Page 97 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
Sporting his new boxers with a green thermal tank, Dean rolled out of his room the next morning, leaving the beautiful Jacqueline sleeping.
Coffee. Croissant. He knew how his dream girl liked to start her day. Since it was nearing nine in the morning, he hoped someone had gone on a croissant run because Thea certainly wasn’t up baking this morning after her party.
He found Kyle leaning against the kitchen island while he readLe Monde, but Dean only had eyes for the half-eaten croissant on his plate. “Tell me you bought enough for the house, man,” he nearly begged.
“If Thea doesn’t bring over treats by her usual seven, then I think we all need to agree it’s only humane to buy enough croissants for everyone.” He glanced up finally. “Hey! Why are you wearing my shorts?”
Ha!
“Not even in your dreams, pal. My girl—the beauty sleeping upstairs in my sumptuous king bed—thought they were the perfect gift for me.”
“You obviously have her fooled, or I underestimated you,” Madison said with an amused snort as she walked in. “The Legend, huh? I’d say you must’ve won her over if she gave you shorts like that.”
He opened his arms. “Who can deny reality?”
“What is reality, really?” Sawyer asked, stumbling forward in a knit robe flecked with paint.
Another snort from Madison had him grinning. Kyle folded the paper closed and laid it down as Sawyer trudged to the coffee machine, his eyes half-open under his gold-rimmed glasses.
“What time did you go to bed?” Dean asked. “I thought I heard you guys come home after midnight.”
“We did, but I painted until four,” Sawyer mumbled as he rubbed his unshaven jaw. “God, I need coffee. Like a man dying for water in the desert.”
“You’re full of your usual fun this morning.” Dean shot Madison a conspiratorial nod as she pulled on her black apron. “I’m grabbing a little morning respite for me and my girl. I’ll have a sign made, but for now, there’s an invisibleDo Not Disturbhanging from the doorknob.”
“Good for you.” Madison fist-bumped him as she handed him a plate for his croissants. “You can represent for those of us who aren’t getting—”
“I think we should probably talk about the upcoming cave auction, don’t you?” Kyle interrupted, a flash of something in his eyes.
Dean looked between him and Madison before biting the inside of his cheek. Clearly, someone did not want to talk about sex or the lack of it. Who could blame him? “What’s there to talk about? We have our bid. I’m going to email it in and also walk it over to the address on the leaflet in a sealed envelope. Seriously, Kyle, I’ve got my dream girl in my dream bed. Upstairs. Have mercy, man.”
“Mercy is a much-needed trait for humankind,” Doc recited, handing him two freshly brewed coffees to add to the plate of croissants he’d already gathered. “Dean, go and live your life. Kyle is always trying to talk business. Go.”
He didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his things and ran for it.
Brooke was coming down the stairs at a healthy clip as he headed up. She held up a hand, worrying her lip. “I hate to interrupt your morning after, but Nanine just called. We have a meeting about the cave at ten at Nanine’s with the owner.”
Jacqueline’s sister? His stomach did a flip-flop. “But that’s in half an hour. And why would she want to meet up before the auction?”
Arms crossed tightly, Brooke lifted a shoulder. “It’s got my nerves jangling. Especially since she wants to meetallParis Roommates Group members. I already called Thea. The owner wouldn’t give the reason or explain the urgency. Nanine wasn’t sure how to read the call, but she’s concerned.”
Concerned was a tepid word for what he was feeling. He looked up the stairs. His vision of spending the morning in bed with Jacqueline sailed out of the window, but now his mind was spinning. What could this impromptu meeting be about? “I’ll get dressed, but I don’t like this. My gut is twitching.”
“Make sure yourlegendisn’t twitching, okay?” She continued down the stairs. “We shouldn’t be late. I’ll harangue the others. Be down in fifteen, Dean.”
Shit. “Fifteen? But it’s a five-minute walk.”
“Fifteen,” she reiterated as her heels clicked on the marble floors. “Don’t make me come and get you.”
“Yes, Mommy,” he muttered, taking the stairs two at a time. “This sucks.”
When he let himself into his bedroom, Jacqueline slid onto her side and gave him a morning smile he wished he could indulge. With no makeup, her hair tousled, and the white sheet wrapped around her, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. But he had to stop the drool factor. Right this minute. Because her sister had just called…
“Good morning. I brought coffee and croissants, which I’d planned to feed to you in bed. The croissants, I mean. But I just found out I have a meeting. At ten. There’s no getting out of it. It’s about the cave.”
She sat up immediately and brushed her hair over her shoulder. “What?”
He came over and sat on the bed, handing her one of the coffees. “Your sister called Nanine and insisted on a meeting. I don’t think it’s because she wants Pierre back.”
