Read Online The Frenchman (Crime Royalty Romance Book 1) by Lesley Young - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lesley Young
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worried about me because she cared.
Halfway into the quiet ride home, I let my body relax. And my mind, like the truant teenager it was, wandered right back to the moment Louis pressed himself into me against the bar. I clasped my forehead in embarrassed panic for experiencing a pang of lust while sitting next to Bastien.
And then I remembered, exclaiming, “Oh no, we never paid for our drinks!”
Bastien snorted. “Don’t worry. Messette will take care of them.” Bastien’s bitter tone tweaked a memory, and a symbol I had spotted on the coaster under my water glass popped into my mind. It was the same black, razor-sharp variation of the fleur-de-lis I’d seen in the photos of the Messette yacht and tattooed on his forearm.
My heart skipped as a terrible idea occurred to me. “Do the Messettes own Noir?” I met Bastien’s surprised glance, and my stomach squished. We pulled up in front of Marie’s building.
“You are smart girl.” I didn’t like Bastien at all in that moment.
“Why would you take us to a bar he owned if you want me to stay away from him?” Yeah, I can make deductions, too, I wanted to add. I was the daughter of a police inspector after all.
A corner of his mouth lifted up.
Whoa. Discovery: Don’t ask a question you think you know the answer to, and don’t like. I grabbed my clutch, the door handle, and let myself out.
“Fleur!” he called after me, but I rushed to the door, letting myself in before he had time to reach me. He loitered for a minute or two outside of the locked lobby. I didn’t want to give him a chance to explain away the events, which I needed to sort out for myself.
Once safely in the elevator, I went back over the encounter. I bit the remaining lip gloss off of my lips. Why would Bastien take me to the nightclub, which he seemed to frequent, owned by someone he thought was bad? And then, openly witnessing Louis come on to me, warn me off him?
It was hard not to conclude he’d used me.
Looking back on the elevator incident with the ménage à trois , Bastien had been watching me closely, and probably got a pretty clear read on me. I mean I was obviously riled up by Louis’s presence. More importantly, Louis stared him down. I swallowed, smoothing my hair and my dress, as the elevator doors opened and I stepped out. What if Bastien took me to Louis’s club to see if he could provoke Louis? And he had: Louis tried to get me to ditch Bastien. His smug smile popped into my mind.
But . . . why? Why would Bastien do that?
I stepped out of my heels, my feet whimpering thank you the rest of the way down the hall. What had Bastien really been after? I sensed somehow this wasn’t really about me. But what?
The worst part was the truth that stood quietly on the sidelines waiting for acknowledgement: those two were clearly playing games, and I had been nothing but a pawn.
Chapter 5
“What? He humped you in the bar? Like a dog in heat?!” squealed Jess over the phone the next morning, delighted at the juicy news. Yesterday she’d sent me five texts about how bored she was back at work. She has to be the only person I know who misses school. She added, as if I’d been holding out, “Well, how big was it?”
“Big.” I sipped my coffee, sitting on the kitchen bar stool. I’d already told her the Bastien date was a bust, no additional details required.
“Of course it is!” I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Did you see the size of that man? He’s a mutant.”
I didn’t say anything. I was tingly all over at the idea of that big in me. Say what you will, Louis couldn’t have faked that arousal, no matter what kind of games were being played last night.
I had to wonder, was horniness an ailment? Sex, or lack of it, had never been on my mind to the point of distraction before I met Louis. I should be more focused on my job, or finding someplace to volunteer at, or making plans to entice Marie to spend more time with me.
Pretty much the only
Halfway into the quiet ride home, I let my body relax. And my mind, like the truant teenager it was, wandered right back to the moment Louis pressed himself into me against the bar. I clasped my forehead in embarrassed panic for experiencing a pang of lust while sitting next to Bastien.
And then I remembered, exclaiming, “Oh no, we never paid for our drinks!”
Bastien snorted. “Don’t worry. Messette will take care of them.” Bastien’s bitter tone tweaked a memory, and a symbol I had spotted on the coaster under my water glass popped into my mind. It was the same black, razor-sharp variation of the fleur-de-lis I’d seen in the photos of the Messette yacht and tattooed on his forearm.
My heart skipped as a terrible idea occurred to me. “Do the Messettes own Noir?” I met Bastien’s surprised glance, and my stomach squished. We pulled up in front of Marie’s building.
“You are smart girl.” I didn’t like Bastien at all in that moment.
“Why would you take us to a bar he owned if you want me to stay away from him?” Yeah, I can make deductions, too, I wanted to add. I was the daughter of a police inspector after all.
A corner of his mouth lifted up.
Whoa. Discovery: Don’t ask a question you think you know the answer to, and don’t like. I grabbed my clutch, the door handle, and let myself out.
“Fleur!” he called after me, but I rushed to the door, letting myself in before he had time to reach me. He loitered for a minute or two outside of the locked lobby. I didn’t want to give him a chance to explain away the events, which I needed to sort out for myself.
Once safely in the elevator, I went back over the encounter. I bit the remaining lip gloss off of my lips. Why would Bastien take me to the nightclub, which he seemed to frequent, owned by someone he thought was bad? And then, openly witnessing Louis come on to me, warn me off him?
It was hard not to conclude he’d used me.
Looking back on the elevator incident with the ménage à trois , Bastien had been watching me closely, and probably got a pretty clear read on me. I mean I was obviously riled up by Louis’s presence. More importantly, Louis stared him down. I swallowed, smoothing my hair and my dress, as the elevator doors opened and I stepped out. What if Bastien took me to Louis’s club to see if he could provoke Louis? And he had: Louis tried to get me to ditch Bastien. His smug smile popped into my mind.
But . . . why? Why would Bastien do that?
I stepped out of my heels, my feet whimpering thank you the rest of the way down the hall. What had Bastien really been after? I sensed somehow this wasn’t really about me. But what?
The worst part was the truth that stood quietly on the sidelines waiting for acknowledgement: those two were clearly playing games, and I had been nothing but a pawn.
Chapter 5
“What? He humped you in the bar? Like a dog in heat?!” squealed Jess over the phone the next morning, delighted at the juicy news. Yesterday she’d sent me five texts about how bored she was back at work. She has to be the only person I know who misses school. She added, as if I’d been holding out, “Well, how big was it?”
“Big.” I sipped my coffee, sitting on the kitchen bar stool. I’d already told her the Bastien date was a bust, no additional details required.
“Of course it is!” I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Did you see the size of that man? He’s a mutant.”
I didn’t say anything. I was tingly all over at the idea of that big in me. Say what you will, Louis couldn’t have faked that arousal, no matter what kind of games were being played last night.
I had to wonder, was horniness an ailment? Sex, or lack of it, had never been on my mind to the point of distraction before I met Louis. I should be more focused on my job, or finding someplace to volunteer at, or making plans to entice Marie to spend more time with me.
Pretty much the only
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