La Vie en Bleu (18 page)

Not daring to let that vision penetrate my mind, I scooped another
forkful into my mouth. It tasted wonderful and what was even more amazing was
that I cooked it and it was delicious. Yay me.

“You have always been good at cooking.” Berne squeezed my knee and
left her hand resting on top. “You used to make us dinner sometimes when I was
training.”

“No, I used to make you dinner when I was trying to keep you awake
long enough for a conversation.”

Rebecca looked up. “You
seriously
fell asleep on her?” She
shook her head, disgust crinkling her mouth. “Even Doug keeps his eyes open for
her.”

“I was training full time for the gendarmerie. I was also helping
my father at the weekend.” Berne stared down at her food.

I hated to see her thinking of her lost dream. She’d always wanted
to be an officer, always wanted to follow her brother’s example.

“Couldn’t you join again?” I asked.

Berne looked up. “In theory but I do not wish for that anymore.”

That was something I was thankful for. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to take over my father’s business and make it grow. When
he became ill, I knew that to see his hard work be in vain, to let our
traditions fade, it would be madness.”

I took the hand resting on my knee and kissed it. “Are you happy
with that choice?”

She nodded and kissed my hand back. “
Très
content
. I
find freedom in restoration.”

The sun was setting gently over the hilltops and Berne’s eyes
glowed with the pinks and golds. Soft light bathed her sun-kissed cheeks as she
licked her lips. I leaned in closer, just wanting to look more closely at her
beauty.

“Whoa, Mrs. Fletcher-to-be.” Rebecca’s voice once again pulled me
from the moment. “Kissing the locals is only permitted when you are single.”

There was no missing the glance at Babs.

Subtle.

“I’m technically married to her,” I shot back. “So I
am
allowed.”

To prove my point, I kissed Berne on the tip of her nose. The
small act of rebellion both revolted and excited me. One thing was abundantly
clear, I was cheating on Doug and I needed to have a long conversation with
him. No matter the outcome of the trip, I’d crashed over so many lines that I’d
forgotten where they’d been drawn.

“If you’re married to her, then it won’t matter about you sleeping
in her tent. Although, I think you owe her an explanation as to why you’ve been
having an affair with a guy for eight years.”

Rebecca needed to be a barrister or something. She was great at
proving her point and even greater at reminding me of my duties. What must
Berne think of me, kissing her when she had a girlfriend and was happy. How
dare I barge in and make her cheat too.

Irritated by her uncanny and infuriating knack of knowing me too
well, I scowled at Rebecca. “Eat your dinner and stop harping on, will you?”

She roared with hearty laughter as she held up her bottled water.
“To Pip, growing a backbone at long last.”

Berne and Babs joined in. “To Pepe!”

Chapter Fifteen

NIGHT FELL QUICKLY down in the gorge. Stars twinkled above as if
they were winking down at me. The breeze had picked up a bit, and I’d snuggled
into my jumper.

I looked at the tent and tried to suppress the sudden urge to
giggle like an idiot. Berne had been watching me, ever silent, over dinner.
Rebecca and Babs had rambled on about the induction and my rendition of the
national anthem. Talk had then turned to the house and how Babs’s plans would
not make Doug happy, not a bit.

Through it all, I had been thinking of one thing only, the fact
that I had to sleep in the same tent as Berne. Berne of the gorgeous voice and
soft touch. Berne of the sensual lips and strong hands. Berne of the knowing
looks and sweet, teasing kisses . . . Berne.

Merde
.

Sighing, I ran my hand over the fabric, knowing that the woman in
question loitered behind me. I could almost feel her without turning around,
like her gaze could send heat waves up and down my spine at will.

“I need to tell you, to ask you something.” My throat oddly dry, I
tried to clear it, managing only a raspy cough.

“I am here.” Her body heat rippled up and down me as she whispered
in my ear.

A slow, gentle kiss on my shoulder.

“You and I are both with other people.” Kisses trailed up my
shoulder to my neck. Oh, she remembered . . . just there . . . oh yeah.

“
Oui
.” Berne’s breathy mumble against my skin. Her hands
snaking over my hips—

“We can’t.”

I spun around, catching my foot in the guide rope. A huge ripping
noise made me forget the fact I was falling. Berne caught me, pulling me to
her. Her arms held me steady. I shut my eyes and clung onto her, burying my
head in her shoulder.

“Did I break it?”

Berne looked around me at the tent and nodded. “Unless you wish to
see the stars?”

If the clouds weren’t starting to creep over the sky, that would
have been a great option. Unfortunately, I was beginning to smell rain in the
air.

