Explore Her, More of Her (17 page)

“Is she here, Jacques?” Betty asked.

“She’s somewhere around here,” Jacques replied.

“Ma Fleur, this is for you!”

As Betty sang, Anton and Anna stared into each other’s eyes.

“Your cousin said something interesting to me,” Anna said.

“Daisy speaks more interesting words than uninteresting ones,” he replied.

Anna snorted. “I love your bullshit.”

He tossed his head back to chuckle, remembering that Daisy had also referred to him as a bullshitter. “And I love your mouth.”

“She said that you wanted me. Do you?”

Anton felt as if he had just slammed into a wall of relief. “Yes.” His heartbeat sped up.

“Always?” Anna asked.

“From the moment we met.”

“Then I was not imagining things?”

Anton shook his head. They hugged each other tighter. Anna rested her face on his chest, and Anton pressed his nose against her forehead. She had the same sweet scent that had turned him on so many years ago.

“You were not going to fuck that prostitute, were you?” she asked.

“Prostitute? She wasn’t a prostitute.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Look at her. She was a very costly prostitute.”

Anton chuckled. “It doesn’t matter because I was thinking about you the whole time.”

“No?”

“Yes.”

Anton glanced toward where he’d last seen Nina. She was no longer there. “I want to show you something. Will you let me?”

He looked deep into Anna’s eyes. Her expression indicated that she knew that this was the point of no return. It could actually happen between them, and it had been a long time coming.

“Are we leaving?” she asked.

“Can you leave?”

“Maybe. Yes.”

He asked, “Will you come with me now?”

She raised a finger. “Give me a moment.”

“Can I kiss you first?”

Anna gulped. “Yes.”

His lips melted against hers. Anton could not believe what he was doing. Her mouth was warm and tasted like wine. He gripped her back and brought her closer. If he could not make love to her, then he would die.
 

“What are you doing?” Nina asked.

Anton and Anna forced their lips apart. Nina’s face was red and her eyes watery.

Anna looked flabbergasted. “Nina…”

“Fuck you, Anna! You too, Anton.”

Anna reached for Nina’s shoulder, but Nina whacked her across the face. “No!”

Anna grabbed her cheek, and they watched in horror as Nina ran away.

“Why are the women so feisty tonight?” a guest said.

Anton sneered at the man for making light of their situation.

Anna hugged him. “Take me away from here.”

“Gladly.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her off the dance floor.
 

They headed to the canoe. He was positive Daisy wouldn’t need a ride back to the chateau. She was in her husband’s hands now, and Jack Lord wasn’t going to release her.

“I am sorry,” Anton said as they marched across the grass.

“It is not your fault. I wanted to kiss you too.”

Anton tugged her into his arms and kissed her deeply. He wondered how far Anna would let him go. There was no one around so he squeezed her scrumptious ass, and she let him. He hiked up her dress, and she let him slide his fingers under her panties. Anna whimpered against him when he slid as much of his finger as he could up her slit while reaching for her clit. She was so wet, but Anton didn’t want his first time with Anna to happen on a bed of scratchy grass.
 

Anton sighed as he retracted his hand. “We go to my house.”

Endorphins made Anton and Anna’s legs wobbly as they walked to the canoe. Anna was very quiet, which worried Anton.

“You don’t have to go through with this,” he said.

“Do not doubt my feelings, Anton.” She sounded as if she was chastising him.

“I don’t, but you and Nina are like sisters. That is why you never acknowledged my feelings for you.”

Anna pulled up to a stop. “You say you wanted me since we met, but you had a relationship with Nina. Why?”

Anton searched her glassy eyes. “I did not think you would have me without her.”
 

 
“I would have and I will, although I prefer the both of you.”

Anton searched Anna’s sad expression. He could not believe what he was about to ask, but he was willing to delay his gratification to make her happier. “Do you want to wait until you make it better with her?”
 

Anna petted his chin. “Do you remember when you did not shave your face?”

Anton smiled. “I remember. Nina did not like hair on my face.”

“But you asked me what I liked.”

“You said whatever Nina wanted.”

