The thing was, I was elated, thrilled, over the moon to see him, but at the same time my stomach was twisting into knots. I did the only thing I could do with all those expectant eyes on me. I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. I swore I heard another “Aww” from Dani. My life was turning into an episode of Ellen.
When I stepped back from the hug, Dani and Jaelee were edging away, and Lou ran over and gave me a quick squeeze. “Have a wonderful time!” she whispered in my ear. Wait, what? Where are they going? What’s happening? I was bewildered, having no idea what had been planned without me.
Tom did me the favour of bringing my case over and placed it on the ground next to me with a smile. “Thank you, Tom,” I heard myself say.
“This must be …” said Jean-Luc. I faced him, a frown nestled between my brows.
“Confusing,” I said, finishing the thought.
“Yes. Je suis désolé. I asked Dani to keep this a secret. I wanted to surprise you.” His smile had vanished and he looked like he might be regretting the whole “surprise Cat in Switzerland” thing. My head was trying to make sense of everything, but my heart just wanted to scrub that look off his face—tout de suite!
“No, I’m sorry. It’s a wonderful surprise. The other night, saying goodbye … it was all so rushed. This? This is good … it’s wonderful that you’re here.”
“Really? I know it is …” he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and I could see him searching for the word in English. It was presumptuous, that’s what it was, but I doubted he was going to come up with that word in English and I certainly wasn’t going to supply it. “… presumptuous,” he said, eventually. So he didn’t need the English teacher’s help after all.
“A little, but it’s all right. It’s good.” I grabbed his hand to doubly—triply—reassure him. “Really.”
“So, let me get your luggage. We are staying just a little way down, closer to town.”
Wait, what?
“Sorry, you got us a room?” Now that was presumptuous, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. Actually, yes, I did. I was quite cross.
“No, well, yes, but not a room. I rented an apartment. There are two rooms.” Those beautiful green eyes with their flecks of gold and brown looked down at me. What could I say but yes? We had separate rooms. And if I could keep my libido in check and not crawl into his bed in the middle of the night, it would all be fine and dandy.
***
“Here we are,” he said, leading us into an incredible apartment. I made a beeline for a giant picture window which had a view of the valley.
“Oh, my God, this view!”
He laughed and disappeared with my case—probably to put it in my room. “It’s the sole reason I chose this place,” he called.
“Airbnb?”
“Yes.” He came back into the room. “Actually, there was one other thing. Come with me.” He took my hand and my heart leapt to my throat. Was he taking me to his bedroom? Was I about to be seduced? Because if so, it wasn’t going to take much. “Here, look at this.”
Right, I was officially seduced.
It was a giant, free-standing, white porcelain bathtub, and it stood by another picture window. I nearly burst into tears.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve bathed without standing in someone else’s shower water?” I asked rhetorically. I made my way over to it and stroked it lovingly.
He chuckled from where he leant against the doorframe. “I thought you might like that.”
I turned to face him and perched on the edge. “Is that so?”
“Oui.”
“You don’t really get extra points for thinking a woman—one who’s been travelling on a bus and staying in campsites—would swoon over a bath, especially one like this.” I deliberately said “bus” for effect.
He raised one eyebrow. Could he always do that? It was becoming a fun little game I was playing with myself—Jean-Luc then vs Jean-Luc now.
“So, you have some choices.”
“Oh, now I get choices?” I teased.
He pretended to scowl at me. “You have some choices,” he repeated. I sat up straight and nodded along, taking it all very seriously. In truth, I was content just to stare at him, learning the features that belonged to the man.
“You can take a bath and relax. I can bring you some wine. Or we can drink the wine together on the balcony—”
“There’s a balcony?”
“But of course.” How could I have doubted there was a balcony?
“Or, if you’re hungry, I bought some food I will cook for dinner.”
I looked at my watch. “A very early dinner.” It was 4:00pm.
“Yes. But we could pretend we are eighty years old.”
“Hah! That was pretty funny.” He smiled. “So, I’m not going to lie, the bathtub is calling me, but you’ve come all this way, and there’s that.” I turned my head to indicate the view. “So, I think I would like to start with option number two, please.”
“Parfait.” That crinkly-eyed smile made my lady parts stand to attention. Down, girls.
“I do want to freshen up a bit, though. I’ve been on the coach all day. I might change, actually.”
“Of course. I put your luggage in the main bedroom.”
“Oh, thank you.” He was giving me the master bedroom?
“I will get the wine and meet you outside.” He left.
I patted the edge of the tub and whispered to it, “I will see you very soon, my lovely.” As I passed through the living area, Jean-Luc was busy in the sleek but tiny kitchen, putting together a platter of nibbles. I gave him a smile, which he returned.
Seeing him there like that was a tiny glimpse into a “what if” that was both jarring and appealing. If we lived together, we could have drinks on the balcony every day. If we had a balcony, that is.
I turned down a short hallway and came to two side-by-side bedrooms. The master bedroom had a California king bed—wider than it was long—and the other bedroom had two single beds pushed against opposite walls. A small overnight bag sat on one bed. I tried to imagine Jean-Luc, who was at least six-foot-one, lying on the bed with his feet dangling over the edge. I should have this room, I thought. I’d talk to him about it later.
I unzipped my case and pulled out my toiletries bag, my makeup case, a clean pair of knickers and a fresh top. When I got back to the living area, Jean-Luc was no longer in the kitchen and I could see the back of his head on the balcony through one of the windows. I’d be quick, but I really did feel a little stale after such a long journey.
In the beautiful bathroom, I brushed my teeth and splashed water on my face, then dabbed on some moisturiser and reapplied my makeup. I’m not one of those women who likes full coverage, so it was just a bit of concealer under my eyes—I may have had nine hours’ sleep the night before, but the bags from all the other late nights were stubbornly still in place—some cream blush, and some sheer raspberry-red lip gloss. I finished by tidying up my brows with a little brush.
I spritzed some leave-in conditioner into my hair and smoothed down the fly-aways, and before I changed into my clean knickers and top, I wet one of the fluffy washcloths and performed a quick spruce up of the important bits—you know what I mean. When I was presentable, I returned to my room to put everything away. My phone beeped on my way out and I went back for it.