“Of course.” The man had to be in love with her memory. His words brought a lump to Cami’s throat.
“I didn’t learn through Antoinette’s stepsister Nathalie that I had an unknown son until this fall.”
Unbelievable. Was the baby the reason for his divorce to the Murat woman? There was so much she didn’t know about him. It was getting more complicated all the time. “How amazing and wonderful to be united with him.”
His black eyes fused with hers. “You have no idea.”
“Judging by this room you’ve created, I think I do.”
“Thanks to you and your mother, plus the other women cleaning the villa, it’s ready to be lived in. You’ll all receive a bonus for your hard work and doing it so fast.”
“It was fun.” She flashed him another smile to hide what was going on inside of her. He still had to be suffering over the loss of the woman he’d loved. “We don’t often clean a place as beautiful and exclusive as this. I’m sure you’re going to be very happy here with your son.” After a pause, “Did you hire Mademoiselle Herve? She seemed very eager for the job.”
“You know very well I didn’t. I’m afraid she was too eager and too impressionable.”
“She was probably nervous about the interview.” Though it was none of her business, Cami let out an inward sigh. The woman hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Raoul. Not that Cami could blame her since she suffered from the same affliction. “Someone else will come along who’s right for you and your son. Now I’m afraid I have to leave. My mother wasn’t feeling well today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s her arthritis that acts up in her shoulders. I need to pick up some dinner for her and get home.”
“Then don’t let me keep you. I’ll walk you out.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“What if I want to?”
His comment sent an unbidden dart of excitement through her. They went downstairs to the kitchen and out the back door. En route she discovered that while they’d been in the nursery, the kitchen furniture had been delivered. She’d spied a high chair, a table with six chairs and two stools placed at the island.
They continued walking outside. He opened the car door for her, then spoke to her through the open window. “What does a woman who cleans for NI do on a Saturday?”
“Clean the apartment.”
He broke into rich male laughter. “The proverbial busman’s holiday.” She nodded, enjoying their conversation way too much. “Do you live alone?”
“With my mom.”
His eyes studied her features for a moment. “Unless you have other plans tomorrow, would you help me clean my study? Naturally I’ll pay you for your time. I’ll do the ceiling if you’ll do the walls.”
She wondered why he hadn’t left the room open while all of them had been cleaning during the week, but it wasn’t any of her business. “I could come in the morning, but I have an appointment after lunch.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it more than you know. We’ll be done by noon. Now I’d better let you go. When you come tomorrow, park here and I’ll leave the back door open.” He backed away from the van so she could drive down to the street.
Each time she passed the entrance to the Fontesquieu estate, she thought about him. But this time it conjured up his comment about her eyes being the color of the flowers that grew there.
Cami didn’t want to believe he was the kind of man who flirted with every woman he met, but maybe he was like that and had picked on her because it was so easy. Any woman young or old would be wildly attracted to him. Mademoiselle Herve had been a case in point. Cami wished she weren’t. In fact she was upset that she’d agreed so easily to help clean his study in the morning.
There were some troubling facts about his past already staring her in the face. He’d had an affair with one woman that produced a child, yet he’d married another one. Now divorced, he was taking on the responsibility of fatherhood with the son of his lover.
Where did a cleaning lady fit in this scenario except to provide a momentary distraction for him? That was all she was or could be. Maybe he flirted in order to deal with his pain over losing Antoinette and could be forgiven. Who knew?
Cami had fallen out of love long before her divorce had been finalized. Any pain had more to do with her disgust for being such a bad judge of character. Since then she’d only gone on a few dates, but no man had interested her enough to get involved, not when she was facing heart surgery.
The only thing to do was be polite to the complicated man who’d given her and her mother a job for the week. Grateful for tomorrow’s extra money, she’d do the cleaning and leave. Once out of sight, out of mind.
But to her chagrin Raoul wasn’t out of sight during the night. He filled her dreams. She tossed and turned, and awakened on Saturday feeling restless and sick with excitement at the thought of seeing him again.
She climbed out of bed to get ready and fastened her hair back with a tortoiseshell clip. Once dressed in jeans and a blouse, she found her mother in the kitchen and told her she’d been hired to clean his study.