One Kiss in... Paris: The Billionaire's Bedside Manner / Hired: Cinderella Chef / 72 Hours

Bailey hung her head.

A lesser man might simply send a check.

As they moved away from the building toward that big sprawling tree out front, Mateo circled his arm around her waist. “Let’s take a drive.”

She hesitated but then nodded. If they went out, talked, her mind, and his, would be taken off a situation over which they had no power. And she had to be happy for Eleanor and pray that Mateo was right. A perfect family was around the corner for Clairdy. Remy too.

Mateo drove over that ancient stone-bridge and into the village with a towering gothic church, two restaurants, one bakery … and right on through.

Bailey shot over a glance. “Where are we going?”

“Thought you might like to see something a little different. A fortress. A ruin now. Word is it’s haunted.”

Determined not to be sullen, she set her mittened hands in her lap. “I’m in.”

After a few more minutes traveling along the country road, they reached the foot of a rocky cliff that jutted over the river. Ascending a series of rock slabs that served as steps, Bailey, with Mateo, reached near the summit a little out of breath. But given their incredible surroundings, she soon forgot her tired legs.

“Nine-hundred-years ago this began as a motte—a large mound—and wooden keep,” Mateo told her. “An earlier word for keep is donjon.”

It clicked. “As in dungeon?”

He winked, took her hand and led her toward the ruins. “By the fifteenth century, the fortress consisted of three enclosures surrounding an updated keep. Only the château of the second enclosure still stands.”

Bailey soaked up the sense of history effused in the assorted moss-covered arches, sagging stone steps, the remnants of sculptures hanging to cold gray walls. Above what once must have been an imposing door rested a worn coat of arms. Shading her eyes, she peered up. A giant might have taken a ragged chomp out of the second story wall.

“Who are the ghosts?” she asked. “Why do they haunt?”

“It’s said that a lord once kept his daughter locked in this tower. Apparently no man was good enough, but everyone knew the true reason. The lord didn’t want to lose his only child.” Holding her elbow, he helped her over rubble through to a cool interior that smelled of mold and earth. “Then, one day, a knight rode through and was invited to stay for the evening meal. The knight heard the maiden singing and crying. He asked if he could speak with her. But the lord wouldn’t allow it.”

Bailey had been picking her way up the stairs. Now she swung around to face him. “Don’t tell me they both died while the knight was trying to rescue her?”

“The knight succeeded in freeing his lady and they rode away that night to be wed. The father was furious and set out on horseback to bring his only child back. Taking a jump, his horse faltered and the lord broke his leg. Infection set in. He took six weeks to die, but he moaned and howled for his daughter’s return until his last breath. He wanted her forgiveness,” he added.

Bailey studied the lonely crumpling walls and coughed out a humorless laugh. “Funny thing is that lord never enjoyed his daughter’s company while he had it.”

Reading between the lines, Mateo crossed the dirt floor and joined her midway up the steps.

“If you’d like to see your father when we get back,” he said, “I’d be happy to go with you.”

She cupped his bristled cheek. “Thanks, but I can’t see any happy ending there either.”

“I’m sure if you gave him a chance—”

“Maybe he should give me one for a change.” Gathering herself, she blew out a breath. She didn’t want to discuss it. There was no point. “I wish it were different, but it’s not.”

A muscle in his cheek pulsed as he considered her response.

“I suppose it’s not easy.”

Bailey frowned. Did he mean for her or her father? How would he handle the situation if he ever became estranged from his child? How would he handle any situation as a father? She wanted to ask. And now seemed the time.

“Natalie mentioned at dinner that night she wouldn’t be surprised if one year you came home with a child from France.”

His face hardened. “Natalie’s sweet but she doesn’t have all the facts.”

“What are the facts?”

“For a start, nowadays the adoption process in France is a longwinded one.”

“So you’ve looked into it?”

“Madame and I have conversed for many years.”

Be that as it may, he hadn’t answered the question. “Then you’ve never considered adopting?”

His voice and brow lowered. “Remy will find a perfect home.”

“Maybe it could be with you.”

