Lucky Charm (28 page)

Not that she had any idea what the future had in store for her
. H
er life was a in a state of complete disarray. She had no boyfriend
,
and she was stuck in a job she hated
. W
ell, fine, maybe not hated, but definitely did not find fulfilling. Up until now
,
her whole life had been centered around Jeremy in what
had
turned out to be a perpetually temporary state
. S
he took the copy writing job to be able to support Jeremy while he worked on his book, putting her own dreams of writing on hold. Well, now Jeremy was out of her life, but Annabel was still stuck composing advertising copy for lipsticks and perfume. At least she was thankful that Etienne had not brought up the subject of career – not yet, at any rate
. H
e seemed strangely mysterious about his own profession
,
alluding to the fact that he was somehow connected with the entertainment business, but reluctant to go into details. Well, it was just as well with her
. A
s far as she was concerned
,
they were simply out having a good time
. I
n three weeks
,
she would be going back to New York and most likely she would never see Etienne after that, which made spending time with him now all the more fun.

“I can’t believe how beautiful it is here
. J
ust like the paintings!” Annabel reached her arms into the air as she marveled at the towering birches and pines that rose into the very sky. She turned around abruptly, aware of Etienne’s eyes upon her and adjusted her top, which had lifted and left a part of her stomach exposed.

Etienne lowered his eyes, his face coloring slightly, and Annabel looked away to hide her smile, suffused with the pleasure of him taking notice.

“Then I take it you approve of my choice for the picnic spot,” Etienne said.

“Yes, it’s perfect!”

“This is my favorite spot
.
I come here to clear my head.” Etienne began to unfold the blanket.

“I can see why.” Annabel marveled at the way the sunlight peeked through the trees, leaving flecks of gold on the leaves and the grass. She took the other side of the blanket and helped Etienne to lay it on the ground.

Next, Etienne opened his backpack and took out containers with cheese, fruit
,
and some cold cuts and placed them on the blanket. Then came a bottle of red wine, a bar of dark chocolate, as well as paper plates and cups.

“Please, mademoiselle.” With a sweeping motion of his arm, Etienne motioned for Annabel to take a seat.

“Merci, monsieur.” Annabel lowered herself on the blanket.

Etienne sat down a few inches away from her. “Un moment.” He reached inside his backpack and produced a corkscrew
. T
hen with swift, deliberate motions, he opened the wine and poured it into the glasses. “To blind dates.” A smile glinting on his lips, Etienne raised his cup, looking directly into Annabel’s eyes.

“To blind dates.” Annabel flushed, raising her glass to meet Etienne’s. She took a sip of her wine, feeling its rich, fruity flavor swirling in her mouth
. P
erhaps it was the ambiance or the company, but she was fairly certain that it was the best wine she had ever tasted. “This is really good wine.”

“Thank you.” Etienne pressed his hand to his chest. “It comes from my uncle’s vineyard.”

“So you must know a lot about wines,” Annabel ventured, looking for ways to keep the conversation go
ing – something that was not easy to do since
her mind was focused on
the
taut muscles of Etienne’s torso
,
the outlines of which she could see quite clearly through his fitted polo shirt. The view left her defenseless
,
and she could not help wondering how it would feel to lean her head against his powerful chest and have his strong, muscular arms wrapped around her body.

“I know just enough to pick a bottle of good wine, but I don’t go overboard with it. Some people can be real snobs when it comes to wine.” Etienne chuckled as he raised his cup.

Annabel nodded, taking another sip of the wine, conscious of Etienne’s eyes upon her. The two of them were sitting so close that she could hear his breathing and sense the warmth of his skin.

“Try it together with this.” Etienne unwrapped the bar of dark chocolate and after breaking off several squares, offered the plate to Annabel.

Annabel was about to reach for a piece when Etienne selected a perfectly sized square of dark chocolate and lifted it to her mouth. She allowed him to feed it to her and felt her lips tingle as his fingers brushed against her mouth accidentally. The rich, distinguished flavor of the chocolate filled her mouth as Annabel took another sip of the wine, relishing the bitter sweetness of the chocolate mixing with the tart, fruity flavor of the wine.

“This is really good,” she murmured, her eyes closed and her senses overcome.

The intense sensation that took hold of her entire being was too powerful to be caused by wine, no matter how excellent, or by chocolate, no matter how delectable. There was only one explanation for the heady feeling that swept over her like a hurricane, leaving her defenseless in its wake
. S
he was overcome with desire for Etienne. Every cell of her body longed for his touch
. H
er lips tingled with anticipation of his kiss, and her body yearned for the touch of his hands. Annabel had never felt this way about a man before
. S
ure, she could try to explain her feelings away by saying that she was just plain horny after being single for over three months, but deep down she knew that it would be a lie.

As if reading her thoughts, Etienne leaned in even closer
,
and before she could say another word, his lips were kissing her mouth and his arms were wrapped around her body. Now, she was by no means an expert on matters of sex, but she had been kissed a few times, and she was certain that never in her life had she felt the tantalizing, sizzling sensation that surged through her as Etienne’s lips met hers. She wanted Etienne right then and there, and she did not care what he might think of her. It did not matter that she barely knew him
. H
ell, she didn’t even know his middle name (if he had any), or his favorite color, or his favorite food, but all of that ceased to matter, and all she could think of was the intense urge of her body to unite with his. Short moans escaped her throat as she felt Etienne’s lips on her neck and her collarbone. His smell was intoxicating, his touch was arousing
,
she felt as though she were on fire, ready to go up in flames.

