“It’s a boar!” I screech-whisper.
“Just ignore it,” Étienne soothes. “It won’t bother us if we don’t bother it.”
If he’s trying to calm me with his hand pressed to my heart, it doesnotwork.
More rustling. I jerk. And then I see three tiny boar-shaped bodies trotting after their mother and my fear transforms into wonder.
“She has babies!” I squeak. I can see their stripy backs under the moonlight.
“Even more of a reason to stay quiet,” he replies with a soft laugh.
Good point.
I watch until the mother and her piglets are out of sight and the noises die down, and then I return to my former position with my cheek resting on his chest.
The reality of the situation hits me again and I have another mini panic attack.
Étienne and I…did…things…together.
Lise’s words come back to haunt me.He deserves more than to be used as a pawn.
What would she say if she knew?
But I have no intention of telling Jackson what just happened, so how is that using Étienne as a pawn?
It was just using him, I realize.
But he was using me too,I rationalize.
“I can hear your thoughts from here,” Étienne mumbles. “Sleep, Grace.”
I don’t.
“It was justa kiss.”
I snap my eyes to Étienne’s. It was notjusta kiss.
He gazes back at me from the driver’s seat, all cool, calm, and collected. He does look tired though, so I dread to think what stateI’min. I know for a fact that he got more sleep than I did.
“If you don’t want to do it again, we won’t,” he says casually, as though it would be the easiest thing in the world for him to keep his lips off my skin.
He’s got day-old stubble and his hair is a little wild. His eyes aren’t as bright as usual—as I say, he looks tired—but he’s still unnervingly attractive.
I don’t like what’s coming out of his mouth though.
I unclick my seat belt and get out of the car. He meets me around the back, where he retrieves my bag from the boot.
“Thanks for coming,” he says as he hands it over.
My insides clench at the look in his eyes. “Thank you for taking me,” I reply, choosing to pretend that wasn’t a double entendre.
It has been the strangest morning. It was business as usual from the moment we woke up, getting the kayak and all our things packed away, and then we were off downriver to the meeting point Étienne had agreed upon with Raphaël. He sat up at the front of the bus on the way back to Vallon Pont d’Arc, chatting with his friend in French, while I pretended to doze, and then we barely said a word the whole drive home.
I’ve been going spare, wondering how the hell it happened. This was supposed to be a flirtation to make Jackson look at me differently, but I’ve barely given him a second thought since I got in this car yesterday.
“I really do need to come by and grab the contract at some point,” I force myself to say. “Jackson is going to ask for it as soon as I get into work.”
“Just text me beforehand,” he replies coolly as he gets back into his car.
