Page 89 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
“Good idea. A few people might have clued in on what was going on, but we’ll handle that. Tell them it’s all in the past.”
He smoothed his shirt front and buttoned his jacket. Did he really believe that? Because she was fighting to stop herself from running her hands through his hair where he’d ruffled it a little out of place earlier in his anger.
“You look fine for someone who just went ten rounds,” she told him.
Those familiar blue eyes met her gaze. “Twelve, and so do you. Come on, let’s go.”
She didn’t crack a joke when he let her precede him down the stairs. And she tried not to think about him looking at her butt. Instead, she rubbed her lips together and did her best to reach deep for her normal mode of disinterest, accompanied with a sliver of connection and passion. But she stopped short when she reached the end of the stairs leading to the kitchen.
Nanine was there, and when she looked up, Madison knew she’d heard them yelling. Her gaze was long, steady, and searching, and Madison felt Kyle turn all stiff again at the examination.
She forced a smile. “We’re going to celebrate the beginning of Dean’s ‘It’ idea, Nanine—”
“Yes, Brooke texted me.” She leaned back against the counter, studying them avidly. “I was leaving when I heard fighting. I decided to remain here until I was sure it would pass. Pierre was upset.”
By her careful tone, she clearly had felt the same way. “Just a little disagreement over our choice of rooms at the new place, Nanine,” she said more breezily than she felt. “Kyle told us you helped him outfit the kitchen. Thank you.”
“You have him to thank, Madison, not me.” She walked over to Pierre’s cage, which was covered with the burgundy throw, clearly to calm him down. Now that was a new low. Scaring a parrot.
“She’s a stubborn one, our Madison.” Kyle jostled her like she was an old pal from his parents’ country club, making her grit her teeth. “But we’ve worked out her fears of more space. Did you know some people genuinely have a phobia about that?”
Nanine donned her cream-colored coat and then expertly wrapped a red scarf around her neck. “No, I did not.”
Madison wanted to fall through the floor. Nanine knew what was going on, and she didn’t like it. Worse, she didn’t like them not fessing up to the truth. But why would they? They’d just shut the box upstairs and thrown the key away. Or at least that’s what they’d agreed to do.
“Well…” Kyle’s voice trailed off before he cleared his throat. “We were going to get cakes for the celebration. Do you have a favorite place?”
“The patisserie around the corner has excellentgateaus,” she answered as she donned gloves. “You are sure everything is all right? The chandelier clanged as if all was wrong in the world.”
Her stomach sank. That would confirm the worst for Nanine. “Kyle and I can both be blockheads when we set our minds to it, but we’re good now. Right, Kyle?”
His smile showed too much teeth. Yeah, he knew Nanine was onto them. “Right.”
The big question lingering in the air made her feel like she’d eaten bad clams.
What was Nanine going to do about it?
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Dean couldn’t imagine a better day.
He bounced on his newly delivered mega-king bed, the kind Brooke said mammoth-sized athletes bought, satisfied with the bones of his draft business plan. He was still missing the tech angle—the game changer—but he could feel it out there, like when you knew rain was in the air but hadn’t felt any drops yet.
Rolling onto his back, he smiled at the ceiling. He was moments away from meeting Jacqueline to take her as his date to Thea’s thirtieth birthday party. Perhaps later she would break in the bed with him—because they’d voted as a house that overnight guests were allowed. The only addendum: the person could not be crazy or a complete stranger. He was okay with that, and apparently so was everyone else.
“Are you rolling around on your bed like a pig in a poke?”
Caught. He glanced over at Kyle standing in the doorway, fixing his cuffs under his navy suit jacket. “I’m bouncing, not rolling, and I think I know what that pig thing means, but I’m objecting just in case I’m wrong.”
Kyle huffed out a laugh and strolled in, closing the door to his room.
Dean’s inner alarm went off. “Don’t ruin what has been a perfectly good day, man, especially since it involved drafting a business plan for you to review.”
Kyle leaned against the far wall. “Nice to hear, but I wanted to make sure you know the game plan. Jacqueline is a special guest at our little sister’s thirtieth birthday party. No talk about the cave or anything business-related. I know Jacqueline wants you to put a bid on the cave for her, but let’s steer clear from that minefield.”
Dean shoved off the bed, trying not to get pissed. He’d told them about her request after their champagne toast at the new house, saying he was on a roll with the whole kismet thing. But it had brought up some hard feelings in his roommates, just like the earlier vote had. He’d resigned himself to the tension, knowing the auction was only three days away. They would either win it or they wouldn’t, and the tension would finally end.
But this patronizing? He walked over and studied his image in the antique mirror that had come with his room. He adjusted his collar even though it was perfect, making sure Kyle understood he was his own man. “I don’t expect business to come up at a party. We’re all adults, Kyle. It’s you and Madison everyone is worried about since you two went at each other like alley cats the other day. You want to talk about it?”
