A French Affair Read online

  ‘Yes,’ she said, his words having forced her brain to concentrate and to wake up. ‘That would be great, thank you. Can I go and have a shower first? If you don’t want to wait, I can always walk if you tell me where to go.’

  ‘Don’t be silly. I don’t mind waiting. I haven’t got an awful lot to do today, really. Just go food shopping, go and price up some appliances for next door when it’s ready, and phone my kids. I’m saving the best bit until last.’

  She grinned. The love in his eyes when he spoke about his children was endearing. He was endearing. ‘OK. I’ll be as quick as I can.’

  Chapter Nine

  Sydney could have walked, easily. Monthiers was a pretty small village and Harry’s house was barely a minute’s drive away from the barn. She knew where she was going now, and it definitely wasn’t worth driving her car. Plus the walk would do her good. She’d suggest it after today – if he left a key somewhere for her, she could let herself in.

  ‘Welcome to my humble abode,’ Harry said as he pulled the car onto a driveway in front of a beautiful big house.

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘Humble? Bloody hell, if this is humble I wonder what you class as posh.’

  He smiled. ‘Come on, let’s get you set up. I don’t want to hold up your writing up any longer.’

  Sydney wasn’t sure if she’d embarrassed him with her comment, or whether he didn’t know what to say, or simply didn’t want to talk about it. Either way, she got the impression that, had she been a gold digger, she’d have truly landed on her feet with Harry. The house – which was his holiday home, not his permanent residence – was bigger and nicer than even the largest property on the street she lived in back in England. She knew houses were cheaper in France, but it was still an impressive building, and as someone that appreciated architecture, she very much looked forward to seeing inside.

  She wasn’t disappointed. After unlocking the door, he ushered her inside. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘I’ll show you around quickly, then help get all your stuff arranged in the office.’

  ‘OK, thanks.’ She gave his arm an affectionate squeeze as she moved past, the laptop bag on her shoulder and tote in her other hand preventing anything more physical.

  ‘Right,’ he said, taking the largest bag from her and heading up the stairs, ‘let’s put these down first.’

  He led her into a room on the third storey which was nestled between the eaves. The window overlooked the garden and some of the countryside beyond it.

  ‘Wow,’ she said, putting her laptop bag down on the table he indicated, ‘this is stunning. And this is one of your spare rooms?’

  Harry nodded. ‘Shelly and I really struck lucky with this place. When we were looking to buy, property over here was incredibly cheap. The kids were little and we weren’t sure if we were going to have any more or not, so we thought this would be a nice size. Of course, it feels bloody enormous to me now, especially when the kids are back in England. But the market being what it is, it makes no sense to sell it now. And it is a beautiful house.’

  ‘It really is. Thank you so much for letting me work here.’

  ‘It’s no problem, the least I can do. OK, want to see the rest of it?’

  She agreed, and Harry led her, room by room, through the property. They finished up in the kitchen, by which point she was already feeling a little lost and wondering if she could remember where the nearest bathroom was to her temporary office.

  ‘So,’ Harry said, leaning on one of the work surfaces, ‘can I get you a drink before I head out? Then of course feel free to help yourself if you want anything else.’

  ‘Yes, please. Do you have any cold drinks?’

  He went to the fridge and pulled open the door. ‘Yep. Orange squash, apple squash, various juices … Come and have a look.’

  She went over and peered into the cavernous fridge, grabbing a carton of apple juice then turning to ask where the glasses were. Harry was so close behind her that she shrieked and almost dropped the juice. She shot him a mock-scowl. ‘You made me jump!’

  ‘Sorry. Let me get you a glass.’ He leant forward and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose before moving off to get the promised receptacle. ‘If you need another while I’m gone, they’re in here, OK?’

  ‘OK,’ she said, taking the glass with a murmur of thanks. She poured the drink and put the carton back.

  ‘Right, do you want any breakfast before I go?’

