The Isle Of Sin And Shadows - Keri Lake Page 0,152
on da butter. Some folks use margarine, an’ dat’s just not right. Don’ get da same flavor.”
“I really am going to have a heart attack.” Swinging my legs over the side of the couch, I sit up to eat the meal he’s prepared for me.
“Not today, catin! We gon’ do some fishin’, and I’m gon teach you how to cook Valir.”
“Did … Thierry say something to you?”
“’Bout what?”
“Uh, nothing. Okay, so fishin’ and cookin’, it is. Just … let me wake up.”
“You’re awake already. All you gotta do is get outta dat bed and eat you some breakfast, and you’ll be ready to roll.”
“Have you always been a bachelor? I mean … women at least need to brush their teeth and put some deodorant on. Maybe run down their affirmations for the day.”
“Funny you should say dat. I ain’t had much luck wit’ da ladies. Maybe you could give me some tips.”
“I’m no lady.”
“Sure you are. Prettiest lady I seen in a long time.”
The comment, while well-intended, sends a flair of heat to my cheeks. Even if I’m not attracted to Luc, at all, compliments tend to make me blush. “Well, that’s definitely a start. You got the good guy thing down pat, I’d say.”
“I t’ink dat’s my problem.”
“No, no.”
“Well, what attracted you to Thierry?”
I’m definitely not going to tell him it was the emotional detachment I could smell a mile away, or the bad man persona that titillated me in ways I can’t begin to describe. Definitely won’t be telling him of the night the man strapped me down to a tree branch and ate me like an all-night buffet.
“He has a soft side, too. It’s just hidden. Deep. Deep, deep, deep. Like beyond the seven layers of hell, deep.”
“Das deep.”
“You have no idea. Anyway, some girls just like the fantasy of thinking they’re the only one.”
“Awww, see. I t’ought dey liked da playboy. Das what I t’ought attracted dem to Thierry.”
“So, you’ve been playing up the playboy angle with your girl? Making her jealous?” Biting into the sandwich, I tamp down the urge to moan, as the perfect blend of spiced meat and egg hits my tongue.
“Y’all don’ like dat, I take it.”
“We all don’t like that, at all. Unless we’re kinky as all get out and into threesomes, but I’m personally not that girl.”
“See, Ana, she was a sweet girl. Not as pretty as you--”
“Ah, now see, we all don’t like that, either. When you’re with a girl? She’s the only girl. The only pretty girl. You can look, but if you really want to make her swoon? Don’t eeeever tell her another girl is prettier. Understand?”
“Even if da other girl is prettier?”
“Even if the other girl is supermodel hot. You lie your ass off.”
“Lyin’s a sin.”
“God will forgive you for this one,” I say around another bite of the sandwich.
“I t’ink I see da error of my ways.”
“Good. Good talk.” I pop the last bite into my mouth and lick the grease from my fingers.
“Dang, girl. You even taste dat?”
“Mmmm. Hmm-mmm.” Holding up a finger, I shake my head as I continue chewing the last of it and gulp it back. “That’s another thing …. We don’t talk about how fast, or how much, a girl eats, mm’kay?”
“I gotta lot to learn.”
“You do. Fortunately for you, I got nothing better to do today.”
Like the day before, Luc loads up a cooler with some beer, and pop that I requested as an alternative, and we spend the day on the water, fishing at his favorite spots, chatting about his horrible history with women, and his admiration for Thierry. How growing up was hard living for him, and he always hoped to open his own Valir restaurant. To have even a small measure of the success Thierry has had with the club. A part of me wants to tell him how badly his cousin wants out, and that it has little to do with his own organic success and a lot to do with the money provided by the cartel. By the time we arrive back at his house, the sun has begun is descent, and I’m burnt to a crisp. And starving.
Carrying in the cooler now filled with the fish that he mostly caught, Luc pauses to answer a call. “Dis Luc.” His brow crinkles with a frown, and he sets the cooler down, rubs a hand down his face. “Mais, non. When was dat?”
The immediate tension in his shoulders tells me something is wrong.