“I liked the hair,” she said. “It made you look so manly. Without it, you are like a pretty, pretty girl.”

Anton grabbed her hips and shoved her pelvis against his erection. “Does this feel like a pretty, pretty girl?”

“No,” she said breathlessly.

Anna tilted her head as
 
glided his tongue down the front of her neck and sucked her skin between his teeth.

“I knew you could make me feel good,” Anna whispered.

“I can make you feel a lot better.”

They stared into each other’s eyes. After realizing they would have to wait to make love, they held hands and finished their walk to the canoe. Once they boarded, Anna snuggled against his chest as he rowed toward the moon. Never in a million years did he believe Anna would be nuzzled against his heart. Perhaps he loved her.

“Anton, get your horny ass back up here!” someone shouted from the hill.
 

Anna turned her curious expression toward him.

Anton snorted. “It is Claire.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes.”

Belmont and I walk to the Mer Rouge chateau with our arms around each other, still charged by our desire for one another. We have to make up for all the nights and mornings we’ve spent apart. But I insist that he change his shirt first. We’re taking the long way around since Belmont doesn’t want to be stopped by the guests who only showed up to get some face-time with him. He’s not the kind of man who shuns a casual ear-bend, but he wants me on my back, and the sooner, the better.
 

We’ve just come out of a hidden path through the woods. Hidden bugs have gnawed my bare skin. The grass has made me itchy as well.

Belmont moves my hand and takes over scratching. “I should’ve never taken you to that flea patch. I didn’t think I would lose control like that.”

“You didn’t?” I ask sarcastically.

Belmont laughs.
 

I catch sight of Jacques and three men loading instruments into a van. “Look, it’s my father.”

“Jacques!” Belmont calls.

My father glares in our direction. His preoccupied expression turns into a welcoming smile as we approach. “Ma fleur, Jack Lord!”

The hug between Jacques and me is tighter than the one he gives Belmont.

“Leaving so soon?” I ask.

“We’re just packing up. We’re going to grab a couple of drinks with Leon and Claire before we head to the airport. You should join us.”

I look at Belmont. “Leon and Claire are Anton’s brother and sister.”

Belmont dips his head toward the party. “Go. I’ll change my shirt and come join you.”

I give him a longing look before we give each other a chaste kiss. Belmont shuffles to the chateau, and the three men finish packing the van. Jacques and I head to where the action is. Most of the guests are around the stage dancing and listening to the band. I recognize the five skinny, dark-haired boys on stage as the pop group Hang-a-ran. The people who aren’t into the music hang under the tent, socializing. Most of them are three sheets to the wind. French wine hits fast.
 

Jacques updates me on what’s been happening in Leon and Claire’s lives. Leon is married with three kids, only he’s here tonight with a friend Jacques calls Boy. Both of them are architects, and they came to the party because they were already in Bordeaux, working on refurbishing a government building. Claire drove up from Paris. She’s recently back from MIT, where she is studying for a degree in biological engineering. Claire has lived in the United States since her freshman year in high school. Personality-wise, she’s more like Heloise than Adélie, her mother. He says that with one eye narrowed, which is his look of warning.
 

“I don’t know if that’s a bad thing,” I say.

Jacques laughs. He knows exactly what I mean. Heloise still complains about how badly Tante Adélie overreacts. She’s very spastic for a European. It’s strange.

I recognize Leon at first sight. He and Daniel are the same age, which makes him two years older than me. His friend, Boy, walks up to us with Leon.

“Leon, here is my daughter Daisy,” Jacques says in French.

Leon opens his arms. “Ah, Daisy!”
 

I accept the hug. “Bonjour, Leon.”

“It has been a lifetime, no?”

“A few lifetimes.”

I shake Boy’s hand. Funny, Boy looks nothing like a boy. He gazes at me with stars in his eyes.
 

“Daisy, like the beautiful flower?” Boy smiles. His teeth are yellow. He smokes too much.
 

“Yes, like a flower,” I say, smiling.
 

“What would you like to drink, Daisy?” He sings my name. Then his eyes veer over my head.

Belmont wraps me up from behind.
 