  Given their earlier activity, she ought to have been ravenous, but for some reason she wasn’t. ‘No, I’m OK, thanks. I’ll grab some of that fruit if I get hungry.’ She nodded to the bowl on the table.

  ‘Help yourself. I have cereal and bread too, if you want some toast. I’m not sure how long I’ll be out. It depends on traffic and how busy the damn car parks are.’ He opened a drawer and pulled out a notebook. The top page already had writing on it – it looked like a list from where she was standing. ‘Right, what sort of thing do you want for lunch? And dinner. If you’d like to stay for dinner, that is. I’d love it if you did.’ He looked at her almost shyly, and for some reason that made her feel shy too.

  ‘I don’t want to be any trouble.’ She dropped her gaze to the floor.

  ‘It’s no trouble. It’s my fault there’s noise at the barn, so I invited you here. And while you’re here, I’m going to look after you the best I can. Just make sure I get an acknowledgement in the novel, all right?’ He winked at her, his awkwardness seemingly gone.

  ‘OK,’ she said with a grin. ‘Lunch and dinner would be great. You know I eat pretty much anything, so just surprise me. In fact, whatever you’re good at cooking would be fantastic.’

  ‘A wise choice,’ he replied. ‘Though I have got a damn sight better at cooking in the past few years. By necessity, of course. I didn’t want my children to either starve or have to live on microwave meals and takeaways. Social services would have been called in!’

  ‘They’re lucky kids. It’s obvious you adore them.’

  ‘Of course I do. And you will too.’ He ripped the top page from the notebook, folded it, and put it into his pocket. Moving over to her, he pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her lips that almost immediately left her wanting more. God, a couple of sessions with the man and she’d turned into a raving nymphomaniac.

  Mind you, she thought, as they exchanged goodbyes and he grabbed his keys from the side before heading out, it’s hardly surprising. He’s gorgeous, kind, intelligent, mature … The list went on. And he was hers – pretty much. They still had lots to discuss, but providing they could come to an agreement, the future was bright.

  She watched from the window as he reversed off the drive and onto the quiet street, then drove away. Sighing, she realised she was actually, in a way, relieved he was gone. If she tried to work, knowing he was downstairs, she’d probably just have wanted to go to him and ravish him all over again. As it was, she had complete and utter peace and quiet, perfect solitude, to finally get some words down.

  Moving over to the door, she flipped the lock, then took her juice up to her temporary office. She made short work of setting up her laptop and her notes, then pulled up the document. After a few quiet moments to get her head in the right place, she began to type.

  It seemed the small room at the top of Harry’s gorgeous house was the perfect location to write, because she became so engrossed in her task that she didn’t stop, didn’t look up until a noise startled her. She jumped, churning out the second lot of gobbledegook onto her manuscript:

  Ladnklad 89 ehwkhfw ieeo

  Turning around, she came face to face with a sheepish-looking Harry. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, holding a laden plate out in front of him. ‘I thought you’d heard me come in. I’ve been as quiet as possible, but this house is pretty creaky. Anyway, I brought you lunch. A late lunch, admittedly, but it seems you haven’t missed it.’

  Sydney glanced at the clock in the corner of her laptop screen. ‘Crikey, I didn’t realise it was that la
te.’ She smiled gratefully as Harry placed the plate down next to her. ‘Thank you, this is great. You don’t have to wait on me, though. I’d have come down when my stomach started complaining.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, reaching over to pick up her empty glass. ‘But I said I’d look after you, and I will. Want a refill?’

  ‘Mmm, yes please,’ she replied, looking at the goodies on her plate. Sandwiches on delicious-looking thick white bread, breadsticks, some salad, pickled onions, and a couple of slabs of cheese. ‘I’d absolutely love a cup of tea too, if you don’t mind. I’m happy to come and get it, though, if you’re busy.’

  ‘No, it’s OK.’ He put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ve done my chores now, and of course I can’t ring Marcus and Roxanne until they’re home from school. So I’m totally at your disposal. One cup of tea, coming up.’

