Page 50 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
“Next he’ll be wearingArc de Triompheboxers,” Kyle added, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “Some of us don’t need to advertise what’s obvious.”
“Okay, that’s it!” She picked up Nanine’s ancient egg timer, halting any thoughts about Kyle not needing to advertise his prowess. “Out! Brooke is coming back from a fashion meeting, and we’re leaving in fifteen minutes. Until then, you morons need to find another place to banter. Some of us have a cherry marinade to make.”
“Yes, Chef,” Dean replied in a playfully serious voice. “Can I take Pierre with me?”
“Non,” Pierre answered, flying over to her and landing on her shoulder. “I will assist Chef Madison.”
She gave a little shudder as he settled, still getting used to the feeling of having the parrot in her personal space. “Thank you, Pierre. The rest of you, out!”
She’d never been the sort to make dramatic demands, the way other chefs did, but she was starting to understand the appeal. It felt good!
“I’m only going because I want you to be happy,” Kyle said in a slow drawl that had her eyes crossing.
“You know you’ll miss us,” Dean added as they both left.
When the kitchen was quiet again—too quiet—she turned to Pierre.
“I hate to admit it, but Dean was right.” She especially missed the man with the sizzling blue eyes and sexy Texas drawl, but that was something she’d keep to herself.
Pierre nodded, and she turned her focus onto the one thing she had complete control over: creating her signature plate.
CHAPTERTWELVE
His dream girl wasn’t here.
Of course, who knew how many interested parties were touring the cave before the auction. Dean didn’t imagine the seller needed to be present. Talk about time-consuming. That was why a person hired someone to handle the auction, after all. Maybe Jacqueline wanted things to appear as fair and professional as possible. He respected that. Still, he scanned the space a second time. It did no good. Unless Jacqueline could shrink herself down to the size of a fairy, he’d have already seen her in the small front of the dusty Chez Papa restaurant.
“Celine, I thought the owner of the cave might be joining us,” Kyle said casually. “We bought the family’s parrot, you know.”
Points to Golden Boy for asking. Dean rocked back on his heels, awaiting the answer along with Madison, Brooke, and Nanine.
The owner of the wine shop gave a very French shrug. “The owner does not plan to be present for the many viewings scheduled. I am fully authorized to show you the cave, of course, and answer your questions.”
Dean pretty much nodded to himself. Yeah, why waste the time when you had a minion? He could see the others thinking the same way as they relaxed.
“Thank you,” Nanine replied, glancing around the space streaming with sunshine and dust motes. “Shall we then turn to the viewing?”
They had to descend down the stairs via a creaky ladder that gave him the heebie-jeebies. With his weight of two hundred and thirty pounds at six-one, he was putting those rungs to the test. He looked up to see Kyle waiting at the entrance in the floor above.
“If I break the ladder and fall to my death, know I did it in the service of my friends,” Dean called out.
“You really are channeling Sawyer now,” Kyle told him. “Shut up and concentrate. Lighten your body. Like a ninja or something.”
The ladder gave another terrifying creak. “Do I look like a ninja? I’m a total klutz.”
“Just keep going and think positive thoughts,” Kyle replied.
He brought up an image of featherlight Jacqueline going down this ladder to fetch a wine bottle for her father before a loud groan stole the thought. “Hold it together,” he told the ladder.
“If you break it, I’m going to have to pull all the women up with a rope, along with your fat ass, and I won’t have anyone to help me. So don’t break it.”
Right. He finished scaling the rungs slowly and breathed a sigh of relief when his feet touched uneven ground. Madison was waiting at the bottom beside him.
“You took long enough.” She poked him in the chest with concerned eyes. “Take a breath, Dean. You look pale.”
“Give me a minute to be grateful I’m still alive.”
“I think that ladder has ten more rungs and fifty more years than the one leading down to Nanine’s cave,” Madison said, glancing up. “Hey, Kyle! Hurry up. I think the rats are amassing, sensing they outnumber us.”