It was like a British superpower. Rain was my thing. The detection
of it an art.

“
Alors
, I do not think we can fix it.”

I turned around and saw the damage. “Oh no. Oh Berne, I’m so sorry
. . . I—”

Firm, warm lips claimed mine and my trail of thought vanished.

Rebecca cleared her throat beside us. “Three things, ladies. One,
I smell rain. We seriously camping in the rain?” She counted her points out on
her fingertips. “Two, Pip, that means we’re down to two tents. Guessing that
means sharing is a group thing.” The twinkle in her eye made me laugh. “Three,
you are adults, shacked up with other people, if you want to smooch each other,
do the right thing, will you?”

“And that is?” I asked. Was she seriously getting moral on me?

“Get a room.”

Berne let out a hearty chuckle and I raised an eyebrow at her.
There was a naughtiness in that sound that I’d never heard before but oh did I
love it.

“There is a small campsite. They run tours. They may have room.”
Berne looked at Babs who was already stowing her tent away.

I looked up at the sky, to Rebecca, and smiled. Get a room. I
could do that. “I never turn down a nice comfy bed.”

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, we stood in a holiday village of sorts.
Wooden chalets that looked like garden sheds dotted at angles around a concrete
block. I assumed that said block housed the reception and a canteen but I
couldn’t make out much through the misted windows. It was belting down. Proper
old-fashioned British-style rain.

The porch area was tiny so Rebecca, Babs, and I were huddled
together to keep dry as Berne charmed the owners inside. The place looked busy
and I didn’t fancy trudging back down to the river campsite. For a start we
would have to yank our kayaks back off the rack on the side and I
really
didn’t want to be hauling that thing anywhere for a few hours. My back was more
vocal about heavy lifting than it had been at nineteen. I’d be groaning when I
stood up or sat down like my mother before long at this rate.

Berne emerged holding a key in her hand. “One room only. It has
two beds.”

“That’s a little more sharing than I’d like.” Rebecca folded her
arms, glancing at me. “No offence, Pip.”

Understanding exactly how she felt, I did not want to be within
hearing distance of those two if Babs and Rebecca headed where Berne and I knew
they would.

“None taken but it’s chucking it down and I will take sharing a
single bed with Berne here.” More need to giggle. “But I think we should all
make the decision to act like proper adults.”

“Which means?” Babs asked, peering out at the rain.

“Behaving.”

Babs looked like she wanted to protest but simply shrugged. “It is
one night.”

Berne’s hearty laugh filled the air once more
and she pulled out another key. “Perhaps if behaving is on your mind, I will
take Babs.”

The three of us folded our arms in unison.

“Sneaky, Chamonix,” I muttered.

Berne smiled as Babs snatched the key off her. “Where?”

Berne led the way and pointed to two wooden summer-house-looking
chalets side by side. Very cute.

“Time for bed, huh?” Rebecca squeezed my shoulder.

I stared at the door and bit my lip.

“Night, ladies.” She grinned my way as Babs practically dragged
her into the room.

“I’d say that they are stalemate at the moment,” I muttered. “Both
as bad as each other.”

“Mmm,” Berne purred close to my ear.

I turned around and frowned at her. “Now, I meant what I said . .
. Berne, we’re . . . we . . . can’t.”

She sauntered towards me like some kind of gunslinger.

“I mean it . . . Berne, what about—?”

My back hit the door. Berne slid the key in the lock beside me.
Her eyes fiery and full of desire.

“I don’t want . . . to belittle . . . what we have by—”

Berne clicked the lock open. I jumped as she slid her hand over my
stomach to reach the door handle.

“I . . . I’ll . . . I’ll go sleep in the tent.” My knees were
shaking, my hands were shaking. I was officially a human jelly. “It’s better that
way.”

Berne pushed open the door. I stumbled backwards into the darkened
room.

“Now, Berne . . . don’t look at me like that . . . I don’t want—”

She grabbed hold of my waistband and kicked shut the door.

“Don’t we need lights?” I could control myself. It was better for
us both if we didn’t do anything rash.

“
Non
,” Berne whispered. She pulled me closer still. “I will
work by feel,
oui
?”

“Oh.”

Her hearty chuckle washed over me again. Wow, that was a glorious
sound. I shivered. Uh oh. Calm, decorum, control. Resistance was futile. No,
no, I could be controlled.

“Tell me to stop.” Berne’s lips found my neck once more. “Tell me
that you do not love me.”

Well that was just cheating. How was I supposed to fend that one
off?

“I . . . we . . . you . . .”

More kisses, slowly, surely working their way down.

“No . . . fair . . .”

Berne ripped away my top. “All is fair in love and war,
non
?”

