He gave a slight shake of his head, his eyes fixed on hers. ‘And my asking you to sign a time-sensitive contract yesterday...’ He cursed under his breath.
‘I suppose you’re disgusted?’
‘Mon Dieu, of course I’m not disgusted,’ he said, and the admission was faintly tinged with something else—something that sounded a lot like...admiration.
Ana inwardly shook her head. She was imagining things.
Abruptly, Bastien looked away. His gaze tracked two butterflies chasing each other from flower to flower. Then he reached into his pocket and extracted a sheaf of papers.
Ana’s heart lurched as his large hands unfolded the document. She recognised her contract immediately.
‘This agreement is made between Diamonds by Heidecker Incorporated, a subsidiary of the Heidecker Corporation, and Miss Ana Duval of—’
‘Bastien, what are you doing?’
‘I’m doing what I would’ve done if you’d told me. I’d never violate your trust, ma petite. If you don’t believe anything else, believe that.’
He carried on reading, his deep, beautiful voice low and hypnotic. Blinking back tears, she listened, her heart trembling as realisation sank in.
Bastien wasn’t disgusted. He wasn’t scornful that she couldn’t read.
He was helping her.
Feelings, deep and inexplicable, flooded through her.
He read on, pausing every now and then to make sure she was paying attention. When he’d finished he glanced at her. ‘You understood all that?’
Biting her lip to keep back the tears that seemed determined to ruin her, she nodded. ‘Yes. You extended it by another year because you’re thinking of serialising the ad campaign.’
‘Yes. Would you have signed this contract if you’d known what you know now?’
She hesitated for a split second. ‘No. I want to go and work with my father.’
He nodded. Then, without taking his eyes from hers, he tore the contract in two. Her gasp settled on the air before disintegrating against the sound of continued ripping. He shredded the paper until the sheets were tiny, insubstantial squares. Rolling them into a ball, he stuffed it in his pocket.
‘Why?’ she asked around a throat clogged with choking emotion.
His gaze turned sombre. ‘You had no idea what you were signing. I won’t take advantage of that.’
Simple words. Such simple words. Yet Ana felt the ground shift beneath her. Felt something cataclysmic rush through her, bringing back that sense of foreboding she’d felt as they drove through the gates of the chateau five days ago. But this time she caught a glimpse of what it meant before the moment was lost again. And she wasn’t as frightened. What she did feel was an overwhelming need to touch Bastien, to connect with him—somehow convey this inexplicable feeling she couldn’t give voice to.
Before she could stop herself she placed her hand on his cheek. ‘If this carries on I’ll start to think you’re not as hard as you make yourself out to be.’ Her voice emerged deeply husky, a result of her tears and the feelings roiling through her.
A small smile lifted one corner of his mouth. ‘Don’t fool yourself. I’m still the same.’
Her soft laugh wrapped around them. ‘Maybe, but you’re not so scary any more.’
He sobered. ‘I scared you?’
‘For a little while—and only because I didn’t really know you well enough.’
‘And you think you know me now?’ A hint of wariness laced his tone, but he didn’t move away.
‘I’d like to...if you’d let me.’ Knowing she was straying into forbidden territory made her shiver. But she forced herself to hold Bastien’s gaze even when it hardened slightly.
‘There’s nothing to know. I told you: I’m a simple man.’
With deep undercurrents of emotional baggage. Ana let it go, but she couldn’t stop herself from leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. He immediately deepened the kiss, stamping his mastery on the act until they both had to come up for air.