Page 114 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
Dean picked up his flute and handed Jacqueline’s to her. “And to Pierre, who’s become the face of PRG.”
The parrot gave a whistle as everyone lifted their glasses and called out, “Santé.”
“I love you guys,” Pierre said with another shrill whistle. “Like Voltaire said—”
Everyone groaned, and Madison nudged Sawyer.
“Seriously, man?” Dean asked. “How much Voltaire have you taught him?”
“We’re only just beginning,” Doc responded, adjusting his spectacles. “It’s good for everyone to know philosophy and the humanities. After all, the highest pursuits in life come from the highest ideals of love, the arts… Oh, never mind. Pierre, why don’t you tell everyone the saying I taught you last night. The one I said to say when Dean took Jacqueline in his arms and dipped her for a kiss.”
Dean traded a look at Jacqueline. “Are you saying we need to do that now?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Doc said, motioning to them with his hands.
Dean turned and looked at her. “I will if you will.”
She set her champagne down with a flirtatious smile. “I’ll never pass up a chance to kiss my soulmate, my dream man.”
He puffed up at that. He rather liked the sound of it. “Okay, get ready. I’ve never dipped anyone before.”
“Don’t drop her,” Madison warned with a grimace.
He dipped her slowly. “Hey! I work out.”
Jacqueline touched his jaw. “We know,mon chéri.Now kiss me.”
“As you wish, my lady,” he said, pressing his lips softly to hers.
His friends whistled and cheered and through the cacophony he heard Sawyer say, “Now, Pierre.”
Then the parrot gave another happy whistle and said, “Love conquers all.”
Dean pressed another kiss to his dream girl’s lips.
Damn right it did.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Brooke stood in the window of their new home, waiting for her father to arrive.
God, the nerves. Her fingers itched to take out a cigarette, but her dad hated seeing her smoke, and secondhand smoke wasn’t good for him.
But since his heart attack, she couldn’t seem to unwire her nerves from her thoughts of him. After her mom had left, he’d loved her as much as two parents to make up for her mother abandoning her. He meant so much to her…
“You okay?”
Turning, she saw Kyle stroll into the formal salon. “Yeah, waiting for my dad and thinking.”
“I got that.” He came over and joined her at the window. “I have something for you.”
She glanced over at the magazine he held up. She knew it, of course.Maison Stylewas one of the leading interior design magazines in Paris. “A magazine subscription?” she asked with a nudge to his side. “You shouldn’t have.”
He opened the magazine and held out the spread to her. “You know this interior decorator, right?”
She glanced at the name in the byline. Axel Erikson was as hot in Europe as he was in New York and beyond, and not only because of his obvious sex appeal. She hadn’t met him, but she’d heard plenty of stories. Mostly good. “Of course. My question is how do you know the name of one of the biggest interior decorators in the world?”
Closing the magazine, he tucked it to his side. “I do my research.”
