‘Now,Iam impressed,’ he said. ‘How didyouremember?’
‘You told me that you considered thirteen to be lucky instead of unlucky and I remembered that it was just before Valentine’s Day.’
‘C’est vrai,’ Gabriel nodded. ‘We must do something to celebrate your special day.’
‘Just being in France is enough. At least my forty-first will be an improvement on my fortieth.’
‘What did you do for your fortieth?’
‘Sat at home with a takeaway and watched Netflix.’
Gabriel shook his head.
‘This year you will have a proper celebration.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I don’t want you to go to any trouble.’
‘It will not betrouble. I want to do something great for you.D’accord?’
‘Okay.’
I’d never had anyone offer to do something to celebrate my birthday, so I wondered what he had in mind.
The devil that was dancing on my shoulder told me that a repeat of last night (and this morning) would be the perfect present, but more orgasms from Gabriel were off the table.
I know that I’d said before the briefing that we couldn’t sleep together again then my willpower dissolved faster than an aspirin in a glass of hot water the second he kissed me in the lift, resulting in us fucking twice, but I really meant it this time.
There would be no more kissing, no more screwing. At the villa we’d sleep in separate rooms and behave ourselves.
At least that was the plan.
Here’s hoping that I could stick to it…
29
GABRIEL
‘I am sorry that I missed your call,’ I said to Nico down the phone as I stood near the airport toilets. ‘We were on a flight to Nice. We have just landed and are about to drive to the Love Hotel’s new resort.’
‘That was why we were calling,’ Nico said.
‘Hey, Gabe!’ Cassie called out.
‘Salut, ça va?’
‘I’m good! How’s your lady friend? Actually, hold that thought! Let Nico finish chatting first.’
‘You are going to the party tonight?’ Nico asked.
‘Oui,’ I replied.
‘I will be there with Cassie.’
‘Génial!’ I grinned.
‘So we can meet your Laila,’ Nico said and I could tell that he was smiling down the phone.
‘Nowyou can tell us how it’s going,’ Cassie said excitedly. ‘Is she next to you?’
