Annie’s face grew dreamy. “Oh yeah. That was nice.”
Elle rolled her eyes and informed her friend, “Pren and I were just talking on the phone.”
Annie’s dreamy expression faded and a happy one took its place. “I know. I listened.” She came forward and framed Elle’s face with her hands before she whispered, “Isn’t it fun?”
“What?” Elle whispered back, entranced by her friend’s carefree, happy face, something she saw a lot lately but she hadn’t seen for many a year and she wasn’t quite used to it.
“To talk to them on the phone,” Annie answered.
Elle closed her eyes.
Yes, it was fun.
It wasn’t being whisked away on a jet only to be put in a limousine and taken to a yacht to cruise the Mediterranean in order to eat a cordon bleu dinner (something Laurent had done).
It was just normal stuff like Pren coming home after work, Pren eating sponge in the kitchen after a long day, Pren tickling her in bed while she tickled Sally and Jason grinned on.
And it was the best.
When Elle opened her eyes, they sparkled with tears.
She didn’t have to answer, Annie knew.
In the end, Elle didn’t buy a dress as she was in the wilds of Scotland and wearing a dress to the local Indian restaurant was probably not the thing.
She bought a pair of tailored, tweed trousers with a wide, cuffed hem and a ribbed, blond, slim-fitting turtleneck (not to mention, she bought a bunch of other stuff). She paired these with black, spike-heeled sandal pumps with a notch opened at the toe and a thin, saucy ankle strap. She’d got the kids ready and then did her hair and makeup while Sally sat on the bathroom’s long counter, watched and babbled.
Now Prentice was home, asking if she was ready.
Which she was not.
“Can I talk to you a second?” she blurted.
“We don’t want to be late for the booking,” Prentice replied, his eyes guarded.
“A second,” Elle repeated and didn’t wait for his response. She turned and walked straight to the study.
She was staring at the drinks cabinet wondering if she should belt back some whisky when Prentice arrived and closed the doors behind him.
He didn’t delay in approaching her and before she knew it, he had her in his arms and his head was descending.
Elle jerked hers back, exclaiming, “No!” When Prentice froze, Elle went on, “No kissing. We need to talk, not kiss.”
He grinned and asked, “Why no’?”
She couldn’t exactly tell him he was such a good kisser, anytime he did it, she lost track of pretty much everything.
Heck, just standing in his arms, his warmth beating into her, their bodies brushing, was running interference with her thoughts.
“We just… can’t,” she answered lamely.
His eyes grew warm (or, more accurately, warmer). “All right, baby, what did you want to say?”
She didn’t waste any time and launched right in, “I think you should tell the kids here, at the house, where it’s safe and I think that I shouldn’t –”
She didn’t finish, he agreed instantly, “All right.”
She stared at him in shock. She didn’t think he’d agree!