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It sounded idyllic, and maybe it was the right thing to do. And if David could arrive without warning, she could certainly leave. Maybe it was exactly what she needed to do. It would give her space to think. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Seriously? That’s the notice you give me?”
He turned the heat off under the steaks, took her face in his hands and kissed her, smiling against her lips. “My Grace. Such a planner.”
His kiss made her dizzy but at the back of her mind she was wondering why all the men in her life thought planning was such a sin.
“Without planning you wouldn’t have a flight ticket and a hotel.”
He shrugged, and plated up the food. “That is all done for me by other people.”
Grace resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Couldn’t he see the irony?
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think fast.”
They ate on the balcony overlooking the tiny private garden at the back of the apartments.
She noticed others doing the same thing.
“Your neighbors probably sell tickets when you practice the piano.”
He cut into his steak. “I’m not here enough to annoy them.”
She couldn’t imagine never being home. “Don’t you miss being settled in one place? It must be tough.”
He shrugged. “Not for me. For me ‘tough’ is being in one place without change.”
They were so different. Maybe that was part of the attraction. He represented an alternate existence.
They ate and flirted, skimming over the surface of life, never dipping down into anything serious or important.
He talked about a young pianist he was mentoring who he thought had a brilliant future. After they’d finished eating, he played her some pieces he desperately wanted her to hear because he thought she’d love them. And she did, but mostly she loved the passion he poured into everything.
It would have been a lovely evening if she could have stopped thinking about David.
Was she being unfair not giving him another chance? Or would she be foolish to even consider it?
And did she really mean what she said or was she punishing him just a little bit?
Philippe lifted his glass. “Tonight your mind is somewhere else. Do you want to tell me where?”
She could hardly tell him she was thinking about her husband so she simply smiled. “I’m thinking what fun this is. The food was delicious, thank you.”
He put his glass down, drew her to her feet and kissed her. His touch was practiced, skilled, but somehow he didn’t have the same effect on her as the last time. It was as if a part of her was determined to remain detached.
No matter how much she wanted to deny it, a part of her would always belong to David.
And she was furious with herself. Why couldn’t she just move on? Why wasn’t it easy?
Philippe led her to the bedroom and kissed her again, gently at first and then with more and more passion.
Without breaking the kiss, he slid the straps of her dress over her shoulders and pushed it down to her hips. His mouth moved from her lips to her jaw, and then to her neck.
Grace closed her eyes and tried to relax.
