Page 83 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
Good morning. Maybe I’m not clearheaded, but did you mean to say you have a new home? It’s in Paris, yes? And I would love to meet you tonight for room service and more. I missed you this morning.
He touched her words on his screen, imagining her wearing one of the hotel’s plush white robes, her hair all mussed and down around her shoulders. Maybe even showing a little of that sexy shoulder he’d kissed his way down last night.
Seven too early? I’ll need some time today to give Pierre a tour of his new digs. I’m sure he’s going to love it. You should see the kitchen. Hey! I should probably check out the wine cave. This place has got to have a nice one. See you later, beautiful.
She sent a heart emoji back, like she had earlier, and he felt the impact of it in his chest. He was certainly feeling it. Did that mean something more to a French person? He had no clue. “Great! Now that’s all I’m going to think about. And Nanine won’t know because she doesn’t do emojis.”
“Are you talking to yourself?” Thea asked, coming across the cobbles awkwardly in her navy high heels.
He met her and took her arm to steady her. “Yeah. Love has a way of making us a little crazy. You know.”
She blushed. “I do. I needed to get out of the house with all that yelling. Were you texting Jacqueline?”
“I was,” he drew out happily.
“I heard you stayed with her last night,” she said, ducking her head. “I hope it’s not weird I said anything. I’m just so happy for you, Dean.”
He tucked his phone in his pocket. “Me too. Come on. We’ll brave the inside again together. I need to find the cave in this place.”
“You obsessed with wine all of a sudden?” she asked with a sweet smile.
He was, he realized, except it was liquor in general. “I have a lot of ideas swimming around up here,” he said, tapping his head. “Related to my ‘It’ idea. For example, how did you learn about wine?”
She sputtered with laughter, looking like the small-town little sister they all saw her as. “I don’t. Jean Luc knows, but if I have to choose what to get, I ask someone knowledgeable for a recommendation. I’ve even taken photos of certain vintages, hoping to surprise Jean Luc with a good bottle when I make dinner at home, but then I can’t find the wine anywhere. Last time, I had to call three stores. It’s aggravating.”
Exactly!
“I’ve done that too. Loved a wine a sommelier suggested only to discover it’s impossible to find. Even online.”
“Because shipping alcohol is a funny business for us commoners,” Thea said, gesturing to herself. “Then there are the wine suggestions from the liquor store people. Their ideas are mostly good, but they aren’t chefs. You know. They don’t really know what I’m looking for when I say I want to make fried chicken or Chicago deep dish pizza. They know wine. Not food flavors.”
“I’ve been thinking the same things!”
He suddenly could see Nanine’s menu in technicolor in his head. They would pair wines with the dishes, of course, but more, they would sell said wines for people to take home—either in Paris or to the U.S. or whatever place they were from. People shipped wine home all the time or tucked a bottle or two in their suitcase. God knows he’d done the same when returning from previous visits to France. They could also tell customers what else the wine paired with. Madison—Jacqueline too, for that matter—would be a great resource. The wordsAlso Pairs Withappeared clearly in his mind, the font elegant but authoritative.
“Dean,” Thea called, putting her hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”
“All right?” He plucked her off the ground and spun her in a circle, making them both laugh. “Hey! I think my ‘It’ idea is taking shape. We need to have a storefront linked to Nanine’s and your bakery. People can buy the wine they just drank at Nanine’s or pick up a gift basket of Valentine’s Day treats paired with alcohol. Or anything else we decide to sell. That part was Kyle’s idea, but I really appreciate the brainstorming aspect of this partnership. That would get us around the whole liquor license issue with your bakery.”
“What are you doing with my fiancée?” Jean Luc asked, appearing in the courtyard.
Dean walked over and grabbed him in a bear hug. “Bro, congratulate me. I’m a huge step closer to finalizing my new ‘It’ idea.” Because he was so close, but he still needed that game-changing component.
“I will if you retract the whole ‘bro’ nonsense,” Jean Luc said with a smile.
“You’re just playing hard to get.” He punched Jean Luc’s shoulder. “Face it, you’re Thea’s and that makes you one of us. Besides, I’m going to need you as my lawyer for what I’m thinking. God, I’ll need to find a storefront close to our current holdings too. Come on! I need to tell everyone.” He didn’t care if it wasn’t one hundred percent cooked yet. He was on a roll.
He ran back into the house, nearly skidding on the freshly polished floors. “Yo! Roomies! Business partners! Friends!”
“I amnotlending you my ear, or anything else,” Brooke said, appearing at the top of the next floor’s balcony.
“Call Doc and the others,” he yelled, throwing out his arms. “My ‘It’ idea is finally gelling and I want to run you through what I’m thinking so far.”
“What are you yelling about?” Kyle asked after letting himself in through the French doors across the salon.
“Were you in our new place of business?” he asked, pointing to the doors across the courtyard.
“Yeah, the ones I’ve decided will work for the purpose,” he answered, buttoning his jacket, “since some people seem to be losing their minds today.”
