Imogen glanced at Nic, wondering if he could read the question in her eyes. He gave her a slight shrug in response.
“How do you like the meal, my dear?” Something about Leo’s demeanor toward her sister had changed too.
They couldn’t have … could they?
Imogen knew it was none of her business, but she couldn’t help but wonder.
“I’d marry you if it meant I got to eat like this every day,” Jury said.
Nic coughed into his napkin.
But Imogen’s attention was on the man to whom her sister’s words had been addressed.
Leo’s lips curved up on one side. “Duly noted. Havit is the best French chef outside of France. He has made life in America much more bearable.”
Somethinghadhappened between her sister and the Frenchman.Imogen wasn’t a betting woman unless it was a sure thing, but even she was willing to bet on that.
“How long have you lived in the States?” Imogen asked.
“A long time. I was raised here and in France. My parents divorced.”
“And you prefer?”
“America. France is not the same place it was when I was a child.”
“Beautiful though, I bet.”
“But of course. Sailing the Mediterranean began my lifelong love affair with boats. Which worked out well, as that has been the family business for generations.”
Imogen was amazed he was volunteering so much information. It practically confirmed her suspicions. He didn’t consider Jury a threat like he had earlier. And her loose cannon of a sister couldn’t hide the way she kept looking at him.
Somethinghad definitely happened.
Imogen decided she didn’t need to know more. Instead, her attention turned to the man at her right. He was still wearing his clothes from earlier—they both were—and yet somehow, he was still as dapper in his cutoff camo shorts as the Frenchman was in his three-piece suit. Maybe it was because she already knew Nic cleaned upjust fine… or maybe it was because of how he’d whisperedlaterin her ear and she’d made him promise.
Well, later was coming quickly. Imogen wasn’t trying to hurry along this decadent dinner at all, but she’d eaten plenty in the last eight years and ten months … so it could be overanytime.
Joy bubbled up within her.
Who would’ve ever guessed the horrific phone call and somber start to this trip home could leadhere? It seemed surreal yet completely superior to what she had planned. A few more days with family and then back to the grind were what she had expected. And now, instead, life had thrown her the most interesting and wonderful curveball imaginable. Actually, she never could have imagined this.
Thank you,she thought silently.
Jury and Nic laughed at something Leo had said, and her sister’s gaze softened when it landed on the Frenchman.
Thank you,she thought again.Thank you so much.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As soon as the cabin door was closed, Nic pressed her up against it.
“I thought dessert and backgammon would never end.”
“I will never play backgammon again,” she replied.
“Deal,” he said as he crushed his lips to hers.
They were both frenzied and wild, as if forcing themselves to behave like normal, polite humans for four hours had unleashed something primitive within them once they were free of their obligations.