“Thank you for a second chance, and for buying me dinner.”
“To prove I’m telling you the truth, I’d like to take you on a walk through the vineyard tomorrow evening after you’ve eaten. You mentioned you’d like to see more of it while we were at the winery. Will your aching joints be able to handle it?”
She turned to him. “There’s nothing I’d love more,” she whispered.
“Jusqu’à demain soir,” he whispered back.
* * *
Arriving back home, she climbed out of his car and rushed inside the mobile home, where he couldn’t see her breakdown. Nathalie had to face the truth. It had been only a few days, but she’d already fallen hard for him. Love at first sight was no joke. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
It wasn’t just his dashing dark looks or the background he’d come from. He was a man of extraordinary substance. There was a kind of nobility about him. That’s what made it so difficult for her to understand his behavior if he’d had an affair with Antoinette.
If he was the one who’d fathered her child, how could he have disappeared on her stepsister with no explanation? Nathalie needed to learn the truth about him soon and not get carried away by her growing feelings for him.
He’d shaken her with his ability to see inside her and question her motives. She should have told him the truth, but had held back because of too little proof. One thing she knew by now. You didn’t play games with a man like him.
* * *
Dominic’s mind reeled as he drove home.
He’d wanted to believe Nathalie’s explanation even though he felt she was still hiding something from him. Why it bothered him so much was a mystery to him. A virtual stranger couldn’t possibly be this important to him no matter how beautiful or intriguing.
But the closer he got to the chateau, he knew that wasn’t true. He’d been intimate with some attractive women over the years, yet nothing remotely like this had ever happened to him before.
Even if Nathalie was to disappear suddenly and he never saw her again, the fact that he could be swept away by her this fast had changed him in a fundamental way. Nathalie had lit a fire that wasn’t going to go out.
It seemed there was a woman out there for him, one he wanted to get to know and would do whatever it took to do so. She was an original with a verve and freshness that was a constant delight to him. Her thoughts about everything fascinated him. If he believed in witches, he’d think she’d put him under a magical spell.
Dominic didn’t know he could feel this way about a woman. Meeting her had revealed the real reason why he’d reached the age of twenty-nine and still hadn’t married. Was it possible he’d unknowingly been waiting for her to come into his life?
He entered his apartment a different man. Needing more coffee, he went in the kitchen to fix it, then called his cousin and gave him the figures he wanted. Silence followed. “Raoul? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I’m surprised that much money has accrued. It’s all because of your expertise. But I’m afraid I may need more than that.”
He took a deep breath. “Talk to me.”
“When I got home from Saint Tropez Monday night, I told Sabine I was filing for divorce.”
Dominic let out a sound, overjoyed for him. “That’s the best news I’ve ever heard.”
“Except that you don’t know the bottom line.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t go into it now. Can you meet me at our usual place Thursday evening to talk?”
“Of course.”
“Suffice it to say all hell has broken loose. The family has already heard about it, and it’s getting ugly.”
“I’ve got your back all the way. You know what I mean.”
“I do. Before we hang up, tell me about you.”
“I wish I knew.”
“Why do I have a feeling this is about Mademoiselle Fournier?”