Page 62 of Frenched (Frenched 1)
At least in my opinion.
Lucas’s oldest brother, Nicolas, had been playing tennis with Mireille’s husband Sebastien, but I was introduced to his wife Carine and their little girl, Gisele, a little fair-haired sprite in a bubble-gum pink bathing suit.
“And Gisele’s adorable. How old is she?”
He cocked his head. “She’s two, I think? I really wish I saw her more often.”
I grinned at him. “She adores you. Her face lights up every time you talk to her.”
“She just likes it when I swing her around by the arms like that. Makes her dizzy.”
“It made me dizzy just watching you two.” Or maybe it was my feelings making my head spin. There was something about seeing Lucas indulge the little girl that had me warm all over. I wondered if he wanted children of his own someday and if he’d bring them here in the summertime. I even entertained a brief fantasy of myself in the role of Madame Fournier in such a scenario before I gave myself a figurative slap on the wrist. Have you lost your mind? Knock that shit off!
“My dad used to spin me around like that, in our front yard when I was little.” Suddenly Lucas stopped to pick a pink bloom off a long stem. He studied it for a moment and held it out to me. “Here. You were wearing something in this color that day at the cemetery.”
My heart skittered. “That’s right, I was.” I took the flower from him and lifted it to my nose. Looking at him over the petals, I breathed in its sweet scent. Christ, this is getting ridiculous. I want to keep my thoughts from straying into Inappropriate territory, but I need a little help here.
“Lucas.” I twirled the flower aro
und by the stem. “I’m going to have to ask you to tell me something about yourself that isn’t sexy, sweet, or charming.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“Seriously. I’m starting to think none of this is real.” It was a lie—I was afraid it was all too real.
“Hmmmm.” His face took on a look of mock concentration as we started walking again. “Oh, here’s one. I’m a huge Rangers fan and I get very animated when watching games. I scream and swear and jump around.”
“No good. I’m from Detroit. We get hockey.” I shook my head. “In fact, I think you just made it worse.”
“Oh. OK, ummmm…” He looked skyward for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Aha! You’ll hate this: I cut my own hair.”
I stared at him, mouth agape. “What? That’s ridiculous. You can’t cut your own hair!”
He laughed. “Sure I can.”
“How can you even see?”
“I turn around and use the mirror. It’s not that hard. And it’s not like my hair is that difficult.” He shrugged. “If I fuck it up or it gets really uneven, eventually I’ll wander into a barber shop.”
I sighed. “Well, I’ll grant you that is odd, but I still need something worse. Something that will make me say, ‘Boy I’m glad I don’t live in New York. I’d hate to run into that asshole again.’”
He elbowed me and scrunched up his face. “OK, how about this: I rarely make reservations at restaurants. I just like to get there when I get there.”
I winced, but I nodded. “Now we’re getting somewhere. That would drive me crazy.” Moving ahead, I stepped in front of him to walk backward. “OK, one more thing. Something I’ll totally hate.”
He stopped walking and thought a moment. “I don’t ever want to get married.”
I blinked. “You don’t want to get married to anyone, ever?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? Because of your parents?” Despite the warmth of the sun on my skin, I sort of felt like someone had just thrown ice water in my face. I’d been teasing Lucas, but this felt serious, like he was telling me something significant. Oh God, he knows what I’ve been thinking. He’s trying to tell me not to get carried away.
He shrugged. “Probably that’s there in the back of my mind. I was there when their marriage fell apart. I saw what it did to my dad. But it’s not just them; most marriages don’t last. And also, I’ve just never wanted to get married.”
I turned around and took a couple steps forward, struggling to make my voice sound casual. “What do you see yourself doing in the future?”
“Well, I want to finish my research, write about it, maybe teach a few different places. I like to travel a lot, and I might like to open up my own bar sometime, either in Paris or New York, I’m not sure.”