The muscle pulsed again before he headed back down the steps. “It’s hard, Bailey, I know, to think about leaving those kids behind. But they’re well looked after. I do what I can.”

Bailey let out a breath. Of course he did, and far more than most people would. Resigned, she admitted, “It’s probably best we’re leaving tomorrow or I might never want to go. Those kids have a way of wrapping themselves around your heart.”

From the foot of the stairs, he found her gaze. “That’s the way it is. When you have to stay, you don’t want to. When you’re free to leave.” His gaze dropped away.

That’s the way it was for her with Mateo, Bailey realized walking with him back out into the open. When she’d had nowhere to go and Mateo had convinced her to stay to rest up, she’d been intent on leaving. She’d ended up sharing his bed for two weeks then flying with him here. And in these few days she’d become frighteningly used to the sight of him sitting before a flickering fire in their cottage. Used to his earnest evaluating walks around the orphanage, as well as his warm smile when any one of the children brought him a drawing or sang him a song. She felt so close to him. As if they’d known each other before.

What would happen when they returned to Australia? She’d be earning her own money … would be free to live her own life. She had no real reason to stay at the Celeca mansion any longer.

Only now she wasn’t so keen to go.

Eleven

Mateo looked over the children playing in the late October sunshine and ran damp palms down his trouser legs. He and Bailey had spent three days at the Chapelle. At the end of each day they returned to his stone cottage to talk and make love into the night. The French countryside this time of year, the children’s laughter mixed with memories … he didn’t want to leave.

Bailey didn’t want to go either. If she hadn’t seemed so determined to start work again next week, he’d tell her they would stay a few more days. She seemed to fit here among the trees and the quiet.

He wanted to see more of her when they returned to Australia. But he also wanted to be clear on his position. He was not after marriage. Children of his own. If she accepted that, he’d be more than happy to continue what they shared for however long it lasted.

Bailey was strolling along the paved path with Madame Garnier. Clairdy walked a step behind, looking a little recovered from her news yesterday about her friend leaving. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Mateo headed toward them. All those years ago, he’d been overjoyed when Ernesto had taken him away from here, like his friend Henri had left before him. The friend he’d so love to know again. It hurt to see that little girl’s malaise but that’s all he could wish for each of these children. That one day soon they would find a family of their own.

A stiff breeze tugged at his coat. He examined the sky. Rain on the way. He should call Bailey now, say their goodbyes and, if they were going, head off.

Bailey and Madame strolled over.

“Are you ready to leave, Monsieur?” Madame asked.

Mateo folded Bailey’s gloved hand in his. “We’d best go now or the mademoiselle will miss out on seeing Paris.”

Nichole clapped twice, loudly, and children, coming from everywhere, promptly lined up.

“Monsieur Celeca must leave now,” Nichole said in French. “Would you all thank him and the mademoiselle for visiting?”

In unison, the children said in French, “Thank you. We will miss you.”

But even as Mateo’s chest swelled at the sight of so many adoring little faces and their heartfelt words, his gaze skated up and down the line and soon he frowned. One was missing.

“Where’s Remy?” he asked.

“Remy is a little under the weather today.” Madame reached into a pocket. “He asked that I give you this.”

She fished out a handmade card. When Mateo opened the paper, his heart torqued in his chest then sank to his knees.

Don’t forget me, Monsieur.

There was a drawing of a smiling boy holding a football.

Mateo groaned, then, setting his jaw, started off. “I’ll go see him.”

But Madame’s firm hand on his arm pulled him up. Her green eyes glistened with sympathy and understanding.

“I think, Monsieur, it is best that you don’t. I’ll keep an eye on Remy. He’ll be fine, I promise.”

Mateo held Nichole’s gaze for a long tortured moment as his thoughts flew and a fine sweat broke on his brow. She knew that if he went upstairs to Remy he would want to take him. And he couldn’t. For so many reasons. He had to go and let Remy find a couple who wanted a family. That boy didn’t need an overworked, set-in-his-ways bachelor.

