Page 38 of The Desire

“Rem, wait!” she calls after me, but I’m not stopping. Thankfully I find a cash register that is free, where I dump the boxes on the counter, and as Elouise catches up to me, I grab all the clothes out of the cart and throw them down too.

The crazy clinger woman is still standing in the line behind Elouise, smiling at me like we have some weird connection. There is only one way to get rid of her.

Tapping my credit card on the machine and ushering both Blaise and Elouise past me to head to the car, I turn to the woman who is now calling me by name since she must have heard Elouise use it, asking for my phone number.

I answer it in a final statement that will hopefully sink in. “Nice to meet you, sorry, I need to catch up to my wife and son.”

Stomping behind Blaise and Elouise out the door, all I can hear is El laughing and mumbling under her breath, “Did the nice lady scare the big tough security man, flashing her big titties at him and batting her eyelashes.”

“El!” I growl as I open the back hatch and throw all the bags in.

Storming around the car and lifting Blaise into his seat, I strap him in, and like a hammer hitting me in the chest, I see the look he is giving me… I’ve scared him!

Great, just great.

This is why I hate fucking shopping! Next time we do it my way.

Jumping into the front seat, I turn to El. “Time for ice cream, and I don’t want to hear a word from you.”

Still laughing at me, she pretends to zip her lips, but the giggle still escapes. Which has me just rolling my eyes at her and hoping Blaise will love me again after a double scoop of rainbow ice cream.

Am I buying my son’s love? Absolutely! Because I seem to be failing at this parenting gig, and I don’t know how to fix it.

Not the best way to start, but it will do for now.

Maybe I don’t just need French lessons but should enroll in parenting 101 too. I can run a whole division of a huge multinational company, yet I don’t know how to father a four-year-old.

I’m quickly learning which job is harder.

Chapter Eight

ELOUISE

“It was the funniest thing I have ever seen, Tori.” I’m lying on my bed, FaceTiming with her after I got Blaise to sleep.

I don’t have to worry that Nic is in the background listening to us because the boys are on a Zoom call, and Rem and I agreed to have a late dinner together after they’ve finished.

Today’s little adventure—or misadventure for Rem—was probably the best thing that could have happened to us. We ended up laughing at each other in the car and could both see the funny side of Rem’s fear of the brazen lady who was trying to hit on him. I mean, seriously, he is a big tough-looking guy, but he just crumbled in the shop. I think it shocked him because I’m not sure it’s ever happened to him before. I didn’t say anything, but it definitely had to do with him being with Blaise, and instead of thinking about himself, his protective nature clicked in straight away and he was thinking about a potential danger to his son by this unknown woman. I’m sure he will work that out for himself soon enough, but for now, it’s my little secret.

“This woman must have thought she hooked herself a meal ticket. I mean, he did stand out, in his perfectly cut jeans, RM Williams boots, a white business shirt with a navy sports jacket that you can just tell is high quality and not something you would buy in a shop like that. And he had a cute kid with him, hot daddy bingo!”

“Oh my God, I can see it now. Maybe we could go and ask for the security footage from the store. It would make for a great video to post in the group chat.” Tori’s suggestion has us both laughing so hard that the tears start to run down my cheeks.

“Poor Rem, he was so out of his comfort zone that his only way to shake her off was to call me his wife. I mean, we all know that could never be the case.” In the back of my mind for a fleeting second it sounded great coming off his lips today, but it won’t happen, so I dismissed it with a laugh straight away.

“Absolutely not. Flynn would kill him for taking his girl, even though I would kill you if you ever became Flynn’s girl, so there’s that too. Safe to say, we need to find you a better candidate so my guys don’t kill each other over you. Plus, who’d want to be the person responsible for breaking up the dynamics of our friend group? The guys all love you like a little sister, which is kinda cute, don’t you think?” Tori has no idea the more she talks, the more depressed I feel. Yeah, yeah, I get it, he will never be mine. That’s why today was a good day. For the first time since I got here, I feel like we are slipping into the friend zone, finally.

“Oh yeah, adorable to have four successful, uber rich and protective men who see me as a little sister. Because that’s going to make finding a boyfriend so easy. I think it would be better if they didn’t care.” It’s okay for Tori, she already has her man.

“You are looking at this the wrong way. Think of all the friends that they can introduce to you. It will save you stalking men in Marks and Spencer like that poor woman today. I mean, the only bonus points I’ll give her is that it’s slightly better than trying to pick up in the vegetable aisle at the green grocers. I mean, it’s just pathetic to be looking for a guy while you are holding a very large… purple… aubergine. Nothing smells more desperate than that.”

“Far out, Tori, where do you come up with this shit? Seriously, our mothers raised us to be ladies… well, maybe… okay, let’s just say they tried.” I can only imagine what she would think if she knew that I was as far from a lady as possible on Christmas night, when I danced like a pole dancer on stage in a strip joint, just for Rem.

“Oh, please, I am such a lady, just ask Nicholas.”

I hear him walking up beside her where she is sitting on the couch. “I call bullshit. You are talking to the two people in this world who know you the best. There is not one part of an English lady in that body of yours, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” His deep voice breaks the conversation, and I see him lean down and kiss the top of her head, and it tells me it’s time to end the call and go back downstairs for dinner with Rem.

“Ahh.” Tori’s gasp at his comment has us all laughing. “Lou, tell him he’s wrong.”

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