[Double-C Ranch, Men 05] Married to a Stranger by Allison Leigh

Author:Allison Leigh [Leigh, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781460355589
Google: mIHRAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-03-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

All told, they spent nine days in Paris. Hope learned to ignore Dominique’s sharp humor on the few occasions they ran into one another, and to adjust to Tristan’s undeniable capacity to focus himself. Since the…episode in the restaurant, Tristan hadn’t given Hope one single glimpse of the man who had kissed her as if she was his salvation.

Of course, he was usually working at whatever it was he did in that room he’d thought she hadn’t noticed; and when he wasn’t working, he was preoccupied and tense. In fact, all of his associates, who came and went at all hours of the day, were tense.

But on one occasion when Hope had mustered some courage and broached the subject of Tristan’s “business” with him, he’d shrugged and offered some pat explanation about computer programming that she hadn’t believed for a moment. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew just how deeply his honorable streak ran, she might be worried about what went on in that secret room. She wasn’t worried, but she was curious. She had no intention of asking again, particularly since he’d made it plain that he wanted to keep the fact of their marriage separate from his work. If Hope wasn’t going to go out of her mind, she had to get out of the hotel and away from those men and women who came and went, barely glancing her way as they went about their business.

With Henri’s help and advice, and armed with a phrase book and guide to Paris, she’d discovered all the beauty and magnificence of the Louvre; lost her cheery beret to the gusting wind high atop the Eiffel Tower; and strolled along the Seine where artists painted and children played. She sat and had her portrait done in charcoal, because she couldn’t resist the charming young artist who’d laughed her way. But she’d hidden the small canvas away in her suite because she didn’t consider the rendition to look anything like her, and felt silly that she’d spent her money on something so frivolous.

She explored the garden outside the hotel, and lounged by the crystal-clear indoor pool. It was all beautiful and all wondrous but none of it matched the promise of spending a rare moment with the stranger who was her husband.

It wasn’t wise to fall for him, she knew. He was confusing and difficult and had told her flat out that there was no future for them.

He hadn’t kissed her again. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t relived that moment over and over again. That she hadn’t puzzled over his claim at being heartless. Goodness, a heartless man would have left her to face alone the rumors of their nonexistent torrid love affair. A heartless man wouldn’t care about the schooling of the town’s children. A heartless man wouldn’t have requested the concierge of their hotel to see that every whim of Hope’s was met.

That tidbit had obviously made the rounds beyond Henri, too, because Hope hadn’t been seated at that dinky little table in the rear of the restaurant again.

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