Her warm fingertips were impatient as they ran over my stomach.

“That’s not . . . quite . . . what it’s . . . supposed to mean.”
Breathe in. Calm. Focus. Control. What was control again?

Berne’s lips claimed mine. I tried to shake free from the building
moment.

I pulled back. “Are . . . we . . . at war?” If we were, I stood no
chance. I couldn’t even string a sentence together.

“
Non
.” Berne guided me backwards. My legs hit the bed
behind me. “We are both in agreement now.”

“We are?” I murmured against her lips. “I remember obj—” Berne’s
kiss rocketed desire through me. Her mouth demanded. Her hands held me there,
steady.

“If you are objecting, Pepe, your hands are not listening.”

Aware of my hands with her words, I understood why she was pushing
me back onto the bed.

Oops.

It would have probably been a good idea to stop running my hands
over the nice toned flesh on her side. “Ah . . . I see your point.”

“
Bonne
,” Berne said, her voice hot and heavy in my ear.
“Because tonight, you are mine.”

NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE morning sunlight saw me wake with a large
grin on my face. I turned over and saw Berne peacefully slumbering beside me. I
just wanted to record the moment. Correction, I wanted to record the whole of
the night too.

Moments like this transcended every emotion I could express.
Moments when she dreamed, when the world was waking up and her gentle breathing
purred through the silence. Moments when the outpouring of pent-up feeling had
calmed and her body and mind were at rest.

Berne had always been the kind of woman who forever felt as though
you needed to be a locksmith to unshackle what was going on inside her head.
Behind deep, intense eyes that uttered words her mouth could not whisper.

“
Bonjour
.” Her sleepy, husky tones sounded before the slow
smile appeared across her lips. “I am told that you do not like the morning.”

Cuddling my pillow, I laughed. “Yes, well, Rebecca doesn’t quite
have the same effect.”

“
Non
?” Berne turned onto her side and I cleared my throat,
pulling up her covers. “There is something you do not wish to see?”

“You
know
I do, but if you’re chatting, I need to focus.”

Berne’s eyes twinkled. More of that playfulness I’d experienced
last night.

“You are a lot more,
sure,
of what you want these days.” It
was a tantalising development, I loved it. Still, I was curious as to why.

“
Oui
.” Berne took my hand and kissed my fingertips. “I want
that ring on your finger to be mine. I want you.” Her eyes glinted with an
intensity that sent a pulse of energy hurtling around my body. Oh wow. “I will
not let you run again.”

“What happened to me abandoning you and . . .” I fought the urge
to spit the name. “
Her
.”

“We were never together,” Berne whispered, brushing a strand of
hair from my face. “Raquel and I, we have never been more.”

I frowned. “What?”

Berne smiled. “You think I would do such a thing to you?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. “You
lied
?”

She nodded. “We felt you needed your distance, to know what you
feel inside without complication.”

“We?” I raised my eyebrows. That kind of tall tale could only come
from one person. “Let me guess . . . Babs?”

Berne smiled.

Enough said. Relief poured through me. They were just friends. I
could deal with that. “But what about Vivienne?”

“You only have to say the word, Pepe. One word.” Berne kissed my
fingertips and I wondered if my heart telegraphed its soaring joy to her. One
word. My heart seemed to clamber up into my mouth in a bid to scream it out,
waving its arms in the air.
Yes . . . Yes . . . please!

With it causing a commotion, thumping away through my ears, I
couldn’t make my mouth move to speak. Oh, how I wanted that, I wanted her.

But I couldn’t.

Fear screamed in, smacking my heart off its perch and squeezing my
stomach like it was trying to strangle it.

What if she changed her mind? I wasn’t good enough for her? She
would never be happy with just me. What if they found out? It would ruin her. I
couldn’t do that to her.

“What happened to you?” Her words were gentle, her fingers tracing
my cheek. “I know that you would never go without good reason. I know this is
more than the reason you say.”

I shook my head, feeling the need to run, to flee from the bed but
strong arms pinned me in place.

“No more running.”

“I can’t . . . please.” I sounded like a frightened child even to
my own ears. What must she think of me?

“
Non
. Tell me. Tell me what happened.”

Although she was demanding, it was without aggression but more
pleading.

“You wanted to be on the motorcycles. I didn’t want to stop you.”

Berne shook her head. “I know what you said to Rebecca
mais
I deserve the truth. No more lies.”

Tears stung my eyes. The weight of her on top of me felt like a safety
blanket. I was here, she was here, it was alright.

“Do you remember me telling you about my sister?” Not sure if I
could continue, I buried my head in her shoulder.