If she knew who thesexy Frenchmanwas, she definitely wouldn’t be saying that.
Guilt twisted in my gut. I needed to tell her my match was Gabriel, but if I did, it’d completely ruin our friendship.
As cool as Juliette was, there was no way she’d be happy about me being with her son. Especially if she knew we’d almost kissed.
‘Everything okay?’ Gabriel asked, concern etched on his face.
‘Your mum just messaged to say she hoped I was enjoying myself with mysexy Frenchman.’
After taking another large glug from my glass, I called the bartender over. ‘Excusez-moi. Can I get something stronger, please? Like a rum and Coke or a cocktail. Or both.’
I slumped in my seat and dropped my phone on the bar.
‘Are you sure that you want to mix your drinks?’ Gabriel said as the bartender went to prepare my next tipple.
‘I can have whatever I want!’ I snapped back, taking offence.
‘I am not telling you not to drink. I am just saying that perhaps it is better to stick to the same one, so that you will not feel bad tomorrow morning.’
‘I’ll be fine. I’m better at drinking rum than wine anyway.’ I waved my hand dismissively. ‘Your mum paid for me to come here and I’ve repaid her by avoiding her calls whilst I go on romantic trips with her son.’
‘If she is a real friend then she will not care about that. She will just be happy that you are enjoying yourself.’
‘That’s the problem. Sheishappy for me and that makes me feel worse! If she knew I was betraying her trust, she wouldn’t be so supportive,’ I protested. The barman put a drink in front of me and I took a glug.
Damn, that tasted good.
‘Excusez-moi,’ I called him over again. ‘Can I have another?’
I knew that drinking was not the answer to my problems, but one more wouldn’t hurt, would it?
22
GABRIEL
I was worried about Laila.
As she finished another glass of rum and Coke, I scrubbed my jaw. She thought my concern was because I was trying to tell her what to do, but I was sure that if she mixed her drinks, she would regret it in the morning. But it was her choice.
‘This is so hard.’ Laila squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I don’t want to ruin my friendship with your mum so I know I need to leave, but I don’t want to go home without seeing more of Paris either. It was great to see the Eiffel Tower tonight but I want to visit itproperly. Surely, we must be going there soon!’
‘Probably,’ I said.
‘Once I’ve been there, I’ll leave. Actually, I should just go there tomorrow instead of waiting for it to be a scheduled location.’
I ground my jaw and fought the urge to call my mother and tell her myself that Laila and I had been matched and to just deal with it.
Here she was finally in a city that she’d dreamt of visiting for decades and her enjoyment was being ruined because of some misguided loyalty.
In case it was not already obvious, I did not have a very high opinion of my mother.
But for good reason.
‘We should look through the photos,’ I said, not wanting to think any more about those difficult times.
‘Okay,’ Laila slurred. ‘I’m not sure how good I’ll be though. I’m feeling a bit dizzy.’
‘Would you like some water?’
