Harlequin Historical April 2023--Box Set 1 of 2 by Louise Allen

Author:Louise Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Merci, madame!” Elizabeth sang out happily as she collected the fresh baguette and tucked it into the basket with the cheese, pâté, and chocolates. The bells on the shop door jangled as she stepped out onto the street and took a deep breath of the flowers from the shop next door, perfumes of passing ladies, and sweet river tang of the Paris morning.

She slipped on a pair of tinted glasses against the bright day and turned toward the patisserie on the corner to find some macarons. She passed cafés, waiters sweeping the pavements outside as a few morning customers lingered over coffees, ladies rushing past in their stylish suits and summer dresses, their feathered hats, children chasing dogs and rolling their hoops toward the gardens, the elegant, pale stone houses dotted with bright flower boxes rising up above her toward the clear turquoise sky. She caught a glimpse of herself in one of the windows, and barely recognized herself in her new striped dress, the smile on her lips she couldn’t suppress. It felt like something new, something strange and wonderful, was just beyond the touch of her fingertips now.

When she came out with her macarons in their neat little, beribboned box, she glimpsed Jack waiting at the end of the street, carrying a bottle of wine. He also wore tinted glasses, and his new gray suit that fit so well over his gorgeous shoulders, flowers in the crook of one arm. For a moment, he looked so distant, so far away from her, a beautiful mirage. She couldn’t breathe as she stopped just to look at him, couldn’t walk even a step, she was so stunned by him all over again.

He turned his head and saw her, and a smile burst across his face as he removed his glasses. He waved and started toward her, and Eliza felt as if she was suddenly launched into the sun. She rushed toward him, and impulsively went up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

He stiffened a tiny bit, his gaze darting over her head, and she shivered as she stepped back. She suddenly felt terribly embarrassed by her need to kiss him, be near him. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

He gave her a gentle smile. “You never could, bird girl. It’s just—it’s such a crowd here...”

“Oh.” Like a cold wave of water washing over her, she remembered how some people at home would have reacted to seeing her touch him there on the street, the trouble they might have gotten into. She glanced around, and just saw people hurrying past them, not even looking at them. One couple even kissed under a signpost at the end of the street, entwined around each other. “But this is Paris! Look at all the couples pretending they’re the only ones in the whole world. Like those people over there!” She waved toward the kissing couple. “I do think they are just about to consummate their wedding vows...”

Jack laughed, and the sweet, lilting, light sound made her relax and smile again.

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