The conversation is light, silly, until he gets to a question I don’t see coming.
“So tell me, Miranda. What’s your biggest fear?” A clammy sweat dots my brow. My palms become damp. My hand goes to my side, hovering over my scar. The memory comes to my mind, as vivid as watching a movie screen; a flash of a wave, the false security of the strong board beneath my torso as I paddle through the water, the sound of my scream echoing in my ears.
“Sharks.” I give a little shrug and a laugh, but my throat is tight and it comes out sounding forced. I stand to gather the plates, clearing the table.
It isn’t true, though. That used to be my biggest fear, and I couldn’t sleep at night because of it. Now, though… now my fears have shifted. Now my greatest fear is falling for a drop-dead gorgeous man who’s too perfect to be real.
Never. Fall. In. Love.
I’m only in this for the help, right? No need for him to know every secret I keep.Chapter NineGabrielI watch her eat with a combination of awe and wonder. The simplicity of this moment, sitting here with her, is something I’ve missed in recent years. Have I ever had it?
As we clear the dishes, both exhausted from the day’s events and how much has happened in such short a time, I think back about my time in Sancerre with my mother. Things were simple, then.
“What are you thinking about?” Miranda asks, loading the dishes into the dishwasher before she stifles a yawn.
“Just remembering back when I lived in France, when I was younger. Things were simpler then. Kind of like here.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“Of course. It’s an older city. There are castles and gardens, but mostly vineyards. It overlooks the Loire river, and it’s where most of the world’s sauvignon blanc wine comes from.”
“Oooh. Do you still visit?”
I nod. “I do. I don’t have family there anymore, but I own several vineyards still. We’ve expanded down the Côte d'Azur. But I do have fond memories.”
She smiles, looking around the kitchen with a sort of wistfulness in her eyes. “Something about living in Vegas can sometimes make you forget the simpler part of life, huh?”
I smile. She has no idea. “You could say that.”
My eye catches the corner of something shiny on the corner of a seat, and I turn to see what it is. Miranda sees me taking a step toward the table and steps in front of me. “Cup of tea before bed?” she asks. She looks oddly frantic. Is she hiding something?
I shake my head. “All set, thanks. You?”
She yawns widely and reaches for my hand. “No, but I could use a little nightcap…”
She steers me out of the kitchen and into the living room. The lights are out save a little nightlight in one corner of the room, as she walks me over to a small cabinet. She giggles as she opens it. “My mom and dad never touched the stuff,” she says, reaching for a bottle of Jack Daniels. “My sister and I would sneak shots in high school and fill it back up with apple juice.”
I snort.
“I know. Juvenile, right? And my father one day pulled it out and told my mom the whiskey’d aged well with time. Gotten sweeter and less potent.” She giggles as she pulls it out.
I shake my head and cluck my tongue. “Naughty little girl.”
She gives me a fetching smile over her shoulder. “You like naughty little girls, don’t you?”
My belly tightens as I look at her, the soft glow of the nightlight behind her giving her hair the appearance of a halo. “I don’t like just any naughty girl,” I say, reaching to run my fingers through her soft, golden hair. “I like this one.”
She moves closer to me, leaning into my hand, her eyes closing. She sighs contentedly before she opens her eyes and looks back up at me. “You’re a flirt…” her voice drops. “Daddy.”
I lean in and kiss her cheek. “I’m just warming up.”
She flushes pink as I pull away, biting her bottom lip in that way she does that makes me want her even more. I’ve studied everything about her for so long, and knew I wanted her, but this… this is something altogether different. It’s like researching a vacation, the beaches and resorts, restaurants and landmarks. But when you finally arrive and you smell the salty air and feel the warm sand beneath your feet, is so much more fulfilling.
I’ve made her my obsession, and now I’m holding her in my arms. She’s my fantasy come true.
“Sometimes you look at me with this almost feral look,” she says thoughtfully, with a smile playing on her lips. “Like you want to eat me whole.”
I lean down and kiss her neck. “I do.”