Lucky Charm (27 page)

When they reached the far wall, Annabel stopped short, her eyes glued to the painting that hung at the end of the hall. It was Renoir’s painting of a dancing couple that depicted a girl in a white dress and a man in a black suit. Annabel did not remember the name of the painting, and although this was the first time she
had seen
the original, she knew all the details of it by heart. For their last anniversary, Jeremy had gotten her a card that had the image of this very painting. Inside
,
he had written Robert Browning’s famous line:
Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.
She
had
loved the card so much, she pinned it on her dresser where it had remained until a few months ago. Talk about the power of art
!
Jeremy was miles away in
New York
and forever out of her life, but
suddenly
, he was right there with her, as all the memories of their relationship returned with eerie clarity.

“Annabel, are you all right?”

Etienne’s baritone startled her into reality
. S
he had to get a grip on
herself.

“I’m fine, thanks. I just was really moved by this painting,” she added, hoping that her excuse sounded convincing.

“Yes, it is beautiful,” Etienne agreed, but something in his glance told her that he guessed that it was not pure appreciation of art that had caused the mayhem of emotions in her. “But if I may, I would like to show you my favorite,” Etienne added.

“By all means.”

Etienne led the way into the next gallery where there were several landscapes of lush green forest
s
.

“This is beautiful,” Annabel whispered, moved by the real-life imagery of light and greenery.

“It is
Fontainebleau
…” Etienne began.

“The royal château,” Annabel cut in.

“Yes, and also
the famous forest that all the I
mpressionists came to paint.”

“I would love to see it,” Annabel said wistfully.

“I’d be glad to take you there
. I
t’s about an hour,
an
hour and a half drive from
Paris
,
depending on traffic.”

“That’d be wonderful,” Annabel replied
,
without taking a moment to weigh Etienne’s offer
. T
his spontaneity was new to her, and she liked the way it felt.

“
What
about tomorrow?”

“Sounds great to me,” she agreed.

It was well past ten at night when Annabel finally got back to her room. She had barely closed the door when her cell phone rang
. I
t was Lilly. Earlier in the day
,
Annabel had sent her friend a text message saying that she would be late, but apparently Lilly was impatient to hear Annabel’s account of her day - and what a day she had had!

“So, spill! I want to hear all about it!” Lilly demanded as soon as Annabel picked up the phone.

“It was wonderful.” Annabel smiled dreamily.

“What did you do?” Lilly pressed.

Where was she to begin? They had had a wonderful time. After the museum, Etienne took her on an excursion of
Paris
. T
hey saw the
Luxemburg
Gardens
, strolled through Montparnasse, and finished the day with a visit to
Montmartre
,
where Annabel was left breathless by the grandeur of the Sacred Heart basilica. And after that, Etienne took her to a quaint little restaurant where she had had the most delicious meal of her life, her taste buds, no doubt, being enhanced by the company. The entire time they talked about books and paintings
. I
t felt like she had known him forever. And the best part was that she would be seeing him again, tomorrow.

“Annabel!” Lilly’s impatient voice brought Annabel back to reality.

“I’m here
. I
t was great, Lilly. I had such a wonderful time.” Slowly, Annabel told Lilly about her day, leaving out the details that she thought were too private, like her growing infatuation with Etienne.

“Did you kiss?” Lilly inquired as if on cue.

“Not yet.” Annabel giggled
. S
he felt like she was twelve again.

“Good. He must really like you,” Lilly concluded.

“You think? I was a bit worried, actually,” Annabel confessed.

“Nonsense, Simon didn’t try to kiss me until our second date. It shows that he’s a real gentleman.”

“Well, I hope you’re right
,
because I really like him, a lot.”

“So now do you still think that blind dates are bad?” Lilly jeered.

“O
kay
, fine, you win. But this was more of an exception to the rule,” Annabel added.

“You’re not thinking of getting too serious with him
,
are you?” Lilly’s voice was full of caution. “I mean
,
Etienne is a great guy and all, but you’ve been off the market for a while, so you want to take it slow and meet as many great guys as possible, right? But what am I worrying about? It’s only been a day!”

“You’ve answered your own question
. I
t’s way too soon for anything serious,” Annabel replied, but deep down she knew that her attraction
to
Etienne threatened to turn into something much more complicated than she intended.

“Well, I’m gonna let you go
. Y
ou’ve got to get your beauty sleep, and I have to get up early to organize things for the fashion contest show week.”

“Lilly! I’m so sorry
.
I completely forgot!” Annabel exclaimed, feeling guilty for not being there for her friend. “I can cancel tomorrow.”

“Nonsense! Simon will help me set up
.
I’ll be fine. And I want to hear the full report.”

“When did I ever keep anything from you?”

“I’m not going to comment on that. Have a great time tomorrow.”

After hanging up the phone Annabel stroked the heart-
shaped pendant around her neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Etienne arrived promptly at ten in the morning, as he had promised the day before, and Annabel rushed to meet him downstairs.

