But when I get up to go close the curtains, I can’t help but look again, more clearly this time.
I can see Pascal, the side of his hips, his legs, the taut ridges of his abs and his firm chest, skin smooth and tanned from the summer sun. His arm muscles sinewy and tight as they grip the woman’s waist and he pumps in and out of her.
I catch his eye.
A hot, intense gaze flickering in them as he stares right at me.
For a moment, I’m actually turned on.
And then I’m equally as disgusted with myself.
I stare back at him, stone-faced, and shut the curtain.
Looks like his date went well.
CHAPTER SIX
PASCAL
“So how is your mother doing?” I ask.
Gabrielle seems to flinch at the question, as if she had forgotten I was in the same room as her.
I suppose it is kind of weird to be in my bedroom when she’s trying to clean it, but it’s Saturday morning, and I can’t be bothered to get out of bed. Granted, I did get out of bed at the crack of dawn when I put Aurelie in a car and sent her home, but after a night of sex, I’m exhausted. I had remembered Aurelie as a bit boring in bed, but last night she completely proved me wrong.
“My mother?” she asks as she sprays cleaner on the windows. There are a fuckload of smudge marks left on there, courtesy of Aurelie. I don’t normally bring women back here—just because it’s so far out of Paris—but Aurelie gave me head on the whole car ride, and once we were in here, I had the devious notion of fucking her in front of Gabrielle.
I thought better of it when I realized that after the way I’d treated her earlier, it would probably be grounds for her quitting, and that’s the last thing I wanted. But once I saw the lights on in Gabrielle’s bedroom and could see straight into her room, I knew that was enough.
Was I trying to make Gabrielle jealous? Yes.
Did it work? Most likely no. The girl acts like she hates me even more than she did before, but that could be for many reasons, including the fact that I’m lounging in bed half-naked and pestering her while she cleans my room.
What it did do was ensure that when I came inside Aurelie, I was thinking about Gabrielle the entire time.
And I don’t think I’ve come that hard in ages.
“Yes, your mother,” I tell her, propping myself up on my elbow, the covers sliding down to my hips and barely covering my cock, which is standing at attention, as it seems to be lately when Gabrielle is around. “You said you were worried about her. That’s why you asked to live here to begin with. Remember?”
“Oh,” she says, pausing midwipe and then spraying the glass again and resuming. “Yes.”
“So is she okay?” Getting information out of her is almost like a hostage situation.
I can see her reflection in the glass, the way she presses her lips together in thought, how she stares down at the servants’ quarters. I’m guessing that no matter what she says to me, she doesn’t think her mother is okay. “It’s too early to tell.”
“Do you mind telling me what the problem is?”
She glances at me over her shoulder, her face like stone. She gives a slight shake of her head.
“Okay, fair enough,” I tell her. “Though you know you can tell me anything. I’m here for you. I aspire to be one of those cool bosses.”
I added that last bit because I knew it would get a rise out of her, and it does. She rolls her eyes and gives me a slight smile before turning back to work, and it feels like sweet victory.
“You know, maybe you ought to have the day off,” I tell her, feeling a little bad now for making her work. “It’s sunny, it’s hot. The weather is absolutely perfect. Go outside and relax with me.” I pause. “Or come in here and relax with me.”
She shakes her head and resumes cleaning. “I’m quite happy doing this.”
“How could you be happy doing this? You’re cleaning the rich prick son’s bedroom while he’s lying in bed, naked, if you must know, and watching you.”
“I didn’t need to know that.”
“Ah, got enough of it last night, did you?”
She gives an exasperated sigh and then turns to face me. “Next time, try closing your blinds.”