After the women and Clairdy hugged, he and Bailey headed to the car, and the children began to sing. Emotion biting behind his eyes, Mateo fought the urge to look back. Seeing out the corner of his eye that Bailey’s hands were clenched together, it was all he could do not to. But he was scared that if he did, he would see Remy, standing as he had once stood, at a second-story window, wondering if two friends would ever meet again.

Mateo barely spoke the whole drive to Paris. Whenever Bailey tried to make conversation, he answered and that was all.

From the first, she’d been aware of the connection he and Remy shared. Now Mateo felt terrible leaving that little boy behind. More terrible than she felt leaving Clairdy, and that was bad enough. But as Mateo had said, he did what he could. Neither of them was in a position to do any more … even if they desperately wanted to.

Still, she wished she could have the happy, talkative Mateo back again.

As the convertible hurled them ever closer to Paris and away from the Chapelle, Bailey told herself not to dwell on the possibility of Mateo being a father to Remy as Ernesto had been a father to him. Watching farmhouses and fields whiz by, she reminded herself that Mateo had a bachelor lifestyle—a busy career—that didn’t correlate with having children. Remy deserved a family who were prepared to give up anything and everything to adopt him. When Mateo flew over next year, Remy might well be gone. And that was best.

Wasn’t it?

They checked into the same hotel on the Champs-Elysees and, as if neither of them wanted to dwell on where they had been—how different it felt to be back in the bosom of luxury as opposed to snuggling beneath the patchwork quilt of their stone cottage—they had their bags taken to their suite and immediately set off to sightsee.

As they strolled arm in arm along the Champs-Elysees, Mateo explained, “The people of Paris refer to this avenue as la plus belle avenue du monde. The most beautiful avenue in the world.”

Bailey had to agree. Finally soaking up the sights she’d heard so much about felt amazing. The atmosphere was effused with so much history and courage and beauty. Every shop and tree and face seemed to greet her as if they were old rather than new friends.

She cupped a hand over her brow to shield the autumn sun from her eyes. “It seems to go on forever.”

“Two kilometers. It ends at the Arc de Triomphe, the monument Bonaparte built to commemorate his victories.”

They strolled beside the clipped horse-chestnut trees and lamplights, passing cinemas, cafés and so many speciality shops, before stopping for lunch at a café where the dishes marked on a chalkboard menu ranged from sweet-and-sour sea bass and lobster ravioli to more casual fare such as club sandwiches. After taking a seat among the pigeons at one of the many sidewalk tables, Bailey decided on the crab and asparagus salad, while Mateo liked the sound of braised lamb with peaches.

“Is this a favorite café when you’re in town?” She asked, sipping a glass of white wine.

“This is my first time eating here.”

“Then I think today we’ve found the perfect place to simply sit and watch.”

He raised his glass. “A favorite Parisian pastime. Keeping an eye out for the unique and the beautiful.”

Bailey had been watching a pair of young lovers, laughing as they meandered down the avenue. Now her focus flicked back to Mateo and the intense look in his dark eyes made her blush. He wasn’t looking at the beautiful view. He was looking at her.

They enjoyed their meal then headed off to the Louvre on the bank of the Seine. Bailey couldn’t stop from beaming. So much to take in … over thirty-five thousand works of art dating from antiquity to modern times … Da Vinci, Rubens as well as Roman-Greco and Egyptian art collections … she felt deliciously lost as more and more worlds unfolded before her. She adored Michelangelo’s The Slave and openly gaped at the Venus de Milo. But she fell completely in love with Canova’s Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss.

Cupid’s wings were raised behind him, his head slanted over the unconscious Psyche’s as he held her close. Bailey was in awe of the depth of emotion the master had captured in marble.

“This is my favorite,” she decided. “You can see how in love with her he is.”

“Legend has it that Venus was jealous of Psyche’s beauty,” Mateo said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “She sent her son, Cupid, to scratch Pysche with an arrow while she slept. When Psyche awoke, she would fall in love with the first man she saw: a hideous creature that Venus planned to plant in the bed. But Cupid woke Psyche and, startled, he accidentally scratched himself as well. Under the arrow’s spell, they fell instantly in love.”

“And lived happily ever after?”

“They had a spat and Venus put some more obstacles in the way. The last sent Psyche into a dead sleep, that only Cupid’s kiss could cure.”

