AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Erik threw his hands in the air. “Then what do I say? He’s being difficult.”
“I have standards,” Didier said primly. “Also, I’m showing you what you don’t want in a woman. If you have to work for it so hard, then it’s not worth it.”
“But I didn’t have to work for it in England,” the kid protested. “They always threw themselves at me.”
“That is currency,mon ami, not love.”
Jamie blinked at his friend. “Didier. That was actually smart.”
“I am wise,” Didier said modestly. “And you are wise to choose me for a friend,non?”
Amused, Jamie refocused on Erik. “Look at all this as a test of your endurance. If you can score with a French girl, you can score with anyone.”
Didier nodded. “Frenchwomen are very choosy.”
“Look at who you’re with.” Jamie gestured to the Frenchman. “If you decided to talk to a woman, she must be pretty. Compliment her.”
Erik exhaled and then tried again. “You have pretty eyes.”
“Merci,” Didier replied regally.
Erik turned to Jamie, at an obvious loss where to go next.
“If she’s there talking to you, she’s probably interested in you to some degree, at least on a friendship level. Otherwise, she’d walk away or look uncomfortable. What would you talk to a friend about?”
“Football.” He pursed his lips. “I used to talk about science, but none of my friends now know anything about that.”
Jamie frowned. “What happened to your old friends?”
“They’re busy in medical school or with their research.” The kid shrugged, but he looked sad. “It happens.”
He set that aside for now and focused on the communication. “You must want to know something about her. If she likes traveling or if she likes to read. Or maybe what her favorite subject in school was. What music she likes. Listen to what she says and ask more questions.”
Doing that had given him major insight into Rachel. He’d been wrong about the questions. Sometimes they prompted incredible insight.
What was Rachel doing right now? Would she be free tonight, or would she have to work late? Was she still thinking of their kisses?
He shook himself free from that line of thought. “Answer this. Who do you want to be with?”
A wistful look came over the kid’s face. “Someone who likes to hold hands. In my town in Norway, all the happiest couples held hands. And I want someone who likes to kiss. The girls in England didn’t like to kiss.”
“Prostitutes never kiss,” Didier stated with great authority.
Erik recoiled. “I never went out with a prostitute!”
“Peut-être, peut-être pas.” Didier made a dismissive sound. “You may not have paid them, but you bought them things,non? A rose by any name.”
“Not the poetry,” Erik groaned.
“And did they kiss you?” Didier continued as if the kid hadn’t spoken. “On your lips?”
“Nice girls kiss boys on the cheek,” Jamie said, remembering how Rachel kissed him the first time.
Erik flushed red. “That’s not where they kissed me.”
“I like to kiss,” Didier tossed out in an offhand way that Jamie recognized as his attempt to bring them back on topic.
“You do?” Erik turned to look at him.
