Page 112 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
He nearly groaned as he unbuttoned his coat and jacket, displaying his shirt.
“Soulmate,” she read, pressing her hand to her heart. “I confess I might want a matching T-shirt of that. So you remember who I am to you.”
Okay, that had his heart sighing a little. “Done. Now about the music. A little bird—ha—told me. Please remember that this is how desperate I was to show you how much I love you and want you back.”
She was trying not to smile and failing. “I will endeavor to remember,chéri.”
Stepping back with a grimace, he pulled off Pierre’s burgundy throw and took out the speaker. Pierre seemed to meet his eyes, nodding his head vigorously as if to indicate he was ready. Setting the speaker on the ground, he reached for his phone and hit play.
The song began, and Pierre started to whistle. Jacqueline’s face went blank with shock, and then she pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, you didn’t,” she said with a delighted laugh.
He started humming along. “I so did,” he said before picking up the beat again with Pierre. But that was all he was doing. Because John Cusack didn’t sing inSay Anything. That was his story and he was sticking to it.
People from a passing tourist cruiser suddenly cheered, and then he heard Sawyer yell, “Hold the speaker up over your head.”
His gaze tracked to the voice. He spotted Sawyer bending over the side of the railing, waving his hands over his own head in demonstration.
Looking down at the speaker, which was petite in comparison to the boombox in the movie, he decided to go for it. Because that’s what a guy did to win the girl…
Jacqueline rushed him then, and he almost dropped the speaker.
The cheers grew louder in his ears, and his heart settled in his chest when she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with passion and tenderness. Withlove.
He bobbled the speaker as he lowered it, and he heard Pierre whistle, “Kiss her again, you fool.”
Someone must have fed him that line as well, and the Shakespeare sonnet he started reciting about time and rosy lips and love not altering. The rest was a haze amidst the welcome return of Jacqueline’s mouth and the way she pressed herself to him as more cheers sounded around them.
When she wrenched back, she touched his face with a trembling hand. “I loved the Celine Dion song! But why did you put that speaker over your head?”
He drew back. “You’ve never seen the movieSay Anything?” he asked incredulously.
She shook her head.
He started to laugh. “Oh, my roommates aren’t going to believe this. A grand gesture for nothing.”
Then Pierre started whistling another Celine Dion song, and Dean heard people join in to sing “My Heart Will Go On.” He groaned, glancing around at the crowd gathering around them. People were holding up cameras as Pierre gave another grand performance. They had started with fanfare at Luxembourg Gardens, he decided, so perhaps this was more good luck. He’d certainly prefer to think of it that way.
“Jacqueline,” he whispered, kissing her neck.
“Yes, my soulmate?” she responded softly, caressing the word on his T-shirt.
He grinned. Was there a better endearment than that? He so owed his friend. “Did I mention that I think I have a name for our store? If you agree, of course.”
“Tell me,” she said in that sexy voice that made his knees go weak.
“How about Wine Pairings by Pierre?” he suggested, glancing down at the parrot. “Lots of stores in Paris have English names, and I believe he’s our ace in the hole, as we Americans say.”
“I love it!” She kissed him full on the mouth and then leaned down to open the parrot’s cage, drawing him out expertly. “What do you say, Pierre? Would you like to help me and Dean with our new business?”
“Oui,” he answered, rocking vigorously on her arm. “I adore my friends!”
Dean heard more cheering, and he looked up again to where his friends stood and waved. Brooke had her arm around a grinning Thea while Sawyer stood in the middle between Kyle and Madison. They were so coming down here, they wouldn’t be able to help themselves, but as he leaned down to kiss Jacqueline again, he figured that’s why the old saying had stuck around.
That’s what friends were for, after all.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
The champagne came out in full force when they got back to the house, and Dean couldn’t have imagined a better choice.