  He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then left. She looked again at the food he’d brought her, wondering where on earth to start. Hunger dictated she didn’t take too long to decide, and by the time Harry came back up the stairs, she’d demolished half a sandwich, some of the salad, and was munching on a breadstick.

  He put the glass of juice and cup of tea down, then pointed at her laptop. ‘May I?’

  She nodded, her mouth full.

  He leant forward and scanned the words on the current page. It was only the tiniest snapshot of the book, but when he finished reading, he looked impressed. ‘Wow. You are one good writer. Your book’s not even aimed at me, and just from reading that little bit, I’m intrigued.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, having swallowed what she’d been chewing. ‘You don’t have to be nice, though.’

  ‘I’m not. Well, I am, but I mean it. I’d love to read the entire manuscript when you’re done.’

  ‘You can, if you like. It’ll be a little while before I have a version I’m happy to submit to my publisher, but you can read it then, if you want.’

  ‘Yes, that would be great.’ He grabbed a piece of cucumber from her plate and popped it into his mouth. There was silence for a few seconds while he chewed it. ‘Right,’ he said, ‘I’m going to leave you to it and go and get my own lunch. Give me a shout if you need anything. I’ll do dinner for seven. Is that all right? Or would you prefer earlier or later?’

  ‘Seven is fine, thank you. I probably shouldn’t work any longer than that, anyway. It’s not good to be sitting in one position staring at a screen for that long.’

  ‘That’s true. I could shout you at six and we could go for a little walk through the village before we eat?’

  ‘That would be lovely. Thank you again.’

  He inclined his head, then turned to leave. ‘Oh,’ he said suddenly, turning back, ‘do you want me to switch on the WiFi and give you the password?’

  ‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘absolutely not. The temptation of email, social media, and news sites will be too much. I won’t write nearly as much with all that at my fingertips. So that’s a polite no thank you.’

  ‘Understood. I’ll call you at six, if I don’t see you before.’

  ‘OK. See you later.’

  With that, he left her in peace. She ate her lunch as she read back through the last chapter she’d written, making tweaks here and there. By the time she’d finished eating, she was raring to get some new words down. She moved the empty plate out of the way, as well as her two drinks, then started to type furiously, pausing only to sip her tea once it had cooled a little.

  Barring loo breaks, she didn’t stop until Harry came up behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.

  Chapter Ten

  ‘Come on, workaholic,’ he said. ‘It’s six o’clock, and time for a little walk. Probably another cup of tea first, though.’ He pointed to her empty mug and glass, and she tilted her head back to look at him, suddenly feeling every inch like she hadn’t moved a muscle since lunchtime.

  ‘No, thanks,’ she said, letting out a long breath. ‘I think I’ll have one when we get back from our walk. If I have one now I’ll just want to veg out. Let me save and shut down.’

  He waited patiently as she saved her document, then closed down and unplugged the laptop. Carefully closing the lid, she turned and asked, ‘Is it OK if I leave it here until tomorrow? I can’t be tempted to work in the middle of the night, then. I’ve done it in the past, and it pretty much always comes out as crap. I’m definitely not the sort of writer who can pull all-nighters. I like my sleep too much!’

  ‘Of course, that’s no problem. Though … I was kind of hoping you’d pull an all-nighter with me.’

  Standing, Sydney turned and put her hands on her hips, fixing him with a look. ‘Are you being rude, Mr Bay?’

  He grinned. ‘Do you want me to be?’

  ‘Abso-fucking-lutely. Now let’s go for that walk before we get distracted.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  They made their way down to the ground floor, where Harry quickly checked that everything was progressing correctly with their dinner. Then they headed out, hand in hand.

  Passing through the streets, Sydney figured that – builders and church bells aside – this was the noisiest Monthiers got. A few cars pootled past, presumably villagers returning home from work. A couple of them waved at Harry, and he waved back. A handful of small children raced around, taking no notice at all of the adults.

