Page 98 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
Her brow knit as she took a sip. “No…but Yvonne is mercurial, so this is not unusual. Perhaps she wants to meet the bidders in person before the auction. Obviously, she is currently in town. With her, one never knows… She didn’t say why?”
That was a downright positive spin on things. “No, and Nanine tried to question the urgency. I mean, it was Thea’s birthday last night, and none of us are chipper for a meeting this morning.”
She gave a weak smile. “No, of course not. Well, you need to dress, then. I’ll get my things and be out of your way.”
“Don’t be silly.” He set his coffee down and cupped her chin so he could meet her worried eyes. “You stay here. We can start our day again after I return.”
Tearing off the end of her croissant, she nodded. “That’s a good plan. Besides, I’ll be wondering why Yvonne wants to meet you. Who, exactly?”
“All of the Paris Roommates Group,” he told her, feeling his internal timepiece clicking. “I’m going to dress. Brooke threatened to come up here and get me if I wasn’t down in fifteen. She’ll do it.”
Jacqueline huffed out a laugh. “I like that about her. She knows how to make things happen. You would say she’s a go-getter in English, correct?”
“Totally,” he said, heading to the bathroom with his coffee. “Some would simply say she’s a New Yorker; we call her Third Course from the French meal. All right, I’m jumping in the shower. I’d ask you to join, but then we’d probably get busted by Brooke.”
She tugged the sheet up higher. “I’ll just stay here and mind my own business.”
He left the bathroom door open, because hey, they were in a relationship and that’s what you did. He showered quickly and then shaved even quicker. When he reentered the bedroom, Jacqueline was standing at the window with her coffee, her back a line of tension. He understood. There was something about this meeting that didn’t seem right, and it couldn’t be easy to hear about her sister and the cave.
He needed to slap himself into Mr. Positivity. Dean Harris didn’t let negative thinking overtake him.
“Dean,” Jacqueline said softly, turning around. “My sister just texted me and asked me to meet her. She gave the address for Nanine’s. I’ve been standing here trying to make sense of it.”
Mr. Positivity fell out the window. “Did she say why?”
“She said it was family-related,” Jacqueline told him, clutching the sheet. “I’m not sure how to respond.”
His mind was going crazy with possibilities again, and none were good. “Why don’t you dress and come down to the kitchen with me? We need to talk to the others.”
Any decision here wasn’t his alone to make. He pulled on his Paris business wear of trousers, a white dress shirt, and a matching suit jacket but wore his new boxers under them for luck.
She pulled on her clothes rapidly as well and tied her hair up with something she pulled from her purse. Putting a neutral lipstick on, she gave a grimace. “Will I do? My dress from last—”
“You need a drawer,” he said, gesturing to his closet. “I’ll find you a place to keep some things here since you’ll be spending time here. I should also give you the code, but I’ll want to tell my roommates about that—”
“Dean.”She crossed in a rapid movement and put her arms around him. “We’ll talk about that after. But thanks. I want to make room for you too. Where I am. It’s only a room since I’m in transition…”
His mood dipped up marginally. “I can’t wait! We have a date to talk about all this later. But you’re right, we’ve gotta hurry.”
They took the stairs two at a time only to find everyone standing at the bottom waiting for them. Everyone saidBonjourto Jacqueline, but he expected they figured she was on her way out.
“I gave you a minute-long grace period, Dean,” Brooke said, pointing to her watch. “Thank you for not making me come up there.”
“I still say it would have been amusing,” Madison joked, but Dean could tell she was only trying to lighten everyone’s tension.
He was about to do the opposite and add to it. “So… Interesting addition to our meeting. Jacqueline’s sister texted her to meet and gave Nanine’s address. That’s why she’s down here.”
Brooke winced and Sawyer shoved his glasses up his nose. Madison only tapped her foot. Kyle, however, blew out a long breath, along with what sounded like a muted swear word.
“So we all agree that’s a little weird, right?”
Mr. Positivity tried to put on a smile, but like the rest of them, he was wondering whether their worst fears for the cave were about to hit the fan. Kyle headed to the front door. They all followed and walked to the street entrance.
“Any ideas or speculation?” Dean asked.
“None I’d like to share at the moment,” Kyle answered, closing his jacket button and straightening his tie.
“I think we go there and find out,” Brooke said practically, worrying a nail. “Speculation wastes energy, and we don’t have the time.”
