Page 34 of A Shade of Myself
“Oh my God!” I was cough-laughing. “Don’t ever describe me that way.”
“Would it help if I added that you tasted delicious?” His smile was piratical.
“What is wrong with you?!” Beet red, I dropped my head into my hands.
He gave an aggrieved sigh. “All right. I won’t. As for Cam, there is no attraction. She’s too happy.” He said it like it was an incurable disease. “And she’s one of those touchy people. It’s easiest to let her hug me and get it over with, otherwise it’s like a game to her.”
“Mmm. And Cam? What’s her take on you?”
He pressed a hand to his heart. “Are you implying I am other than perfect?”
While further sexual acts would be mindblowing, it was these silly giddy moments that rocked my world beyond anything. He was playful and unguarded and I wanted nothing more than to keep teasing him and draw more of this side out for only me to see.
“Your words, not mine.” I said it lightly, but my stomach was aching and not from overeating. I was feeling possessive of him and I didn’t have that right. We weren’t those people to each other.
“Cam would never date a shifter. She says we are all ‘high maintenance.’” He did the quotes.
I made a “yikes” face. “She’s not wrong.”
“You wound me.” He shook his head. “Alors, the reason we were at the Bear’s Den is that using her magic really drains her. It’s even worse bringing an extra person along. After jumping me here from Paris and then back again, she’ll be laid out for a while. I wouldn’t have asked but too many Ohrists could have become enthralled on the Grouse by the time I’d gotten back on my own.”
“It was a thank-you dinner?”
He nodded. “She loves the Bear’s Den. The least I could do was treat her.”
“Then I’m glad Vikram also gave her a very nice bottle of champagne.”
Laurent snorted. “He pretends it’s a gift, then he charges me for it. Do you believe me? About Cam?” He sounded both perversely grumpy and worried.
It was wonderful.
Everything was cleared up. We were fine and now it was time to take my leave because I needed some space to get my head straight. My underwear disaster had fallen to a distant second in terms of things to obsess over. I’d gone through an emotional whirlwind where this guy was concerned in the past couple of days, and I had to sort through my tangled feelings.
“Yes,” I said. “I believe you.”
Laurent made a pleased little hum at the back of his throat.
Resting my feet on my bumper, I wrapped my arms around my knees. It’d be rude to leave without inquiring further about his trip. I wouldn’t do that to my other friends.
“How did you manage on the flights?” I said. Laurent hated flying, feeling like he was trapped in a cage.
“Poorly. And it didn’t get better once I landed.”
“That bad?”
His side brushed against mine, his body growing more relaxed. “I hate hospitals, so yes. And then there’s my father. That’s another yes. My mother was the one bright spot and that was with her recovering from her heart attack.” He gave a wan smile. “One good thing came out of it. It broke the veneer that we were some happy family. Maman and I even talked about the past. A bit. But still. And I no longer feel the need to speak to my father at all.”
That wasn’t exactly progress so much as extreme dysfunction, but he’d had a breakthrough with his mother, and I wanted to be supportive. “I’m glad,” I said. “Were you there alone? What about Juliette’s dad?”
I didn’t know the man’s name, but Laurent’s niece had accused him of avoiding her father during his visit to Vancouver. Sheesh, his family had a lot of bad blood. Hearing the little he was telling me now made it seem like he and Tatiana were thick as thieves. My family was unconventional and intensely irritating at times, but I was grateful for our relationship. We fought, we worked it out. I couldn’t imagine not speaking to Eli, Sadie, or my cousin Goldie for any length of time out of anger.
“Gabriel?” He rolled the “r” in his French accent and a delicious shiver slid through me.
Laurent didn’t notice, busy frowning at his shoes. He shot me a sideways glance, then after a moment shook his head. “No. He wasn’t there.”
“That’s hard to have dealt with all that on your own.”
He shrugged like he was used to it and my heart twisted.
