“But I think it’s going to be different for Lindsay,” she said, and something in her tone told me she didn’t want to talk about herself anymore. “She’s got you too, and she’s still seeing her dad.”
“I just hate that he’s hurting them both. I was hoping that the time in France would do them all good.” That Walter would come to his senses and at least be a civil asshole and call his daughter. “It was Anne’s and my happy place as kids.”
“You spent a lot of time there?”
“Just a few weeks in the summer. Two with the grandparents, two with our parents. We looked forward to it the whole year. We practiced speaking the language, ate local produce, made new friends. Our family had a house in a village about two hours from Paris. Now they’ve moved to the south of France. ”
“Who speaks French in your family?”
“My grandfather and my father are fluent, whereas Anne and I do okay. We used to speak French with each other when we didn’t want Mom or our grandmother to understand. It drove them nuts. They tried learning the language but said it’s impossible.”
“I agree. We had to choose between Spanish and French at school, and I went for Spanish. Not that I’m any good at that either.”
“France has always been my happy place. I want that for Lindsay too.”
I wanted to show Skye everything that was important to me, just share everything with her. I kissed her cheek up to the shell of her ear.
“ J’ai besoin du toi. I need you. I just need you,” I said in both French and English because I wanted her to understand how much she meant to me.
“I love the sound of that,” she whispered. I understood her fear; I just wanted to prove to her that there was no need for that with me.
“Tell me more about your vacations in France,” she urged.
“It was like a time-out from our routine. We were outdoors all the time. Anne spent all day long in this huge swing, reading.”
“Hey, I like swings.”
“I noticed. Why is yours indoors?”
“It almost got blown away in a storm when I had it outside. I’d love a sturdier one in the backyard but just haven’t found one yet.”
I made a mental note about that.
“You know… my house actually reminds me a bit of the one in France. Just the coloring. I figured that out after I moved in.”
Skye looked at me with a huge grin. “Awww, that’s sweet.”
“This hot water has a weird effect on me.”
She laughed, wiggling her body against mine. “Why, because it’s making you reveal all sorts of things? I kind of like it.”
“I bet you do.”
She splayed her fingers on my neck, bringing her mouth to mine. She licked my lower lip with the tip of her tongue before slipping it in my mouth. I groaned, kissing her back just as wickedly.
Pulling back, she looked at me playfully. “Lay your head back on the edge.”
“Bossy?”
She pressed my shoulders down. I sank lower in the water, leaning my head back. Feeling her mouth moving down my neck was driving me insane.
“Skye, we’re not alone in the pool.”
“I’m just kissing you. And besides, the steam is pretty thick. We look blurred to anyone who’s paying attention.”
She was teasing me with small, chaste kisses, but they were completely messing with my senses.
“We’re moving into another tub in a few minutes anyway,” she said.
“No, I like what you’re doing.”
“Weren’t you complaining just a minute ago?”
“Not complaining. Warning.”
She was kissing my right shoulder now. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing her against me.
“Hey, you’re interrupting my exploration.”
“I want to feel you against me.”
“Hmm… that works too.”
I didn’t get her to myself for too long, because they informed us that our red wine bath was ready.
We walked to an adjacent room. It was very small, containing a stone basin. There were grapes and candles on the edges. We sat inside, and when we turned on the faucet, a red-colored water came out of it.
“That’s actual wine?” I asked, perplexed. “What a waste.”
“No, silly. It’s wine without alcohol in it. That would dry our skin.”
“Still a waste of perfectly good grapes.”
She rolled her eyes. “It has antioxidants. It’s good for us.”
Waste or not, I had to admit this whole evening was relaxing, and when the staff brought a platter with cheese and grapes, I learned something new about Skye: she loved cheese.
“This is my favorite thing to do to relax,” Skye said.
“You come here often?”
“I used to do it all the time before, but not since opening the store.”
“You’ve been here with another guy?” I asked. The question popped out all of a sudden, but then an image of Skye with someone else shaped up in my mind, in that corner of the pool, kissing him like she kissed me, and I was seeing red. No, just no .
“Think I’d waste this experience on random guys? Nah, I mostly came here with Tess.” She looked straight at me, pointing to my eyes. “What’s that? Possessive streak rearing up again?”
“Can’t help it. I can’t stand the thought of you with another man.”
“So stop thinking it,” she said playfully, climbing in my lap, lacing her hands behind my neck.
“Easier said than done. Want to take my mind off it?”
“Gladly.”
She pressed her mouth to mine, wiping every thought except one: if I couldn’t entertain the thought of Skye with another man in the past, I sure as hell wouldn’t let that happen in the future.