Red Hot Obsessions: Ten Contemporary Hot Alpha Male Romance Novels Boxed Set by Blair Babylon & Clarissa Wild & Daizie Draper & Ember Casey & J.C. Valentine & Lacey Silks & Molly McLain & Olivia Rigal & Sky Corgan & V.J. Chambers

Author:Blair Babylon & Clarissa Wild & Daizie Draper & Ember Casey & J.C. Valentine & Lacey Silks & Molly McLain & Olivia Rigal & Sky Corgan & V.J. Chambers [Babylon, Blair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Malachite Publishing / Red Hot Boxed Sets
Published: 2014-06-12T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Ariane

THERE WAS NO STAYING IN bed late that Saturday morning. Peter’s plane would land at the crack of dawn, and since there was almost no traffic coming into the city from the airport on weekends, he would arrive quite early.

Even though she knew she should get out of bed right away, Ariane did not resist the temptation to roll over onto the cool side of the bed for a little while. As her hair scattered on the fresh pillow, she wondered what it would be like to wake up to someone every morning.

Ariane was trying to ascertain how she felt. She had been doing that more times than she could possibly count lately, and the truthful answer was that she didn’t really know. A few nights in a row, she had dreamed that she was knee-deep in fog. She could see infinite blue sky above her but had no clue what she was standing on. Under her bare feet she could feel the edges of a narrow wall or maybe a ledge. In her dream she had not been scared, just unsettled by the fact that she had no idea how long her fall would be if she missed a step and what she would land on. So, yes, she was a bit anxious about this new turn her life was taking, but she also was willing to give it a chance.

She tried very hard not to think about the fact that Patrick had never meant to let her go. To do so, she had kept herself very busy. But that wasn’t working. Every single time she stopped to breathe, a little voice in her head asked her the same questions. What had she done? What had possessed her to invite Peter to come spend the summer term with her in Paris?

Before Peter, her life had been just the way she wanted it to be. She had filled her life with her school, her students, and her friends and had been content. Her school was busy enough to allow her to live nicely and set aside some time to experiment. She was working on her own recipes, exploring new flavors. She was secretly preparing a new recipe book. Well, maybe not that secretly since Madame Caroline knew of her dream. One day, when she had been very happy with one of her creations, she had let Madame Caroline taste it and talked about her dream of putting together something worth publishing.

Ariane also wondered how Madame Caroline would get along with Peter. One thing was certain: Madame Caroline’s curiosity had been piqued enough for her to invite him to their next Sunday lunch. Come to think of it, it was a strange kind of invitation since Ariane would be providing the meal. The reality was that Ariane had been ordered to introduce Peter to the Queen Dowager of the rue Saint Dominique.

Ariane jumped out of bed. She put on a light terry robe and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.