A heavy breath escapes my lips as I nod. “Yeah. No luck.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“How are you feeling, Chef? Two more days. You ready?”
It’s Freya’s turn to let out a hefty sigh. “Everything is ready. Julian had to drag me out of the restaurant and is making me take a break.”
“She was rearranging the knives again,” he says. “She would have been in there all night if I hadn’t forced her out.”
“Good job,” I say to him.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she says with a wondrouslook in her eyes. “I’m actually opening a restaurant. What felt like a dream six months ago is now a reality.”
Julian stops in his tracks. “What’s today?”
I glance down at my watch. “July ninth.”
“We got stuck in that elevator six months ago today. It’s like…our anniversary.”
Freya’s face lights up, glancing up at both of us. “Happy anniversary!”
With a grin, I latch my fingers around her neck, tugging her into my chest as I reach for Julian with the other hand. The three of us huddle together, taking turns kissing each other to celebrate what feels like a huge milestone, and while six months isn’t really a date people celebrate, it’s the first time any of have really taken the time to count how long it’s been.
We’re all in quiet contemplation as we continue to walk, and I wonder if they are also thinking about how much has changed in these few months. How much we’ve discovered about ourselves and about each other.
“We’re not walking all the way back, are we?” Freya asks.
“No, Chef,” I reply. “The Métro line has a stop down the street.”
“I can call Lucien,” Julian argues.
Freya gasps. “It’s after nine. You leave that man alone. We can take the Métro.”
I chuckle as I press my lips to the side of her head. As we reach the stop, we jog down the steps together, using our passes to get to the line we need. I take a little pride now in knowing that I no longer have to check the transit map anytime I need to get anywhere. I’ve learned my way around this city, making it feel like home. I’ve even picked up a little French. Julian has been teaching me and Freya so we don’t just rely on him to speak for us anymore.
My future is growing more and more clear every day.
The three of us climb onto the train, which is mostly emptythis late at night. There are a few people scattered here and there. As we take our seats, sitting facing each other, Freya stays nuzzled into Julian’s side.
He has a devilish look on his face that has me wondering what he’s thinking. With Julian, it’s hard to tell if he’s plotting something evil, something sexy, or just thinking about something wholly innocent. The expressions are all the same.
Glancing around the train, he says, “Remember Freya’s fantasy that she told us about in the elevator that night?”
The corner of my lip lifts. “Yes.”
She turns her gaze to him, surprise and excitement written on her features. Her thighs press together beneath her black cotton skirt.
As Julian leans over, pressing his mouth to her ear, I watch as he whispers something I can’t hear. Freya bites her lip, squeezing her thighs even tighter. She’s giving me a look like she wants to cook me up in her restaurant and eat me alive.
The only other people on the train are behind her and on the other end. After glancing cautiously back at them, she turns toward me and looks me straight in the eye as she slides her hands up her dress. Then, without exposing herself, she shimmies off her lacy panties, drawing them all the way down her legs and over her boots.
With a smirk, she places them in Julian’s lap. Looking sexy as fuck, he holds them up to his nose and gives me a deliciously wicked wink.
“You two are gonna be the death of me,” I whisper, adjusting myself in my seat. With my arms along the back of my seat, I stare at them and wait for their next move.
Julian leans over and whispers in her ear again. Tugging her bottom lip between her teeth, she slyly moves from her seat and over to my lap.
Once she sits down, she looks into my eyes.
