Page 58 of The Little Provence Book Shop

He made a flicking gesture with his hand. ‘It is nothing.’

‘But I was so rude! I was rushing, because…’

‘You don’t need to explain,’ he said, although now he was looking at her directly. ‘I also need to apologise for almost punching your brother!’

Adeline laughed. ‘Oh well, he probably deserved it,’ she joked.

There was a pause and Adeline found herself forming words in her mind.Let me buy you a coffee to make up for it!The sort of thing that someone more socially competent might say to a potential friend. But the words died before they reached her tongue.

André was just turning to go when Michel shot out a hand and put it on his forearm. ‘Wait,’ he said.

André looked at the hand quizzically.

‘I have an idea,’ Michel said, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

27

‘Are you sure this is OK?’ Adeline said as she leant heavily on his arm. Her ankle pain was ebbing away a little but it was still quite painful to walk. Later she’d ice it and it would hopefully feel better.

‘Of course,’ André said, supporting her weight effortlessly with his – ridiculously muscular, now she could see it up close – arm. He was wearing a T-shirt, and feeling his skin against hers as she hobbled felt strangely intimate.

As they rounded the corner she could see the bookshop, the light reflecting slightly on the glass, making it impossible to see beyond the book display in any detail. But she hoped that Monique might be there, peering out and hoping to witness the result of the engineered ‘meet cute’ between her and Michel.

‘How about,’ Michel had suggested in the cafe, ‘André takes you back to the shop. Perhaps you can look a little romantic together? Perhaps, at last, this will show Monique that she may be able to control some things, but she cannot force two people together if they are not right for one another.’

‘Oh, no,’ Adeline had protested. ‘We can’t ask André to do that.’

But André was smiling. ‘I am happy to help,’ he’d said, offering an arm. ‘It will be a pleasure.’

She wondered now, feeling the heat of his body close to hers, whether he’d meant it would be a pleasure to help send a message to Monique, or perhaps a pleasure to help his friend, Michel. Or was there any part of him that had meant it would be a pleasure to help her in this way?

And was it her imagination, or the fact that she’d spent too long in Monique’s company, or did she really feel some sort of connection between them where their arms touched? A sort of tingle of recognition, as if he was both a brand-new acquaintance and someone she’d known for a very long time.

She looked up at his face, his jaw strong and set from this angle, his long-lashed eyes and tousled hair, and – perhaps sensing that she was looking – he glanced down at her.

She felt suddenly silly, hanging on to the arm of a man she barely knew, imagining all sorts of things. Could he sense it? She dropped his arm.

‘I think I’ll be OK from here,’ she said, gesturing to the door of the bookshop just a few metres ahead.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Don’t worry. And thanks for… you know, helping.’

‘It was a pleasure.’

Which bit?she wanted to ask.

‘I hope Monique will have got the message that she shouldn’t meddle with matters of the heart,’ André said. ‘I hope she has seen us together.’

‘Yes,’ Adeline agreed.

‘But perhaps…’ he stepped forward so his body was just inches from hers again, his face leaning in towards her, his voice quiet. ‘Perhaps we should make sure she definitely knows there is no chance for you and Michel.’

She looked at him, his earnest eyes hard to read. ‘And how would we—’ she began.

He gently leaned down and put a hand under her chin, tilting her face towards him. Then slightly hesitantly, he brought his lips to hers and kissed her carefully.

There it was again, that feeling of this being both a first kiss and something timeless. Before she had time to question herself, she found herself leaning into him, kissing him back.

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