She sighed. “Like in Sleeping Beauty.”

“Like you in the mornings,” he murmured against the shell of her ear.

She smiled and admitted, “I’m not the lightest of sleepers.”

“Waking you is my favorite time of the day.”

He brushed his lips down the side of her throat and the backs of her knees turned to jelly. But she was well aware of their public surroundings.

“You want to get us thrown out.”

He chuckled. “We’re in France.”

While Mateo continued to nuzzle her cheek, she thought again of the sculpture and its legend. “What happened at the end of their story?”

“Our old friend Zeus blessed their union and gifted Psyche immortality. She and Cupid had a daughter, Voluptas, the goddess of sensual pleasure.”

Bailey’s eyes widened. “Voluptas. Bet she has a story or two of her own.”

Laughing—his old self again—he led her away.

They cruised around the exhibits until the museum closed up at ten. But outside they found the city sparkling and very much awake. Making their way along the Seine, they drank in the river’s shimmering reflections and music floating over the cold night air.

He released her hand and drew that arm around her waist. “What would you like to do tomorrow?”

“That’s easy.” She cuddled in as they walked. “Everything.”

“In a single day?”

“We have a day and a half,” she corrected. “And I put myself entirely in your hands.”

“Entirely?”

“And exclusively.”

He growled playfully, “I like the sound of that,” then turned her in his arms to steal a bone-melting kiss that sparked a wanting fire low in her belly and kept it burning.

They found a warm place to enjoy coffee and share a pastry, then walked again. When dawn broke—a palette of pink and gold soaking across the horizon—cold and worn out, she yawned and couldn’t stop.

Mateo raised his hand to hail a cab. “Time to turn in.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he growled before opening the back passenger door of the cab that had pulled up. “We have another big day coming up.”

She didn’t like when he was bossy. Even if he was right. Nestled in the back seat, she rested her cheek against his shoulder. Smiling drowsily, she found she couldn’t keep her eyes open. As her lids closed, all the sights and sounds and smells of their day in Paris flooded her mind. She snuggled more against his warm hard chest and murmured, “I loved our night. Love it here. I love … I love …”

Mateo waited for Bailey to finish. But, with the sun rising—with the full day they’d had—she was asleep before her last words were out. After pressing a kiss on her brow, he too closed his eyes.

When they arrived at the hotel, he roused himself and eased away. But Bailey didn’t wake, so he carefully scooped her up in his arms and, entering the lobby, asked the doorman to follow him to an elevator and help him into his suite. A few minutes later, the concierge swiped open the suite’s door and, on Mateo’s orders, hurried to draw back the bed’s covers before bidding him a hushed very good morning.

Searching Bailey’s contented face, Mateo carefully laid his sleeping beauty upon the sheets. She stirred when he removed her coat and shoes but after he stripped and lay down to join her, she curled up against him and huddled deeper as he drew the covers up around her chin. His body cried out for rest but he didn’t want to give into sleep.

The view was too good.

As he stroked her hair and watched growing light play over the contours of that button nose, the curve of her lips, Mateo’s chest grew warm. Despite lingering memories of the Chapelle earlier today, he’d never known this depth of peace. The feeling that he had what he needed to survive, to be happy, was right here with him now in his arms.

He’d mulled it over before. Now his mind was made up. No more wondering if Bailey was anything like his manipulative ex. When they were home again in Sydney, he’d make it official. He would make their current living arrangement more permanent. No contracts. No rings. Just an agreement to share each other’s company.

And his bed.

Twelve

At nine the next morning, a soft caress at the shell of Bailey’s ear stirred her from her dreams. Smiling, stretching and sighing, she rolled over and remembered where she was and with whom. In Paris with the most incredible man.

Mateo dotted a kiss on her nose, on her cheek.

“You were sleeping soundly.” His voice was deliciously husky the way it always was first thing in the morning, and she found herself sighing at her body’s reaction to the desire evident in his hooded eyes and slanted smile. Coiling her arms around his neck, she brought his lips to hers while his hot palm trailed up her side. Within seconds her heartbeat was racing.

