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“Okay then, have fun.”
“I will.”
I bent down and picked the clothes up, putting them back on the chair.
Her lips turned down. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. Why don’t you take the closet and hang them up there?”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. It’s a pretty big closet, and I’m only half using it.” I headed for the shower and stopped. “And Parker?”
“Yeah?”
“Lewis is a good guy. Be nice to him.”
She met my gaze and smiled. “I know, and I will.”
I arrived at the town hall meeting late, hoping I could slip in the back and slip out before Laurent would see me. Should have guessed it was only a matter of time before my luck ran out.
Laurent strolled up the path, looking way too good for six pm on a Wednesday. I don’t know what I expected. That he’d look like how I felt—a disheveled mess who was surviving on coffee and a granola bar from this morning. “Let me guess,” I said as he approached. “You thought you’d show up late, too?”
“Only because I knew you would, and I was hoping to grab you before we went in.”
“Well, we’re late, so don’t really have time to chitchat.”
“I wasn’t planning on chitchatting.”
I waved him off, but he grabbed my wrist and stepped into me, surrounding me with his woodsy citrus scent. “Don’t wave me off. I hate when you do that.”
My head snapped at his words, and I stared at him.
“You might be able to wave off your employees, your dad, and Marion, but not me.”
I glanced toward the door. “We really should get in there.”
“I can give two shits about whatever the hell it is they’re talking about in there.”
“It could be something that affects your business.”
“I would have heard about it by now. The only thing I care about is why the hell I woke up to an empty bed.”
I wished I could give him an answer, but how did I explain I physically couldn’t stay? That even though my heart wanted to, my body and mind took over and forced me to leave.
I pressed my lips together and shook my head. Laurent moved in closer, his head wrapping around me and making it really hard not to fall into his arms.
He pressed his finger into my chin, urging my gaze to his. “Talk to me. Please.”
My lips parted, and I’m not sure what was going to come out, but I was hoping for something meaningful. Words were in reach, and I plucked them from my thoughts. “I—”
The door flung open, and Odette waddled out. “There you two are. We've been waiting.”
“They’re waiting on us,” I mumbled.
“But we can excuse you, since it’s obvious you can’t keep your hands off each other.”
Laurent held his hand out, motioning me to go. I walked up the steps and gave Odette a smile as she hurried in the door. Her lipstick was extra red today, and her blue eyeshadow reached her penciled in eyebrows.