Get a grip on yourself
, she thought,
you can’t be doing this
. Y
ou barely know him
. She tried to will her body and senses into submission, but both completely ignored the sobering attempts of her mind as Etienne swept over her with another wave of caresses.

Suddenly, Etienne’s kisses stopped
,
and Annabel felt as though she were being yanked out of a wonderful dream. The magic had ended and she felt her face blushing with embarrassment, mortified of what Etienne might think of her. She had to get a grip o
n
herself
. J
ust because she was in
Paris
did not mean that she had the license to act like a tramp
. I
t was not like her to get all hot and steamy with some guy she
had
just met. Annabel made an attempt to move away from Etienne, hoping that reestablishing a distance between them might restore her sense of dignity, when Etienne reached for her hand.

“I’m sorry
.
I didn’t mean to be so forward,” he murmured. “I don’t usually come on so strong.” He shook his head, visibly embarrassed. “But it felt wonderful,” he added, his eyes looking searchingly at her.

“Yes,” she whispered, clasping his hand in hers.

“Then you’re not offended?”

“Not in the least.” Annabel barely resisted a smile
. W
hether it was because English was not his native language or because of his nature, Etienne often spoke with formality that she found endearing. “I enjoyed it very much,” she added boldly
. F
rom the look on Etienne’s face, she could tell that there was no need of holding back before him.

“Then I hope that this is just a preview of things to come.” Etienne winked. “More wine?”

Annabel nodded and held out her cup. Etienne filled it with wine and then poured some for himself. “Now I don’t know about you, but I am starving,” he added.

“Me too.” Etienne’s words made
Annabel aware of just how hungry she was
. S
he had had only a cup of yogurt for breakfast
,
and now she was famished. She watched dreamily as Etienne broke off chunks of baguette bread with his strong, manly hands. Annabel remembered the saying that one could tell a lot about a man’s character by his hands
.
Etienne’s hands were strong and powerful – hands that were capable, yet gentle at the same time.

Etienne offered her a plate of cheese and cold cuts
,
and Annabel bit into the food
hungrily. The taste of cured mea
t and fragrant cheese filled her mouth as she relished the simple, satisfying meal that tasted like a veritable feast to her. Annabel took another sip of her wine and relaxed as she watched Etienne out of the corner of her eyes. Without either of them saying a word, the awkwardness between them had vanished
,
and now they were simply enjoying each other’s company. For the first time in her life
,
she was not worrying
about what might come next:
she was simply content to sit next to Etienne in the middle of this fairytale-like forest.

“Tell me about yourself,” said Etienne after they had finished their meal.

“What do you want to know?” Annabel blushed
. T
he question had stunned her by its simple frankness.

“Everything.” He took a drink of his wine, looking at her over the rim of his cup.

Annabel shifted uncomfortably in her seat
. N
o man had ever asked her a question like this before. Of course
,
it was possible that Etienne was only pretending to be interested to get her into bed, but Annabel was fairly certain that, in spite
of herself, she had made it
quite obvious that she would be glad
to
sleep with him anyway.

“I’m really not that interesting,” Annabel blurted out, immediately cursing herself for her ineptness
. T
his was an excellent opportunity to try her hand at playing femme fatale
,
and she was bungling it. She could be anyone she wanted
. T
hree weeks from now
,
she would be half the world
away,
across the
Atlantic
,
and most likely the two of them would never see each other again.

“Try me.” Etienne leaned on his elbow and smiled at her disarmingly as his dark gaze met her eyes.

“O
kay
, you asked for it.” Annabel shifted her legs into a crisscrossed position, thinking that if she was going to tell the story of her life, she might as well be comfortable. But where was she to begi
n? Her life was nothing special
. I
t was
probably more boring than most people’s
. I
t certainly was nowh
ere as exciting as her friend
Lilly’s, for example, so what was she to tell Etienne? Would he want to hear about her boring job or her break
up with Jeremy?
Definitely not the break
up with Jeremy
, Annabel thought. Maybe she could talk about her dreams instead – where she wanted to be in life instead of where she was. She could talk about her dream of becoming a writer, the handful of short stories that she had managed to get published despite her hectic work schedule, and the notes on her first novel that she
had
beg
u
n jotting down over the past few days – a project that she found both terrifying and exhilarating. She smoothed her hair, took a deep breath
,
and began her story.

“I am sorry to hear that.” Etienne looked at her with genuine sympathy
after she told him about Jeremy
. “But, and I hope you won’t think me selfish when I say this, I am also glad because if your ex-fiancé had not been s
o ignoble
, we would have never met.”

“Yes. You definitely have a point there.” Annabel felt the knots in her stomach relax at the sound of Etienne’s words
. D
espite her earlier resolution, she
had
ended up telling Etienne about Jeremy after all. She had started out simpl
y
enough, talking about her writing, being careful not to veer off topic, but somehow, she ended up opening up to Etienne completely, telling him about the rollercoaster her life had become over the past few months. Perhaps it was the way he looked at her or the way he listened, hanging on to every word, but she found talking to Etienne incredibly easy
,
and before she knew it, words were flowing out of her like a confession.