“Very well.”
She eyed him steadily. “No one could ever measure up to you, Raoul. I’m not surprised they’re upset.”
“No one boosts my confidence the way you do.” He reached for her hand and held it all the way to the sea. His warmth spread through her body.
The delightful little restaurant in the coastal village looked magical with its patio heaters. The place was crowded, but Raoul had reserved them a table overlooking the water. True to his word, the cod was out of this world, as was the Fontesquieu wine he’d handpicked.
“I have a confession to make,” he said after they’d finished their meal.
Cami had no idea what was coming next.
“I almost phoned your manager at NI on Saturday to ask her to talk to you on Monday about being my part-time housekeeper until you left for the holidays on the sixteenth.”
Cami was stunned by the news.
“I planned to tell her I needed one and wondered if you’d like the position. It’s true that I need someone on the premises now that I’m working at home. Not all day every day. Maybe twice a week. Arlette served that purpose for the last two weeks, but she’s back working at her pharmacy now.”
Somehow that was the last thing Cami would ever have expected to hear. She averted her eyes. For a moment she was speechless. And hurt. She’d thought—oh, she didn’t know exactly what she’d thought, but it wasn’t to take over for Arlette!
She’d thought it odd when he’d asked her to help clean his study on Saturday. What did he really want? Cami had done nothing but think about him since Sunday night. Now this—What was going on?
“Raoul—”
“Don’t say anything,” he interrupted her. “I only told you this to let you see how desperate I am to be with you morning, noon and night. Surely by now you must realize you’re the woman I’m so attracted to. I only want to be with you.
“For the week you were cleaning, I knew I’d see you every day. But after it was over, I didn’t want it to end so I thought up the idea of asking you to be my housekeeper. But of course, that’s not what I want at all. Now you know the truth of my feelings.”
In the last minute he’d taken her emotions on a giant roller coaster ride. While she was still trying to catch up to the fact that he wanted a relationship with her, he said, “I hope it’s clear that I need to be with you as much as possible, but I know you have to work during the day. The only solution is to be with you every evening and on weekends or I’m not going to make it. Please tell me you want the same thing.”
She took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t be having dinner with you tonight if I’d wanted to stop seeing you.”
“Dieu merci for that. Come on. I’ll drive yo
u home because I know work comes early for you in the morning.”
They walked back out to his car. She felt like she was in a dream. He reached for her hand once more and clung to it all the way to the apartment. At the front door he drew her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. Cami couldn’t get enough of him.
“Thank you for this evening, Raoul. I do love being with you.”
He buried his face in her hair. “Tomorrow will you come to the villa after your work and bring your bathing suit?”
“Is your indoor pool ready to use?”
“Yes. You can help me christen it with Alain.”
She finally eased away from him, but it was almost impossible to stop kissing him back. “That’s exciting. I’ll probably get there by five thirty.”
“I’ll leave the back door unlocked for you. I can’t wait,” he murmured before walking out to his car.
Cami went inside and closed the door.
“Cami?”
She reeled around. “I’m home.”
Her mother walked into the salon in her robe and sat in a chair. “How was your evening?”
Cami couldn’t lie to her mom and sank down on the couch. “Wonderful.” She told her what he’d said about wanting to hire her for his housekeeper before admitting to the real reason why. “Sounds like Raoul is infatuated, and has been totally honest with you. Have you told him about your heart condition?”