I laughed as I carefully extracted myself from Rachel’s touch. I went around the car and helped Adrienne out, tugging her against my side as much to keep her from turning tail and running as to keep Rachel from overwhelming her any more.
“Mom and Dad are out on the back deck,” Rachel informed us. “Mom’s thrilled you’re bringing a girl, too.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. She said it’s about time you focus on something other than work.”
I groaned even as Adrienne glanced up at me, a spark of curiosity in her eye. I tossed my keys at Rachel.
“Make yourself useful. Take our bags to my room.”
At that, Adrienne stiffened. We hadn’t really talked about sleeping arrangements. But I’d thought she would have guessed that we’d have to share a room. Maybe not.
Mom and Karl were sharing a bottle of wine, sitting close to each other on the wicker loveseat on the back deck. Mom unfolded herself and came to me with her arms wide open as we stepped through the French doors.
“Lucien. You look well,” she said as she hugged me and laid a wet kiss on my cheek. “I’m glad you could come.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
She smiled as she patted my cheeks. “You’re a good boy.”
Then she turned to Adrienne. “Aren’t you beautiful,” she said.
Adrienne blushed, a sight that I have to admit I enjoyed seeing. Adrienne didn’t often look uncomfortable, but she looked as though she’d prefer to be anywhere but here in this moment.
“Have some wine,” Karl called from loveseat, holding up the bottle that had been sitting on the side table beside him. He always seemed to know how to defuse an awkward situation.
I tugged at Adrienne’s hand and led the way to the matching wicker couch, pulling her down beside me as Karl poured the wine. She was stiff as I slid my arm around her, but she slowly relaxed as she sipped the wine and Karl stirred the conversation to neutral things, such as the weather and the traffic coming out of the city.
And then the tornado that was Rachel descended on us.
“How did you meet? How long have you been seeing each other? What do you do for a living? Are you into biotechnology too?”
The questions came like the staccato of machine gun fire. Adrienne stared at her like she couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what she was saying. I tugged her close, dropping a kiss on her forehead before turning to Rachel.
“Hey. We’re going to be here all weekend. Maybe you could take a deep breath?”
Mom laughed. “Yeah, Rachel. Give the girl a break.”
“Sorry,” Rachel said, folding herself into a chair. “I’m just curious. The last girl Lucien brought home was Kelly. And we all remember how that ended.”
Yeah. Don’t like to be reminded.
Adrienne glanced up at me, and I became aware that I was the one who’d stiffened now. Again, there was the slightest spark of curiosity in her eyes. And, for the first time since this charade began, she touched me without me having to touch her first. She ran her hand slowly up the length of my chest, letting it rest just above my heart. I found myself wondering what that was about even as I leaned close and kissed her gently.
I was aware of my family watching. But I was also aware that Adrienne was responding to me more freely every time I touched her. And I liked that.
Karl cleared his throat and started talking about a street fair that was happening downtown tomorrow. I only half heard him. Adrienne had my bottom lip between her teeth, and her fingers were sliding under the unbuttoned edge of my shirt, her nails scraping ever so lightly against my skin. And my hand was sliding slowly over her hip, tugging her a little closer against me as my thoughts began moving places they shouldn’t be going.
It had been a long time since I’d had a woman in my life. Even a temporary woman.
There was a blush on Adrienne’s cheeks when she broke the kiss, reaching for her glass of wine. I watched her sip the deep red liquid, the heat not cooling as quickly as it probably should have.
This was going to be a very long weekend.
Chapter 8
Adrienne
I’d slipped away the moment dinner was finished, sneaking into the room Lucien had pointed out as ours. I don’t remember ever feeling quite this overwhelmed. I’d seen combat in Afghanistan, and I still couldn’t remember that being as overwhelming as this. I’d known what to do then. I was so far out of my comfort zone here that I felt like I was drowning and the only way out of it was to curl up in the arms of a man I barely knew.
I had my cellphone in my hand, determined to call my father and demand that he pull me out of here. This was ridiculous! How could I spend the entire weekend with this man I didn’t care about, this man who, under ordinary circumstances, I would never look twice at? This man whose touch made my heart pound in my chest, this man whose touch made me want things I’d never wanted before?