the concierge at the Metropole, he was beginning to wonder if she’d checked in at another hotel altogether.
“Bonsoir, monsieur. My name is Monsieur Martin from the Belles Fleurs estate in Rablay.”
“Ah…it’s a pleasure to meet you. I understand the members of the Pyramid Film Company staying with us are shooting a film at your château.”
“That’s right, monsieur. It’s very important that I speak to Mademoiselle Brusse. I understand she’s in room 140.”
“Non, non. The beautiful actress was staying in room 122, but she’s no longer with us. Mademoiselle Lofgren, the director’s daughter, is occupying that room now.”
“You have no idea where Mademoiselle Brusse went?”
He leaned forward. In a low voice he said, “I believe with the director.”
It seemed he and Madame Fournier had a lot in common. “You’ve been very helpful. Merci, monsieur.”
“Pas de quoi.”
Now that Alex knew where his fetching cook would be spending the night, he left the hotel to do a few errands.
Heat from a hot sun still lifted off the cobblestones. A summer night like this was meant for lovers, but he’d never been affected to such a degree before. He was aware of wants and needs growing beneath the surface. To feel emptiness and dissatisfaction with his life after a hard day’s work was a new phenomenon for him.
His jaw hardened. After discovering Dana would be gone until tomorrow, the idea of spending the night alone at the château sounded insupportable. How was it she’d become so important to him in two weeks’ time?
Before long she’d be off to Germany. And then what? Paul intimated she had plans to become a director.
Alex should never have insisted she stay. Knowing she was around day and night had him tied up in knots. Yet if he were honest with himself, he’d be just as nuts if she’d stayed at the Hermitage. No hiding place was too far for him to find her, and find her he would, father or no father.
He’d decided to give her until ten o’clock. It was five to now. After putting his purchases in the truck bed, he returned to the hotel. Mademoiselle Brusse’s room was on the third floor at the end of the hall. This experience reminded him of musical chairs, a game he’d once played in elementary school. Tonight, however, the adults had decided to make it musical bedrooms minus the accompaniment.
“Dana?” he called to her as he knocked. “It’s Alex. I know you’re using this room, so it would be useless to pretend otherwise.”
“Why would I do that?” came a familiar voice behind him. He swung around in surprise to see her coming toward him in the same clothes she’d had on that morning.
The humidity had brought a flush to her cheeks. Her hair had little golden curls with more spring when she walked. His fingers itched to play with them. She was clutching a carton in her arms. Her eyes questioned his without flickering. “If you wanted to talk to me, why didn’t you phone?”
He sucked in his breath. “Would you have answered?”
“Of course.”
Since he hadn’t tried, he couldn’t accuse her of lying. “Why didn’t you tell me you planned to leave the estate tonight?”
“Didn’t you get my note?” She could play the innocent better than anyone he knew. “I left it by the kitchen sink.”
“I saw it,” he clipped out. “I’m talking about this morning.”
A tiny nerve throbbed at the base of her throat. “If you recall, we were…interrupted.”
“My memory’s perfect,” he murmured, unable to look anywhere except her mouth. She’d started a fire with it at the vineyard. “What about at lunch when you came and went so fast I wasn’t aware of it.”
She averted her eyes. “I didn’t make the decision to stay in town until later in the day.”
He glanced at the carton. “What have you got there? You’re holding it like it’s a newborn baby.”
The color in her cheeks intensified. “Actually it’s something very old and priceless.”
Alex couldn’t imagine. “In that case let’s take it home in my truck where it will be safe and we’ll enjoy that delicious dinner you made. The aroma that filled the kitchen was mouthwatering.”
Her startled gaze flew to his. “Then you haven’t eaten it yet?” She sounded disappointed.
“I ate part of it, but when I realized you’d gone, I put the rest of it in the fridge for us. After the trouble you went to, I didn’t want to eat all of it alone.”
It frustrated him she still wasn’t convinced. When he didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with her, he tried a different tactic. “Why don’t I hold the carton while you gather your things. Tomorrow I’ll drive you back for your car. I have to come in town again anyway on business.”
She bit the underside of her lip, increasing his desire for her. Hopefully it was a sign she was weakening. “All right,” she finally sighed the words, “but please don’t drop it. I couldn’t replace it for a long time.”
That sounded cryptic. At this point he was consumed by curiosity.
“I promise I’ll guard it with my life.”
It could be your life, Alex.
With her heart hammering, Dana handed him the carton. A few minutes later she’d packed everything in her bag and they left the hotel. In truth she hadn’t wanted to stay here at all and had dreaded returning to the sterile room after accomplishing her objective. For him to have shown up tonight thrilled her to her tiniest corpuscle.
When they reached the truck, she lowered her bag behind the cab, then took the carton from him while he opened the doors with the remote. “Let me hold it again until you climb inside.”
Alex could be so sweet. When she was settled, he gave the carton back and carefully shut the door. After they left Angers he flicked her a penetrating glance. “Did you discover anything of interest when you were opening boxes today?”
“Without tools I couldn’t see inside one of them and none are marked. It was very frustrating, but tomorrow’s another day. How’s your orchard going?”
“Thanks to those lunches, I’ve accomplished two more hours of work this week. At this rate I should be finished by the end of the next one.”
The days were going by too fast. Dana was starting to panic. “What’s your next project?”
“To tackle the undergrowth between the château and the winepress building.”
Before long everything on the outside would be done. That left the interior. With his work ethic, he’d have the place ready for tourists in no time.
She felt his eyes travel over her. “What