I turn and look up. “That was fast.”

“I wanted to hurry up and get back to you.” He glances at Boy. “Seems I’m just in time.”

We get lost in each other’s eyes for a moment.
 

“Leon, this is my husband,” I say.

“Jack Lord,” Leon says as he and Belmont shake hands, “is an honor to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Belmont says.

Leon’s smile expands. “So, Daisy, I heard you write travelogues.”

“I do! I’m a travel writer,” I say.

“You know our paths almost crossed. You were in Tenerife in 2011?”

“Yes, I was!”

“You left a day before I arrived. I read your article. It was very engaging. I was impressed.”

“Thank you,” I say.

Jacques motions for a roaming waiter to serve us all a glass of red wine.
 

“So you’re not staying at Mes Fleurs?” I ask Jacques.

“No, baby, I have a group in the studio tomorrow morning.”

“Oh.” I know I sound disappointed because Belmont squeezes me tighter.
 

“Why don’t you come up? We have a concert tomorrow night,” Jacques says.

Belmont and I look at each other.
 

“I think we can make it,” he says to my father.

“Get there early and meet me backstage. Dongo and Pey will be there too. I want them to see you, Daisy.”

I nod excitedly. Jacques kisses my forehead and shakes all the men’s hands before waving good-bye. My father will never change. He can’t stay in one place long unless he’s playing music.
 

Jacques is close to making an escape when Anton walks up, holding Anna’s hand. A young woman is with them, and I recognize her from the pictures in the tower hallway. She’s Claire, Anton and Leon’s sister. Anton and Claire hug and kiss my father good-bye before Jacques continues leaving. I search for Nina, but she’s nowhere to be found. I’m so curious about what happened between the three of them, but I can’t take my eyes off Claire. She has Anton’s eyes, Leon’s lips, and a split chin, which is a dominant Bisset family trait.

Claire points at me. “You’re Daisy, right?”

“I am.”
 

She quickly gives me a hug. After letting go, she notices Belmont and bashfully looks away.
 

“This is my husband, Belmont,” I say.
 

She shyly looks at him.

“Hello,” he says.

Although Belmont moves in for a hug, she extends her hand for a handshake. I think she’s intimidated by his presence. It’s no matter to Belmont. He’s used to that.

“You’re prettier in person,” she says to me.

“Thank you. You’re pretty too.”

She shrugs dismissively. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Anton. He says that you are addicting.”

 
Anton and I smile at each other. As Belmont, Leon, and Boy, whose real name is Augusto, discuss refurbishing historical buildings, we finally get into what happened with Nina.
 

“I know Nina is obsessed with you, Anton,” Claire says.
 

Anna gives Claire a cross look.
 

“Sorry, Anna, but it’s true.”

“Nina is not used to not getting what she wants, that is all,” Anna says.

“But she slapped you?” Claire says emphatically.

Anna has a sad look in her eyes. “Yes, she did. But we will talk. She will understand.”

Claire rolls her eyes. “I doubt it. Anton, remember when she smashed all the pieces you were going to display in that urban contemporary museum? She said you were flirting with the curator.”

“I remember,” Anton says.

“I know she’s your friend, Anna, but she has a
Fatal Attraction
side.”

“
Fatal Attraction
? What is that?” Anna asks.

“It’s a movie where the woman has an affair with a married man, and when he tries to break it off, she goes bat-shit crazy,” I say.

Anna shakes her head. “Oh no, Nina is beautiful. Many men want to love her.”

“Let’s end this depressing conversation,” Anton says. “Daisy, when will I see you again after you leave the chateau?”

I take a moment to think. “Why don’t you come out to Martha’s Vineyard for the 4
^th
of July, all of you? The house is big enough.” I nudge Belmont in the ribs.

“Yes, come for a visit.” He kisses my ear, massages my ribcage, and whispers, “I’ve run out of patience.”

“That is an American holiday?” Anna asks.

“It’s like Bastille Day,” I say.

“With fireworks?”

“Yes, and Belmont will make a bonfire. It’s one of his many talents.” I snuggle against him.