Page 40 of Brooke
“That’s a relief. Back in Iowa, people would be talking about me going to hell in a handbasket. Good thing I’m in France.”
“With me.” He played with the ties of her apron. “With your best friends and roommates. Brooke is very much one of them.”
She punched her dough again for good measure when her eyes started to fill with tears. “No one’s ever loved me this much. I’m so lucky.”
“You are, and we are equally lucky to have you in our lives.” He captured her dough-caked hands in his and leaned in to give her a kiss so achingly good her toes curled. “Now, finish your bread and go tell Brooke.”
“Maybe I should wait a few days. Like the kind of breaddough you put in the refrigerator to cool down the bubbling process. Yep, that’s it. I need to cool down.”
He only gazed at her with patience. “Today,chérie.You will only feel relieved once you do.”
She nuzzled the side of his neck where his lingering cologne remained along with that spicy male scent all his own. Her heart swelled with love, and she felt the full realization of what finding her wedding dress meant. It was another step in their commitment to each other. He was hers, and his scent would be with her for the rest of her life. Like her bread starter, Doughreen. “I’m so happy I met you, Jean Luc. I love you so much.”
He cupped her waist, playing with her apron strings again. “Me as well,mon amour.Finish your bread before I sweep you off your feet and make wild passionate love to you.”
The pull was too strong, so she playfully twined her arms around him, careful not to mess up his suit. She’d never had a real lover until Jean Luc. He was one of the main ingredients in her recipe for a delicious life. “Do your worst with me. Maybe it will give me the courage I need.”
She knew her voice sounded dramatic. Still, he laughed and lifted her into his arms. “What about your bread?”
“Another rising won’t hurt it.”
His laughter was as dark as the chocolate in her chocolate croissants. “That’s what all the men say, you know.”
“It is?”
When they reached their bedroom, a room he was changing to suit her tastes, she’d recently come to realize, he laid her on their bed. “Only tell me your wedding dress is not in the house so I do not accidently see it beforehand. The superstitious Italian part of me wars with my practical French side, but it still demands attention.”
“It is hanging in the guest room because I plan to take it with me to show Brooke.” A herd of buffalos gallopedthrough her belly. “Oh, Jean Luc, please stop my mind from thinking.”
“With pleasure,ma Thea,”he said, bending his head to kiss her. “Always.”
More than two hours later, she was dodging pedestrians on the street as she rushed over to her roommates’ new house. The garment bag carrying her dress was ungainly on the narrow sidewalks, forcing her to pop out into the street from time to time. When she arrived, those darn buffalos were galloping so loudly her bones were rattling. No one was in the salon, but she heard laughter in the kitchen and straightened her posture.
She could do this.
At the kitchen doorway, she felt her will crumple, because she saw every one of her roommates but Brooke.
“Hey, Thea!” Dean called out first, fingers tangled with Jacqueline’s. They sat at the kitchen island along with the rest of her friends—everyone but Madison, who was cooking something at the stove after another afternoon of training at Nanine’s, and Brooke, who was who knows where. Everyone else called out a greeting, making her throat catch. Gosh, she loved these guys.
“You joining us for dinner tonight?” Kyle asked, swirling his red wine.
Sawyer pulled out an empty barstool for her. “Is Jean Luc out with clients?”
Madison fed Pierre an almond as he walked up her arm to her shoulder. “Not enough closet space at Jean Luc’s for all your new clothes?”
She took a few steps forward, holding the garment bag against her stomach, feeling the dreamy layers of her wedding dress crunch under her nervous hands. “No.” Her voice was whisper rough. “Do you know where Brooke is?”
“Upstairs, getting ready to go out.” Dean was out of hischair in an instant, striding toward her with his long legs. “Hey! What’s the matter? You look like you’re about to cry.”
That comment had Madison stalking away from the stove in her direction as Pierre flew off to his perch. “Someone upset you?”
“Not someone.” She sniffed loudly. “Something.”
Kyle and Sawyer were suddenly in their newly forming circle, Jacqueline joining them as well with worried eyes.
“Tell us what it is, Thea.” Madison reached out and touched her arm awkwardly.
She held out the garment bag. “I found my wedding dress.”