She couldn’t remember the last of that cab ride last night. Couldn’t remember how she’d arrived back in this suite. She did know, however, that this minute she felt amazingly snug, wonderfully safe. She remembered their agreement … today she was entirely, exclusively his. How she wanted to pull the covers up over their heads and spend the next few hours in bed.

Reluctantly breaking the kiss, he murmured against her lips. “It’s time to get up.”

Groaning, she dragged the back of her hand over her tired eyes. Bossy again. “What time is it?”

“Time to see Paris.”

A second passed when she could have smoothed her fingers over his muscled shoulder and drawn his mouth back to hers. But this was their only full day left in France. She couldn’t pass that up, even for such a compelling reason.

With not nearly enough sleep, Bailey was slow to shower and dress. But the moment they were back on the Parisian streets, coats pulled up around their ears, she was bubbling with excitement.

They visited Notre Dame, the legendary home of the hunchback, then went on to an artist’s paradise, Montmatre et Sacre Coeur, situated on a hill in the north of Paris. It boasted the famous Moulin Rouge at its base and the famed Sacre Coeur Basilica, with its inspirational equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, at its summit. She made sure Mateo took plenty of snapshots.

After changing for dinner back at their suite, they took the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower where they caught the last of the sunset. Gazing over the city’s buildings and monuments draped in a coat of gold, Bailey tried to imprint her mind with every inch of the breathtaking panorama. Mateo circled his arm around her waist and handed his camera to a German tourist who ensured the moment was captured.

He thanked the man then asked her, “Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving.” They’d had a bagel on the run, but that was hours ago. “What do you have in mind?”

“A special treat.”

As they descended, Mateo revealed his biggest surprise of the day. He’d booked well in advance a table at The Jules Verne, one of Paris’s most exclusive restaurants, situated on the tower’s second floor.

They were shown to a table by a window facing north across the fountains and enjoyed a night of exquisite cuisine, the best of champagne, while surrounded by a glittering blanket of city lights.

When the waiter removed their dessert dishes, Mateo slid a hand across the white linen tablecloth. His fingers folded around hers.

“Did you enjoy the meal?”

“I enjoyed everything.”

He grinned, and the smile lit his eyes. His index finger had begun to toy with her bracelet’s charms … the heart, the bear…. He looked down but then frowned and took a closer look.

“You ought to have that catch checked out. It’s near worn through.”

Worried, she inspected the clasp then each of the charms to make certain none were missing. “Guess it should be worn. I don’t take it off.” Bailey’s stomach looped and knotted at the thought of losing it. “After so long, I wouldn’t feel whole without this around my wrist.”

“We’ll get a safety chain for it tomorrow.”

“I’ll look after it when we get home.”

Mateo didn’t look pleased. But it wasn’t his place to insist.

He reached and took her hand again, angling her wrist to study the charms. “Have you added to it since your sixteenth?”

“It’s never felt quite right. It’d have to be a really special charm.” She didn’t own much, but this possession was sacred. Not that her father would understand that. Even now he probably thought she was a day away from harming or losing it.

“What about you?” She asked, looking up from their twined hands; hers looked so small and pale compared to his. “Do you have any childhood mementos hidden away?”

Mateo’s gaze grew distant and his brows knitted before he shook his head. “No. Nothing material.”

Bailey’s heart went out to him. Given all his chattels back in Sydney, that answer made sense.

“But I do have something,” he said. “A memory I treasure.”

She sat straighter. “Memories are good.”

“The day Ernesto came back to the Chapelle for me. It was spring and everyone was playing outdoors. He called me over, beside that old oak and he said, ‘Mateo, if you’d like to be my son …'” His Adam’s apple bobbed before he seemed to come back from that distant spot. Then he shrugged and gave an offhanded smile. “How’s that. I’ve forgotten the rest.”

From the way his dark eyes glistened, she didn’t think so. But she understood. Memories were the most valuable of all keepsakes. He was entitled to protect his. He’d certainly given her some amazing memories these past days to cherish.

Leaning closer, she confessed with all her heart, “I’ll never forget our time here.”