Page 11 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
“But they picnic practically every day. Ah,l’amour,” he drawled. “How does one live without it?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Are we that cynical?”
His cynicism was cracking lately, courtesy of the emotional roller coaster of the last couple months and his reconnection to the people he cared about. He didn’t like to admit to that, but it was a fact. He felt more with this family of his. “When it pays to be.”
He held out his fist and she fist-bumped it like the good friends they were. Another reason he shouldn’t be thinking about kissing or her breasts—and certainly not both at the same time. He forced his attention back to his phone. “Jacqueline Beaumont is a sommelier who gets around.”
She leaned closer, and the spicy smell of her as well as her breasts brushing his side had him gritting his teeth for control. “Successful sommeliers often have to in order to move up the ladder. Talk.”
“She certainly picked an impressive wine school. She graduated from the Court of Master Sommeliers—”
Madison let out a whistle. “That’s one of the toughest certifications in the world with a very limited group of graduates. I’m impressed, and that’s not—”
“Easy to do,” he finished again and wanted to howl from the way his head was spinning. They needed to stop finishing each other’s sentences.
“So she’s the Sawyer of wine,” Madison concluded.
He tapped his phone screen. “Yeah, and she’s got the kind of résumé that would make a wine collector’s palms go damp. Stints with Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, London, and even Dean’s hometown.”
“San Francisco.” She let out a dry laugh. “How lucky can we get? More kismet, he’ll say.”
Dean was the dreamer of the group. That was why they loved him. Only, sometimes it drove Kyle nuts. “When the whole San Fran connection comes up, I’ll counter by saying if it were kismet, they would have run into each other before now.”
Madison kicked out her long legs, and he had to pull back his gaze when it wandered to them. “Which he’ll only counter with a zinger likethe timing wasn’t rightormaybe we did and didn’t know it.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Good one. She’s spent the last two years in Hong Kong.”
“Major wine market, especially for French wine. I imagine she’d have clients from her work as a sommelier who’d be interested in the cave she’s selling.”
“That’s to be expected, but competitive is our middle name, right?”
“Right.” Madison rubbed the back of her neck, and he couldn’t help but notice that her usually short black hair was growing out—and it was awfully sexy and rich in texture. He gripped his phone and made himself look back at the screen. “She speaks French, of course, and English—”
“So she can communicate with Dean when he’s got his crazy on,” she said, crowding closer to look at his phone screen.
He found himself laughing. Madison was always making him laugh with her dry humor. “Yes, and won’t that be fun.”
She peered closer to his screen to read Jacqueline’s profile. “She also speaks Chinese. Jesus, seriously?”
Kyle toggled over to her social media page. “So she’s gorgeous and smart—”
“Dean’s always liked smart. You’ve got to get him in the head to get him into bed, I think.”
Don’t go there, he told himself. Latching on to a safer topic, he said, “She does seem nice from her posts.”
“This discerning assessment coming from the guy who was recently engaged to that drama queen Paisley?” She narrowed her lustrous eyes at him. “How can you tell she’s nice?”
It was a good question. He’d thought Paisley was nice, after all, but she’d become a whole different person after the proposal. She’d gotten what she wanted, he guessed, and decided to show her true colors.
Either way, he was glad for the reminder that his judgment was impaired. Maybe it was still impaired, and that was why he’d been having these feelings about Madison. Maybe he was going against his usual type and with someone he couldn’t touch because it was safe. It would be a good way to put him in a dating time-out.
He lifted a shoulder. “There are photos of Jacqueline smiling at that parrot with serious affection. It must have been hard for her to let him go. Don’t be insulted, but would you smile at a parrot?”
She nearly jutted him with her pointed chin. “You didn’t hear? Pierre and I have fallen so deeply in love that we’re going out tomorrow night for dinner and a movie.One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nestseems like a good choice to kick off our romance.”
“Who’s driving?” he joked, his gaze settling on her again. He could barely help himself.
“Funny.” She sobered and stared straight ahead for a moment. “So she’s nicer than me since I wouldn’t have my photo taken with a parrot. Huh.”
