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Dominique shrugged. “You wear no jewelry except for one exquisite ring. It must mean much to you.”
She lifted her hand. The sapphire was set in platinum and surrounded by two glittering waves of diamonds. It looked like a drop of ocean on her finger. She felt awe every time she looked at it. Not because it was worth a fortune, but because of what it represented.
“It’s only a ring,” she said and watched Dominique raise her hand by the fingertips to admire the jewel more closely. “But the person who gave it to me…he is my world.”
“C’est magnifique.” Dominique pulled down his sunglasses far enough to peer over the top. “Two souls. One body.”
“Yes,” Cassidy whispered, and closed her hand around his. She felt faint with hope when he returned the squeeze. She waited, praying he would take her into his arms and kiss her senseless.
He released her hand. “He is a very fortunate man.”
Breath escaped her in a pained rush. He wouldn’t acknowledge their connection. Their relationship was part of a life he didn’t want to face right now, so he didn’t.
Cassidy’s heart ached all the way back to the Beach Tiki, an invisible cloud now obscuring the day’s brilliance. The truth longed to be told, but she remained silent. She couldn’t face the possibility of him refuting her outright with another fantasy he would spin to protect his own sanity.
As if sensing her despair, he regaled her with humorous anecdotes from his life and travels. She knew them all, but they still made her laugh for the sheer joy of listening to him share them as though for the first time. As they strode across the Beach Tiki’s dune walk, they both smiled, and the people they encountered smiled back.
“Two for lunch?” the hostess asked when they were about to pass the entrance. Lunch already? The clock hanging among the decorative driftwood on the wall read eleven-forty-five. They had walked and talked for longer than she thought.
Dominique studied the chalkboard menu. “Oui. S’il vous plaît.”
“You’re hungry?”
A lopsided smile and one-shoulder shrug. “Always.”
They were shown to a prime location table at the rail on the back deck. Delicious aromas wafted in the sea air, and Cassidy realized that not only was she hungry as well as thirsty, she was also in dire need of a restroom. She paused before deciding to take her leave with as little fuss as possible. They had forged a new connection this morning, a level of trust, however tentative. Dragging him to the ladies’ room so she could keep tabs on him wasn’t workable and shouldn’t be necessary. Besides, he was engrossed in the menu.
When she got back, she found him staring out at the waves, and she chastised herself for doubting him.
They continued to talk over their food—a steaming bowl of mushroom soup for her and a gourmet jalapeño cheeseburger for him that somehow managed to “not taste like anything.” He wolfed it down anyway.
“You should try riding it home,” Cassidy told him when they returned to the bike, now covered in a dull sheen of salt spray.
“You cannot be serious,chère,” he said, but his smile encouraged her not to let it rest there.
She pressed the helmet into his midsection. “I’ll show you. It’s easy.”
To her relief, he grabbed the helmet without argument. Though a small, cynical part of her wondered if he considered the bike a potential escape vehicle, she was encouraged by his curiosity as she showed him how to work the controls—and by his amazement at how natural riding felt. Once on the road, he opened the throttle for a brief burst of speed that had Cassidy yelp and clamp her arms around him.
“Mon Dieu!” she heard him exclaim. The machine hummed beneath them, motoring along at a traffic-clogging twenty-five miles an hour all the way home.
And it was home they went. He found his way there without directions or hesitation.
“Not looking for the airport anymore?” she asked when she had pulled off her helmet and sunglasses and shook her hair out of the untidy bun.
His expression turned mysterious and a little sheepish. “You say this is my home? Perhaps I should…explore it some more.” He pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, revealing a playful twinkle in his eyes.
“Oh,oui.You should,” she agreed. Then, before she could stop herself, she had her mouth on his and swooned into his arms when they came around her. Unlike almost every other intimate moment they had ever enjoyed, this time they were not in each other’s heads, did not share every emotion, or feel every sensation. They were two souls in two bodies, connecting on a new—but no less profound—level that affected them both.
For long moments after the kiss ended, they stood, embracing. Breathless.
He sounded a little hoarse. “Cassie,chère.What are we to each other? Truly?”
“Everything,” she whispered. “Everything.”
He pulled back to study her face. She could tell by the wary pinch at the corner of his eyes that her serious tone took him aback. Enchanted by her, he might be, maybe even suspect a history between them, but he was also a man without a memory who feared being manipulated.
She forced a more relaxed demeanor and took hold of his hand. “Come. I’ll show you.”
