And he had to figure out how to let her know who he really was and convince her that he hadn’t really been lying to her the entire time they’d known each other. He shoved his newly realized feelings to the back of his mind, knowing that people who made decisions based on anything other than logic often regretted them.
When he left her room he’d call Jack and start the process of revealing who he really was.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked him.
“Cooking,” he said and it was partially true. “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“I didn’t want to trust you, Remy, but a part of me can’t help it. Every time I start to think you’re lying to me about something you prove that you aren’t...”
Her words were like a dagger in his heart and he knew if he were a braver man, a stronger man, he’d confess then and there. But he wasn’t. He’d never seen this particular look in Staci’s eyes before and when she gazed at him with all that trust and devotion, he couldn’t help but want to bask in it. To want to pretend he was the man she thought he was.
Hell, he thought he was that man. At least, he had been until the show.
“You make me want to be better than I am.”
“You’ve already proven yourself to be a man of honor,” she said, touching his cheek softly and then leaning up to kiss him.
He deepened the kiss trying to show her with actions how much she meant to him and how deeply he cared for her. Even though he knew how he felt for her, the words were far away and hard for him to say.
“Please don’t,” he said at last.
“Don’t what?”
“Make me sound like something I’m not,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she said, pulling away to face him. “What is it that you aren’t?”
He searched for a way to answer her. He knew that he was on shaky ground. “I’m not anything more than who I am.”
“That’s very zen of you,” she said.
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I think I’m a bit tired.”
“I know I am,” she admitted. “What is it that you’re trying to tell me?”
He took her hands in his and lifted each one to his mouth.He kissed the back of her hands and then drew her into his arms and squeezed her close. He didn’t want to see the look in her eye right now because she seemed to see through the subterfuge and to the very heart of him.
“I care about you,ma chère. More than I have any other woman and that frightens me.”
She squeezed him back, dropping a soft kiss on his neck before she glanced up at him.
“I care more for you than I have for any other man. In fact the only one who comes close almost ruined cooking for me. That’s why I’ve been so recalcitrant with you.”
“Recalcitrant? Really?” he asked, focusing on her personality instead of the fact that he might be responsible for doing the same thing to her and her passion for food. If he did ruin cooking for her, he’d never forgive himself.
“Okay fine, I’ve been stubborn and difficult. Alysse would say that’s the only way I know how to be.”
He could easily believe that. Since her nature was just contrary. “I think you’re passionate.”
“Ha. You say that now because I’m lying in your arms but I bet the last two weeks you thought of me differently.”
“You’re right, I did.”
“See? But you’ve won me over. I can’t help myself. I’m tired of fighting the both of us. If you can call us a couple, well, I guess I can, too.”
He hugged her close as she stared up at him and he knew he needed to say something. Though the only words he had would be lies, so he kissed her and made love with her until the wee hours of the morning when she at last fell asleep and he snuck back to his room. He didn’t call Jack or talk to anyone about his secret, but he felt like time was running out for him. And he only hoped he’d done enough to convince Staci that even though he’d been playing at being another man, the one he truly was adored her.
STACI WOKE ALONEAND that seemed to set the tempo for the entire morning. There was something distant about Remy though he was good to his word and held her hand during the flight take-off and landing. When they exited the flight and were out of the airport Fatima and Jack met them with two Escalades.