“Good morning.” He flashed her a bright smile, the dark brown of his eyes meeting her gaze.

“Hi.” She blushed at the thought of how glad she was to see him. He looked even more handsome today, dressed in a casual outfit of khaki pants, hiking boots
,
and
a
polo shirt that showed off the taut muscles of his arms and chest.

“Let me get the door for you.” He rushed to the passenger side of his bright red convertible Porsche.

Annabel slid into the black leather seat
. S
he had never been inside a Porsche before. From her seat
,
she could sense the faint smell of Etienne’s cologne - a strong, masculine scent that made her pulse quicken.

“Let’s hope
we are
lucky with traffic.” Etienne pressed on the clutch
,
and the car zoomed down the street.

For a few minutes
,
Annabel leaned back in terrified stupor as she watched Etienne navigate the Porsche at what seemed to her
a
crazy speed, but when she saw how expertly he switched gears, maneuvering the car between the tiny city streets, she relaxed.

“I had a great time yesterday.” Etienne’s glance lingered on her.

“So did I,” she admitted, hoping he would not be able to deduce from her voice just how much she had enjoyed her time with him.

#

The traffic light turned green and Etienne pressed on the accelerator, forcing himself to focus his attention on the road, which was easier said than done with Annabel sitting beside him. The tantalizing scent of her perfume tickled his nose, making him want to lean in and plant a long, passionate kiss on her strawberry lips and her long, beautiful neck. She looked positively ravishing today
. H
e thought she
had
looked great yesterday in that flowing silk dress that she wore, but today she was dressed in denim shorts that rose all the way to her upper thigh
s
and a ribbed T-shirt that fitted tightly over the curves of her breasts – a view that Etienne found more than welcom
e
. Again
,
he forced himself to focus on the road
. H
e could not remember the last time he had been this attracted to a girl. There had been a string of women since the split with Amanda, but although they were all attractive, none of them stood out in his mind. Annabel was different: not only was she a stunner to look at,
but
she was
also
interesting to talk to – a quality that Etienne knew firsthand was a rare find in a woman
,
at least in the kind of women that he always seemed to end up dating. Perhaps that was his mistake with Amanda in the first place
. A
side from great sex, the two of them
had
shared little in common. They had been together for two years in a relationship fuelled by lust and long distance, but it
had
turned out that their union was not meant to survive in close proximity.

Etienne Gerard
had
met Amanda Seeder two years ago on a movie set. Because of the nature of his business, Etienne often met with movie producers and actors and that was how he met Amanda
. S
he had a small role in a Hollywood movie that was being filmed in
France
. At the time
,
Amanda’s double D breasts, pouty lips
,
and long, blond locks seemed irresistible to Etienne
,
and the two embarked on a whirlwind romance. Come to think of it, he did not intend to get serious with a woman whose main achievement was being
a
Pamela Anderson look-alike - a young Pamela Anderson from the Baywatch years, mind you, but somehow it had happened nonetheless. After the movie production wrapped up, they continued to see each other at least once a month, both making the effort to keep it consistent. A year later
,
Amanda started dropping hints and somehow Etienne did not feel the urge to dodge the prospect of marriage, the way he had with all his previous girlfriends. Now, thinking back, he realized that his decision had little to do with Amanda or his feelings for her, but more with the fact that he was ready to settle d
own
. A
t the time, he was thirty-
two
,
and he was tired of running around. Amanda seemed as good a woman as any: she was hot and the two of them had a great time in bed together
. W
hat more could a man ask for in his future wife? Of course
,
fidelity would have been a nice addition to the list – a quality, as it turned out, Amanda was utterly lacking, which Etienne discovered when he surprised his new wife with an impromptu visit to her apartment in
Los Angeles
. They had been house hunting
,
and the seller finally
had
conceded to their offer on a house that Amanda had picked out as their future abode
. A
las, after Etienne found Amanda naked with Hew Lewis, a producer he
had
worked with on several movie productions, the contract on the house was never signed.

It had been five months since his breakup with Am
anda, and up until two days ago
,
Etienne had no interest in any other than purely carnal, superficial encounters with the members of the female se
x. But now the circumstances ha
d
changed: despite his resolution not to get involved, he actually wanted to get to know Annabel Green, which was why he had resisted the intense urge to kiss her last night, for fear of appearing too forward. What made things even more alarming was that he enjoyed spending time with her more than he cared to admit
. G
ranted, they had not even kissed yet, but somehow Etienne could guess that he would not be disappointed.

#

Annabel walked beside Etienne along the narrow forest path. Etienne carried a large backpack on his shoulders and a rolled up blanket for the picnic that they planned to have in the
Fontainebleau
forest. She had offered to help carrying the provisions, but Etienne politely declined – a gesture Annabel found surprisingly chivalrous as she made an involuntary comparison to Jeremy
,
who never had any qualms about her carrying her share of luggage or supplies.
Enough
, Annabel thought
. S
he did not want to spend the rest of her life comparing her every date to Jeremy
. I
t was time to let go of the past and look to the future.