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“Hi, sweetheart,” I say to her, gazing into her eyes. With anyone else, this would be the acting role of a lifetime. With her, it’s fun to play boyfriend-girlfriend. It might be the closest I’ll get to it, so I may as well enjoy it.
“How’s your sore foot?” she asks impishly.
“Oh, much better after the massage you gave it,” I say to her, then turn to the table. “This girl. She gives the best foot rubs. And also…”
Now back in her chair, she gives me a serious glare.
“So, how did you two meet?” the brunette asks Isabella with a cruel little smirk. Bella looks like she’s about to speak, but there’s no way she’s beating me.
“It’s a funny story…” I start. She’s glaring at me. I’ve grown to kind of love that glare. “She hates the way I tell it. You can correct me when I’m done. Okay, honey?”
She rolls her eyes, which makes it seem even more like the real banter of a normal couple.
“One of my best friends from boarding school went to summer camp with Bella. I saw her photo on Facebook when he was on his page, just scrolling, and I had to know who she was. So, we started talking, and right away I knew. It took her a little longer to be convinced though.”
“Really? Bella needed convincing? I’d think…”
“She wouldn’t settle for just anyone. And she shouldn’t. I was living in Europe at the time, but I knew I needed to meet her.”
“Uh-huh. Did she live up to your expectations? You weren’t disappointed?” It’s one of the dudebros again.Go to hell. You’ll never get a woman this good.
“She was so much better. But it took a lot of convincing to get her to come to Paris to meet me. I asked her to give me a week to try to win her over. I really wasn’t sure what she would say the whole time. I took her to the Louvre, Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge…”
“The movie?” Mandy pipes up.
“Movie? No, I’m not familiar. The famous cabaret. You don’t know Paris, I take it?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, anyway. At the beginning of the week, I said if she didn’t have a wonderful time, I’d let her leave and never speak to me again. I did everything to win her over. Rented a private yacht on the Seine. Stayed at the best beach club in the south of France. Made our own wine in a vineyard in Bordeaux. And when this woman stomps grapes, whew. Watch out.”
She pinches my leg, and I mask my groan of pain as one of pleasure.
“Mmmm! Most delicious wine I’ve ever had. Because it was made with love, wasn’t it, mon amour?”
“So what did she say at the end of the week?” Brunette again. Same nasty smirk.
“She said yes! And thank God she did. My life changed forever.”
Bella leans over to me. I’m hopeful that maybe she’s finally letting herself have fun with it. Her lips brush against my ear, and it drives me wild.
“What are you doing?” she whispers. “I’m not playing this game, Alex.”
I laugh as if she just said something wildly inappropriate.
“I’m helping,” I whisper back, tickling her waist lightly.
“No. You’re not,” she hisses, sweetly somehow. “You’re just doing this to get close to Lily. I don’t like it.”
“Look,” I whisper, rubbing her hips, and I feel her relax. God, I wish these people weren’t here. “These women deserve to be knocked down a peg. And their boyfriends.”
I back away from her. “You are so bad, Isabella!”
“What did she say?”
Bella stares daggers.
“Nothing worth repeating.”
