“Yes, but now I’m anxious for a change.”
“Mademoiselle Grant,” he began, “I have to take the château’s boat out for a run on the lake to make sure it’s in top order before I report to Louis. How would you like to go with me so we can continue our conversation? I’ll drive us to the dock in their car.”
“I’d better not. I can’t swim.”
Raoul could feel her pushing away from him, but in his gut he knew she wanted to go with him. There’d been an instant attraction between them.
“That’s what life preservers are for. Can you imagine an accident happening in this giant bathtub of a lake? You can’t even hear a lapping wave on the shore.”
“You mean you think it’s too placid?”
“Let’s just say I can only take the peaceful ambience in doses.”
“Our boss has led such a hectic life in Los Angeles, I can understand why she loves to come here every year to regenerate. She’s a very generous woman to have offered us this vacation.”
“I agree. Why don’t you risk it and come with me? I can swim.”
She looked hesitant. “I’d better not. I don’t want to miss my friends.”
Whatever was going on in her mind, he wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “You have a phone.”
“I know, but—”
“We wouldn’t be gone long. I only need enough time to check out the engine and would like the company.”
He heard her take a deep breath. “All right.”
The chemistry between them was alive. She couldn’t fight it any more than he could. If she’d said no, he would have been forced to come up with another ploy to spend time with her.
They started walking toward the Renault. He helped her into the car and drove them to the pier. The cabin cruiser was a few years old, but looked to be in good shape. Raoul walked along the dock and guided her into the boat. The first thing he did was hand her a life jacket.
“Thank you. What about you?”
Was she worried about him? He liked the idea of that. “If I need to, I’ll grab one.”
Raoul would have loved to help her put it on, but worried he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself, he jumped back out to untie the ropes, then climbed in to start the engine. Once he’d backed out at a no-wake speed, he took off. Being with this woman was like a breath of fresh air.
She didn’t have an agenda that prompted her to ask a lot of questions. He decided she was at peace with herself and seemed to enjoy the world around her. Raoul believed she was the kind of woman you could be with and not have to make conversation if you didn’t want to.
“Why don’t you sit opposite me?”
She sank down and glanced in the direction of the sailboats. “There’s no wind. How sad they have to rely on motors.”
Her comment was the same one he’d reflected on while being here. “Where have you been living in Switzerland?”
Abby eyed him curiously. “All over. Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Interlaken, Lake Thun, the Reichenbach and Staubbach Falls, Montreux, Geneva, Cologny.”
“Why?”
“I guess you wouldn’t know why our boss gave us this vacation.”
“I only recall that she’s a movie director in your country who was friends with Auguste.”
“That’s right. Magda is working on her most important film to date. It’s a new look at the life of George Gordon Noel Byron, the Sixth Baron Byron, known as Lord Byron. She needs new eyes for fresh research to make the script authentic. The girls and I were picked to help because we teach college students about the romance writers of the early nineteenth century.”
Abby Grant was an expert on Lord Byron?
The coincidence of meeting her at all, let alone here in St. Saphorin, where Auguste had made his find years ago, blew Raoul away. Excitement filled his body.