Page 19 of Love in Bloom

Tristan took her hand, his expression somber, and she stared into his brown eyes. “You’ll find I’m a very tender lover.”

She felt the color drain from her face. “If you think—”

He winked at her.

“Oh.” She wrenched her hand away from his, annoyed at having fallen for his joke. “You were putting me on!”

He laughed and placed his hands on the back of the couch. “I did think the sleeping arrangements through and will be having a lovely slumber on this couch.”

“If we were really married and you pulled a joke on me like that, you would be sleeping on the couch.”

“Now, now, Mrs. Penrose, let’s not have our first fight on our honeymoon night.”

She plucked a pillow from the bed and chucked it at him.

He caught it and fluffed it before setting it on the couch. “One less pillow I’ll have to steal from the bed.”

Despite her irritation with Tristan, a laugh escaped her. “I’m going to unpack.” She opened her suitcase. “I’ll take the top drawers. You can have the bottom ones.”

“Righto. I’ll wait until you’re done.” He settled onto the couch and opened the Manila envelope. “Better get a look at our itinerary.”

Camille focused on putting her clothes away rather than focusing on Tristan’s legs propped on the coffee table or on the mischievous look in his eye when he played a joke or on the curl of hair at the nape of his neck.

Her phone rang, and Connor’s face filled the screen. She answered his video call. “Hello, cousin.”

His cheeks were red. “Where the blazes are you, Camille, and what’s going on?”

“Hello to you too.”

“When I saw you’d changed location, I thought the app must be malfunctioning, and I called the hotel. They said you checked out. What are you doing in Sainte-Maxime?”

She looked into the living area and saw Tristan’s wide eyes peeking over the back of the couch.

“Uh, pardon me. Just going to have a little chat with my cousin,” she explained to Tristan, and shut the double French doors separating the spaces. “How do you know where I am? What app? Are you tracking me?” She plopped down on the bed, noting that Connor was at home.

Connor rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes, I am. For years I’ve had the app that tracks friends on my phone. Never had to use it until now. No one I cared about ever went anywhere.”

“You turn that off. I have a right to my privacy. I can do what I like. I’m a grown woman. It’s my life, and you have no right to stalk me. I thought we trusted one another.”

His shoulders slumped as he paced his living room. “Of course we trust each other. That’s not the issue. I’m worried about you, Camille. We all are. You gave us quite a fright. I’ve been checking the app since you went to France in case you ended up in the hospital again. That way I’d have a heads-up and could get started on being there for you.”

All of Camille’s ire faded away. “Sorry I yelled.” She smoothed the coverlet. “I know you care, Connor. Thanks for that. But I really am fine.”

“Tell me what you’re doing.” He rested against the back of the couch.

“I met up with an old university chum and decided to go sightseeing.”

“Why didn’t you send me a message instead of giving me a heart attack?”

Camille chewed her bottom lip.

Connor straightened. “Camille, what are you not telling me? Who are you with?”

“My friend Tristan Penrose. We had chemistry class together. He and I met at the resort and enjoyed some wonderful time touring Nice. His chum’s wife got us into the super exclusive French Royal Château and Garden Tour, and we had to be here for the start. The tour is a chance of a lifetime. I wouldn’t have the opportunity if it wasn’t for Tristan.”

“That all seems on the up and up, and I’m happy you have this chance. I take it you have separate rooms.” He quirked an eyebrow. Their parents had been very strict in their upbringing about no sex before marriage.

Camille looked away from Connor’s penetrating gaze. Blast his older brother/cousin instincts! “Um, no. We’re in the same room actually.”

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