Royally Seduced - By Marie Donovan Page 0,52
loudly. “Lunch!” he called to the crew, who cheered and straightened. “I would invite you to eat with us, but Marthe-Louise told me you are going on a picnic.”
“I thought we’d go to the northeast field. It has a great view and some shade.”
“Ah, oui, that field will be ready for harvest next week. But not yet—there will be no one around.” Jean-Claude didn’t quite wink or waggle his eyebrows, but Lily got the gist of it.
“Merci, Jean-Claude. We’ll see you later.” Jack put his arm around Lily’s shoulders and they strolled back to the car.
The northeast field was as beautiful as the lower field, overlooking the valley. A large oak tree stood nearby, and Jack spread out their picnic blanket underneath it.
“What did Marthe-Louise pack for lunch?” Lily asked eagerly.
He opened the big cooler and handed her a plate from the smaller bag of supplies. “Cold roasted chicken, ham on baguettes, a wheel of goat cheese, crackers, fruit and her special potato–green bean salad with an oil-and-vinegar dressing.”
Lily’s mouth watered as he served her a heaping plateful. “Any dessert?”
“But of course.” He grinned at her, lifting a container. “Cherry tarts, made fresh from our own trees.”
She moaned in anticipation, and he laughed. “I’ve heard you make that sound before.”
She swatted at him with her fork. “I enjoy the basics of life.”
“And that is why you fit in so well here.” He gestured to the beautiful farmland and perfect weather. “The basics of life are the best things in life.” He pulled out a bottle of white wine and deftly decanted it into two goblets. Marthe-Louise had thought of everything.
Lily raised hers. “A toast to the most beautiful day in the most beautiful place on earth.”
“To the most beautiful woman on earth.” He raised his in return.
“Where?” Lily looked around, half in jest, but subsided when he gave her a stern look. “Well, um, thank you.”
“To the most beautiful woman on earth,” he repeated, and they touched rims.
“A votre santé.” She remembered the traditional French toast to his health.
Jack smiled approvingly. “Very good.” They drank some wine and did their best to do justice to Marthe-Louise’s picnic.
Between the wine, the sun and the hypnotic buzzing of the cicadas, Lily’s eyes started to droop by the end of the meal.
“Come lie down, chérie, we will have dessert later.” He cleared the remnants of their meal and beckoned to her.
“Only for a little,” she insisted. He nodded and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.
It seemed like only a few minutes later, but the angle of the sun had dropped when she opened her eyes to find Jack watching her, an indescribable expression of tenderness on his face.
Without saying a word, she reached for him. Their clothes quickly disappeared and he was inside her, their gazes still locked. She didn’t close her eyes until her senses were overwhelmed with the touch of his body, the scent of the lavender, the heat of the day and the blue of the sky.
They came simultaneously, and stayed in each other’s arms for another eternity. Lily wondered at the perfection of it all, knowing she was at least half in love with Jack, if not totally. And remembering the expression on his face as she’d awoken, she thought he might feel the same way.
LILY SHUT DOWN her laptop after webchatting with Sarah. Her cousin was predictably over the moon with her pregnancy, which was continuing well, but not so engrossed that she forgot to warn Lily about the dangers of strange men, particularly strange Frenchmen.
Sarah had lowered her voice, presumably not to have her husband, Carl, overhear, and said, “Lily, believe me, I spent a whole year and several summers there. I know how sexy and charming they can be. There was this one chef in Lyon who could do the most amazing things with chocolate…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes got dreamy for a second as Lily watched in amusement. “But that’s not the point.”
“The point is that I am being careful and having as much fun with Jack as you did with your pastry chef.”
“That much, huh?” Sarah had sighed in nostalgia. “Oh, well, all of that is off my plate, so to speak, until I hear the all-clear from the doc. I’ll get the details from you at some point, but not now.”
Lily smiled as she remembered all the so-called details of last night. She stretched and stood up from the desk. Jack was up in the lavender