  ‘Wow.’ Sydney grinned as the little ones screeched and chattered excitedly to one another, ‘I can’t imagine it being like this back home. Parents are too scared to let their kids out of their sight.’

  ‘That’s why I like it here so much. It’s so safe. When Marcus and Roxanne are grown up, I may well end up moving over here permanently. But it wouldn’t be fair on them if I did it now. Back home they’ve got friends, family, choices. I imagine they’d be bored stiff over here. Of course, they like it well enough when they visit during the school holidays, especially since I don’t feel I have to watch them every minute, but that’s a relatively small amount of time, and I make the effort to take them out to places. God, the money I’ve spent at Disneyland Paris.’ He brought his free hand up to cover his face. Behind it, Sydney could see his exasperated expression.

  She laughed. ‘I can imagine. Those places are never cheap, especially when you’ve got children.’

  He shook his head, then smiled. ‘They’re worth it.’

  ‘I don’t doubt it.’

  They fell into a companionable silence as they walked on, past properties new and old, large and small, plus the tavern, which appeared to have only one customer. They passed the barn and saw that the builders had cleared out. Harry said he’d pop round in the morning when they were back, for another status report. They smirked at one another as they remembered what had happened that very morning, before he’d done just that.

  Soon they ran out of village to wander through, so they turned and made their way back to Harry’s place. As they went inside, delicious smells assaulted their senses, and Sydney couldn’t help but comment. ‘Oh my God, is it seven o’clock yet? That smells gorgeous!’

  Harry gave a mock bow. ‘Thank you, madam. Though to be fair, you haven’t tasted it yet. It could smell divine and taste disgusting.’

  ‘True, but I’m willing to take the chance.’ She sat down at the table, which had already been set.

  ‘In that case, can I get you a drink while I’m finishing up?’

  ‘Yes please. Do you have wine?’

  ‘I sure do. Any preference?’

  ‘Nope. Whatever you have open is fine.’

  Harry gave a nod, then reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle. She watched as he yanked out the cork and poured two glasses, bringing one over to her before replacing the now almost-empty bottle in the fridge.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, holding up the glass and tilting it towards him for a toast.

  Harry picked up his own glass, crossed the room, and clinked it against hers.

  ‘Cheers.’ They spoke
in unison and shared a smile.

  Harry took a sip of his drink, then put it down on the table. Turning back to the work surfaces, he grabbed the oven gloves and tugged open the door. ‘OK,’ he said, giving her a spectacular view of his backside as he bent over, ‘it’s ready. Prepare to be amazed or disgusted.’

  ‘I’m sure it’ll be the first. You’re just being modest. Can I do anything to help?’

  ‘Nope. You just chill out, you’ve had a busy day.’

  She said nothing, merely doing as she was told and smiling politely several minutes later as the plate was put down in front of her. ‘Oh wow. No wonder it smelled nice!’

  He’d made a shepherd’s pie. ‘I was going to say I’d done it so we could have a taste of home. But I admit that I’ve made this simply because I know how. I’ve done it a couple of times, so it should be OK. Let me know if not and I can do something else.’

  ‘Sit down, Harry. I think it’s going to be absolutely perfect.’

  Now it was his turn to do as he was told, and he moved into the seat opposite her and took a sip of his drink before picking up his cutlery. ‘Hey, don’t wait for me,’ he said. ‘Dig in.’

  Sydney did just that, sticking her fork into the gravy-covered dish and bringing it, loaded, to her lips. Steam wafted off it, so she blew on it a little before popping it into her mouth. Immediately, the flavours of the simple yet delicious dish exploded on her tongue and she moaned with pleasure, rolling her eyes back in her head. She opened them a few seconds later, the morsel swallowed, to find Harry giving her a very concerned look.

  ‘That was a happy moan, right?’

  ‘One hundred per cent. Can’t you tell the difference?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Well,’ she wiggled her eyebrows saucily, ‘then you obviously need more practice, don’t you?’ Her expression made her intent clear, and the corners of Harry’s lips quirked up, then shifted into a full-on cheesy grin.